By Brandon Ousley, Michelle Hyun Kim, Leah Mandel, Vrinda Jagota, and Jaelani Turner-Williams of Third Bridge Creative
In this week’s installment of exciting emerging artists, we’re exploring the soul-tinged vocals of a promising R&B singer, an edgy indie pop star crafting queer anthems, a pivot from rock band to flying solo, avant-garde electronic music, and transformative R&B and soul.
Durand Bernarr
Chartmetric Artist Rank: R&B/Soul
Genre: 27,342
Country: U.S.
LA-based artist Durand Bernarr has a gift for clever R&B earworms that bring his witty songwriting, larger-than-life personality, and magnetic voice front and center. Between collaborating with heavyweights like Ari Lennox, The Internet, and KAYTRANADA, and working as a backing singer for Erykah Badu, his solo ambitions continue to grow. His newly released EP En Route is also a visual project boasting the retro-fitted ‘70s slow jam, “Unknown” (200k Spotify streams), and the Free Nationals-assisted “Fist Bump” (258k Spotify streams). His acrobatic voice is featured on KAYTRANADA’s catchy ‘80s funk throwback, “Weird,” winning him a smash that’s been streamed 1.8 million times. With 503K Spotify monthly listeners, Durand is getting exposed to even more listeners on R&B Weekly and Nu-Funk.
Nxdia
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 26,580
Genre: Pop
Country: U.K.
Nxdia is the next exciting voice in indie pop with their edgy yet catchy queer anthems. In January, the UK-based Egyptian-Sudanese artist broke out with their hit "She Likes a Boy," which now has over 26 million Spotify streams. They've kept up the momentum with “Jennifer’s Body,” their follow-up single, gaining 1.3 million Spotify streams and 262k TikTok views on a single post since the end of March. As they connect with their core sapphic audience with relatable YouTube Shorts, their profile steadily grows. In the past month, they’ve gained 1.5 million new YouTube views, bringing their total to 11.7 million.
SASAMI
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 4,450
Genre: Alternative
Country: U.S.
Sasami Ashworth broke off from L.A.’s Cherry Glazerr in 2018, and has since released two albums as solo-project SASAMI, expanding her repertoire to include everything from shoegaze to metal, and cementing her presence in the indie rock sphere. SASAMI’s new single, “Honeycrash,” is seeing critical praise and has been placed on Spotify editorial playlists ranging from Front Page Indie to The New Alt. “Honeycrash” has already garnered 290k Spotify streams in its first two weeks, and on Chartmetric, SASAMI is ranking in the top 500 alternative artists. Might SASAMI breakthrough in a real way this time around? It’s looking that way.
Verraco
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 15,249
Genre: Electronic
Country: Colombia
Colombian DJ and producer Verraco is committed to decolonizing electronic music. Since 2017, he’s been running the label Insurgentes and its imprint TraTraTrax, elevating and celebrating Latin American electronic artists and establishing him and his peers as some of the genre’s most adventurous new artists. In 2020, he released his critically acclaimed debut, Grial, which pulls from IDM, perreo, and cumbia on tracks with names like “Breaking Hegemonies.” His most recent release, Breathe…Godspeed, continues introducing new listeners to his innovative sound: He’s seen a 19k increase in Spotify monthly listeners in the last month.
Charlotte Day Wilson
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 8,526
Genre: R&B/Soul
Country: Canada
Three years following her debut album ALPHA, R&B and soul vocalist Charlotte Day Wilson is reintroducing her emotional depth on Cyan Blue. The Toronto native opens with “My Way” (925k Spotify streams), detailing a sweeping sapphic romance co-written by songwriter Leon Thomas. The song is currently on the editorial playlist Chill Vibes, while the dizzying kiss-off anthem “I Don’t Love You” (1.3 million Spotify streams) has secured a place on the Sad Indie rotation. While Wilson connects with fellow R&B maven Snoh Aalegra on “Forever” (3.66 million Spotify streams), her second and latest collaboration with KAYTRANADA, “Still,” has run up 1.7 million Spotify streams. Following Wilson’s long-awaited comeback, she gained 438k new Spotify monthly listeners in the last month, bringing her listenership on the platform to 2.17 million.
Portions of this piece are included in Sound Signal, a bi-weekly newsletter from Third Bridge Creative. Sign up here.
Visualizations by Nicki Camberg and cover image by Crasianne Tirado; data as of June 20, 2024.
