UK's first official Afrobeats chart is launching this week

The UK's first official Afrobeats chart will highlight the top 20 Afrobeats artists by compiling UK sales and streaming data from over 9,000 outlets. The data incorporates physical sales, downloads, audio streams and video streams.

The first Afrobeats chart will be unveiled this Sunday (26 July) from 1-3pm BST on BBC Radio 1Xtra, and the chart will be updated weekly every Sunday from 2pm BST via a Spotify 'Official UK Afrobeats Chart' playlist.

Data collected by the Official Charts Company shows that in 2019, Afrobeats artists spent 86 weeks in the Official Chart Top 40 collectively, a significant increase from a total of 24 weeks in 2017.

To celebrate the launch of the UK's first Afrobeats chart, a playlist has been created for the Official Top 20 Afrobeats Artists Of The Past 12 Months, featuring songs by J Hus, Burna Boy, Kojo Funds, WizKid, Not3s and more.

The UK’s Official #AfrobeatsChart launches this Sunday at 1pm on @1xtra, and will be published on https://t.co/sG969XmCgG every Sunday. https://t.co/WcKUWsKyns

— Official Charts (@officialcharts) July 21, 2020

Mark Strippel, Head of Programmes at BBC Radio 1Xtra says of the chart, "1Xtra has been committed to championing the Afrobeats scene since our formation and we’re excited to support the launch of the first-ever UK Afrobeats Chart. This is much-needed and long overdue. We’re proud to be a part of history."

SMADE (Adesegun Adeosun Jr), the Cultural Director and Ambassador for Afro Nation, adds, "It’s an incredible moment for our culture to see the launch of The Official UK Afrobeats Chart. For years, we have celebrated, danced, partied and united underneath the incredible sounds and artists making Afrobeats and African music their own, and to see our culture now recognised in this way is a truly powerful turning point. Providing support and empowering the new artists that will go on to be hugely important leaders in our culture, it’s another sign of the unstoppable popularity the culture has around the world, and I can’t wait to hear the songs, watch from the side of stage and dance together as we reach new heights."