Kartel followers grow, searches briefly surpass Beyonce
Published:Thursday | August 22, 2024 | 1:52 AM
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Dancehall icon Vybz Kartel has increased his followers by 70,000 so far this month on key streaming platform Spotify, bringing his total followers on that platform to over 1.45 million and signalling the post-prison release interest in the artiste...
Dancehall icon Vybz Kartel has increased his followers by 70,000 so far this month on key streaming platform Spotify, bringing his total followers on that platform to over 1.45 million and signalling the post-prison release interest in the artiste who first rose to prominence in 2003.
Spotify represents the fastest-growing music radio-like platform, usurping online sales or vinyl music purchases. Separate from his growth in followers, his streaming increased nearly 20 per cent in the month, peaking at 2.88 million in mid-August, up from 2.45 million in July, according to Spotify data analysed by The Gleaner and website Musicmetricsvault. That level of activity resulted in Kartel, whose given name is Adidja Palmer, being elevated to the 11th most-played dancehall artiste on Spotify, despite having mostly limited marketing behind his songs.
Currently, his catalogue song Go Go Club tops the Spotify dancehall song charts.
The bulk of the listeners during the month came from London, United Kingdom; Toronto, Canada; San José, Costa Rica; and Nairobi, Kenya.
Notably, no United States (US) cities are in the top five, despite the country being the largest music market.
This growth highlights Kartel's appeal, particularly in regions that have embraced dancehall culture.
The artistes Sean Paul, Burna Boy, Shenseea, Skillibeng and Stefflon Don are the most streamed artistes for the month, according to the data.
Kartel, unlike his colleagues, has not been able to promote his music with physical appearances and marketing due to his only recently ended incarceration. The data isn’t pristine as it doesn’t include Damian Marley and Shaggy in the list, but still hints at Kartel’s growth since his release.
Turning to online searches since his release, Kartel’s popularity soared beyond that of Sean Paul, the top dancehall artiste, then surpassed US singer Beyonce over seven days ending August 6, based on searches on Youtube. Up to Wednesday, Youtube, the most popular streaming site in the world, was indicating that searches for Kartel were twice those for Sean Paul but half the number for Beyonce.
Despite his 13-year incarceration, ended on July 31 after appeal court judges decided not to rule in favour of a retrial for murder, the data signals his continued relevance and rising fan base.