An AI-assisted track has climbed to No. 1 on the U.S. Afrobeats chart dated May 9, 2026, overtaking Tyla’s “Chanel.”
The song, “Let Me Be” by The Second Voice featuring Elvin Cena, marks the first time an openly AI-assisted record has reached the top of a major Billboard chart in the US.
Cena, a 21-year-old Rwandan artist, tells OK Africa that the success is both a dream realized and a complicated turning point.
He has been releasing music since 2020, steadily building a modest audience across East Africa and Europe. But none of his earlier tracks came close to the impact of “Let Me Be.”
Ironically, it was a song he initially did not plan to release.
Recorded months earlier while studying in France, the track already had its foundation lyrics, melody, and concept, but Cena was dissatisfied with the production. Instead of shelving it permanently, he turned to AI platform Suno AI to experiment with new sounds.
“I needed something more danceable,” he explained, describing how he reshaped the track into an amapiano-inspired record. “I also wanted a second voice—a female vocal—to complement mine.”
Rather than release the track under his own name, Cena created a separate identity; The Second Voice, to house the AI-assisted version.
“I’m an artist too, and I don’t want to be associated with AI 100 percent,” he said.
The song was quietly uploaded to DSPs in February. Then, without promotion, it exploded with a music video released in March reaching almost 10 million views on YouTube. It has surpassed 50,000+ TikTok videos and is charting across France, Belgium, Kenya, and Tanzania
“It hit one million views in three days,” he recalled. “I was just refreshing YouTube Studio in disbelief.”
The Top 10 U.S. Afrobeats Songs (May 9, 2026)
- The Second Voice ft. Elvin Cena – Let Me Be 🆕
- Tyla – Chanel
- Tyla – Water
- MOLIY – Shake It To The Max
- Asake – Worship
- Omah Lay – I Am
- Wizkid & Asake – Jogodo
- Kidd Carder – Big Bum Bum
- Tems – Big Daddy
- Folapondis – Fine Ting (Fine $hit) (New)
