Question of the week: will a French-language pop song make it onto the US Hot 100 in 2027?
I wanted to figure out how many French-language songs have ever made the Hot 100, which was surprisingly difficult to figure out, since most information I found easily only deals with the upper reaches of the charts. I was surprised at some songs that didn’t make it: Stromae’s “Alors on Danse,” which was a huge hit in Europe in 2010 and made it to #25 on the UK singles chart, didn’t crack the Hot 100 in the US (it got to 19 on the “US Dance Airplay” chart). The songs that immediately came to mind were quite old: French nun novelty “Dominique” from 1963 went to #1 and “Ça plane pour moi” made it to #47 in 1978. There are French lyrics in songs by non-French bands, like Enigma’s “Sadness, Pt. 1,” which made it to #5 in 1991. “Psycho Killer” technically made the Hot 100, too (at #92).
But Francophone pop is ascendant right now, and I’m noticing a lot of ferment across France, Montreal, the Caribbean, and Francophone African countries, along with artists in the US and UK of Francophone heritage. This past week a French-language song debuted in the Top 100 of the GXU: “Fille à Papa” by Vacra and La Rvfleuze. This got me taking a look at the French charts, where there are multiple entries from Tiakola that include features from Jorja Smith (which I put on last week’s mix), Theodora, and Rema. Theodora also features on Disliz’s “Melodrama” from late 2025, which has been on the French charts all year—number one for 28 weeks and in the top ten for 50.
Predicting a French breakthrough in the US still seems like a long shot, but not only do I think it might happen, but that it might happen on its own terms—that is, not as a French-language feature alongside a major US artist. (Unfortunately, I think a feature on a Drake song would be the most likely candidate of that sort.) It’s even possible that there will be a French-language feature on a song primarily in Spanish.
What I’m hoping for, though, is that the Francophone diaspora generates a global smash without a feature on a US chart barnacle or from a transnational DJ hit.
It’s been a tough year for A-pop theory, which has always been pretty speculative: I do think that the US is operating more like a regional pop scene competing with other growing regions, but huge US stars still have a stranglehold on global charts for lots of different reasons, some of them having to do with distribution, but plenty having to do with the fact that the US is still an enormous audience for pop music—the US has just diminished as a fraction of total global audiences recorded in streaming platform numbers.1 Even within the US, English-language music consumption is falling (slightly) as not-in-English stars gain more traction.
Here’s Luminate:
Luminate data confirms that the American music landscape is evolving from a domestic-centric market into a vibrant international crossroads. While U.S. artists still claim the majority of consumption (roughly 2 in 3 U.S. On-Demand Audio streams are by American artists), that dominance is steadily eroding each year.
Through Q1 2026, English-language music consumption in the U.S. fell by 2.1 share points compared with Q1 2025 (86% and 88.1%, respectively), continuing a long-term downward trend as global sounds capture American ears.
Leading this charge is Spanish-language music, which accounted for nearly 1 in 10 ODA streams in the U.S., reaching a historic 9.5% market share through the first quarter.
None of this signals anything in the ballpark of a collapse of English-language pop in the US, even if the success of Spanish-language music in particular seems clear enough.2 It’s more that there is a lot of pressure on English-language pop from lots of different places, including within the US. There is some compelling evidence that Francophone music listening has been accelerating in the last few years, and that this is being driven by many listeners outside of France, including in the US.
So I’m going to put a bet on a French-language song appearing somewhere on the Hot 100 happening in 2027. To add some drama to the bet, if I’m wrong at this time next year, I hope someone will hold me to account: I will owe you an additional mix of French-language pop. (If I win the bet I might do that anyway.)
If you need a mix of French pop from the 1980s to hold you over, here’s one that Tom Ewing crowdsourced to Bluesky the other day: “J’aime ecouter les disques.” It’s very good!
1. Kate Nash: Spilt Milk
UK
Kate Nash is back with another political anthem less straightforward than anti-TERF “GERM,” but it rocks harder than Olivia Rodrigo’s (very good) “Serena Joy” and less hard than Demi Lovato’s “Swine” as far as evocative Handmaid’s Tale dystopia jams go.
2. PANPAN YEEYEE: ดี๊ดี (DD)
Thailand
Thai group announces itself by spelling things out for everyone (P-A-N, P-A-N, let’s go! Y-E-E, Y-E-E, let’s go!) and reminds me a little of the less polished upstarts of the K-pop second gen like Wa$$up.
3. Hilary Duff: CATastrophe
US
Hilary Duff continues to be the weirdest pop star who does not seem very weird, with a song for the new Cat in the Hat soundtrack that name-checks her own song (“Why Not”), describes an inner tornado that gives off “big kitty energy,” uses a minor-key “I’m a Little Teapot” for a chorus hook, and generally sounds like a cloying outtake from her 2006 album Dignity. Very annoying (value neutral).
4. KATSEYE f. Mc Gw, Cementaum: Hootie Frutti (Pedro Sampaio Remix)
US/Brazil
I have not yet totally come around on Katseye, but I do think that “Internet Girl” is the good kind of stupid, and that “Hootie Frutti” avoids being the worst kind of stupid, though this Brazilian funk automotivo/phonkesque remix improves it considerably, especially when they ditch the original vocals altogether.
5. Ronisia f. Meryl, Shay: Cuenta
Cape Verde/Martinique/Belgium
Shatta star Meryl is a dark horse candidate for Francophone artist to wind up on the global charts as she keeps on collaborating anywhere and everywhere.
6. Relda: Fini
Equatorial Guinea-Spain
A lovely find from an artist based in Spain born in Equatorial Guinea, a country that gets its first representation on one of my mixes just in time for Jonathan Bogart share some Equatorial Guinean pop that I might have to feature in the future—in the interest of not putting too many more of his songs on my mixes, though, I will remind you to check out the thread where these recommendations come from and if you’re so inclined, check out a playlist I made of the songs over on Spotify. Happy to export to other streamers upon request.
7. Haifa Wehbe: Lok Lok
Lebanon
I’ve also been looking for more sources of MENA pop, but it was not an encouraging sign that I had already pulled this one based on my blindfold testing before finding a list that featured lots of current songs and it was the only song on the list I liked. Oh well!
8. Javas Finest, JakkerBoii: Heights
South Africa
This is maybe the third or fourth gqom song from this year I’ve featured based on sumptuous vocals I usually associate with dreamier amapiano without losing the metallic pulse.
9. Tahjaee f. jhonniedamnd: WYM (I Ain’t Fresh)
US
Charming low-rent fashion boasts from a Texas artist who has as much fun as the women I feature more regularly.
10. ДРИТА [Drita]: ТЕЛЕПЕРЕДАЧІ [Teleperedachi]
Ukraine
Ukrainian rap against standard trap beats—one thing that’s been interesting about following different countries absorbing trap beats is noticing different flows in different languages, in this case a slow and stilted flow that I like but can’t really think of anyone who could pull it off in English too far into this century.
11. HAYABUSA, Mmiero YIC: Kom Kwijt
Suriname-Netherlands
Surinamese electroclave has an appropriately minor motorcycle blur in the cover art, couldn’t be going too fast but it’s a fun ride.
12. Kimera: Şașkin
Turkey
More electroclave from Turkey. At this point I think we need to consider Brazilian funk assimilated in basically every corner of the world except for the United States.
13. Marina Mole: Sonho de voo
Brazil
A rollicking shuffle lightly reminiscent of the Turtles, but with the whole thing smeared against glass.
14. Julie Ant: Turnista x Sempre
Italy
Shouty pop breakbeats from Italy.
15. Soy: Kahit Para Satin Nalang
Philippines
Sexy(ish) drill(ish) from the Philippines—at first I thought this might be Indonesian hipdut, but I don’t know if hipdut has gone Jersey club yet.
16. IA: Kyuujitsuno arekore
Japan
Lightly bent vocaloid J-rock, not doing a ton with the vocals here but does give me an excuse to remind everyone to listen to one of my favorite Japanese rock albums of the year, which also happens to have the most interesting use of vocaloid I’ve heard this year in it—Album 13 by Robounoishi.
17. Southboyzsaint, TPGyoungin: อย่าพึ่งทิ้ง [Xỳā phụ̀ng thîng]
Thailand
Cheesy keyboard brass layered on thick enough for the rappers to totteer across.
18. illiomote: 夢見ラッコ総合文化センター [Yumemi rakko sōgō bunka sentā]
Japan
I like how Japanese rock bands can do indie in ways that are simultaneously tight and shambling—a few American bands pulled this dynamic off, like Built to Spill, but it seems more common (and less of a big deal) in Japan.
19. Myrtsi: Uusi viimeinen asia
Finland
Soft snyth-pop from Finland for the wind-down.
20. Telemakus f. Flying Lotus, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson
India-US/US
A groovy little jazz-rock closer, not sure what role Flying Lotus plays here but it’s a good reminder to check out Flying Lotus’s mini jazz odyssey EP/song suite Big Mama, which I remember liking when I heard it but didn’t leave enough of an impression to put on my EPs list. It’s about time for some album re-listening as the end of the year quickly approaches…
That’s it! Until next time, more Francophone pop recommendations plz.
—Dave Moore (the other one)
Title from PANPAN YEEYEE: ดี๊ดี (DD)
In fact, there are more North American listeners than ever on streaming services like Spotify, but the growth rate is slower than other regions of the world, so the total share of North American listeners has shrunk across the past year 10 years.
There is even a non-Bad Bunny Spanish hit in the top ten right now! Even with Taylor Swift EP crumbs knocking it down to #11, probably temporarily.