By Simpson Global Media News DeskNigerian Afrobeats star Asake has reached another significant streaming milestone, with his 2023 album Work of Art surpassing 900 million streams on Spotify more than three years after its release.
The milestone was reported on September 28, 2026, by HipTV, which said the 14-track album had crossed the 900-million mark on the global streaming platform. Independent streaming-data tracker Kworb had recorded Work Of Art at 899,599,902 Spotify streams as of September 27, providing a closely matching indication of the album’s rapid movement towards the milestone.
The achievement gives fresh attention to the staying power of an album released in June 2023 at a time when Nigerian music was expanding its international audience and artists were increasingly being measured not only by conventional sales and radio exposure but also by the scale and longevity of their digital audiences.
Work of Art contains songs including “Lonely At The Top,” “Amapiano,” “Remember,” “2:30,” “Basquiat,” “Sunshine,” “Yoga” and “Great Guy.” Spotify’s official album listing identifies the project as a 14-song release issued on June 15, 2023, through YBNL Nation and EMPIRE.
Its movement beyond 900 million Spotify streams also places the project in a particularly notable position within Asake’s catalogue. HipTV reported that Work of Art became his second project to pass 900 million streams, following his debut album, Mr. Money With The Vibe.
A milestone reached more than three years after release
The timing of the achievement is significant because Work of Art is not a newly released album benefiting from the immediate attention that normally accompanies a major music launch. It arrived in June 2023 and has continued to attract listeners well into 2026.
Streaming figures from Kworb show how the album accumulated its audience over time. The tracker records the project passing 100 million Spotify streams in August 2023, 200 million in November 2023, 300 million in April 2024, 400 million in August 2024, 500 million in January 2025, 600 million in July 2025, 700 million in December 2025 and 800 million in May 2026.
That progression shows that the album’s performance was not dependent solely on its initial release period. It continued generating streams after its first year, then crossed successive major thresholds as individual songs remained part of listeners’ playlists and Asake’s wider profile continued to grow.
By September 27, 2026, Kworb listed Work Of Art at 899,599,902 streams, with a daily figure of more than 732,000 streams at the time of its update. The same data placed the album behind Asake’s debut Mr. Money With The Vibe, which had accumulated more than 972 million Spotify streams.
The figures are useful in illustrating the scale of catalogue consumption, although third-party streaming trackers should be distinguished from direct platform announcements. The September 28 report from HipTV supplied the public announcement that the 900-million threshold had been crossed, while Kworb provides a detailed running estimate of the catalogue’s streaming performance.
What is inside Work of Art
The album was built around a combination of Nigerian musical traditions and contemporary African pop sounds.
Spotify’s official listing shows that the project contains 14 tracks, beginning with “Olorun” and “Awodi” and continuing through songs such as “2:30,” “Sunshine,” “Mogbe,” “Basquiat,” “Amapiano,” “What’s Up My G,” “I Believe,” “Introduction,” “Remember,” “Lonely At The Top,” “Great Guy” and “Yoga.”
One of its most recognisable collaborations is “Amapiano,” featuring Nigerian rapper Olamide. The song became an important part of the album’s identity by bringing together Asake’s vocal and rhythmic approach with the South African amapiano sound while retaining elements of Nigerian musical expression.
The Recording Academy has previously described Work of Art as a project that blended globally oriented Nigerian pop with amapiano and the indigenous Yoruba genre fújì. In its coverage of the 2024 Grammy nominations, the Academy highlighted the album’s cross-African influences and identified “Amapiano” as the track through which Asake received a nomination in the Best African Music Performance category.
That Grammy nomination came during a period in which Asake’s international profile was expanding rapidly. The Recording Academy noted that his rise had included a sold-out London O2 Arena performance and a growing presence on international stages.
The album therefore occupies an important point in Asake’s development: it was not simply another release following his breakthrough, but a project through which he continued experimenting with the relationship between Nigerian sounds, other African genres and the expectations of a global streaming audience.
‘Lonely At The Top’ and the power of individual songs
One of the strongest engines behind Work of Art has been “Lonely At The Top.”
Streaming data compiled by ChartMasters lists “Lonely At The Top” as the album’s most-streamed individual track, with more than 200 million Spotify streams in the database’s latest figures. The same data lists “Remember,” “Amapiano” and “2:30” among the project’s other major streaming performers.
Spotify’s own catalogue confirms “Lonely At The Top” as one of the album’s tracks, alongside the other songs that have continued to circulate on the platform.
The importance of a song such as “Lonely At The Top” extends beyond its individual stream count. In the streaming era, a successful single can continue directing listeners back towards an entire album years after the original release.
That creates a different commercial life cycle for albums. A project does not necessarily disappear from the public conversation after the promotional campaign surrounding its release ends. Songs can re-enter playlists, appear in social-media videos, receive renewed attention during concerts and remain popular with listeners discovering an artist for the first time.
For an artist such as Asake, whose catalogue now spans several albums and collaborative releases, older projects can therefore continue benefiting from the arrival of newer listeners.
The album’s musical identity
The sound of Work of Art also helps explain why the project has remained relevant within a rapidly changing African music environment.
Asake’s music has frequently incorporated Yoruba-language vocals and rhythms while drawing on wider African sounds. The Recording Academy described his work as embracing influences from different parts of the continent, with Work of Art incorporating amapiano as well as fújì and other musical ideas.
The album’s “Amapiano” collaboration with Olamide is one example of that approach. Rather than treating Nigerian popular music and South African amapiano as separate categories, the song placed them in the same production environment.
“Yoga,” another track on the album, was also noted by the Recording Academy for its incorporation of séga, a traditional genre associated with Mauritius and Réunion.
Those influences formed part of a broader movement in African popular music in which artists increasingly moved between regional sounds rather than remaining confined to one national or genre identity.
Asake’s catalogue has developed within that environment. His music has maintained a strong Nigerian and Yoruba foundation while using production styles that can travel across African and international markets.
From Work of Art to a wider catalogue
The 900-million-stream milestone comes after Asake released additional projects, meaning the artist’s current streaming audience is spread across a considerably larger catalogue than it was in 2023.
Spotify’s current artist catalogue lists Mr. Money With The Vibe from 2022, Work Of Art from 2023, Lungu Boy from 2024 and the 2026 projects REAL, Vol. 1 and M$NEY, among other releases.
His 2024 album Lungu Boy also expanded his international collaborations. The Recording Academy noted that the album included collaborations with artists such as Stormzy, Central Cee and Travis Scott, while “MMS” featured Wizkid.
Asake has subsequently moved into another stage of his career with M$NEY, released in 2026.
In a July 2026 interview published by Spotify, Asake described his different projects as reflections of different stages of his development. He characterised Mr. Money With The Vibe as the beginning, Work of Art as an exploration, Lungu Boy as connected to where he comes from and M$NEY as representing who he is at the present stage of his career.
The comments provide context for the continuing relevance of Work of Art. The album is no longer the newest project in his catalogue, but its streaming performance demonstrates that it remains part of the foundation on which his subsequent releases have been built.
A changing meaning of success in Nigerian music
The 900-million figure also illustrates how success in Nigeria’s music industry is increasingly recorded through digital data.
For previous generations of Nigerian musicians, indicators of popularity were more heavily tied to physical sales, radio airplay, television appearances, concert attendance and the visibility of songs in local communities.
Those measures remain relevant, but streaming platforms have created another layer of measurement.
A listener in Lagos, London, Johannesburg, New York or another part of the world can now contribute to the same cumulative stream count. The result is a global numerical record that can be monitored long after an album has left the immediate release cycle.
This does not mean that streaming numbers capture every dimension of an artist’s cultural impact. A stream count records consumption on a particular platform, not the full range of activities that determine an artist’s influence, including concerts, radio, television, social-media engagement, merchandise, songwriting, collaborations and other commercial activity.
Nevertheless, the scale of the figure attached to Work of Art demonstrates the continued ability of Nigerian music to accumulate audiences beyond the original market in which it was created.
Spotify itself has increasingly become part of Asake’s international story. In a July 2026 interview, the platform described an orchestral concert film featuring Asake performing songs from his then-current M$NEY project. The production was recorded at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane and included an orchestra of more than 40 musicians.
That kind of presentation illustrates how Afrobeats artists can move between different forms of musical performance while retaining the core catalogue that made them popular.
A catalogue that continues to accumulate
One of the clearest features of Asake’s streaming profile is the continued accumulation of plays across multiple releases.
Kworb’s September 27 data listed Mr. Money With The Vibe at more than 972 million Spotify streams, Work Of Art at nearly 900 million, Lungu Boy at more than 560 million and M$NEY at more than 484 million.
The figures show that the 900-million milestone is part of a larger catalogue pattern rather than an isolated achievement.
The comparison is also significant because M$NEY, the newest of those major projects, had already accumulated hundreds of millions of streams while Work of Art was approaching the billion-stream threshold. That means Asake is simultaneously benefiting from established releases and newer material.
For artists, that catalogue effect can become increasingly important as their careers develop. Each successful project adds another group of songs that can remain discoverable to listeners.
A listener introduced to Asake through a 2026 release may subsequently explore Lungu Boy, Work of Art or Mr. Money With The Vibe. Likewise, an older listener returning to “Lonely At The Top” can encounter newer releases through the same platform.
Streaming platforms therefore allow different periods of an artist’s career to exist alongside one another.
The role of collaborations
Collaboration has also been an important feature of Asake’s development.
Work of Art includes “Amapiano” with Olamide, while later projects expanded his network to include internationally recognised artists. The Recording Academy identified collaborations involving Stormzy, Central Cee, Travis Scott and Wizkid on Lungu Boy and related releases.
These partnerships can create multiple entry points for audiences. A listener who follows one collaborator may discover the other artist through a joint song.
In the case of “Amapiano,” the Olamide collaboration also connected Asake’s rising profile with an established Nigerian rapper and YBNL figure. Spotify’s official album listing identifies the track as a collaboration between Asake and Olamide.
The wider pattern reflects the increasingly interconnected nature of African music, where Nigerian artists regularly work with performers from other African countries and the global music industry.
Grammy recognition and international visibility
Asake’s international recognition has developed alongside his streaming growth.
The Recording Academy’s records show two Grammy nominations for Asake: a 2024 Best African Music Performance nomination for “Amapiano” with Olamide and a 2025 nomination in the same category for “MMS” with Wizkid.
Neither nomination alone determines an artist’s commercial performance, but the recognition provides evidence that Asake’s music has entered major international award conversations.
The Grammy coverage of “Amapiano” also highlighted the song’s combination of contemporary production and African musical influences, reinforcing the description of Asake as an artist whose work connects Nigerian musical traditions with broader African sounds.
His international exposure has also included major media appearances. The Recording Academy previously noted his appearances on Good Morning America and The Tonight Show during the promotion of Work of Art.
These activities form part of the wider internationalisation of Nigerian popular music, in which artists are increasingly able to promote projects directly to audiences outside Nigeria.
Why the 900-million milestone matters to Afrobeats
The milestone arrives during a period in which Afrobeats has become a major part of the global music conversation.
Nigerian artists are increasingly releasing music intended for audiences that may not share the same language or cultural background as the performers. Asake’s own comments to Spotify underline this approach.
In the July 2026 interview, he said singing in Yoruba remains important to him because it is natural to his identity and creative process. He also described music as something listeners can feel even when they do not understand every word.
That philosophy is reflected in the continued consumption of Work of Art. Much of the project’s appeal is tied to rhythm, vocal delivery and musical structure as well as lyrics.
The result is a catalogue that can function in multiple environments: Nigerian radio and parties, African playlists, international streaming services and live performances.
The album’s longevity therefore provides one more example of how Nigerian music can maintain a local cultural foundation while participating in an international commercial ecosystem.
Approaching the billion-stream threshold
With Work of Art now above 900 million streams, attention naturally turns towards the one-billion mark.
The album was already within sight of that figure when HipTV reported the 900-million milestone on September 28. Kworb’s September 27 data showed that the album was still short of 900 million at that particular snapshot, underscoring how quickly the final portion of the milestone was reached.
ChartMasters’ historical data also shows the album’s progression through previous streaming milestones, including 800 million in May 2026.
Reaching one billion streams would represent another major numerical threshold, but the precise timing cannot responsibly be established from the available figures alone because streaming counts change continuously and third-party trackers update at different intervals.
What can be established is that the album has entered its tenth-hundred-million phase after continuing to accumulate listeners more than three years after release.
That longevity is arguably as important to the story as the size of the number itself.
What comes next for Asake
Asake is not approaching the 900-million mark while standing still creatively.
His 2026 catalogue already includes M$NEY, and Spotify has documented his recent concert-film project connected to that album. The platform reported that the London performance featured more than 40 orchestral musicians and included five previously unreleased tracks during the concert.
Asake also told Spotify that the music he was working on would continue the growth and exploration associated with M$NEY, suggesting that further material is part of his ongoing creative direction.
For listeners, that creates an unusual situation in which an artist’s older catalogue is reaching major streaming thresholds at the same time that newer material is being introduced.
For the Nigerian music industry, it reinforces the value of maintaining strong catalogues rather than focusing exclusively on the performance of newly released singles.
More than a number
The passage of Work of Art beyond 900 million Spotify streams is ultimately a story about longevity.
The album was released on June 15, 2023, with 14 songs combining Asake’s characteristic vocal approach with Nigerian and wider African musical influences.
More than three years later, it remains active on one of the world’s largest music-streaming platforms.
Its strongest songs have continued to attract listeners, while Asake’s subsequent releases have expanded the size and reach of his overall catalogue. Streaming data shows Mr. Money With The Vibe, Work Of Art, Lungu Boy and M$NEY all generating substantial audiences on Spotify.
The album’s journey also reflects a broader transformation in the Nigerian entertainment industry. Artists can now build careers in which songs remain commercially relevant across several years, while digital platforms provide measurable evidence of how audiences consume their music around the world.
Asake’s own explanation of his catalogue is revealing: he has described Work of Art as a period of exploration between the beginning represented by his debut and the later stages represented by Lungu Boy and M$NEY.
That exploratory project has now crossed another major streaming threshold.
With Work of Art above 900 million Spotify streams, the album has entered the final stretch towards the billion-stream level while continuing to sit alongside a rapidly expanding catalogue.
Whether the project eventually reaches one billion streams, and when that happens, will depend on the continuing pace of listener activity. For now, the documented milestone is clear: a June 2023 Nigerian album has continued to attract hundreds of thousands of streams years after its release and has crossed the 900-million mark on Spotify.
For Asake, it adds another chapter to a catalogue that has already received Grammy recognition, international exposure and sustained digital consumption.
For Nigerian music, it provides another measurable example of the long-term global audience that successful Afrobeats projects can build beyond their original release cycles.
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