12 up-and-coming artists you need to know for the new year, and the best tracks to introduce you to their catalogs. 12 more coming soon in the next edition!

By Ben Leshan

We did this series last year, focusing on multiple artists who had big years including Aries, Arlo Parks, Morray, and Clinton Kane (Find last year’s article HERE). We’re back with another installment this year, and you better believe we’re putting you on to more future stars!

*all Spotify monthly listeners are as of 2/5/22

Ekkstacy

Age: 18

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 1,148,003

Where to Start: i walk this earth all by myself, in love

Ekkstacy, an 18-year-old artist based out of Vancouver, carries an instantly intriguing aura with him. He is mysterious, often pictured in black and white with his face obscured, and his sound is dark, yet shrouded in beauty. Ekkstacy’s music is so powerful because it feels polished and crafted with attention-to-detail, but the emotions behind the music are so human and raw. His lyrics are evocative and concise, always reading like a poem. His sound features a clear and unique tone that sits behind vocal filters, and production that melds indie, punk, and a little bit of electronic music. The result is innovative and exciting and not quite like anything you have ever heard before. Ekkstacy is lonely and he is sad and he is in love throughout his catalog and you cannot help but feel all of it. He has so much potential to build on the release of his project Negative (featured on part 2 of our Best Album’s of 2021 list) and a year of major growth with a true breakout into the mainstream.

Chloe Moriondo

Age: 19

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 2,549,885

Where to Start: I Wan’t To Be With You, Bodybag

Moriondo, a 19-year-old singer from Michigan, has been making music at a high level since her early teen years, but last year she started to really find her sound and develop her lyrical themes. She is kind of a mix of Hayley Williams (who she cites as a favorite) and bedroom pop (she may remind you of Clairo), with a soft and gentle vocal tone but also a lot of pop punk and ferocity in her sound. Her 2021 album Blood Bunny, which leans more pop punk with heavier drums and guitars to match angsty lyrics, was featured on part 1 of our Albums of the Year list, and we also featured multiple of the tracks off that very strong record. She has an ability to sing incredibly catchy hooks, but for someone with such an infectious pop voice she also has an incredible ability to dive into messy feelings and deep thoughts in her lyrics. More big things should be coming in 2022 for this talented young artist.

WizTheMC

Age: 23

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 1,455,697

Where to Start: Stoned Nights, Do It Over

WizTheMC’s name sounds like a boombap rapper, but he is actually a gen-z genre bender with amazing potential. Born in South Africa, Wiz moved to Germany as a child and then to Toronto a few years ago to try to get his music career going. Wiz’s lyrics are romantic and can be poignant, often touching on sadness and the reasons why relationships didn’t work. He has a soulful gravel in his vocal tone, and his voice is consistently produced well, with great layering and space for his unique tone to shine. His sound is hard to pinpoint, with strong elements of indie pop mixed with the occasional rap verse. He ended 2021 with a string of singles that got better and better, culminating with the release of “Stoned Nights”, which made part 2 our Songs of 2021 list. The young artist is poised to have a big 2022, with his EP Where Silence Feels Good just being released on February 4th.

Austin George

Age: 21

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 1,252,391

Where to Start: bluebonnets, Hands On You

Austin George seemingly came out of nowhere with two growing hits at the end of 2021, blowing up from TikTok like many new artists. The Dallas singer has a great pop voice that lands somewhere in between Post Malone and Dominic Fike, and he has an ability to make songs that sound like hits but still feel authentic. His two songs currently on streaming services, “bluebonnets” and “Hands on You” both touch on aspects of relationships, something we’ll likely hear more as he releases new music, but he certainly has the ability to make great records about a variety of topics. He already has showed range with the somber lyrics of “bluebonnets” and the upbeat and exciting nature of “Hands on You”, and he shows that he can sell both without being obnoxiously commercial like other artists in his lane. George’s versatility, sense of humor (which is evident on his TikTok account), and vocal tone could catapult him to being a big name in 2022.

Joy Oladokun

Age: 30

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 3,102,995

Where to Start: Sunday, Keeping The Light On

Joy Oladokun is Nashville-based singer with a passion for folk and evocative lyrics, but she breaks free from the typical mold of that kind of artist. Oladokun’s identity as a child of Nigerian immigrants with a background in the Church, but also a queer woman shaped her relationship with music. She has an incredibly vulnerable and vivid songwriting style, and a soulful sound that is not quite like anyone else’s. Her tracks are usually soft and gentle, but carry a lot of power behind them. Her album In Defense of My Own Happiness shows off her best qualities, and the track “Sunday” is especially powerful, featuring soulful sounds that evoke images of church, but lyrics about Joy existing in church while being a queer woman. Throughout her catalog she is so vulnerable, and her voice is the star, taking control of the open space in her production and carrying the listener to new emotions. One of the most polished artists on this list, the 30-year-old Oladokun has already found her sound, we’re just excited to see what new things she can do with it.

Montell Fish

Age: 23/24

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 4,451,631

Where to Start: Call U Tomorrow, Fall in Love with You.

Montell Fish’s music is soulful and spiritual and calls you to feel something in an incredible way. He makes use of space in production and his beautiful falsetto tone to craft magical moods. The Pittsburgh-based artist has an interesting background, a drug-user and rapper in his early teens, he became deeply Christian as he got older and started to make more Christian and rnb-leaning music. His current sound feels deeply spiritual, but it doesn’t sound like typical Christian music at all. His production is often minimalistic, but for short moments it is lush and grand, a parallel of the way ordinary life comes to climaxes and fades back into its normal repeated cycles. His voice is so beautiful and pure, and his lyrics are poetic, as Fish’s songwriting is careful and concise. His songs feel like they have the power to carry a person through dark moments, and his commercial rise is coming strong even though he is clearly in the industry simply for the love of the art.

Tom The Mail Man

Age: 23

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 1,195,138

Where to Start: Last Night, Come Over

Tom The Mail Man is able to bend genres with a lot of skill, bouncing between hip hop, emo, alt rock, and rnb. The 23-year-old Atlanta native has a soulful voice that lends itself really well to the melodic rap-influenced kind of records he loves. Reminiscent of an artist like XXXTentacion with his love for rock sounds and emo lyrics while still flexing a great background in hip hop, Tom has all the pure musical ingredients to be a huge star. His best work often comes when he gets on a track with live drums and a punk aesthetic that gives his voice space to shine (like “Last Night” which made part 1 of our Best Songs of 2021 list), but he can produce many different kinds of great tracks, and he also has proven to be an excellent guest verse artist. His 2021 Sometimes Sorry Isn’t Enough made our albums list as a versatile and energetic record, and Tom has even more room to grow into a big name in the music industry. Releasing 2 singles in the last few months, it seems Tom is looking to build on that record’s success with another project in the works.

Zai1k

Age: 16

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 1,420,752

Where to Start: Find Your Way, Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk

Zai1k doesn’t have a lot of music out yet, but it is evident that he has a ton of room to grow in hip hop. With a sound that is reminscent of a Lil TJay, but perhaps more closely Toosii (who he has received a cosign from), Zai1k is able to rap at a high level but has an incredibly soulful singing voice and a great command of his vocals. The Broward County rapper has a had a fast rise to prominence, which stemmed from the verse he put on Sadie Jean’s “WYD Now?” in December of 2021 on TikTok. Since then he has had another big success with an “open verse challenge”, this time with his verse on Jazz/pop artist Stacey Ryan’s “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk”, going viral and landing on the released version. With a melodic rap style in the lane of TJay, Toosii, Polo G, Rod Wave and more, Zai1k can tap into established fan bases as he earns credibility outside of TikTok. He has a great way of putting his emotions into bars and a unique enough voice to stand out, so we should see big things from him going forward.

Lexi Jayde

Age: 19

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 1,810,636

Where to Start: newbury park, drunk text me

A teenage rising star from California, Lexi Jayde has an incredible vocal tone and the kind of vulnerable lyrics that have the potential to attract huge audiences. Her style leans into the more acoustic/singer-songwriter side of pop, reminiscent of parts of fellow Gen-Z singer Olivia Rodrigo’s catalog. At her best Jayde is vulnerable and thoughtful in her lyrics, using her clean vocal tone and strong voice to communicate pain and passion over pop production. “newbury park” is a great example of her skill, featuring upbeat guitars and drums, but lyrics about a relationship-gone-bad. It’s catchy, it has a lot of imagery and memorable lines, and a lot of angsty emotion that young people will especially flock to. A new project with more singles of this nature could mean huge things for Lexi in 2022.

KenTheMan

Age: 27

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 883,034

Where to Start: Love Yourself, Rose Gold St****** Pole

Houston’s KenTheMan raps with a rare hunger, bringing a directed aggression to spit precisely crafted bars over heavy-hitting beats. Ken has clearly been rapping for many years, but she is finally getting recognition for it commercially. She has the charisma, the energy, and the skill to become a big name in the rap game and the only thing in between her and stardom is time. She has the voice, the flow, and the lyrics down and it is only a matter of time before she catches a massive club hit with her ability to select excellent beats and find a pocket. She is the kind of southern rapper who is always going to be respected for her bars but not lose sight of the commercial, in a manner that mirrors many big stars like Houston’s Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Baby, 21 Savage, Latto, or 2 Chainz. Ken is an artist who has leveled up with each new release, and you can expect any new singles or projects she comes with this year to surpass what she has already achieved.

Glaive

Age: 17

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 1,019,920

Where to Start: 1984, i wanna slam my head against the wall

17-year-old Florida artist Glaive is taking music to new places with a pop sound that you’ve never heard before (he doesn’t like to describe his music as hyperpop, but his work leans into that subgenre). For such a young artist, he has a lot of poise and command of a complex sound, and also a lot of great released music. He has the kind of higher register male pop voice that is very easy to market, but he strays very far from boyband style songs, instead making cuts with emo lyrics and a lot of edgy energy. He is able to take some aspects of pop punk or emo music and translate them into the electronic age, with a lot of distortion and complex prominent synth melodies that build up a lot of energy. His newly released project Old Dog New Tricks shows all of his best skills and is an early favorite to land on a 2022 Moonlxte album list, with unprecedented song structures, extraordinarily catchy melodies, and a good balance of teen angst and maturity. Glaive is already having a great start to 2022, and he’s bound to only get bigger from here.

Tyler Braden

Age: 28/29

Spotify Monthly Listeners: 432,049

Where to Start: Thank Me For That, Better Off

Tyler Braden is coming out of Alabama with a country voice that will be sure to please a wide age range of fans and an ability to write songs that will please a modern commercial audience. Influenced by an interesting range of artists including Eric Church, Keith Urban, and John Mayer, Braden has his own unique style that should make him an exciting listen whether or not you are a country fan. Braden’s 2021 EP What Do They Know shows all of his abilities nicely, featuring everything from love songs to breakup songs, slow-paced country ballads and high energy cuts. He shows off his fantastic strong voice and unique accent on the project, and also flashes an ability to tell excellent stories and really tap into relatable emotions. With more music reportedly coming later this year, Braden has the potential to catch a big hit and establish himself as a major presence in the country scene.

Enjoyed the post? Check out our playlist of songs to introduce you to these emerging artists!

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