Music That Has Shaken The World Lately in October

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For October’s edition of Music That Has Shaken The World Lately, music supervisor Jade Miranda writes about her recommended up and coming artists to watch, her favourite song collaboration of the month and the power of artistry in Addison Rae’s rebrand.

Favourite Collaboration

The Weeknd + Anitta

After performing the then unreleased song São Paulo (a collaboration with Anitta) on his current tour, the videos got viral and the song became one of the most anticipated collaborations of the year with several people on social media begging for its release and creating memes around it. Finally released yesterday accompanied by a scary music video that already has over 3M views, the song and visuals were the perfect Halloween gift for his fans.

The song, produced by Mike Dean, The Weeknd himself, and Sean Solymar carries the dark synth-heavy character, which is present in many of The Weeknd songs. The surprise element comes from the fun Brazilian Funk beat and the bold ‘’proibidao’’and sensual vocals by Anitta. 

As I predicted in other editions of Music That Has Shaken The World Lately, while Brazilian Funk continues to be on the rise on its own, we will see it more and more being blended into other genres. In São Paulo, the combination of the dark R&B & pop of Weeknd’s signature style with the sensuality of Brazilian Funk makes an interesting contrast, blending cultures and moods and has the potential to make a huge success in the dance floors around the world as even before its official release the song was already making waves on TikTok.

Favourite story: the power of artistry

Addison Rae is one to watch as she manages to achieve something that many others try and fail. In the recent years she rebranded and shifted the public perception of her by focusing on being an artist: from TikTok star to niche artist reaching global charts in 2024 with her songs Diet Pepsi and Aquamarine, Rae achieved 40 million streams in one month, something that several other famous creators that wanted to enter the music industry tried and did not achieve.

When Addison released her first song ‘’Obsessed’’ in 2021 she received a massive backlash with the song being perceived as too self absorbed and not authentic, not achieving the performance she desired. However, in 2023 she collaborated with Charlie XCX and released her hyperpop song 2 die 4 and their behind the scenes studio videos became viral, showing how Addison Rae improvised some creative decisions in the studio.

This video and the collaboration and friendship with Charlie XCX alone started to slowly shift public’s perception of her, giving her more credibility as an artist and attracting an audience that now believed more in her creative vision and capabilities as an artist rather than just another TikToker with million followers trying to be a singer.

Before releasing her hit Diet Pepsi in 2024, Addison created a world around her preparing the audience for its release, which also captivated the public: she started associating herself aesthetically more and more with Lana Del Rey and with the internet aesthetics of 2014. With the Diet Pepsi music video it goes even further with several Americana elements very much presented in Lana Del Rey visuals.

Diet Pepsi keeps reaching new peaks and with the song Rae has officially entered the Billboard Hot 100-charting artists. Her new single Aquamarine released in October debuted at #102 on the US Spotify chart with 450k streams.

Favourite New Artists 

Laila!  

In my September playlist, I added SINK 2 Raise by Laila!, which is one of the most exciting new artists. With only 18 years old and one album, the singer, songwriter and producer is already consolidating her name in the music industry, blending rap & singing with her lush and captivating sound, much influenced by the '90s and early 2000s R&B but with a modern approach and sensibility.

In 2023, Laila! released her first song  ‘Like That’ and rapidly became viral on tiktok. With the release of her debut album this year, however, she is proving that she is way more than a viral moment and is an artist to watch.

Samara Cyn

Much inspired by Lauryn Hill, Missy Elliot and Erikah Badu, as well as more contemporary artists such as Doechii and Tyler, The Creator, Cyn is an artist on the rise that blends neo soul with hip-hop in her raspy vocals and unique writing style with self-reflective and emotionally charged lyrics.

In October,, Samara Cyn released her first album The Drive Home and performed in the first series of live concerts by COLORSXSTUDIOS called TONES, after her acclaimed performance on the platform back in August. 

You can find all of it and more in my monthly playlist.