Is Gyptian the most popular artiste in North America?
GYPTIAN has usurped deejays Vybz Kartel, Shaggy and Sean Paul to become
the most popular dancehall artiste in North America and third popular
globally based on online searches, amidst the prerelease of his
charting album.
He is more popular than rivals in the US and Canada (the world’s
largest music market) according to data from search engine Google
analysed by the Observer. Over the last 30 days, every 100 searches for
Gyptian saw a corresponding 67 for Shaggy and five for Sean Paul, zero
for Kartel in the US.
Globally, however, Gyptian has half the online popularity
of Sean Paul and Shaggy who are still the most popular deejays. That is
not bad for Gyptian, as last June he did not even register on Google
Trends. Gyptian’s global rise to third place occurred in May and June
when he beat Kartel and Matisyahu respectively. It indicates that more
persons worldwide are searching for news and music from Gyptian than
ever.
His hit single Hold Yuh is currently topping five territories including
US, UK, France, Canada and Belgium based on iTunes Reggae Songs chart
up to Saturday. His single is also charting at number four on
Billboard’s Heatseeker’s singles chart. Whilst his new album on VP
Records debuted at number two on Billboard’s Reggae Albums chart this
week (despite his album’s official release in August).
Not since 2003 has a localbased reggae artiste had that level of chart
success noted Billboard about Gyptian. That chart success has fuelled
his online popularity which is reflected in the jump in his search
traffic.
Specifically, during the last 30 days, every 100 global searches for
Gyptian saw a corresponding 92 searches for Kartel and 80 searches for
Matisyahu. Gyptian is also currently tied with Damian Marley who
recently released an album with rap legend Nas.
The single Hold Yuh has resurrected his career from his debut hit
Serious Times some five years ago. Since then he has racked up a
handful of minor hits including Mama Don’t Cry, I Can Feel Your Pain
and Beautiful Lady. Hold Yuh however, is his first global hit which has
transcended the Jamaican Diaspora into the mainstream music markets. In
fact, he is one of the few Jamaican dancehall artistes who still holds
a valid US visa, which has allowed him to support his chart success
with a relatively big US tour which started in July.
Gyptian was raised in rural St Andrew by his Christian mother and
Rastafarian father. He often wrapped shirts around his head in the
style of an Egyptian pharaoh, which inspired his moniker. Gyptian honed
his talent by singing at his mother’s Sunday morning church services
and at the Saturday night dances promoted by his father who owned the
Sugar Stone sound system.
Google Trends analyses a portion of Google web searches to compute the quantity of searches for terms relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. Online search volume has significance as it reflects, in part, the fluctuations in online popularity of an artiste. The most popular Jamaican entertainers have the most online traffic; these are Bob Marley, Sean Paul and
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