Marking a decade since the release of Kwesta’s landmark double album DaKAR II, Spotify and Sony Music Entertainment hosted a live celebration in Randburg, Johannesburg, honouring the artist and the enduring impact of the project on South African hip hop.
Released in 2016, DaKAR II captured a defining moment in local culture: unapologetically South African, ambitious in scope, and fearless in its storytelling. Ten years on, it is not only still being streamed, it is being rediscovered. Spotify data shows that listening in 2025 rose sharply compared with the album’s release year, with 2025 also emerging as the album’s strongest annual streaming year to date. The album also hit a new daily streaming peak in November 2025, underlining its continued relevance in today’s streaming environment.
In an exclusive reflection with Spotify, Kwesta describes the album’s success as a rare alignment rather than pure luck. “We were blessed to be at the same time, together, making that thing,” he says, pointing to the people who helped protect the message, sound, and direction of the project. From the studio to strategy, he credits collaborators and partners who ensured DaKAR II remained uncompromised.
Part of what made DaKAR II era-defining was also what made it risky: its scale and range. “Making it a double album was a risk on its own,” Kwesta says. It gave him space to show multiple sides of himself in one body of work, from “hardcore rapping” through to a “soft, vulnerable” version of Kwesta that listeners had not widely seen before.
While DaKAR II continues to travel globally, South Africa remains its biggest market on Spotify, with Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, and Cape Town leading local listening. Internationally, the United States and the United Kingdom remain among the strongest markets outside South Africa. For Kwesta, however, the most meaningful validation has always come from home. “My biggest pride about this album is not necessarily how Africa or the world took it, but how Katlehong took it… the reaction of Katlehong to it is my most prized possession,” he says.
DaKAR II features collaborations with Cassper Nyovest, AKA, Busiswa and Thabsie, and its biggest records continue to drive listening today. On Spotify, “Ngiyaz’fela Ngawe (feat. Thabsie)”, “Ngud’ (feat. Cassper Nyovest)”, and “Nomayini” remain the album’s leading tracks. The same songs are also among the most frequently added to listeners’ playlists, with “Ngud’” and “Ngiyaz’fela Ngawe” leading for playlist adds, followed closely by “Nomayini”.
DaKAR II also continues to resonate with younger listeners. The 18 to 24 age group accounts for the largest share of streams, and thousands of listeners discovered the album over the past year. For Kwesta, that longevity comes down to a single principle: authenticity. “Don’t just play where you’re allowed to play. Play where your heart tells you,” he says. “If you keep who you are, by the time you look up, you’re gonna be where you were trying to go regardless.”
Ten years later, the story is clear: DaKAR II did not spike and disappear. It has cemented itself as a modern South African hip hop classic, still finding new audiences, still shaping culture, and still proving its place in the canon.
