By Ahmad El-Moussaoui
2022 was a great year for music, with major artists like Beyonce and Adele dropping their first albums in years and Rihanna dropping a song. This meant for amazing music, and even greater records that were broken.
Nicki Minaj
Nicki Minaj was once again the reigning rap queen of the year. Following the release of “Super Freaky Girl,” the single debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming the first solo female rap song to do so since Lauryn Hill’s “Doo Wop (That Thing).” Nicki Minaj also became the first female rapper to obtain two number one debuts – “Trollz” being her first. Moreover, the single garnered 89k downloads in the first week, the most for any first week release this year and second week overall. In addition, the VMA’s honoured her with the Vanguard Award, thereby joining Rihanna, Beyonce, Janet Jackson, and Missy Elliot as the only black female artists to do so.
Taylor Swift
It’s no surprise to anyone that Taylor Swift swept the music industry following her anticipated album “Midnights.” She became the artist to garner the most streams on Spotify in one day with 185M, and held the entire top 10 on the Hot 100 charts. Furthermore, “Anti-Hero” became the song with the most downloads in a week during its third week of release following the remixes, with approximately 3ooK sales. Moreover, her album went number one with 1.5M, the most following the new Billboard rules and a new record for Taylor Swift herself. It is safe to say that there is no stopping her any time soon.
Bad Bunny
Bad Bunny showed us this year that he is deserving of the title of “biggest star in the world.” Not only did his album “Un Verano Sin Ti” break streaming records left right and centre, but he also became the most streamed artist of the year, and second of all time. His tour also became one of the highest grossing tours of all time, and he is the only artist to sell out two 100M stadiums in a single calendar year. Bad Bunny is truly a cultural phenomenon.
Sam Smith & Kim Petras
Following the release of the hit tiktok trend “Unholy,” the single debuted at number one and became the first-ever song to go top 10 by a transgender artist!
SZA
Even though it was recently released, SZA’s new album garnered 68M streams in one day on Spotify. She became the most streamed female Black artist in a single day and joined Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande as the only female artists to do such big streaming numbers on the app. SZA also held the entirety of the top 10 on Apple Music, one of five female artists to do so. She has catapulted the R&B genre to extreme heights, hopefully opening the doors for more black artists to shine.
These are only five of many artists to have broken the ceiling in music this year, but I specifically wanted to highlight the black women who have shined this year. Beyonce dropped her album “Renaissance” which is possibly one of the most versatile albums of the decade, Rihanna dropped a heartfelt ballad dedicated to Chadwick Boseman, Summer Walker and SZA carried the R&B genre all year, Nicki Minaj, Doja Cat and Megan Thee Stallion continued the women’s rap streak to even greater heights than their male counterparts. In addition, non-English speaking artists like Bad Bunny, Rosalia, Blackpink and Karol G demonstrated that while language may be a barrier, music can still heal the heart and soul. Let’s hope that next year diversity continues to grow in the music industry!