Nigerian singer, Niniola Apata, has announced her return back to the music industry months after grieving the death of her husband, Michael Ndika.

The announcement, made via emotional posts on social media, revealed that her new single reflects a deeply personal phase in her life, capturing themes of love, loss and emotional healing.

Niniola expressed her heartbreak, stressing that Michael was more than just her husband but also her best friend, confidant, pillar and.

“Some feelings are too deep for words. So I put them in a song. There are no words for a moment like this, but I know he’d want me to keep singing, to keep showing up, and to keep sharing the gift we’ve always believed in,” she wrote.

Spotify has released its Global Impact List for the first half of 2026, highlighting the Nigerian songs that recorded the strongest international streaming performance during the period.

Spotify made this known in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.

The platform noted that the rankings provided fresh insight into the growing global influence of Nigerian music and the increasing role of cross-cultural collaborations in expanding its reach.

Spotify said the rankings reflect a new era in which Nigerian artistes blend Yoruba, Igbo, Nigerian Pidgin and English with other global languages to connect with audiences worldwide.

It revealed that “Dai Dai”, the official FIFA World Cup 2026 song by Nigerian Afrobeats star, Burna Boy, and Colombian singer, Shakira, led the list.

The song combines Spanish and English in a cross-continental collaboration involving two major artistes from different musical backgrounds.

It added that Latin American collaborations also featured prominently on the list with Puerto Rican singer, Rauw Alejandro, teaming up with Nigerian artiste, Wizkid, and Jamaican producer, Rvssian, on “PONGO”.

Spotify said such collaborations demonstrated how Spanish, West African languages and sounds were creating new connections among artistes, cultures and audiences.

The trend is also reflected in Spotify’s “Afro Ritmo” playlist, which features collaborations between Nigerian, other African and Latin American artistes.

The Global Impact List further highlighted the multilingual nature of contemporary Nigerian music through the song titled “Goals”, a collaboration involving Nigerian singer, Rema, Brazilian pop star, Anitta, K-pop artiste , LISA and FIFA Sound.

The track blends Portuguese, Spanish, Korean and Nigerian Pidgin, thereby highlighting how music can transcend language and cultural barriers.

Spotify said the first half rankings showed that listeners were increasingly discovering music beyond language boundaries, with songs in Yoruba, Igbo, Nigerian Pidgin, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Korean connecting audiences through shared emotions, culture and creativity.

The platform said Nigerian artistes were increasingly collaborating across borders and languages, thereby expanding the country’s global music footprint and introducing new audiences to the diversity of its music scene.(NAN)

Nigerian record producer Michael Chigozie, popularly known as Tempoe, has earned Spotify’s billion streams plaque for his production of CKay’s global hit, Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah).

The producer announced the recognition on Wednesday via his verified X account, where he shared photographs of the plaque and the presentation.

He wrote: “First & Only Solo Nigerian Song to surpass 1 BILLION STREAMS on Spotify!!! ICONIC!”

The plaque recognises Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah), produced by Tempoe and performed by CKay, for surpassing one billion streams on Spotify, making it the first solo Nigerian song to reach the milestone on the platform.

The commemorative plaque bears the inscription: “In recognition of 1,000,000,000 streams”, with Tempoe credited as producer and CKay listed as the performing artiste.

Released in 2019, Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah) gained global prominence following its international remixes and widespread traction on social media, becoming one of Afrobeats’ biggest global hit.

Tempoe, born and raised in Lagos State, has produced several commercially successful Afrobeats records with international recognition.

Some of his productions include CKay’s Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah), Victony’s Soweto, Joeboy’s Sip (Alcohol) and Omah Lay’s Soso, which have collectively accumulated hundreds of millions of streams worldwide.

The recognition marks another milestone for Nigerian music, reflecting Afrobeats’ growing global reach and continued success on digital streaming platforms.

Fave Issues Warning to Secret Admirer over Disappointing Gift

Singer Fave has warned admirers against sending her gifts she considers below standard after expressing disappointment over an anonymous bouquet delivered to her.

Fave has warned admirers against sending her disappointing gifts after reacting to an anonymous flower bouquet she received.

The singer criticised the quality of the anonymous gift, saying it did not make her interested in knowing the sender.

Fave advised admirers to put more effort into gifts, insisting she would not appreciate flowers that fall below her expectations.

The singer shared her reaction in a video on social media, where she criticised both the quality of the bouquet and the fact that the sender chose to remain anonymous.

Visibly unimpressed, Fave said the gift left her irritated rather than flattered.

“Somebody sent me a bouquet of flowers, and I feel irritated because this is the bouquet, and the craziest thing about it is that the person decided to be anonymous. They didn’t even write their name on the card.”

She also described the handwritten note that accompanied the flowers as poorly presented and lacking the effort she would expect from someone trying to impress her.

According to the singer, the presentation of the gift gave her no reason to be curious about the identity of the admirer.

“They wrote this little note for me, and it’s not even an actual card. Look at the paper it was written on. Are you kidding me? You want to be anonymous? Where is the motivation to want to know who this person is? I actually do not want to know who you are.”

Fave further questioned why anyone would send her a gift they clearly put little effort into, adding that no one had even reached out afterward to confirm whether she received the flowers.

She suggested that the bouquet was not worthy of appreciation and joked that she was not about to spend time trying to figure out who had sent it.

“Why would you send me this, and the craziest thing about it is that nobody has messaged me to ask if I received the flowers.”

The singer ended her remarks with a stern warning to admirers, not to send her flowers unless they were of a quality she could genuinely appreciate.

She added that if someone insists on sending a gift that falls short of that standard, they might as well include their name instead of remaining anonymous.