Without the world’s largest music market factored into the chart, Brazil, Germany and Japan are among the countries producing artists with international crossover potential
After Warner Music released Mali-born French pop singer Aya Nakamura’s hip-hop-infused song “Djadja” in April 2018, it soared to No. 1 in France, Romania and the Netherlands, where Nakamura was the first French woman to top the Dutch chart since Édith Piaf’s “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” in 1961.
Singing in her native French, Nakamura has scored three songs on the Billboard’s Global Excl. U.S. chart in its initial three-month run, including “Plus Jamais” (featuring Stormzy) and a remix version of “Djadja” (featuring Maluma) released in June, which has spent 13 weeks on the Global Excl. U.S. chart (peaking at No. 32) and 10 weeks on the Billboard Global 200 (peaking at No. 57).