By Colin Joyce, Michelle Hyun Kim, Jaelani Turner-Williams, and Brandon Ousley of Third Bridge Creative
This week’s edition of emerging artists are making noise in the Dominican Republic’s growing dembow market, TikTok’s shoegaze revival, Australia’s rousing alternative R&B scene, and making a bid for Atlanta’s new generation of rap stars.
Lomiiel
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 3,605
Genre: Latin
Country: Dominican Republic
In the wake of the global crossover of El Alfa and other stars from the Dominican Republic in the last few years, dembow has ascended to a place in the worldwide spotlight. Rapper Lomiiel is the subgenre’s latest rising star, firing off a streak of nimble-tongued tracks since 2023. In the short time he’s been making music, he’s established himself as an international presence, garnering nearly 2.3 million monthly listeners on Spotify and appearing on popular editorial playlists like Hits de Internet and Dembow Pegao. The fiery “HAY LUPITA” is his biggest hit to date, partly thanks to its uptake on TikTok, which has been used in over 682k videos since Lomiiel posted the sound on TikTok in late February.
Novulent
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 2,887
Genre: Alternative/Indie
Country: U.S.
Novulent is the latest star among the current wave of TikTok shoegaze artists who have hit it big from their BandLab creations. The recent college grad scored their breakthrough single with 2023’s “scars,” which has racked up over 200k TikTok videos and counting (including one from Megan Thee Stallion), leading to its debut at No. 45 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart in March. They’re keeping up the momentum with their new EP SECRET LETTERS, released March 29, which has brought the young artist to a new peak of 2.29 million Spotify monthly listeners — 471k of which were gained in the past month alone.
Forest Claudette
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 24,960
Genre: R&B/Soul
Country: Australia
Alt-R&B vocalist Forest Claudette is leading their own charge in the genre with their new experimental EP Jupiter, released on May 3. The Melbourne native makes the perfect listen for those missing new music from Frank Ocean, as the two share similar tonalities. Following their past EPs, The Year of February and Everything Was Green, Claudette has gotten a slinky reintroduction with single “Kobe Beef,” a fan favorite with over 200k Spotify streams. On Spotify editorial playlists, including R&B Weekly and Pop n’ Fresh, are fellow Jupiter tracks like “Big Wigs” (50k plays). Alongside 127k Spotify monthly listeners, Claudette also posts performance recaps and scenic song promos to their 60.5k TikTok followers.
Kaiit
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 2,775
Genre: R&B/Soul
Country: Australia
Melbourne-based rapper and singer Kaiit’s vintage neo-soul sound marries her smoothly expressive voice and introspective lyricism with colorful productions from hip-hop to ambient jazz. She burst onto the scene in 2017, and after becoming the first recipient of the Best Soul/R&B Release ARIA award for her 2019 single, “Miss Shiney,” she took a five-year hiatus from recording. Now, she’s plotting her return to music with her indie record label, Big Sis Energy Records, and her new single, “Space.” Her boundless voice cushions the track’s atmospheric boom-bap beats, reflecting on her self-care journey since retreating from music. Since its April 29 release, the 26-year-old’s poignant message on healing is making a large impression, garnering 124k Spotify streams and support on editorial playlists like GLOW, R&B Weekly, and Next Wave Soul.
LAZER DIM 700
Chartmetric Artist Rank: 10,983
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Country: U.S.
Atlanta has always been one of the biggest hubs for rap’s experimenters and weirdos, and the much-hyped LAZER DIM 700 follows neatly in this off-kilter tradition. Largely favoring blown-out beats and off-balance, off-meter bars, he made an impact. At first, it was because of just how strange his sound was — Pitchfork called him Atlanta’s “most chaotic” new rapper — but he’s starting to prove that his gifts work in service of more straightforward hits, too. With breezier slow jams like “Asian Rock” and distorted trance rap like “awsum,” he’s showing that he’s capable of operating in different lanes without sacrificing the sleazy, slurry style that made him appealing to begin with. His unique perspective has won him a lot of streaming success, including 630k monthly listeners on Spotify and placements on tastemaking playlists like Pitchfork Selects.
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 May 23, 2024.
