15 Afropop Needle Drops

Nnegest Likké, a filmmaker of Ethiopian, Nigerian and African American descent, said in a Premium Times interview earlier this year that “African Queen,” the heartwarming ballad by Nigerian hitmaker 2baba, “struck a universal chord with the world” 20 years ago — especially after Likké included it in her 2006 comedy Phat Girlz.

Named the No. 1 song on Billboard‘s 50 best Afrobeats songs of all time list last month, “African Queen” is also one of the first Afrobeats songs to be incorporated in a Hollywood production, a phenomenon that has grown significantly over the last five years with the genre’s rising popularity across the globe. Now, Billboard is rounding up more Afropop music moments in TV and film: “African Queen” is not the only song from Billboard‘s best Afrobeats songs list that makes this one, as Wizkid and Tems‘ “Essence,” Skales’ “Shake Body” and Yemi Alade‘s “Johnny” have also been featured on the small and silver screens.

Outside of appearing during the third and final season of the Sex and the City spinoff series And Just Like That, “Essence” has also been featured on the CW sports drama series All American and the AppleTV+ sports comedy drama series Ted Lasso. Another Tems track, her 2020 For Broken Ears sleeper hit “Higher,” appeared on All American, while Ted Lasso spotlighted 1da Banton’s 2021 hit “No Wahala” and Tekno’s 2020 single “Enjoy” during its third and final season. And alté trailblazer Odunsi (The Engine) and Runtown’s “Star Signs” appeared in both Netflix’s British teen sex comedy drama series Sex Education and HBO’s sports comedy drama series Ballers.

Below, Billboard rounds up 15 moments where Afropop songs have soundtracked weddings, strip clubs and more on-screen moments, in order from newest to oldest. This list excludes songs that African artists intentionally recorded for TV show and movie soundtracks (although said list could be coming soon).