How Fresh Finds Africa Propelled Rapper Zaylevelten to a Breakout Year

Fresh Finds Africa spotlights emerging artists and movements across the continent and its global diaspora, with listeners tuning in to discover new Afro-forward favorites that make a big impact.

Nigerian rapper Zaylevelten is a prime example, delivering one of Fresh Finds Africa's standout stories of the last year.

On June 4, 2025, his track Maye was added to the playlist, his first-ever Spotify editorial feature. In the weeks that followed, Zaylevelten's music landed on other editorial playlists, including Alt Cruise, Internet Famous, and regional editions of New Music Friday, expanding his reach to new audiences.

Since debuting on Fresh Finds Africa, Zaylevelten's monthly listeners are up 2,017%.

His success highlights what Fresh Finds Africa, and broader Spotify editorial support, is designed to do: connect emerging artists with the right audience at the right moment, turning discovery into lasting fan relationships.

Inside the Fresh Finds Africa audience Zaylevelten's audience looks a lot like Fresh Finds Africa's core listeners. Roughly half of the playlist's audience is between 18-29, an age group that makes up 86% of his fans.

And while his sound resonates across Africa, most of his listeners in 2025 tuned in from Nigeria, which accounted for more than 90% of his streams. The country represents 44% of Fresh Finds Africa's plays, followed by Kenya at 20%. Together, these two countries represent about 64% of plays across the playlist's top 10 markets.

His sound is a natural fit with Fresh Finds Africa's vibe. The playlist's top six genres-Afropop, Afrobeats, Afro R&B, Afro soul, and alt -accounted for about 92% of plays in 2025.

This clear overlap, alongside Zaylevelten's recent success, shows how Fresh Finds Africa connects emerging artists with audiences ready to listen. We'll continue spotlighting emerging artists across all of our editorial playlists, helping shape the next wave of sounds and voices.

Stream Fresh Finds Africa on Spotify now.

Data reflects Fresh Finds Africa playlist performance from January to December 2025.

LINK:	https://newsroom.spotify.com/2026-03-17/zaylevelten-fresh-finds-africa...
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