With 2021 drawing to a close, global music streaming service Deezer has shared the music and podcasts that South Africans listened to the most this year.
The list includes the popular Canadian trio Drake, Justin Bieber and The Weeknd, as well as some of our favourite amapiano tunes.
The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights”, which Billboard this week announced was its biggest song of all-time, unsurprisingly took this year’s top spot as the most-streamed track in South Africa.
The massive anthem was also the streaming platform's most-streamed song around the world.
Busta 929 and the late Mpura’s hit “Umsebenzi Wethu” came in at an impressive second place.
Blaq Diamond's 2020 summer smash “Summeryomuthi” came in at fourth, while “Banyana” by DJ Maphorisa and Tyler ICU was seventh, and “John Wick” by De Mthuda landed at tenth spot.
It's no surprise to see The Weeknd heading this list, too. His chart-topping After Hours was the most streamed album in South Africa, closely followed by Drake’s “Certified Lover Boy”.
Local hometown favourite Riaan Benadé’s “Spontaan” took third spot, with Makhadzi's “Kokovha” not too far behind.
“B4Now” by Blxckie was also among the year's most popular albums.
As ever, with all that we had to endure, South Africans needed a reason to laugh this year.
For our dose of podcasting entertainment, we turned to “Podcast and Chill with MacG”.
Music was also an important topic as KnightSA89 – “MidTempo Sessions” Uploads came in at second place.
“Much like the rest of the world, South Africans clearly couldn’t get enough of The Weeknd this year," said Sotiris Moldovanos, Editor for Africa at Deezer.
"Even though his album is nearly two years old, we clearly loved the new wave vibe.”
“I was also impressed to see how well local singer Makhadzi has done this year, competing against global female artists and holding her own in the top five."