Artists on the rise
Photo via Flickr (The Come Up Show) under Creative Commons license
Saint Jhn is a rising R&B singer out of Brooklyn, New York, and has just released his debut album this year. Saint Jhn combines both R&B and modern rap music to create his own style of music.
November 4, 2018
Given the vast amount of artists in the world, many talented musicians are bound to go unnoticed. Here’s a comprehensive list of just some excellent artists on the rise.
Healy
After releasing his first song in 2015, three more singles in 2016, and a full album in 2017, Healy is still a lesser known artist. While he is classified as a “rapper,” his music is very different than archetypal rap music. Combining relaxing, techno-pop beats with fun, high-energy lyrics, Healy’s music is truly a genre of its own. This Memphis native is pushing the boundaries of rap music, much like Chance the Rapper did with “Acid Rap” in 2013.
Unlike many lesser-known artists who are on their way to the spotlight, Healy already has a collection of music ready for listening. His singles “150 / roll widdit,” and “winse” show that he can make upbeat music while songs from his album “Subluxe” like “reckless,” “No Vacation / Outside,” and “Unwind,” show Healy’s more laid back, relaxed style. Whether or not you love rap music, Healy is worth listening to.
88rising
This year marks the debut for Asian music group 88rising. The group is composed of a wide variety of Asian artists from popular Indonesian rapper Rich Brian to the up-and-coming artist Joji.
In their first album, 88rising experiments in many different genres of music, ranging from electronic music to rap and even a bit of pop. The most popular song off their debut album, “Midsummer Madness,” is an excellent example of their experimentation. The song features a lively background beat paired with a repetitive chorus and different rappers taking different verses. This combination makes for a catchy and instantly enjoyable song. With the group only having one album out, there’s only hope for the future of 88rising.
Wallows is an indie rock band out of Los Angeles who is steadily gaining popularity. Wallows puts their own twist on their rock music with spaced-out vocals and original guitar sounds.
Wallows
The lo-fi indie band Wallows is another band searching for their big break. The band debuted in 2017 with the song “Pleaser.” Since then they have released six singles and one EP. The group out of Los Angeles has been playing music together since they were eleven years old. Wallows consists of Braeden Lemasters on guitar/vocals, “Thirteen Reasons Why” star Dylan Minnette also on guitar/vocals, and Cole Preston on drums.
Like many other indie bands that have come to popularity in the past years, Wallows uses catchy rock guitar riffs with a heavy reverb. Wallows puts their own mark on the genre, pairing the instruments with echoed vocals. The band’s first three songs, “Pleaser,” “Sun Tan,” and “Uncomfortable,” are amazing for debut singles. The quality of their music has only improved with the release of “Spring EP,” which has a much more original tone than their earlier works.
For fans of rock music, especially indie rock music, Wallows is an excellent change of pace from other indie music artists. Wallows is taking all the good parts of indie music and putting their own spin on it.
Summer Salt
Another experimental indie band, Summer Salt, defines their own take on the indie genre with what they call “coral reef rock.” The four-man band out of Houston released their debut single “Driving to Hawaii” in 2015.
Unlike many of the other popular indie bands that have sprouted since the 2010s, Summer salt puts their own twist by slowing down their songs and fusing slow melodies with slow, trippy lyrics. The easiest way to categorize Summer Salt is to say their music is just calming.
The releases “Sweet To Me” and “Driving To Hawaii” use a basic snare drum beat and a basic guitar sound which has been heavily processed in order to create a spaced-out sound. Fans of super soft-sounding music should listen to Summer Salt as soon as possible.
Role Model
Throughout the past couple of years, the genre of “anti-pop” has risen with artists such as Rex Orange County, Joji, and Steve Lacy. This style of music sounds like pop music, but mixes in other genres such as electronic music, R&B, and even rap. One of the newer voices to this genre is Tucker Pillsbury, also known as Role Model. The twenty-one-year-old started his music career as a rapper before turning to this new style of music in the summer of 2017 with the song “Puerto Rican.”
Much of his music has a very melancholic and sad tone. The song “not a fan” and “I don’t rly like u” are great examples in this “anti-pop” genre. Mixing the alternative sounding guitar with trap style background beats creates interesting and likable melodies. This, combined with the slow singing of Pillsbury, creates an enjoyable, sad song for fans of almost all genres.
Sheck Wes
With all the hundreds of new rap artists, many of their sounds seem to blend together. However, Harlem native Sheck Wes is coming to the scene and standing out with his own original style. Sheck Wes started making music in early 2017 with his debut single “Live Sheckwes Die Sheckwes.” Since then he has released one single and one full-length album.
Combining loud, fast-paced music with angry, almost yelled lyrics, Sheck Wes’s new style is a bit overwhelming, but that overwhelming music is attracting many fans. His single “Live Sheckwes Die Sheckwes” starts off, like many of his songs, very slow and very soft before making the huge jump to loud, fast, hyped music. However, the most famous song of his, “Mo Bamba,” has become popular recently due to its strange style. The entirety of “Mo Bamba” is a buildup. It’s very energetic, and people are loving it. For most fans of rap music, the music of Sheck Wes is worth a listen.
Saint Jhn
Saint Jhn is an R&B artist who combines the best part of slow jam R&B and rap. The artist has not been making music for very long, but has already grown in popularity enough to perform at Music Midtown. Saint Jhn’s first song, “1999,” was released in the summer of 2016. The next year, he released a couple more singles before finally releasing his debut album “Collection One” in March of 2018.
Saint Jhn’s style can be categorized as a perfectly balanced mix of rap and R&B. Singing about things rappers typically rap about but with an R&B beat creates amazing music. The songs “Roses,” “3 Below,” and “I heard you got too litt last night,” are some of his releases that use this style. This style of music and the blending of genres is what is going to separate Saint Jhn from the rest.
