CKay Claims First U.S. Radio No. 1 With ‘Love Nwantiti’ on Rhythmic Airplay
The Nigerian performer's breakout single becomes his first Billboard U.S. radio chart No. 1 after its Tiktok-fueled rise late last year.
CKay scores his first Billboard radio chart No. 1 as “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah)” ascends to the summit of the Rhythmic Airplay list dated Jan. 22. The Afrobeats track advances from No. 2 with a 6% improvement in plays in the week ending Jan. 16 to become the most-played song on monitored U.S. rhythmic radio stations, according to MRC Data.
“Love Nwantiti,” released through Chocolate City/Warner South Africa/Atlantic Records, is the global breakout single for Nigerian-based CKay, and its current exposure follows two years of buzzing interest by way of several international collaborations and remixes. Since its release on Ckay’s Ckay the First on Aug. 29, 2019, the song has received official North African, East African and South African remixes, plus versions in German, French, Spanish and Italian, all featuring collaborators from each remix’s native region or country.
The single’s radio coronation follows its streaming emergence last year, when it pounced in the U.S. market due to TikTok prominence. In October 2021, “Love Nwantiti” debuted on the all-genre Streaming Songs chart at No. 29 and darted to its No. 9 peak in two weeks. To date, Ckay’s breakthrough tune has registered 241.7 million on-demand streams in the U.S.
Beyond Rhythmic Airplay, “Love Nwantiti” also finds huge reception in other radio sectors. It continues its march on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, reaching a new peak of No. 7 thanks to a 15% surge to 14.7 million in audience in the week ending Jan. 17. Likewise, it attains a No. 8 best on the plays-based Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart through 11% more plays in the same tracking period compared with the prior frame. Lastly, on Pop Airplay, the Afrobeats single rebounds to its No. 27 peak thus far after it picked up a 15% gain in weekly plays.
Strength across the three radio genre sectors helps “Love Nwantiti” recover 25-18 on the all-genre Radio Songs chart. There, it climbs 13% in audience to 30.9 million in the tracking week ending Jan. 14. The eight-spot mount returns the single to its best showing yet on the chart, which it first achieved three weeks ago.