With another year wrapping up, we take a look at 2023’s most streamed Turkish artists, albums and tracks on the world’s biggest music streaming platform Spotify.
Music streaming sites such as Spotify, Soundcloud and YouTube, together with social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, have opened the doors wider than ever for Turkish musicians in reaching global audiences. They are among the highly favoured apps in Türkiye, helping us to learn about musical trends for Turks, whilst also exposing Turkish artists to the rest of the world.
As expected, Türkiye’s biggest rappers like Ezhel, çakal and UZI take up the most streamed spots in 2023, alongside the legendary ‘Queen of Turkish Pop’ Sezen Aksu, whose phenomenal back catalogue propels her to be the most streamed female Turkish artist for six consecutive years (2017-2023).
This year, however, there are new pretenders to their crowns, as rising talent Semicenk, Simge and Motive take Spotify by storm! Here are Türkiye’s Top 10s from Spotify Wrapped 2023.
Spotify Most Streamed Turkish Artists 2023
Semicenk
UZI
Sezen Aksu
Motive
Lvbel C5
BLOK3
çakal
Mabel Matiz
Emir Can Iğrek
Ezhel
Semicenk is Turkiye’s most streamed star of 2023
With 5.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify, Semicenk clearly dominated everyone’s playlists this year as he’s Spotify’s most streamed artist and the only artist with four songs in the most streamed top 10 of Türkiye!
Standing out for his deep vocals (baritone or bass?) and blend of Pop-Arabesque, the 25-year-old pop singer first entered into public consciousness as a contestant on the 2019 edition of The Voice Türkiye. He officially started his professional music career later, in 2021.
Akin to most popular Gen Z musicians, Semicenk has released one banger after the other in 2023, endearing him to young Turkish music fans, especially the heartbroken youth (because Türkiye loves a good heartbreak song). Semicenk has also collaborated with some big names, such as Reynmen on the single “Yana Yana”.
Spotify Most Streamed Turkish Songs 2023
Aşkın Olayım – Simge
Yana Yana – Semicenk & Reynmen
NKBI X YAPAMAM (Remix) – Lvbel C5 & Güneş
Affetmem – BLOK3
Pişman Değilim – Semicenk & Doğu Swag
Sevecek Sandım – Semicenk
Canın Sağ Olsun – Semicenk & Rast
Antidepresan – Mert Demir & Mabel Matiz
Vur – BLOK3
24/7 – Alizade & Bege
The story behind Aşkın Olayım’s huge success in 2023
There is no telling when a song will hit it big nowadays thanks to social media…
Many people wrongly presume that Simge is a freshly breaking artist on the music scene with her hit single “Aşkın Olayım” (Let Me Be Your Love), which is the most streamed song in 2023. Yet the track was actually first released in 2018 as part of Simge’s debut album “Ben Bazen”, which also happens to be the fifth most streamed album this year.
So, how did “Aşkın Olayım”, an overlooked song back then, top the charts 5 years after its release?
The song quickly became associated with Galatasaray and Argentine international footballer Mauro Icardi after being played in the club’s stadium as fans celebrated his goals.
Simge’s song then went viral on social media platforms like Twitter and TikTok, with extracts embedded into clips of Icardi scoring goals. Aşkın Olayım is now considered Icardi’s song among the club’s fans and even by 42-year-old Simge, who’s finally found fame.
Most Streamed Albums
Romantik – Motive
El Chavo – UZI
Hermano – Heijan & Muti
Fatih – Mabel Matiz
Ben Bazen – Simge
Parti Iptal – Emir Can İğrek
Kan – UZI
Maya – Mabel Matiz
Atlantis – Güneş
Yaramızda Kalsın – Onur Can Özcan
Who Is Motive?
23-year-old rapper Motive (aka Tolga Can Serbes) has quite literally shot to the top of the Turkish rap pyramid with his hit album “Romantik” (Romantic) – the most streamed album of the year.
Motive is one Turkish artist who truly lives up to the term “rapper”, as reflected in the quality of his lyrics, sound and the delivery of his rap. His fresh style has ignited a new era in the Turkish rap scene, which had become rather tired and dull with all the mumble rapping.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say the young rapper’s success could expand beyond Turkish borders, as “Romantik” made the #3 on Spotify’s Top Albums Debut Global in its first week of release.
