New Spotify data shows Nairobi’s 18–24 listeners driving simultaneous growth across dancehall, bongo flava, gengetone, gospel and amapiano, with the city posting the highest share of Gen Z streaming among Nairobi, Lagos and Johannesburg.
Listeners aged 18 to 24 accounted for 53.7% of all Spotify streams in Nairobi during June 2026, giving the city the highest share of Gen Z listening among three African cities analysed by the platform, according to new data released on July 13, 2026.
By comparison, 18–24 listeners made up 44.4% of streams in Lagos and 29.9% in Johannesburg. The figures were released ahead of Spotify’s Greasy Tunes programme in Nairobi, running from July 15 to 26.
Rather than converging on a single dominant sound, the data shows Nairobi’s Gen Z listeners expanding their tastes across genres simultaneously. Dancehall grew 95% year-on-year among 18–24 listeners, the fastest-growing genre in the dataset, followed by bongo flava at 75%, which Spotify attributes to accelerating cultural exchange between Kenya and Tanzania. Gengetone, the genre that originated in Nairobi, grew 48%, while gospel grew 37% – roughly six times the growth rate of drill, which rose just 6%. Amapiano grew 34% as the genre continues its expansion from South Africa into East Africa, alongside afrobeats (25%), R&B (28%) and afropop (21%).
The data also points to a generational divide in listening preferences. Among 18–24 listeners, deep house, jazz, classic country and rumba congolaise all under-index relative to the broader population, with young listeners roughly half as likely to stream deep house and jazz as older audiences.
Nairobi’s Gen Z listeners stream throughout the day, with activity strongest from midday into early evening. Noon is the highest single hour for this age group, while 6pm is the peak listening hour across all age groups in the city. The 10am–4pm window accounts for 39.7% of Gen Z’s daily listening, with the 5–10pm evening slot contributing a further 30.5%. Even in the overnight hours between 2am and 5am, 18–24 listeners make up 55% of all streams in the city.
Podcast consumption follows a similar pattern. Nairobi’s Gen Z podcast share is 2.5 times higher than Lagos and 1.7 times higher than Johannesburg, with Arts, Society & Culture, Comedy, and Health & Fitness among the leading categories.
Agnes Opondo, Artist and Label Partnerships Lead for East Africa at Spotify, said the Greasy Tunes programme is designed to reflect these listening patterns in a live setting. “Greasy Tunes Nairobi brings the data to life by showing how young Kenyans actually listen: across genres, across formats, and across the social moments that shape the city,” she said. “We are creating space for artists, communities, food, conversation and sound to meet in one programme, reflecting Nairobi’s energy as a culture hub where music is not just streamed, but experienced together.”
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