Top10 Worldwide Music Selection from Concerty - October 2023

KeBlack - LAISSE MOI (FRANCE)

Let’s start out our October list in France. There, we have rapper-singer KeBlack coming up with a winner, his brand new track titled “LAISSE MOI” (“Allow Me” in English). And this one allowed him to take one of the top spots on the French Top Songs chart on Spotify all month. It's a chill, cool song with a laid-back vibe and a chill flow - and, on top of all that, English subtitles for the music video.

Taylor Swift - Is It Over Now? (Taylor's Version) (UNITED KINGDOM)

If you look around the Spotify charts this past month, you were bound to come across quite a few tracks from Taylor Swift - and not much else, especially in English speaking countries. Swift’s new album “Midnights” from last year was an explosive hit, that is still propelling her near the top of the charts across the world. In fact, she has been nominated for no less than 20 awards in the shortly upcoming Billboard Music Awards.

“Is It Over Now?” was among the most popular songs among the many hits for Swift. This is a re-recorded version of a previously unreleased track, originally produced for her 2014 album “1989”, her first major into the pop genre after country. Based on the fans’ reaction, it was a good call by Taylor and her team not to keep it in the vault indefinitely. Although, based on a hot streak she’s been on lately, she could be putting out virtually anything and still hit big…

Tyla - Water (SOUTH AFRICA)

Singer-songwriter Tyla out of Johannesburg, South Africa is one of the biggest talents of African pop music today. Still only 21, she blew up with her single “Getting Late" straight out of high school. It was also the first ever song she ever made. And she has also proved to be more than a one-hit-wonder with a pretty face: her new track “Water” also became a hit, in South Africa and beyond.

Anson Lo - ON (HONG KONG)

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, “triple threat”, actor-singer-dancer (and even rapper, to add a yet another “threat”) Anson Lo was among the musical flavors of the month. More specifically, it was his freshly released track “ON” which managed to garner quite a lot of traction.

Lo, just like another Hong Kongese artist Teung To who tends to pop up from time and time again on our monthly list, is a member of the hottest local boyband, Mirror.

Bad Bunny - Perro Negro feat. Feid (COLOMBIA)

Next up we have two bona fide A-listers from the world of Latin American music - which, by the way, is getting increasingly popular across the world.

Bad Bunny is perhaps best known for his feature on the 2018 Cardi B song “I Like It”, but he has made plenty of appearances in the top 10 of the famous Billboard Hot 100 in the US as the main performer as well. His latest single, “Perro Negro” did not get massive international attention. However, with the help of local Latin urbano star Feid as the featured vocalist on the track, it charted high in Colombia all October.

Mert Demir - Ateşe Düştüm (TURKEY)

Turkish pop/R&B singer Mert Demir came out with a couple of new singles this year, following the massive success of his track “Antidepresan” featuring Mabel Matiz from last year. While “Ateşe Düştüm”, a folky, slow, dreamy song with breathy vocals, did not manage to emulate Antidepresan’s performance, it was still popular among Turkish Spotify listeners. And, this is the closest thing to a song with some spooky Halloween vibes in our entire October list…

RAF Camora - Liebe Grüsse feat. Ski Aggu (SWITZERLAND)

Meanwhile in the middle of Europe, in Switzerland, we had Austrian rapper RAF Camora blow with his fresh new track “Liebe Grüsse”. He’s rapping over the remix of the 1993 classic Haddaway song “What is Love” for a beat.

Amy Macdonald -This Is The Life (SAUDI ARABIA)

Let’s take a look at what’s been popular in Saudi Arabia lately - the country has been in the news for being awarded the hosting of the 2034 FIFA World Cup. As expected, there were no local artists on the chart, as the Muslim religion shuns music. Instead, we had a Scottish folk rock singer, Amy Macdonald on top, with her song all the way back from 2007, “This Is The Life”. It’s an odd song to be included in a hot list for October 2023, but if Saudi music fans were into it, maybe so will you…

Zoë Tauran - Monster (NETHERLANDS)

In the Netherlands, listeners were playing a much more recent tune: Zoë Tauran’s “Monster” actually came out in October 2023. The 26-year-old Dutch pop/R&B singer’s career goes way back, she even took part in the kids edition of The Voice talent-reality show back in 2012. She then became part of a girl group TP4Y in 2014, which eventually split up in 2018. This seemed to only help Tauran’s career, as she has had a lot more success as a solo artist than she ever had with her band.

This new track, “Monster”, is off of her self-titled debut album released in May 2023.

Nadhif Basalamah - penjaga hati (INDONESIA)

At last, let’s make our way to Indonesia, where local talent tends to outshine international stars - at least based on the Spotify charts, this seems to be the case month after month. And this month, Nadhif Basalamah was among the beneficiaries of that trend. The young, up-and-coming pop singer out of Jakarta, Indonesia put out his hit single “penjaga hati” in the summer, which continued to remain popular among the locals well into the fall as well.