Drizilik: from 2 million to 25 million streams
Artist development, concerts, PR and US career building that grew one of Sierra Leone’s biggest Afropop artists more than tenfold in four years.
The challenge
When we started in 2022, Drizilik had just become the first Sierra Leonean artist to pass 2 million streams on Audiomack. The goal was to turn a home-grown star into an artist who could sell tickets, win sponsors and work internationally.
What we did
- Planned, produced and promoted four headline concerts: the historic Howard Theatre in Washington, DC in 2024 and 2025, the Clapham Grand in London in 2024 and The Steelyard in London in 2025
- Secured a US O-1B visa, recognizing extraordinary ability in the arts (2025)
- Three years at the BET Awards: facilitated his first in 2023, attended and documented it with him in 2024, and his red carpet appearance in 2025
- His first corporate booking, at Amazon’s summer concert series in Arlington, Virginia
- Performed Sabi Road to 20,000 people at Mr Eazi’s Detty Rave in Accra (2025)
- Press coverage in OkayAfrica, YFM Ghana, Rolling Stone and AYV News, turning each milestone into news
- Brokered his brand deal with Mercury International (2023 – 2026)
- Secured sponsorship renewals with Orange (2024 – 2025) and UBA Sierra Leone (2025 – 2026)
- Brought in Air Sierra Leone to sponsor the 2025 London concert, with two free round-trip tickets to Sierra Leone for fans
Growth over time
- March 2022First Sierra Leonean artist to pass 2 million streams on Audiomack. It took four years.
- July 2024Headline concert at the Howard Theatre, Washington, DC, promoted and produced by VR&C
- October 2024First Sierra Leone-based act to pass 10 million streams on a single platform, with 73,000 monthly Audiomack listeners
- November 2024Headline concert at the Clapham Grand, London, with Idris Elba on stage
- 2025O-1B visa, the BET Awards, Amazon’s summer concert series, and the Wait and See EP: 500,000 streams in its first week
- July 2025Second headline concert at the Howard Theatre, Washington, DC, again promoted and produced by VR&C
- Late 2025More than 20 million streams, then 25 million across all platforms: the most for any Sierra Leone-based artist. Half a million social followers and 2 million monthly views.
In pictures
More personal brands and creatives work
Personal brands and creatives · Sept 2018 – Jul 2020
President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
Launching Africa’s first elected woman president on Twitter at 80, then running her account for almost two years
Personal brands and creatives · 2021 – 2026
Dr. Yakama Manty Jones
PR and branding for a founder, her reading foundation and her data company
Personal brands and creatives · 2018 – 2024
Asmaa James
Three ventures for a journalist turned media entrepreneur
Want results like these? Let’s talk.
Tell us about your audience, your goal and your timeline.