Dominican dembow was a real force on the app in 2021: El Alfa, the dembow king, scored numerous viral hits, and a clip that rapper Gailen La Moyeta shared of her verse from “ Bobolonga” got almost 11 million views. Tokischa, the Dominican rapper and Paulus Music artist whose dembow collaboration with Rosalía, “ Linda,” took off in Spanish-language TikTok.I’ve enjoyed his 2021 album Boyfriend, which is subtle and mellow, going down like a light glass of wine. Once I figured out that CKay was also on Amaarae’s incredible 2020 album The Angel You Don’t Know, I was sold. The version that exploded on TikTok was a stripped-down remix that helped accelerate its momentum with a (relatively) footwork-heavy dance. CKay, the Nigerian singer-songwriter whose liquid-smooth single “ love nwantiti (ah ah ah)” became the most Shazammed song in the world this year.

But I much prefer “ LVCKY,” LVL1’s harder-hitting collaboration with Y2K-loving Spanish hyperpop artist Rakky Ripper, and have also enjoyed surfing through their “ LVL1C0R3” playlist, which features artists like SOPHIE, LSDXOXO, and Danny L Harle. LVL1, a queer rapper from Andalusia, Spain whose house-hop track “ FVN!” (“cat-kitty-cat-cat-kitty-cat-cat!”) became really popular as the backing track to all sorts of cat TikToks.Not all of these international discoveries are winners, but here are my faves: Bella Hadid reposted a video of Nimco Happy on IG.Īlso included in the list of global hits that have populated my feed this fall are a filthy Russian hip-hop track (“ Я буду ебать,” or, loosely, “I Will Fuck”), a Latin swing number (“ Nuestra Canción”), and a Mandopop song from a phone commercial (“ 放个大招给你看”).

Drake commented “this song so hard” on a meme page featuring it. About a month ago, a Somali wedding song with a hook that covers “I love you” in four languages-Nimco Happy’s “ Isii Nafta”-made the rounds, years after it was a sensation in East Africa. More and more songs from outside of the West are bubbling up through TikTok and becoming international smashes.

List of vocaloids unreleased