On Dec. 8, 2018, Bebe Rexha tweeted a photo of herself and Dua Lipa captioned: “Two Albanian girls nominated for 2 Grammys. To all the Albanian girls and all the girls around the world, anything is possible so keep following your dreams and keep on breaking the mold.” And on Jan. 28, she shouted out two more Albanian talents: “I want a collab @DUALIPA @RitaOra @avamax.”
Rexha’s tweets hinted at a recent surge of Albanian artists on the Billboard Hot 100 in the past year. She broke the record for the most weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs chart -- 50 for “Meant to Be,” with Florida Georgia Line. Lipa led Mainstream Top 40 for four weeks with “New Rules,” Ora had two tracks enter the Dance Club Songs top 10, and Max broke into the Hot 100’s top 20 with her debut hit, “Sweet but Psycho.” All four artists have Albanian parents (though they were all born elsewhere: Ora in Yugoslavia, the present-day Kosovo; Rexha in Brooklyn; Lipa in London; and Max in Milwaukee).