Chronic Law dethrones Vybz Kartel as YouTube’s most streamed artiste from Jamaica for 2022
KINGSTON, Jamaica – YouTube’s end-of-year numbers are in and for the first time since 2019, incarcerated deejay Vybz Kartel does not own the top spot on the coveted year-end chart.
This year, according to the streaming platform’s numbers,Chronic Law has dethroned Vybz Kartel, dominating the 2022 statistics.
Vybz Kartel, who has remained the ‘King’ of YouTube streams over the last three years, finished fourth on the list. He was also bested by the likes of newcomer Skeng and dancehall mainstay Masicka. Rounding out the top five most streamed artistes on the platform for 2022 was 6ixx front-runner, Squash.
Checks made by the OBSERVER ONLINE showed that Chronic Law, on his way to claiming the top spot, racked up a whopping 66.5 million streams over the past 12 months. Skeng, who enjoyed a good year courtesy of some mega hits as well as an international feature from Nicki Minaj, finished in second place with 49.7 million streams. Masicka, who finished third, earned 39.7 million streams while Vybz Kartel and Squash, who finished fourth and fifth, gained 33.4 and 30.6 million streams respectively.
In addition to nabbing the title of most streamed artiste on YouTube for Jamaica in 2022, Chronic Law also earned two spots on the top 20 songs list for 2022. Empty, which was released over the summer, and Corrupt, which was released at the start of the year, together racked up close to 20 million YouTube views.
Rounding out the top ten most streamed artiste out of Jamaica for 2022 are Jashii (26.6 million streams), Alkaline (26.3 million streams) and Intence (19.8 million). Popcaan and Teejay both earned 17.8 million YouTube views to finish ninth and 10th respectively.
Dancehall’s princess, Shenseea, was the only female artiste to feature on the list. Making it into the top 20, Shenseea landed at number 18 with 11.6 million YouTube streams. She finished ahead of Skillibeng (10.9 million) and Dexta Daps (10.5 million streams).
Valiant, Malie Don, Kraff Gad, and Silk Boss were the other dancehall newcomers to make the top 20. Rygin King, Tommy Lee Sparta and international act Chris Brown also made the top 20 most streamed artiste on YouTube for Jamaica in 2022.