Warner Music Africa’s Managing Director, Temi Adeniji, has revealed how CKay’s hit song Love Nwantiti became a global success story, turning the Nigerian singer into one of Afrobeats’ biggest exports.
Speaking during the Afrobeats Martell session, Adeniji said the song’s rise began shortly after she assumed office in April 2021.
“I was in the U.S. when I got a text in August saying the song was going viral. I had just finished a programme with our marketing lead and a music friend. I said, ‘I see it’s moving fast. Do you think we can go to radio?’ They never do that for a song like this, but for whatever reason, they agreed,” she recalled.
The move turned out to be a masterstroke. Love Nwantiti quickly shot to No. 1 in several countries. “I saw it was moving in India, so I called the MD there and said, ‘This thing is moving in India, I want to push it here,’ and he did. We were number one for 16 weeks,” Adeniji added.
Since its release, Love Nwantiti has achieved record-breaking success and helped take Afrobeats to new global heights.
The track was certified 8× Platinum in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in March 2024, becoming the most-certified Nigerian song in U.S. history, according to Pulse Nigeria, Music In Africa, and The Tide News Online.
It also peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the first African song to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify, according to Wikipedia and Atlantic Records Press.
In 2021, Love Nwantiti topped Shazam’s Global Chart, becoming the longest-running No. 1 song worldwide on the platform. It charted across six continents, reaching No. 1 in countries like India and Norway, and inspired several remixes across the world.
The song also became a viral hit on TikTok, helping to cement Afrobeats as a global genre.
Meanwhile, CKay officially left Warner Music South Africa in April 2025 and has since signed a new deal with AWAL.
