This September, Spotify unveiled a new project that chronicles the global Afrobeats takeover over the past five years. “Afrobeats: Culture in Motion” combines a documentary film with an immersive digital experience to capture how this Nigerian-born genre has become one of the world’s most defining cultural exports.

The centrepiece is “Culture in Motion,” a Spotify documentary that follows the next generation of Afrobeats artists, offering an intimate look at their creative processes. Complementing the film is an immersive microsite hosted on Spotify’s newsroom, For the Record, which breaks down the genre’s impact through exclusive interviews, expert commentary, and fresh listening data. The timing couldn’t be more relevant, as in the last year alone, Afrobeats has generated over 240 million discoveries on Spotify worldwide.

The numbers shown are pretty incredible. Emotionally charged vocals now make up 38% of global Afrobeats streams, showing how the sound is getting more personal and introspective. The genre is shown to be exploding in places you might not expect. Latin America has seen listenership jump by more than 180% in just the past year, and Brazil has had an interesting 500% increase since 2020.

Female artists continue to drive the genre’s global expansion. Tems has made history as the first African female artist to surpass one billion streams on a single track, while Ayra Starr’s popularity has skyrocketed with streams in Nigeria increasing by over 3,000% since 2020.

Back home in Nigeria, fans streamed over 180 million hours of Afrobeats in 2025, with Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt leading the way. The project also shines a light on local innovations like Afro-Adura, a subgenre mixing street pop with spirituality that’s seen over 4,000% growth. Fan-made Afrobeats playlists have grown nearly 3,000% over the past decade, illustrating the community-driven nature of the movement.

“Culture in Motion” doesn’t just focus on sound but explores how Afrobeats has carved out a distinctive visual identity. The project examines how artists like Rema, with his Benin-inspired set design at London’s O2 Arena, and Tems, with her standout appearances at the Oscars and Met Gala, have made style and spectacle integral parts of the cultural narrative.

Through its documentary, microsite, and dedicated Afrobeats Destination on Spotify, “Culture in Motion” captures both the massive scale and personal intimacy of a sound that has grown from Nigerian streets into a global phenomenon, demonstrating how authentic cultural expression can resonate across continents and reshape the global entertainment landscape.