Who says you have to sing in English to make it in America? Shakira and Psy are two shining examples of cultivating a rabid following abroad before topping charts in the West. There’s a cosmos of international superstars that we think have budding potential to make it big here.
South Korean badass CL, the quadrilingual rapper of K-pop phenom 2NE1, caught our eye during the girl group’s U.S. arena tour and proved her solo appeal by unleashing her debut single in May. Plus, look out for her labelmate G-Dragon, of K-pop boy wonders Big Bang, who also stopped in America for four arena shows, dropping a new LP this month reportedly featuring Diplo, Missy Elliot and Baauer. In Japan, there’s harajuku-model-turned-singer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, who translates her millions of YouTube views of wacky, Lisa Frank-esque music videos into hit singles and a world tour that hit L.A. & New York last April. Moving west, Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has recruited hitmakers RedOne and will.i.am for her forthcoming U.S. album—and she showed Fuse how to dance like she does with Pitbull in her video for "Exotic." Mexican pop princess Belinda also nabbed Mr. 305 for her latest LP Catarsis, featuring tracks in Spanish and English. Repping Africa, Nigeria’s D’Banj of Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music label scored a Top 10 hit in the UK plus a feature on the Cruel Summer compilation.
All have major breakout potential, but we’re looking to you to help predict the next international star: Which one of these barrier-breaking artists is the best up-and-coming international artist in 2013?
Did you miss a poll? Start from the beginning and make sure you vote in all 12 genres!
Round 1 voting ends Tuesday, September 10 at 8AM ET.
Tune into Fuse News that same night at 8PM ET to find out if your favorite artists moved on to Round 2.
Round 2 voting kicks off immediately after the show at 8:30PM ET on Fuse.tv