Nowadays, several previously unknown artists were only known to people who listened to a specific genre but were sprung into mainstream stardom. You may know some of these artists, you may not, but hopefully, you'll be able to expand your music palette!
KSI
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KSI, also known as Olajide Olatunji or JJ, is a rapper from the U.K. who has collaborated with the likes of Anne-Marie, YUNGBLUD, and Polo G. He is also known as a boxer, fighting with some well-known personalities such as Logan Paul and as one of the members of “Sidemen,” a popular Youtube group. If you want to give some of his songs a listen, I recommend “Holiday,” “Patience” feat.
YUNGBLUD and Polo G, and “Really Love” feat. Craig David and Digital Farm Animals.
Olivia Rodrigo
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Olivia Rodrigo is an American-Filipino singer who is most recognized for her role as “Nina” in “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” and her debut single “driver’s license.” In fact, as I’m sure you’re aware, “driver’s license” was an instant hit and some say that’s because of the drama that was supposedly affiliated with the song involving Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, and Sabrina Carpenter. I think the song is a hit simply because it’s a vibe. Whatever the reason, Rodrigo followed up the single with “deja vu” and “good 4 u” and, eventually, an album which all proved to be just as good as “driver’s license.” You might have heard some of Rodrigo’s songs without knowing you did as quite a number of them are trending on TikTok including “happier,” “good 4 u,” and “enough for you.” If you want to listen to some of her songs, I recommend “1 step forward, 3 steps back,” “favorite crime,” and “deja vu.”
Wallows
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Wallows is an indie rock band that consists of three members; Dylan Minnette, Braeden Lemasters, and Cole Preston. You may know Dylan Minnatte from his acting projects which include “Goosebumps,” “13 Reasons Why,” and “The Open House.” The band started releasing music in April 2017 with “Pleaser,” which was a hit (Wikipedia). However, they are arguably most known for the song “Are You Bored Yet?” featuring Clairo. If you want to listen to some of their songs, I recommend “These Days,” “Drunk on Halloween,” and “1980s Horror Film II.”
The Walters
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The Walters was an indie rock band that consisted of five members: Luke Olson, Walter Kosner, MJ Tirabassi, Danny Wells, and Charlie Ekhaus (Wikipedia). Their album, “Songs for Dads,” recently blew up on TikTok despite it being released in 2014, specifically the songs “I Love You So,” and “Fancy Shoes.” The band has been disbanded since 2017 and Luke Olson started his own solo career under “L. Martin,” while the other members formed a new band called “Corduroy” (Wikipedia). If you want to listen to some of their songs, I recommend “Sweet Marie,” “Old Friend,” and “Goodbye Baby.”
Lyn Lapid
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Lyn Lapid is a Tiktok star-turned singer as her song “Producer Man” blew up on Tiktok just last year, which describes her general aversion towards the music industry and the type of environment fostered by many record labels and talent managers. “Producer Man's" popularity led her to sign with Republic Records (Rolling Stone) under which she continues to release songs, a number of them blowing up on Tiktok. If you want to listen to some of her songs, I recommend “In My Mind,” “Infinite,” and “Itsy Bitsy.”
Ricky Montgomery
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Ricky Montgomery is an indie-pop artist who first released his album in 2016, only to find popularity four years later in 2020. Before his debut album “Montgomery Ricky” blew up on Tiktok, Montgomery was seriously considering quitting music as it was not generating enough income (Wikipedia). Once his album became popular, multiple major labels contacted him in the span of a few months, and a bidding war ensued on which label would sign him (Wikipedia). If you want to try listening to some of his songs, I recommend “Mr. Loverman,” “Line Without A Hook,” and “Snow.”
BENEE
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BENEE, a.k.a Stella Bennett, is a singer-songwriter who is on the rise to stardom. She was fairly popular in New Zealand before she gained international fame due to her song “Supalonely” (Wikipedia). In 2019 and 2020, she consecutively won Single of the Year, Best Solo Artist, and Best Pop Artist at the New Zealand Music Awards (Wikipedia). If you want to try listening to some of her songs, I recommend “Glitter,” “Soaked,” and “Wishful Thinking.”
Beach Bunny
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Beach Bunny is an indie rock band composed of 4 members; Lili Trifilio, Matt Henkels, Anthony Vaccaro, and Jon Alvarado. They first formed in 2015 as independent artists (Wikipedia), and eventually found fame in 2020 after a few of their songs blew up on Tiktok, namely “Prom Queen.” They were eventually signed to Mom + Pop Music and released their first studio album titled “Honeymoon” in early 2020 (Wikipedia). If you want to listen to some of their songs, I recommend “Sports,” “Good Girls (Don’t Get Used),” and “Cloud 9.”
Clairo
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Clairo, a.k.a. Claire Cottrill, is an indie solo artist that has been popular in the indie scene for a while. She may be familiar to you as, although she is an indie artist, her songs have reached mainstream audiences due to them being absolute bangers. She has quite a lengthy discography as she has been releasing music since she was just 13 years old (Wikipedia). If you want to try listening to some of her songs, I recommend “Sofia,” “Bubblegum,” and “Hello?”
mxmtoon
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Mxmtoon, also known as Maia, is an indie-pop singer-songwriter who has been popular in both the indie and mainstream scene for a while. Her first EP “plum blossom” was self-released in 2018 and has been streamed over 100 million times. She also has her own Youtube channel called “Mxmtoon” which has over 885,000 subscribers. If you want to listen to some of her songs, I recommend “bon iver,” “prom dress,” and “cliché".
Now go off and listen to any of these artists today!
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