In keeping with streaming giants’ year-end reveals of 2022’s biggest tracks, YouTube names the top ten most-viewed artists, songs, and videos for 2022.
Casting a wide net that brings together Disney, trap and Latin music, YouTube’s 2022 music analytics reveal a broad range of tastes. While the list reads in some parts like a Ctrl+c of this year’s Spotify Wrapped (Bad Bunny features prominently on both), YouTube viewers held a clear preference for hip-hop, with rappers Lil Baby, JID, and Drake all cracking the top ten.
Lil Baby placed last on the list for his 2022 single In A Minute, while JID featured on Imagine Dragons’ eighth-place scoring track Enemy. Elsewhere, Future’s Drake and Tems-assisted song Wait for U landed at number five, with Kodak Black finalising the list’s hip-hop cohort with his second-place single Super Gremlin.
Aside from the rap genre, YouTube’s list reveals two additional music trends for 2022 listeners: Latin music and a whole lotta Disney. Songs by Latin artists account for 40% of YouTube’s 2022 music tastes, with musicians Bad Bunny and Karol G each placing two songs on the list. Karol G achieved the feat with her tracks Provenza and Mamiii, the latter of which featured American singer Becky G. Meanwhile, the songs Me Porto Bonito and Tití Me Preguntó continued Bad Bunny’s reign in 2022, placing sixth and fourth on YouTube’s list.
Despite being released last year, the Disney film Encanto continues (almost begrudgingly) to dominate YouTube’s airwaves, with two songs from the soundtrack taking first and third place. Despite its title, we’re somehow still talking about We Don’t Talk About Bruno, which amassed 503 million views and sits atop YouTube’s list. The Encanto track Surface Pressure came in at third, adding to its place on the Billboard Hot 100 earlier this year.
In addition to its 2022 playlist, YouTube also released analytics around its most popular non-music content this year. Viewers seemingly enjoyed Chris Rock’s Oscar-winning walloping, with The Guardian’s uncensored clip of the slap heard ‘round the world taking the top spot on the list.
Elsewhere, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar’s 2022 Superbowl Halftime show featured on the list, alongside a skit by Australian Superwog comedians Theodore and Nathan Saidden.
The most popular songs on YouTube in 2022 were:
- Encanto cast — We Don’t Talk About Bruno
- Kodak Black — Super Gremlin
- Encanto cast — Surface Pressure
- Bad Bunny — Tití Me Preguntó
- Future — Wait for U feat. Drake & Tems
- Bad Bunny & Chencho Corleone – Me Porto Bonito
- Karol G & Becky G – Mamiii
- Imagine Dragons & JID – Enemy
- Karol G – Provenza
- Lil Baby – In a Minute
