Singer Adéla has become the first Slovak artist in history to enter the main U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Her hit Ain’t In LA has now spent two weeks on the chart.
The English-language single Ain’t In LA was released on 23 July. It quickly began gaining popularity on social media. The song received a major boost after Adéla performed at Lollapalooza in Chicago, after which the track spread rapidly on TikTok and began accumulating millions of streams.
Before entering the main U.S. chart, the song reached No. 17 on Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 — a weekly chart ranking the 25 songs closest to entering the main hit list. On 11 August, the single debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 85, and a week later it climbed to No. 84.
The song has also achieved success in other countries. Ain’t In LA entered Spotify’s global Top 50 after surpassing 30 million streams. In the UK Singles Chart, the song reached No. 33, while in the Philippines it climbed to No. 26.
In Ain’t In LA, Adéla addresses girls who grew up far from the world’s cultural centers and have become accustomed to thinking that big dreams are out of their reach. One of the song’s central messages is that success does not require moving to the American capital of the entertainment industry. Adéla sings about girls from “unknown places” and encourages them not to see their origins as an obstacle.
The same idea is reflected in the music video. The singer filmed it in her native Bratislava, including on the streets of the Petržalka district. Instead of the familiar Los Angeles scenery associated with American pop culture, the video features apartment blocks and streets of the Slovak capital.
The visual style deliberately draws on the aesthetics of the mid-2010s, with bright colors, dance-oriented energy and an atmosphere reminiscent of 2016. The concept has also fit well with the current social media trend of nostalgia for that era.
Adéla is the stage name of 22-year-old Adéla Jergová, who has been involved in dance since childhood. At the age of eight, she began dreaming of becoming an American performer and later pursued ballet professionally.
She studied at the ballet academy of the Vienna State Opera before enrolling at the English National Ballet School in London. She later moved to Los Angeles and attempted to join an international girl group through the reality show The Debut: Dream Academy. Out of approximately 120,000 applicants, she made it to the final 20 contestants but was eliminated during the first stage of the selection process.
The setback did not stop the singer. She remained in Los Angeles and continued developing her solo career, eventually finding success with her debut single.
In early September, Adéla is scheduled to release her debut studio album, PRIMA.
