Thanks to YouTube, we now know which artists ended 2015 on a strong note in Chicago as well as across the world.
The video-sharing website uses a handy tool called Music Insights to track how many views artists receive in different cities and in different countries. YouTube tracked 2,341,252,940 total views in Chicago alone in 2015, according to Music Insights.
So which artists topped the charts in the Windy City? Drake, Fetty Wap and Taylor Swift rounded out the top three, with a combined total of more than 52 million views in Chicago, according to Music Insights.
As to be expected, local talent also saw big success in Chicago, including rappers Lil Durk, Twista, and Lil Bibby. Chicago ranked number one in most views for both Lil Durk and Twista in 2015, according to YouTube. Lil Durk saw nearly 7 million views last year locally, and Twista received more than 1 million views.
Chicago ranked second behind New York for the number of Lil Bibby views, according to YouTube. The “Ain’t Hear Bout You” rapper got a total of 1,421,614 views in Chicago last year. In comparison, New York totaled 1,759,847 Lil Bibby views.
R. Kelly also saw a big numbers in Chicago, but surprisingly the “Ignition” singer received the most views overseas in 2015. The Chicago native raked in more than 11 million views in London, more than any other city last year, according to Music Insights.
Chicago also fell behind New York in the total of R. Kelly views on YouTube, hovering above 7 million views, according to the data. His top track in 2015, “I Believe I Can Fly,” got more than 57 million views globally.
Music Insights has been collecting data since September of 2014, according to YouTube. The website counts each view of any video that includes the song when tallying the song’s total views. The video can be an official video or fan video that uses all or part of a song.
Here’s a breakdown of some of the video stats from 2015 courtesy of Music Insights:
Chicago Total Views: 2,341,252,940
Top Artists of 2015 in Chicago:
1. Drake: 19,766,245 Total Views in Chicago
2. Fetty Wap: 16,824,232 Total Views in Chicago
3. Taylor Swift: 15,474,878 Total Views in Chicago
Lil Durk Total Views in U.S.: 79,649,639
Lil Durk Total Views in Chicago: 6,948,209
Lil Bibby Total Views in U.S.: 21,427,888
Lil Bibby Total Views in Chicago: 1,421,614
Twista Total Views in U.S.: 27,310,004
Twista Total Views in Chicago: 1,755,327
R. Kelly Total Views in U.S.: 186,184,729
R. Kelly Total Views Chicago: 7,642,338
R. Kelly Total Views in London: 11,210,597
