New Around the World: Amaarae, Moliy & Kali Uchis Cash In on Global Charts
This week’s Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. charts (dated Nov. 20) feature a combined 40 debuts. Nearly half of those, 17 to be exact, come courtesy of Summer Walker, via her sophomore LP, Still Over It, which launches as the Atlanta-born singer-songwriter’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200. It also opens as her third leader on Top R&B Albums and her second on Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
Elsewhere, “Sad Girlz Luv Money” by Amaarae and Moliy and featuring Kali Uchis, makes notable moves, at No. 33 on both charts, as it debuts on the Global Excl. U.S. chart and rises from last week’s No. 136 debut on the Global 200. The song’s surge is bolstered by 22.1 million streams (up 127%) and 1,700 downloads sold (up 242%) worldwide in the week ending Nov. 11, according to MRC Data.
All three acts on the pop-Afro-fusion song are from the U.S. but incorporate their disparate lineages and influences into the track. Amaarae and Moliy were both raised between the U.S. (Atlanta and Orlando, respectively) and Accra, Ghana. They teamed up on “Sad Girlz” for Amaarae’s 2020 debut studio LP, The Angel You Don’t Know.
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“Sad Girlz” is the latest in a recent surge of African pop on the global charts (and on U.S.-based surveys), following Wizkid’s “Essence,” featuring Tems and Justin Bieber, and CKay’s “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah),” currently at No. 4 on the Global 200 in its eighth consecutive week in the top 10. Wizkid, Tems and CKay are all from Nigeria. “Sad Girlz” marks the global charts’ first Ghanaian infusion.
A remix of “Sad Girlz” with Uchis was released in September and has recently exploded online, with more than 2.2 million uses on TikTok so far. Uchis herself was born in Alexandria, Va., but has focused her 2020-21 musical output on her Colombian heritage. She adds a Latin flare to the song, including some sections in Spanish, following her solo Spanglish top 10 global hit, “Telepatía.”
Meanwhile, “Sad Girlz” combines African and Latin pop via three female American singers, a notable blend considering that international breakout crossovers for the genres have typically trended toward male superstars, including Wizkid and Burna Boy, from Nigeria, and J Balvin and Camilo, from Colombia.
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