The Most Streamed Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall Artists On YouTube In 2022
Dancehall megastar Sean Paul is the most streamed Jamaican Reggae/Dancehall artist on YouTube in 2022, while, in Jamaica, Hillside singer Chronic Law is the most streamed artist for 2022 on the platform.
Sean Paul’s No Lie with Dua Lipa, which was released in 2017, is the most streamed song by a Jamaican artist on YouTube this year, racking up 407 million views on YouTube over the last 12 months, according to data gathered by DancehallMag from YouTube’s Music Charts & Insights. Paul and Shaggy were also featured on Spice’s 2021 hit Go Down Deh, which is the second most streamed song by a Jamaican artist on the platform, with 318 million views (combined over several videos) on YouTube over the last 12 months.
In Jamaica, Jahshii’s Born Fighter is the most streamed song for the year, with 10.7 million views from fans within the island, while Skeng’s Protocol with Tommy Lee Sparta is the second most streamed song in Jamaica for the year, with 10.6 million Jamaican views.
DancehallMag analyzed YouTube’s 2022 Music Charts and Insights and compiled the charts for the most viewed Jamaican artists globally and within the island, as well as the most viewed songs of 2022 in Jamaica. According to YouTube Insights, the views attributed to each artist are gathered by combining the statistics from the official music video, lyric videos, and user-made videos for each song.
See the full charts below.
SEAN PAUL
While only earning 2.5 million views from Jamaica this year, that didn’t stop Sean Paul from racking up over 1.2 billion global views. The top cities which have been bumping Paul’s music, according to YouTube data, are Paris, which has the highest number of views with 14.8 million, followed closely by Bogotá with 14.7 million views. London and Mexico City also feature on the extensive list, with 14.4 and 13.6 million views respectively. Other cities that have shown strong support for Paul’s music include Bangkok, Istanbul, New York, Lima, Santiago, and Milan.
No Lie ft. Dua Lipa (407M), Temperature (96.3M), I’m Still In Love With You ft. Sasha (91.1M), She Doesn’t Mind (79.6M), and Get Busy (48.5M) form the first half of Sean Paul’s top 10 most viewed videos this year. Completing that list are Give It Up To Me ft. Keyshia Cole, Mad Love ft. David Guetta, Got 2 Luv U ft Alexis Jordan, Baby Boy ft. Beyoncé, and Contra La Pared ft J Balvin.
While Jamaica dropped 18 places to 72 on Paul’s Top 100 countries this year, the United States, India, Mexico, France and Brazil, respectively, proved to be those with the highest number of viewers.
BOB MARLEY AND THE WAILERS
The legendary Reggae band, led by the late Bob Marley, this year racked up 678 million views, with Jamaica – the icon’s home country – only accounting for just a little over three million of that number. YouTube’s Music Charts and Insights revealed that the top 10 countries to have viewed Bob Marley this year are the United States with 132 million views, Brazil with 84.8 million, 45.3 million for France, 34.4 million for Mexico, 31.5 million in the United Kingdom, 21.5 million for Argentina, 18 million in Colombia, 17.4 million in Italy, 13.7 million in Chile, and 13.3 million views in Canada.
The icon’s top 10 songs this year kick off with Could You Be Loved (89.8M), Is This Love (81.5M), No Woman, No Cry (40.8M), Three Little Birds (40.1M), and Buffalo Soldier (27.6M). The other five are Natural Mystic, Crazy Baldhead/Runaway, One Love/People Get Ready, Satisfy My Soul and Stir It Up.
SHAGGY
Shaggy has had a remarkably successful year in the music industry, racking up an impressive 522 million global views on YouTube. With hits like ‘It Wasn’t Me’ under his belt, it’s not hard to see why Shaggy’s unique blend of Dancehall and Reggae rhythms has captivated audiences around the world yet again.
YouTube’s insights reveal that the United States emerged this year as the top country for views of Shaggy’s music, with a total of 88.2 million views. Mexico follows closely behind with 52.4 million views, while Colombia ranks third with 34.4 million views. Other countries in the top ten include the Philippines, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Romania, France, and Germany.
As for the songs responsible for the Grammy award winner’s impressive year, Angel ft Ravyon, comes in at number one with 111 million views. The others are It Wasn’t Me (85M), Mad Mad World ft. Sizzla and Collie Buddz (48.2M) and Hey Sexy Lady ft. Brian & Tony Gold (43.8M). Boombastic, both the original and the Sting remix, also made the list with 40.4 million and 28.2 million views respectively. ‘Хабиби’, a collaboration with Mohombi, Faydee, and Costi, also made the top ten with 27.8 million views. Rounding out the list are ‘Repent’ with 14.2 million views, the original Hey Sexy Lady with 10.8 million views, and the anthem, ‘Strength of a Woman’ with 8.61 million views.
VYBZ KARTEL
Despite his current limitations, the reputed King of Dancehall’s uncanny ability to hit impressive numbers this year – 415 million global views – is but a testament to the Gaza Boss’ enduring musical legacy.
Based on the data provided by YouTube, the United States comes in as the top country in 2022 to view Vybz Katel’s music, with 66.9 million views. Jamaica makes it in second place with 59.5 million views, followed by India with 33.8 million views. The United Kingdom and Kenya round out the top five with 26.5 million and 19 million views, respectively. Trinidad and Tobago, Costa Rica, Canada, Guyana, and France are also among Vybz Kartel’s top 10 countries, with 16.5 million, 15.7 million, 11.9 million, 11.1 million, and 8.72 million views, respectively.
YouTube’s Charts and Insights further revealed that Vybz Kartel’s most-viewed songs this year include You, which has 30.9 million views, African Summer with 19.3 million views, and Fever with 10.8 million views. The other songs to make this distinguished list include Summer Time, with 9.2 million views, Ride It with 8.82 million views, and ‘Girl Next Door’ with 8.81 million views. Any Weather, also on the list, has 8.51 million views, while Stimulus, which features Shawn Storm, has 7.36 million views. Colouring This Life and “Moon Walk” ft. Squash have 7.27 million and 7.01 million views respectively, and conclude the list.
SPICE
Queen of Dancehall Spice is among the top five most-viewed Reggae/Dancehall artists on YouTube this year for the first time in several years. Last year, 2021, though she amassed an impressive 136 million views, it was only enough to earn her a 13th-place finish on the highly competitive list. This year, however, Spice reeled in a staggering 399 million views, a 264 million improvement on her previous performance on YouTube, making her the highest-ranked female on the list. Shenseea at No. 12 and Stefflon Don at No. 9 round out the trio of top-performing Jamaican females of 2022.
According to the data, Spice’s most-watched song this year was Go Down Deh, featuring Shaggy and Sean Paul, which racked up 318 million views this year. This figure includes views attributed to several lyric videos and user-made “bass-boosted” versions of the song.
Her second most popular song this year was So Mi Like It with 12.7 million views, followed by ‘Conjugal Visit’ featuring Dancehall King Vybz Kartel with 12.2 million views. Tables Turn and Back Way, also featuring Vybz Kartel, complete the top 5 with 11.6 and 5.67 million views respectively. ‘Needle Eye’ (2.4M), ‘Send It Up’ (2.36M) and ‘Tape Measure’ (1.61M) also made the list. Kartel’s ‘Ramping Shop’ tops the list of 10 off with 1.88 million views.
India, with a total of 75 million views, leads the list of countries from which Spice generated most of her views this year. The United States follows behind with 24 million views, while Bangladesh, Turkey and Thailand round out the top five with 18.8, 17.4 and 16 million views respectively. Romania, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and France all made it into the top ten list of countries most engaged with the Dancehall Queen on YouTube, with totals of 12 million, 11.4 million, 9.82 million, 8.64 million, and 8.18 million views to cement the Queen’s dominant year.
Most Streamed Jamaican Artists On YouTube In 2022 – Global
| Rank | Artist Name | Views (millions) |
| 1 | Sean Paul | 1,210,000,000 |
| 2 | Bob Marley & The Wailers | 678,000,000 |
| 3 | Shaggy | 522,000,000 |
| 4 | Vybz Kartel | 415,000,000 |
| 5 | Spice | 399,000,000 |
| 6 | Rvssian | 307,000,000 |
| 7 | Damian Marley | 270,000,000 |
| 8 | Popcaan | 267,000,000 |
| 9 | Stefflon Don | 261,000,000 |
| 10 | Skeng | 260,000,000 |
| 11 | Chronic Law | 201,000,000 |
| 12 | Shenseea | 193,000,000 |
| 13 | Alkaline | 190,000,000 |
| 14 | Masicka | 179,000,000 |
| 15 | Skillibeng | 177,000,000 |
| 16 | Charly Black | 150,000,000 |
| 17 | OMI | 135,000,000 |
| 18 | TeeJay | 130,000,000 |
| 19 | Tommy Lee Sparta | 130,000,000 |
| 20 | Squash | 124,000,000 |
Editor’s note. Koffee would have likely made this list, but data for the singer was unavailable up to the time of publishing. The list will be updated once it’s available.
Most Streamed Jamaican Artists On YouTube In 2022 – Jamaica
| Rank | Artist Name | Views (millions) |
| 1 | Chronic Law | 118,000,000 |
| 2 | Skeng | 95,200,000 |
| 3 | Masicka | 69,400,000 |
| 4 | Squash | 59,900,000 |
| 5 | Vybz Kartel | 59,500,000 |
| 6 | Jahshii | 50,200,000 |
| 7 | Alkaline | 47,900,000 |
| 8 | Intence | 38,000,000 |
| 9 | Tommy Lee Sparta | 34,200,000 |
| 10 | TeeJay | 32,900,000 |
| 11 | Popcaan | 31,800,000 |
| 12 | Kraff Gad | 31,200,000 |
| 13 | Silk Boss | 27,600,000 |
| 14 | Rygin King | 26,200,000 |
| 15 | Malie Donn | 25,200,000 |
| 16 | Valiant | 24,800,000 |
| 17 | Shenseea | 23,000,000 |
| 18 | Skillibeng | 21,500,000 |
| 19 | Dexta Daps | 18,600,000 |
| 20 | Jada Kingdom | 17,300,000 |
Most Streamed Songs In Jamaica On YouTube – 2022
| 1 | Born Fighter – Jahshii | 10,700,000 |
| 2 | Protocol – Skeng & Tommy Lee Sparta | 10,600,000 |
| 3 | Talibhan – Skeng & Stalk Ashley | 7,670,000 |
| 4 | Suicide Note – Masicka | 7,520,000 |
| 5 | Life Changes – Skeng | 7,460,000 |
| 6 | Sweepstake Life – Squash | 6,950,000 |
| 7 | Ambala – Squash | 6,920,000 |
| 8 | New Gear – Intence | 6,820,000 |
| 9 | Last Last – Burna Boy | 6,260,000 |
| 10 | Dark Room – Shane O | 6,230,000 |