This has been an excellent time to experience new music. There’s something about tuning for Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal algorithms “just right” to deliver new quality songs to your feeds. I’ve been curating hundreds of playlists across multiple platforms and I’ve reached the point where these A.I. systems know my musical tastes pretty well. And since there are a lot of like-minded listeners who reach out and ask me for what i’m listening at the moment, I’ve decided to do a monthly list of the 6 – 12 new artists who are in heavy rotation on a daily basis. Plus, there’s so many artist and songs rotating through me, I’d like to catalog them in a place I can retrieve them.
So here my artist list for May 2024:
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Samara Cyn
Samara first came onto my radar when she showed up on my #foryou TikTok page with her “Green Eyes Freestyle” on the 245hiphop account. Hearing her southern drawl over Erykah Badu’s “It’s Too Late” groove was something special. And everything about her seems to be specials and ready crossover and make an impact in 2024. Her single “Moving Day” has been in heavy rotation for weeks and the catchy “WAKE UP” is slowly creeping into my brain
Neo-soul, hip hop fusionist, Samara Cyn, is an emerging artist in Los Angeles, California with a sound that stands out from the crowd. With new, modern soul and nostalgic hip hop undertones, her southern twang cuts through her records.
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Norman Sann
I’m starting to see a theme of discovering artists when they cross through my TikTok #foryou page. Norman Sann stood out because even thought his style of music can be considered broad, his minimal style of music videos seems to be his brand and helps him really stand out. After all that, you discover he’s skilled with bars and witty verses. Just one listen to the catchy “Mildred” or “Cavalier” will tell you everything you need to know about this Texas-born emcee.
From an early age Norman Sann has had a shine. The backdrop of his beginnings is all too normal these days, but Norman was built differently. Norman Sanchez was born in Houston, Texas to a single mother. His father was serving time in jail and his older brothers were busy making moves in the street. For Norman, the music called louder than the streets. Norman’s mother, despite struggles, sought to enroll Norman in acting classes and spent her time introducing him to all creative cultures. He was quickly enamoured with music. The storytelling of country music spoke to him, the passion in gospel fed his soul, and the rhythmic melodies of hiphop, jazz, latin, dubstep, and 80’s synth-pop worked to guide the beat of his heart. He picked up the trombone in junior high band. Then percussion. Not long after, he found the guitar, harmonica, piano and organ. Self taught in most, Norman never realized he was building a foundation, feeding a musical soul. In 2010, Norman graduated and became an audio engineer where he began making beats and experimenting with his sound. Countless hours were spent in the studio listening to other musicians create. With a unique gift for beat making and lyrical wordplay, it isn’t hard to see why everyone believes in Norman’s message. You won’t find 808s or mumbling on tracks. You won’t hear auto-tune or curse words. What you will hear is “puro”, music that uplifts communities through truth, raw vocab and grimey beats. — Spotify
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Hailey Knox
Remember when Billy Eilish was just a kid posting music on Soundcloud? That’s how I felt about Hailey Knox when I first heard her songs “Gucci Prada Balenciaga” and “Actin Funny“. The funny thing is i thought she Black and was surprised when I first saw her on Instagram. After hearing and watching her you can’t deny she has that authentic talent, whether is crafting soul or pop music. It’s only a matter of time until she writes that one song that propels her to the mainstream. Her latest song “Double Tragedy” just got her a spot on the “Colors Show“—the place where a lot of great stars got introduced to the masses. So I guess Ms. Knox is on her way.
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Bad Snacks
I’ve been low key following Bad Snacks since the late 2010’s. When I was first exposed to her music, she was making more traditional Boom Bap beats, which I’d listened to frequently and dropped into my Background Flow mixes… but i didn’t who all those beats came from one artist. Another draw was her fondness for melodic strings arrangements, which sealed the deal for me as a fan. I didn’t put it all together until she released an exclusive singles “Technicolor” and the remake of the New Radicals “You Get What You Give” as a Spotify exclusive. Technicolor fast bacame my favorite song of last year, and after digging through her back catalogue I finally knew why. I’d been a fan since day one, I just didn’t put all the pieces together. An accomplished musician, she arranges and plays all her strings arrangements in her music, which now swings toward dance music.. which has been dragging me along into the genre since the high energy, chord and string heavy “alright, ok“. Throw in the subtle haunting backgroiund vocals and you got someone to watch for the next couple years.
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Sophie Hunter
Sophie Hunter is a wild card for me. When I initially saw her popping up in my social feeds, my first impression is she was trying way to hard to stand out. But it took a while and a number of songs to actually see she genuinely exude that ‘give zero fucks’ attitude. Very creative and extremely talented—you can see she’s just at the start of what she’s going to give us. I love the fact that she doesn’t really stay in one particular lane. And although I’m still at the point of just sampling what she’s offering, I can feel it (in my bones) that she’s just one viral hit away from all eyes forming on her. “BiONiCLE”, “CVNT” and “Mic Check” are certified bangers. I can’t wait to hear what’s coming out of that brain next.
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Nali
To be honest, I don’t know a lot about Nali. I’d heard her on a couple features, most notably, Zahir’s “Swan Song”. But the song that really blew me away was hearing “4 U” on Tiktok and watching it gain popularity. I love her voice and her style of music and can’t wait to hear a full project from her—definitely on my radar.