Kelvin Momo’s marvellous set left Spotify Greasy Tunes patrons wanting more

Spotify Greasy Tunes Johannesburg ended on 30 July 2023 after more than 4,000 patrons passed through over four weeks, and Moonchild Sanelly and Toss closed it out. Spotify later took the format to Lagos in 2025 and to Nairobi, where it ran at Heltz House from 15 to 26 July 2026. Kelvin Momo’s career has grown a lot since that set. He released Sewe in August 2024 and the 29-track Thato Ya Modimo on 30 May 2025, and he finished 2025 as Spotify’s third most-streamed artist in South Africa with more than 71 million streams.

Week two at Spotify Greasy Tunes

Amapiano Grooves took over the second week of Spotify Greasy Tunes, a month-long pop-up in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, built around the Greasy Tunes playlist. It was July 2023, and the week added to a programme that mixed music, food and talk.

Focalistic

The week opened with Focalistic on a live podcast recording with Gugu Nyatsumba of After School is After School. They talked about how Foca climbed to the top of Amapiano and how the genre kept growing around the world.

At the time, Spotify said Amapiano had passed 2 billion streams on the platform. The Amapiano Grooves playlist mixed some of the genre’s most successful artists.

Pabi Cooper and Mellow & Sleazy, who had also played Greasy Tunes the week before, spoke about the rise of Amapiano for Spotify’s “Beat School” segment. The talk made it clear the genre was not slowing down.

Oskido, often called the father of South African dance music and Afrosoul, led the Dancing Through The Decades segment. Mellow & Sleazy also headlined Fresh Friday, another Greasy Tunes segment built around the newest Mzansi artists and food.

The weekend events that week drew about 800 visitors.

What Spotify said about the concept

Spotify described the pop-up as an immersive mix of spoken audio, music and food that celebrated the custodians of South African culture. Warren Bokwe, Spotify’s Sub-Saharan Lead for Music Strategy and Operations, said: “Spotify Greasy Tunes’ distinctive audio and food experience exemplifies the limitless potential of audio and our commitment to creating a space where different South African cultural influencers can showcase their stories.”

On the menu and on stage

The Kilimanjaro Kota was on the menu, along with a fan favourite called An Absolute Banger. The artists on the bill included

Pcee

, Justin99,

Khanyisa

,

Pabi Cooper

, Chicco, KMART, Thulani Way and

Myztro

. Some of them were also Spotify’s EQUAL Africa ambassadors for July 2023.

Kelvin Momo’s Downloaded Saturdays set was the highlight of the week, and the crowd was left wanting more.

Kelvin Momo

How the 2023 run ended

Greasy Tunes ran from Wednesday to Sunday each week until 30 July 2023 at 5 De Beer Street in Braamfontein, the building that used to house the Great Dane. Over four weeks it hosted live podcast recordings, quiz nights, masterclasses, live sets and DJ sets. Spotify reported more than 4,000 patrons in total, and Moonchild Sanelly and Toss played the closing shows.

What came next for Kelvin Momo and Greasy Tunes

That Saturday set came early in Kelvin Momo’s run of hit albums. He released Sewe in August 2024. Spotify said it drew more than 1.328 million first-day streams in South Africa, the most for any album that day, and it passed 15 million streams in less than a month. Ntsako came out in December 2024 and became his fastest album to reach 10 million streams on Spotify in South Africa.

Thato Ya Modimo followed on 30 May 2025. It runs 29 tracks and more than three hours. All 29 songs entered Apple Music’s South African Top 50, and the album came out just before his Red Bull Symphonic show in Johannesburg on 7 June 2025. In Spotify Wrapped 2025 he ranked third among the most-streamed artists in South Africa, behind Drake and Kabza De Small. Ntsako and Thato Ya Modimo were second and fifth on the most-streamed albums list. In 2026 he released the singles “Imizamo” (23 January, with Mr Maker, Shane907 and Nokulunga V) and “Ex Yakho” (15 May).

Greasy Tunes also kept going. After Johannesburg in 2023, Spotify ran an edition in Lagos in 2025. The third edition was a 12-day residency at Heltz House in Nairobi from 15 to 26 July 2026, with Nyashinski among the headliners.

FAQ

What was Spotify Greasy Tunes?

It was a pop-up venue from Spotify that paired South African music with food, styled on a classic “greasy spoon” café. The first edition ran in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, from Wednesday to Sunday through July 2023. It had live podcasts, quiz nights, masterclasses, live performances and DJ sets.

When did Kelvin Momo play Greasy Tunes?

He played the Downloaded Saturdays slot during the Amapiano Grooves week, the second week of the July 2023 run. Reports at the time called it the standout set of the week.

Will Greasy Tunes return to Johannesburg?

No new Johannesburg edition had been announced as of November 2026. After Johannesburg in 2023, Spotify ran the concept in Lagos in 2025 and in Nairobi from 15 to 26 July 2026. Spotify’s newsroom is the place to watch for any new city.

What is Kelvin Momo’s biggest album?

On recent streaming numbers, Thato Ya Modimo (30 May 2025) and Ntsako (December 2024) are his biggest. Together they passed 76 million Spotify streams in 2025, finishing second and fifth on South Africa’s most-streamed albums list. Sewe (August 2024) set his first-day record, with more than 1.3 million streams in South Africa.

Was Kelvin Momo South Africa’s most-streamed artist in 2025?

No. He ranked third on Spotify in South Africa in 2025, behind Drake and Kabza De Small, with more than 71 million streams. Some outlets reported he was second on Apple Music in South Africa that year.

Sources

• The Star (IOL): “Month-long sensational celebration of pop wraps up in style”
• Stuff: “Spotify’s Greasy Tunes is a pop-up celebrating South African music and food”
• W24: Greasy Tunes pop-up opens in place of the Great Dane, Braamfontein
• Spotify Newsroom: “Spotify’s Greasy Tunes Nairobi Brings the City’s Soundtrack to Life”
• Citizen Digital: “Food, fashion, football, music: How Spotify’s Greasy Tunes brought Nairobi together for 12 days”
• Daily News (IOL): “Kelvin Momo dominates Spotify and Apple Music in 2025”
• Saturday Star (IOL): “Local music takes centre stage as South Africans celebrate Spotify Wrapped 2025”
• Music In Africa: “SA: Kelvin Momo makes history with record-breaking album Thato Ya Modimo”
• Sunday Tribune: Kelvin Momo’s Sewe passes 15 million streams
• Briefly News: Ntsako passes 10 million streams on Spotify South Africa
• Apple Music: Kelvin Momo artist page