In death, Mohbad has garnered more international recognition, set more significant records and enjoyed more goodwill than he ever envisaged in his five-year musical career.
There is no doubt that in death, Mohbad has garnered more international recognition, set more significant records and enjoyed more goodwill than he ever envisaged in his five-year musical career.
Barely a week after his demise, Mohbad has surpassed international superstars such as Nicki Minaj, Eminem, 21 Savage, Lady Gaga, Chris Brown, and other music heavyweights to emerge as the 46th best-selling digital artiste in the world.
Global Digital Artist Ranking is a ranking statistic and metrics based on the total or all-time performance of a song(s) on major music sites, including iTunes, Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
When a music artiste passes on, it is a norm that fans, music enthusiasts or curious people will reflect on the deceased singer’s life and work, leading to a visible surge in their music streams.
It is playing out Mohbad, who died on 12 September, aged 27, and was laid to rest in Ikorodu, Lagos State, the following day, has attained superstar status less than two weeks after he died.
But unlike others, the circumstances surrounding his death have left many in shock, as the deceased singer continues to make headlines and dominate discussion across and beyond the nation.
Each hour, more evidence keeps surfacing online suggesting that the singer was not only a victim of intimidation, bullying and assault but might have sunk deep into depression even at his death.
Shockingly, Mohbad’s songs reflected his real-life dilemma, as his lyrics foretold his death and the events after that and revealed some cryptic messages about his life’s struggles.
Mohbad’s renewed fame is visible in the increasing streams across various streaming platforms.
Ratings
As of press time, the singer is ranked as the 46th best-selling digital artiste in the world, a feat most of his colleagues have yet to attain even in their lifetime.
Mohbad’s songs, ‘Peace’, ‘Feel Good’, and ‘Ask About Me’ at press time, are rated number 1 on Spotify Nigeria and are topping across streaming platforms like Shazam, YouTube, iTunes, and Apple Music.
TurnTable Charts reports that Mohbad’s music streams have increased by 702% since his death.
The data from streaming platforms shows that the late singer’s catalogue has garnered over 8.02 million on-demand streams, a leap from the previous week’s 999,000 on-demand streams, spanning 1 September to 7 of the same month.
Among Mohbad’s repertoire, several tracks stood out as the most streamed during the period of his demise, “Beast and Peace” notched up 1.22million on-demand streams, a staggering 716 per cent increase from 141,000, while ‘Ask About Me’ has made over 1.06 million a remarkable 407 per cent rise from 208,000.
Equally impressive was “Peace” with 837,000 on-demand streams, a mind-blowing 1378 per cent surge from 57,000, “Pariwo” with 707,000 on-demand streams, up by 588 per cent from 103,000, and “Sabi” amassing 608,000 on-demand streams, a striking 973 per cent jump from 57,000.
Before his tragic demise, Mohbad had already left his mark on the charts with two top 10 hits, “KPK (Ko Por Ke)”, peaking at the number three position in 2020 and “Feel Good”, reaching No. 7 in 2021.
‘Imole’, as he often eulogised himself, quickly set himself apart from the multitude of up-and-coming artistes, a move that saw him hit stardom quickly. He had all the makings of a fine Afrobeats star.
His entry into Nigerian music gave audiences infectious tracks like ‘Ponmo’, ‘Feel Good’ and the chart-topping “KPK (Ko Por Ke)”.
Not just Mohbad, other artistes like Pop Smoke, Dagrin, Nipsey Hussle and many more people became even more popular after their demise.
PREMIUM TIMES
