CKay’s ‘Love Nwantiti’: A special song from a special artist

The Man with a Special Sound: When CKay released his debut EP ‘Ckay the First’ in 2019, his intention was to have ‘Love Nwantiti’ as the lead single that will propel the EP to a larger audience. This intention was met with reluctance by his record label who struggled to share CKay’s convictions regarding the song. The label opted to put its resources behind ‘Way’, the club suitable single on which he features DJ Lambo.

For Chukwuka Ekweani AKA CKay, the lack of faith wasn’t new. It was something he has had to contend with from different angles since he made the bold decision to share his talent with the world. In an industry dominated by party anthems, CKay’s EMO-Afrobeats stuck out.

CKay was making a curiously different sound that combines subtle strings and chords with hook-filled choruses delicately intertwined with a patiently-teasing melody that draws from emotional lyrics with which he offers different fragments of himself.

Before dropping his debut EP, CKay displayed a willingness to be amenable and give listeners a catchy party hit in return for more attention. He recorded ‘Container’ in 2018 which explored the “Shaku Shaku” sound dominated that era. The single did achieve the desired result by introducing CKay to a wider audience.

‘Container’ evoked admiration as it showed CKay’s versatility. However, those who have been following his music struggled to reconcile the song with the artist. For CKay, that moment was a deviation from the creative he wishes to be albeit an expedient one.

The Cost of being Special: In ‘CKay the First’, he returned to the man he used to be and since then, he has never looked back. While the story of ‘Love Nwantiti’s’ is a fairytale, what many don’t know is that it took the determination of CKay and his A&Rs to get the label to put some resources behind the track.

Even after the label agreed to push it as a single, they opted for a remix with Joeboy and Kuami Eugene. At this point, the relationship between CKay and his label had deteriorated to the point that he left the label and signed to Warner Music South Africa.

In 2021, CKay released his sophomore EP ‘Boyfriend’ under Warner with ‘Felony’ as the lead single as he looked to move past his sour relationship with Chocolate City. However, fortune had something in store for CKay and his team as the conviction they displayed with ‘Love Nwantiti’ was about to bear fruits in ways they could have possibly never imagined.

The Prize for being Special: In 2021, during the pandemic, a DJ YO remix of ‘Love Nwantiti’s’ acoustic version circulated on TikTok, and it ushered the song into an unprecedented run. The song quickly found an audience on the social media App whose user base soared during the pandemic. The months that followed were nothing like we have ever seen since.

The song blew up in Morocco and quickly filtered into other Middle Eastern Countries. As ‘Love Nwantiti’ soared on Tik Tok, its popularity on the App translated into streaming numbers, especially on YouTube where its numbers leaped daily.

It didn’t take long before different covers surfaced from different parts of the world and the song achieved truly global fame that ran from Morocco to Portugal, down to India.

At the end of 2021, ‘Love Nwantiti’ became the most streamed Nigerian song on YouTube gaining over a billion views across all versions. On Spotify, CKay ended 2021 with 380.5 million streams from 41.5 million users across 175 countries.

‘Love Nwantiti’ is the most streamed African song on Spotify having garnered more than a billion streams across all versions which saw it shatter the record held by Masker KG‘s ‘Jerusalema’. Similarly, CKay’s profile has risen along with the song with his Spotify listeners growing to over 15 million monthly.

Three years after releasing ‘CKay the First’ and throwing his weight behind ‘Love Nwantiti’, the single has become the most commercially successful single in the modern history of African music.

It charted in 36 different countries, reaching the top 20 in 31 countries, and the number one spot in 5 countries (Portugal, France, India, Netherlands, and Norway). It has received certifications in 14 countries making it the most certified Afrobeats song in history.

‘Love Nwantiti’ made CKay into a global superstar and he proved he deserved the status when he released ‘Emiliana’ which has accumulated over 114 million streams on Spotify since its release in March 2022.

While critics agree that Magic System‘s intercontinental smash hit ‘Premier Gaou’ holds the title for the greatest cross-over hit out of Africa especially for its palpable impact in opening international doors for African songs, ‘Love Nwantiti’ indubitably holds the crown for the most commercially successful song out of Africa.

Three years after ‘CKay the First’ offered what would become the most successful song on the continent, CKay is ready to offer a larger fragment of himself in his debut album he calls ‘Sad Romance’.

“My album will make history,” CKay says displaying an unflinching belief in his art. And while many might be tempted to think the confidence is mainly inspired by the success of ‘Love Nwantiti,’ attentive listeners will easily deduce that it’s inspired by the distinctive quality of his sound. A special sound from a special artist.