When ‘Love Nwantiti’ was first released, in 2019 the world couldn’t imagine the heights it would then reach three years later. Up until then, ‘Love Nwantiti’ was a recognised hit in Nigeria, before having a second sign of rebirth, firing up in North Africa.

At that time, the UK accounted for under 5% of his followers (Instagram) and views (YouTube); however he was still generating 30k UK streams daily but wasn’t yet to hit core tastemaker spaces outside of TikTok.

From that point the objective and challenges were clear:

1. Converting organic consumption into genuine excitement for the artist;

2. Unlocking tastemaker, media and partner support to consolidate the wider audience exposure/consumption;

3. Unlocking a sense of the African diaspora’s pride to get behind the phenomenon.

Our robust influencer campaign involved a range of micro and macro TikTok influencers to broaden content strands. That became a starting point to wider audience exposure.

This – in conjunction with our targeting of key blog pages, CKay Fan pages, repurposed content and phased ad spend – played a huge role in unlocking the African diaspora’s sense of pride, seeding topics around the rise of Afrobeats, placing CKay at the centre of those discussions bi-weekly with “The first/only African artist to…” comms.

The anticipation for his arrival was built through a series of “Hey London, if you don’t yet know about love Nwantiti, you soon will – (signed) CKay ‘Africa’s boyfriend’” outdoor. The purple roses and pearls became a recurring theme.

We sent tastemakers a bouquet of roses, pearls and a personalised card inviting all to a “one night only” free debut show with The Compozers.

CKay made a second trip back, partnering with TikTok to host an exclusive livestream with his first Brit’s nomination, performing on a boat across the Thames with fans and the creators.