Nigeria’s Valentine’s Day Soundtrack: More Tears Than Cheers, Spotify Data Reveals

Valentine’s Day in Nigeria might look a little different than expected. While love songs undoubtedly fill the air, Spotify data reveals a surprising trend: a massive surge in heartbreak song streams. Forget candlelit dinners; Nigerians are turning to their playlists to process their emotions, with a staggering 626% overall growth in heart­break streams from 2022 to 2024. This Valentine’s, the sound of love is accompa­nied by the sound of heart­break, and the data shows it’s louder than ever before.

One heartbreak that Ni­gerians collectively mourn­ed was the tragic passing of street pop artist Mohbad. It’s no surprise that the data shows that on Valen­tine’s Day in 2024, Egwu by Chike and Mohbad ranked among the top three most-streamed songs by Nige­rians. Other tracks that topped the charts include “One Love – Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By The Film” by Wizkid ranking at number one and Shallipopi and Odu­modublvck’s “Cast” at number three.

In 2023, Omah Lay’s deeply emotional song “Soso”, a melancholic cry for relief from pain, was among the top three most streamed songs on Valen­tine’s Day. It was joined by j-hope’s “Arson” and Ayra Starr’s “Sability”.

While one might assume listening to heartbreak mu­sic would peak at night, a period known for deep reflection, Spotify data re­veals otherwise. It turns out that Nigerians listen to heartbreak songs most often between 9 AM and 11 AM. For three years, heartbreak music has been a surprising part of Nige­rians’ morning routine. Whether it’s a lingering breakup or a heavy heart, offices, cubicles and work­spaces in Nigeria are filled with people working, head­phones on, starting their day tuned into heartbreak songs and quietly process­ing their emotions.

There’s a common belief that women are more ex­pressive about heartbreak but Spotify data tells a dif­ferent story when it comes to music consumption. On Valentine’s Day, most sur­prisingly, male listeners streamed heartbreak songs at a significantly higher rate than female listen­ers, with a 362% increase compared to 169% among women.

This could suggest that men resonate with the feel­ing of heartbreak more and turn to music as a private outlet for processing emo­tions. Whatever the reason, one thing is clear—when love is in the air, so is heart­break and Nigerian men are pressing play on their pain more than expected. While Valentine’s Day is of­ten celebrated with grand gestures, heartbreak is a common theme on Val­entine’s Day – more than what’s publicly shown.