By Colin Joyce, Jaelani Turner-Williams, Kemet High, Peter A. Berry, and Vrinda Jagota of Third Bridge Creative
This week’s column of rising artists shines a spotlight on the campy pop princess everyone is talking about, SoundCloud’s next generation of rage rap, the maturation of a Midwest R&B singer, Caribbean hip-hop fusion, and a stellar Jersey Club mix.
Chappell Roan
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 246
Genre: Pop
Country: U.S.
Clad in hot pink, feathers, and rhinestones, and wielding a voice that cascades octaves and relays yearning via a slight country twang, Chappell Roan is here to make pop music simultaneously as fun, queer, and heart-wrenching as possible. The 26-year-old singer was discovered via songs she uploaded onto YouTube and signed to Atlantic Records when she was 17, but was dropped by the label 5 years later. She continued releasing singles independently, and experienced numerous viral moments: a video of her performing 2020’s “Pink Pony Club” gained traction on TikTok in 2021, as did 2022’s “Casual.” In September of last year, Roan released her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, and this year, things really started to fall into place for her. She opened for Olivia Rodrigo on tour from February to April of this year (the two share a producer, Dan Nigro), released an NPR Tiny Desk Concert on March 21 that has nearly 1.5 million views, and even lectured at Harvard in April. Since the beginning of the year, she’s seen her Spotify monthly listeners increase tenfold, further boosted by her recent headline-making appearances at Coachella.
ian
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 15,517
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Country: U.S.
Newly anointed by the tastemaking YouTube channel 4 Shooters Only, young rapper ian has finally cemented a rise that’s been burbling in the Soundcloud underground for a few years now. Though he’s only recently begun to garner viral attention for songs like the bruising rage-influenced track “Figure It Out” and the ambient plugg anthem “Rhode Island” (named one of the Best Internet Rap songs of 2023 by the beloved blog Nobells), he’s been grinding out sonically adventurous rap tracks on the internet. With the rise of fellow internet-addled weirdos like Xaviersobased, audiences seem poised to appreciate the post-Playboi Carti surreality that Ian evokes in his music. While there’s still little known about him as a person, fans are still connecting — a few weeks ago “Figure It Out” hit #5 on Spotify’s US Viral 50 and it’s been chosen for popular editorial playlists like Internet People and Signed XOXO.
Jean Deaux
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 9,372
Genre: R&B/Soul
Country: U.S.
Chicago-born singer-songwriter Jean Deaux has spent years working steadily, but is still inching closer to her breakthrough moment. Following five EPs — Krash, Empathy, Watch This!, Most Wanted, and Heavy — Deaux released nowhere, fast, her smokiest project yet. The EP (released April 12) is the most mature effort from the 28-year-old. Although she has nearly a million Spotify monthly listeners, nowhere, fast has earned her spots on editorial playlists R&B Weekly, Chilled R&B, and This Is Frequency. The top song on the new album is the Destin Conrad-assisted “Thinkin” (193k Spotify streams), and it’s the only guest appearance on nowhere, fast. and as Deaux confidently pulls back on features, which comprise many of her most streamed songs, she’s set to introduce listeners to her own sound.
SadBoi
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 14,053
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Country: Canada
Toronto-bred talent and LVRN signee SadBoi is putting the world on notice. In 2022, she started releasing music to DSPs and gaining traction with records like “That’s Your Problem (STANK HOEZ)” and “Potential.” The latter record showcases her signature fusion of Caribbean, R&B, hip-hop, and pop elements into one whirlwind of kinetic energy. In light of the record surpassing 1 million streams on Spotify, she continued her momentum with “Slide,” a clangorous bop that was housed on an EP of the same name. Over the last month alone, she’s gained over 127k new monthly listeners on Spotify, which is just one example that speaks to her fast growth across platforms and as an act. Currently based in Atlanta and fresh off of the release of a new track, “Baddies,” her cross-continental impact is increasing daily.
Ziahfyah
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 9,939
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Country: U.S.
Back in January, U.K. rapper Godard and New Jersey-based creator Ziahfyah made some waves when they released "She Know What She Wanted - Jersey Club Remix," a pulsating club track now with over 2.3 million Spotify streams. But, that was nothing compared to their next offering, a slowed version of the remix. Slowing the orchestral and club elements to a molasses pace, the track becomes cinematic, which has led folks on TikTok to flock to it. The most popular clip, currently approaching 20 million views, features a group of people playing garbage can basketball, using the beat drop near the climax of the clip.
Visualizations by Nicki Camberg with contributions from Crasianne Tirado; data as of April 29, 2024.
Portions of this piece are included in Sound Signal, a bi-weekly newsletter from Third Bridge Creative. Sign up here.
