In this week’s column of emerging artists, we’re taking a look at a Japanese indie rock group, a major player in TikTok’s shoegaze revival, rising rap stars in New York and Florida, and a South Asian folk-pop artist to watch. 

No Buses

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 76,330
Genre: Indie Rock
Country: Japan

With their blend of hardcore punk guitar, glitchy electronics, and proggy arrangements, No Buses has emerged as one of Japan’s most exciting crossover indie rock acts. Since releasing their single “Slip, Fall, Sleep” on January 10, the camcorder-recorded music video has gained 65.7k  YouTube views and the band has gained 51.2k new Spotify monthly listeners (a 43% increase). By country, the band actually has a bigger share of their audience in the United States (25.8%) than in their native Japan (20.1%), with Mexico (8.4%) and the Philippines (5.9%) trailing behind. Now, after the February 2 release of their new EP 1624, their global fan base only continues to grow.

Wisp

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 7,045 
Genre: Rock
Country: U.S.

Having amassed 1.53 million Spotify monthly listeners with only four tracks to her name, shoegaze artist Wisp first broke out in April 2023 with her TikTok viral debut single “Your face,” which she wrote by recording a topline over a “Whirr type beat.” After gaining a cult fan base and quickly signing to Interscope, she’s continued to cultivate buzz with her January 24 single “See you soon,” a gothic Deftones-inspired song, which racked up 522k Spotify streams in its first two weeks post-release. While the track couldn’t grow on TikTok due to UMG’s current dispute with the platform, she saw a 10.2% increase in TikTok followers since the single’s release, bringing her to 63k. With her slated to open for Panchiko on their North American tour this spring, Wisp represents a new model for how alternative rock stars can be birthed through Bandlab, rather than with a live band to back them up. 

Jay Hound

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 6,958
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Country: U.S.

Thanks to songs like “UKRAINE,” Jay Hound and his SweepersENT collective — a growing imprint in affiliation with other artists like Sdot Go and Jay5ive — are some of the main forces soundtracking New York City rap. On top of their aforementioned viral smash, which has spawned over 101k TikTok posts since being released last October, the group collaborated for other tracks like the S.W.E.E.P.S cuts “C’Mere,” “Lie To Me,” plus “I LIKE TO PARTY.” They’re all productions where Jay flaunts his grungy delivery, lyrics about lawless behavior, and bulldozing Jersey Club production. That quartet of songs has been streamed over 25 million times combined on Spotify and contributes heavily to his 1.56 million monthly listeners on the platform. Whether it’s measuring his success within the group or on a solo tip (see standouts like “Neaky”), Jay Hound’s momentum continues to bud. 

BossMan Dlow

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 14,526
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Country: U.S.

Between artists like Luh Tyler and Real Boston Richey, Florida is in the middle of a rap renaissance, and BossMan Dlow could be a big part of it. Last month, he performed his new song "Get In With Me" on a podcast, and his post of the clip promptly collected over 8.7 million views on TikTok, where he has 181k followers. His sliding cadence and shifting tonal intonations turn the beat into a seesaw, with each successive blockboy flex coming on the downbeat. It's a memorable approach that helped the song get over 5.67 million views on YouTube. It's probably also why G Herbo decided to hop on the instrumental for a remix. With an Alamo Records deal in tow and 581k new Spotify monthly listeners in the past month, expect to hear more from BossMan Dlow.

Sheherazaad

Chartmetric Artist Rank: 18,756
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Country: U.S.

Sheherazaad’s mesmerizing folk-pop EP, Qasr, is produced by Grammy award-winning musician Arooj Aftab. You can hear the South Asian American experimentalist’s influence in the patient, poignant pacing, and lush orchestral arrangements of Sheherazaad’s music, though she takes her sound in an eerie direction. In the last few months, she has shared two singles that have garnered attention (coverage from publications like The Hindu, Rolling Stone India, and Stereogum) and career growth: she has seen a 208.5% increase in Spotify monthly listeners in the past month, and her Chartmetric rank increased by 973.5k. With a performance at Pioneer Works and a full project released on Erased Tapes coming at the start of March, it seems her star is just beginning to rise.  

Graphics by Nicki Camberg and cover image by Crasianne Tirado; data as of Feb. 15, 2024.

Portions of this are included in Sound Signal, a bi-weekly newsletter from Third Bridge Creative. Sign up here.