The song ‘Dusuma’ by Kenya’s Otile Brown and Rwanda’s very own Meddy Ngabo was one of the biggest songs on the continent in 2020. It emerged as one of the most viewed African songs of the same year on YouTube.
The two East African artistes made a lyric video with dance covers and various clips of the two artistes mixed up. It is not your typical video with Lamborghinis in Dubai. Very simple and nice to watch and well-choreographed. It is no wonder that the song garnered 19.3 million views on YouTube.
However, on social media, the debate is still going on, on whose part was better. For some, Meddy, a darling for many Rwandans, pulled off his verses better, but for Kenyans, their golden boy delivered perfectly.
Uwimana Nyirarukundo, who didn’t want to take sides in the ‘I am here for Meddy’ vs ‘I am here for Otile Brown’ battle, says ‘Dusuma’ was by far the best East African collaboration of 2020.
Nigerian Afropop singer Yemi Alade. / Courtesy
Rosemary Muthoni, a Kenyan viewer, thought she would take it further by stating that Otile Brown is the ‘King’ of East Africa, provocatively adding that it is okay for Tanzanians to feel jealous.
That aside, ‘Dusuma’ at no.8 was among the 10 most viewed African songs in 2020, according to a list dubbed ‘Taste of Africa’, which compiled the most viewed African music videos in 2020. The song, which was uploaded on Otile’s channel, remains popular both in Rwanda and Kenya.
Diamond Platnumz’ ‘Jeje’, uploaded on February 26, 2020 tops the list with 41.1 million views, followed by ‘Duduke’ by Simi, with 29.2m views, followed by ‘Waah’, by Diamond Platnumz ft Kofi Olomide, which was only uploaded on November 30 but had 25.1 million views by the end of 2020.
The hit song which currently has 29.1 million views is most likely to surpass records by the time it is a year old.
Diamond Platnumz features on the list again, this time with his former girlfriend Tanasha Donna, whose song ‘Gere’, featuring the Bongo Flava star featured among the most viewed African videos.
Diamond Platnumz.
The Kenyan beauty took to Instagram to thank Diamond, the father of her son, for his contribution to her music career.
"Huge thanks! Gere by myself & Baba @naseeb.junior made it to most viewed African songs on YouTube 2020. Grateful to @diamondplatnumz for believing in me & collaborating with me on such a big tune & to the supporters who’ve supported me & continue to believe in me so far. Cheers to a greater 2021 Inshallah. The dream continues...,” Tanasha posted.
The song posted on February 19, 2020 has so far garnered 22.4m views, having ended 2020 with 22.2 million views.
It earned over one million views in a single day when it was posted but Tanasha was not exactly happy when her former boo posted ‘Jeje’ a few days later - something she thought would sabotage the visibility of her song with him.
Either way, both songs went on to become hits. On the list still, ‘Nobody’ by DJ Neptune, JoeyBoy and Mr Eazi came in fourth place, having been viewed by more than 25 million people.
Below is the full list (views at the end of 2020)
1. Jeje - Diamond Platnumz - Tanzania (41.2 M views)
2. Duduke- Simi- Nigeria (over 29 M views)
3. Waah- Diamond Platnumz Ft Koffi Olomide (Tanzania) (over 25 M views)
4. Nobody- DJ Neptune, JoeyBoy, Mr Eazi (Nigeria/Ghana)- (Over 25 M views)
5. Vibration- FireBoy DML- Nigeria (Over 23 M views)
6. Teamo- Rayvanny –Tanzania- (over 22 M views)
7. Gere- Tanasha Donna ft Diamond Platnumz - Kenya / Tanzania- Over 22 M views
8. Dusuma- Otile Brown ft Meddy- Kenya/Rwanda- Over 19 M views
9. Olandi- InossB- DRC Congo - Over 17 M views
10. Shekere- Yemi Alade ft Angelique Kidjo- Nigeria/ Benin- over 16 M views.