South African listeners streamed more than 8.5 billion minutes of R&B on Spotify in 2025, with younger audiences driving the majority of consumption, according to data released by the platform. Listeners aged 18 to 24 made up 40.9% of the genre’s audience in the country, while those aged 25 to 29 represented 18.7%.
Tyla was the most-streamed local R&B artist in South Africa, followed by Sondae, Lloyiso, Elaine and Jordan G Welch. Across the continent, Tyla also topped the list of most-streamed R&B acts, joined by Tems, Ayra Starr, Omah Lay and Fireboy DML. The most-streamed R&B songs across Africa included Venus, Baby (Is It A Crime), Arike, Lost and Gimme Dat.
The streaming figures coincide with sustained demand for live R&B performances in South Africa. Johannesburg recently hosted the latest edition of Once Upon A Time In Joburg, an R&B and neo-soul event headlined by American singer SiR. SiR said: “The audience is always wonderful when I’m out here. The people are always showing love and I definitely had a great time. I think this was one of my best shows.” He also highlighted South African artist Manana as a discovery, saying: “Having experienced him, man, I’m a fan already. To find out that my mother was already a fan, I was in tears.”
Spotify noted that its curated playlists continue to support R&B discovery, with Ginja ranking among Africa’s most-streamed playlists in the genre, while Cocoa Butter and Afro R&B remain among its editorial selections. Within South Africa, R&B streaming was highest in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Pretoria, Durban and Gqeberha. Across the continent, the largest R&B streaming markets were Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Zambia.
