Amr Diab is the top globally streamed MENA artist, and Sherine appears with four songs in the Top 10
Spotify is sharing the Top Middle East and North Africa Artists and Songs Globally, a list shaped by streams from both inside and outside the region. The list highlights how MENA music traveled in 2025 and what sounds resonated with listeners worldwide.
Pop Icons and Emotional Anchors at the Center of Global Listening
At the top of the global artists list is Amr Diab, which will not surprise anyone who has ever sat in a car in Cairo, Beirut, Dubai, or any Arab diaspora hangout abroad. He also topped Egypt’s Wrapped this year, and his songs, old or new, sun-drenched or heartbreak-heavy, continue to stitch together moments across generations. The return of “Tamally Maak” to the global Top Tracks list says a great deal about endurance. Some songs simply stay with people.
Sherine shaped the year with a different emotional palette. With four tracks in the global Top 10, including classics “Kalam Eineh”, “El Watar El Hassas”, and “3la Bali”, along with her newer “Btmanna Ansak”, which reached listeners from Egypt to Germany and the United Kingdom, she became the emotional throughline of 2025. Sherine’s catalogue continues to connect with listeners in a way that feels personal and lasting, something this year’s data makes clear.
More regional classics rounded out the picture, Nancy Ajram’s early-2000s staple “Ya Tabtab Wa Dallaa” found new audiences in Indonesia and Turkey. Khaled’s “C’est la vie” continued doing what it has done for more than a decade, crossing borders with ease, resonating from France to India, and carrying the unmistakable energy of raï far beyond North Africa. Fairuz remained a morning companion for countless fans, her voice anchoring coffee playlists and quiet routines across the Arab world and the Arab diaspora. Whether rooted in memory, language, or cultural identity, listeners leaned into songs that carried meaning across generations. Artists such as Tamer Ashour and Ramy Sabry also featured in the global Top MENA Artists list, showing how romantic Arab pop from the region continues to connect with audiences far beyond home.
Scene-Shapers Across Rap, Mahraganat, and Hybrid Sounds Held Their Ground
Alongside the region’s pop foundations, several scene-shapers across rap, mahraganat, and hybrid pop maintained strong visibility in global listening.
ElGrandeToto, Morocco’s Top Artist on Spotify consecutively from 2020 to 2025, continued to highlight the evolution of the country’s hip-hop scene. In 2025, Moroccan rap leaned into raï, chaabi, and local rhythmic signatures while remaining rooted in trap, and Toto’s work operated within that blend. His collaboration with Spanish-Moroccan rapper Morad, “Ojos Sin Ver”, appeared in the global MENA Top Tracks list.The collaboration links two artists shaped by different rap scenes, and its continued presence on lists reflects how Moroccan hip-hop continues to move seamlessly between regional and European audiences.
Marwan Pablo, another name recognised globally this year, remained a defining voice in Egyptian hip-hop, known for weaving introspection into an ever-evolving scene. Essam Sasa and Eslam Kabonga,a, both established voices in mahraganat, also appeared in the global list this year, underscoring how the genre’s raw storytelling continues to reach listeners well beyond its local origins.
This year also saw “KALAMANTINA”, the collaboration between Saint Levant and Marwan Moussa, land in the global MENA Top Tracks. Blending hip-hop, and pop, the song mirrors a hybrid electro-shaabi sonic mood increasingly visible across the region.
The Top MENA Tracks globally list also included “RAVE” by Algerian artist DXRK ダーク, who debuted as the most-streamed MENA artist globally in 2022. Three years later, the track continues to draw attention from electronic music fans across the region and beyond, clocking more than 513 million streams.
Together, these artists show how music from the Middle East and North Africa moves across borders with remarkable range, from timeless classics and romantic ballads to rap fusions, mahraganat, and even phonk.
Middle East and North Africa’s Top Artists 2025 Globally
Amr Diab
ElGrandeToto
Sherine
Essam Sasa
Tamer Ashour
Eslam Kabonga
Nancy Ajram
Ramy Sabry
Fairuz
Marwan Pablo
Middle East & North Africa’s Top Tracks Globally 2025
“Kalam Eineh” by Sherine
“RAVE” by DXRK ダーク
“KALAMANTINA” by Saint Levant and Marwan Moussa
“El Watar El Hassas” by Sherine
“Btmanna Ansak” by Sherine
“C’est la vie” by Khaled
“Tamally Maak” by Amr Diab
“Ojos Sin Ver” by Morad, ElGrandeToto
“Ya Tabtab Wa Dallaa” by Nancy Ajram
“3la Bali” by Sherine