Sauti Sol members, Bien, Chimano, Savara, and Fancy Fingers are celebrating the fifth anniversary of their 5th studio album, Midnight Train.
The album was released on June 5th, 2020, under Universal Music Group Africa and has defined Sauti Sol multi-dimensionally, first as the finest Kenyan export and secondly as a music powerhouse in Africa.
The album was produced by Grammy-winning music producer Andre Harris, Polycarp Otieno, Delvin Mudigi, among others and has 13 tracks with music in English, Swahili and Luhya
To date, the album’s cultural resonance remains supreme, amassing well over 407 million streams across Digital Streaming Platforms (DSPs), 549 million streams including User Generated Content(UGC), and 341 million YouTube views, creating history in Africa’s digital music space.
Sauti Sol remains Kenya’s most-followed artists on Spotify with close to 1 million monthly fans, consistently ranking in the Top 5 most-streamed artists in Kenya.
The album’s breakout hit “Suzanna” alone has crossed 34 million YouTube views, and sits at 10.5 million streams on Spotify, making it the most-streamed track on the album and their second most streamed song overall after the fan-favorite “Melanin” which has over 13M streams.
From the self-reflective “Insecure” to the gospel-themed “Brighter Days” featuring Soweto Gospel Choir, the album is a rich journey through vulnerability, hope, and reinvention.
Furthermore, Midnight Train includes star-powered features from American singer and songwriter India Arie in “My Everything,” South African rapper and singer Sho Madjozi, and Black Motion in “Disco Matanga” (Yambakhana) which also served as the lead soundtrack for Netflix’s first African original series, “Queen Sono.”
The diversity in culture, language, and musical influences shows Sauti Sol’s commitment to creating music for all generations.
From their 2008 debut ‘Mwanzo’ to ‘Sol Filosofia’ (2011), ‘Live and Die in Afrika’ (2015), and ‘Afrikan Sauce’ (2019), Sauti Sol has grown into one of Africa’s most celebrated music collectives.
Their catalog spans eras and emotions, making them leaders not just in Kenyan music, but across the continent.
Today , ‘Midnight Train’ is epitomized as the most streamed Kenyan album to date grossing over half a billion streams.
Comments 0
Sign in to join the conversation
Sign In Create AccountNo comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!