The timing is significant. According to the IFPI Global Music Report 2026, global recorded music revenues rose 6.4% to a record $31.7 billion in 2025, driven primarily by paid streaming subscriptions. Sub-Saharan Africa was among the world’s fastest-growing recorded music markets, with revenue increasing 15.2%, highlighting the expanding commercial potential of artists from the region.
“As a South African living in the U.S. and working here, it’s been so inspiring for me to see someone with a similar background to mine, coming from where she has and taking the world by storm,” business executive Ross Franks told FORBES AFRICA at Thursday’s A*POP listening party at The Box in New York. “She has the combination of everything that makes a global artist, along with an authenticity that audiences genuinely connect with. I can’t wait for the next chapter.”
