Top10 Worldwide Music Selection from Concerty - February 2024

Kanye West - CARNIVAL feat. Ty Dolla $ign (UNITED STATES)

Here’s someone no-one would have expected to see anywhere near top of the charts a year ago. Kanye West has - rightfully - got himself into a lot of hot water for the unscrupulous statements he's made. However, when everyone thought he was done, he got back into the studio, and released a brand new studio album through his own label YZI, in collaboration with Ty Dolla $ign. And, lo and behold, “Vultures 1” ended up making #1 on the Billboard 200 chart in the US.

“CARNIVAL” is one of the popular tracks off of Ye’s new record.

Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD’EM (AUSTRALIA)

Another leading superstar of the 2000’s, Beyoncé, also came out with a new single. To a bit of a surprise, she came up with a honky-tonk, country pop-style track, which even pays tribute to the Southern state of Texas, and the most popular poker game originating from there, in the title. However, she does clarify in the very first line of the lyrics, “this ain’t Texas”.

Interestingly, while Beyoncé was born and raised in Houston, Texas, her musical style was far from the country songs popular among Southern folk - until now, apparently… The creative choice paid off for her, as the song was a hit well beyond the American south, even in Australia. 

Galin - Taka Taka (BULGARIA)

We have a new country representing their musical taste in our Concerty Worldwide column now, with Bulgaria entering the list. Their first addition is a local talent, pop singer Galin, with his track from December 2023 that is still charting high in his home country, “Taka Taka".

Floni - Engill (ICELAND)

The small, nordic island nation of Iceland has managed to give the world an international music star already in Björk. This time, however, we have someone from the new generation, who is still at the beginning of his career - at least based on his stats on different platforms. The 26-year-old artist Floni has 32,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and just 1,200 subscribers on YouTube. His new electropop track “Engill”, however, was among the most popular tracks with Icelandic Spotify users all last month.

Omoinotake - 幾億光年 (JAPAN)

Meanwhile in Asia, in Japan more specifically, the pop rock band Omoinotake put out a popular new release. Despite being around since 2012, the band has yet to establish a fan base in Europe or the US, unlike some other Asian pop bands (mostly from South Korea) have. However, they are quite successful with the local Japanese fan base, which is a great achievement in itself. Their upbeat, catchy, whimsical track “幾億光年,” in which the vocalist showcases his impressively high range, has certainly proven to be help in maintaining that.

Pedro Sampaio - POCPOC (PORTUGAL)

Brazilian funk singer Pedro Sampaio’s new short, 2-minute track "POCPOC" has been popular in the other Portuguese-speaking country as well, Portugal. Sampaio is also relatively new to the music industry, having put out his debut (and so far, only) studio album just in 2022. However, his career appears to be on an upwards trajectory.

Kaho Hung - 黑玻璃 (HONG KONG)

The Hong Kongese pop scene seems to be dominated by one single boyband, Mirror, and the solo project of its members. This time, however, we have a local artist for you who is not associated with the band, pop singer Kaho Hung with “黑玻璃” (which translates to “Tinted Windows” in English).

Flemming - Alles Op Gevoel feat. Ronnie Flex and Zoë Tauran (NETHERLANDS)

In the Netherlands, pop/hip hop artist Zoë Tauran, pop singer Flemming, and rapper Ronnie Flex, have just released a collaborative album with the title “Alles op gevoel” (“Everything by feeling” in English). This is the titular track off of that record - it’s linked below, go ahead and take a listen if you feel like it.

Luck Ra - Hola Perdida feat. Khea (ARGENTINA)

Latin trap and urbano artist Khea from Buenos Aires, Argentina has been producing his own music since he was a junior in high school. After six years of groundwork, he put out his debut album “Serotonina” in May 2023. It was a moderate hit, and Khea has been going strong ever since. For his latest gig, he got to be featured on the Cuarteto track by American rapper and singer Luck Ra - it paid off quite well for both artists, as the song stayed near the top of the Argentine Spotify charts.

Lyodra - Tak Dianggap (INDONESIA)

We have another up-and-coming talent for you, 20-year-old Indonesian pop singer and actress Lyodra. This is her beautiful pop ballad “Tak Dianggap” released in August 2023, which continues to be a big hit in her home country.