What do Dua Lipa, Rita Ora and Ava Max have in common?
UNTIL RECENTLY the most famous ethnic Albanians were Mother Teresa (a nun who cared for orphans and lepers in India) and Enver Hoxha (a homicidal communist despot). Now to the saint and the sinner must be added the singers.
They are everywhere. Dua Lipa has 55m monthly listeners on Spotify, a music-streaming platform. Bebe Rexha has 24m. Rita Ora (pictured) has had five British number one singles and has been a judge on “the X Factor”. Era Istrefi sang at the football World Cup in 2018. Njomza Vitia, a singer-songwriter, and Labinot Gashi, a rapper, have global followings. Ava Max’s sexy single “Sweet but Psycho” is universally considered more fun than Hoxha’s literary offering, “Albania Challenges Khrushchev Revisionism”.
All these megastars of Albanian heritage except Ms Istrefi grew up in the diaspora. Ms Lipa, Ms Max, Ms Rexha and Ms Vitia were born, respectively, in London, Milwaukee, Brooklyn and near Stuttgart. Only Ms Max has roots in Albania itself; the rest are of Kosovar descent, save Ms Rexha, whose family come from North Macedonia.
Throughout history, says Dukagjin Lipa, Ms Lipa’s father, Albanians have been squashed, but the success of this generation of musicians shows that “given the chance, we excel.” The stars of the diaspora often perform back home, wrapping themselves in Kosovar or Albanian...