Aya Nakamura

Since 2018, when she dropped her second album NAKAMURA, Aya Nakamura has not so much risen to the top as skyrocketed. The Mali-born, France-raised singer—whose music blends R&B, hip-hop, pop, Afrobeats, and more—is now one of the most-streamed Francophone artists on the planet. But if Nakamura (born Aya Danioko) has long been a music and fashion icon in France, 2021 marked the moment she went global, thanks to starry collaborations—with Stormzy, Ms Banks, Major Lazer, and Maluma—and the soaring success of her third album AYA and single “Bobo,” which hit No. 1 on Apple Music’s daily Top 100 chart in France. It was also the year she won the Apple Music Award for Artist of the Year — France. “I never dreamt of becoming a world star,” Aya told Apple Music. “My fanbase in France, they are the ones listening to my stuff since day one—they are my priority.”