The year 2022 has been a tremendously successful year for the music industry. Many established artists came out of the liberation to give us some enthralling albums and singles. SZA released her latest album ‘SOS’ for which people have been waiting for a long time. Artists were discovered due to social media. It included the Latin artists Bad Bunny, GloRilla, Måneskin, Gayle, and others. Now, there are many to look forward to in 2023 too.
Along with these mainstream artists, other artists did not get recognized, but their rise was sporadic. The Complex Magazine predicted that there were many talented and skillful batches of individuals who will make it big with their music in 2022. It included the poetic and Indie artist EKKSTACY, who broke out with one of the best songs in 2021 titled ‘i walk this earth all by myself’. Terry Presume spat some great bars with his ‘Act Up’ and his Marleyesque ‘Zaza and Some Runtz’ proved the versatility. Like these, many artists have sprung afresh on the scene and they are here to conquer. Here’s the list.
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10) KWAYE
At the end of 2022, the Zimbabwe-born artist released a new single ‘Fool’s Game’. The artist has been emerging since he released his single ‘Sweetest Life’ in 2017, and then his EP ‘Solar’ in the same year. Kwayedza Kureya aka Kwaye was born in Zimbabwe. Kwaye is the son of a social worker mother and his father is a doctor. He came to live in London. But, when he shifted to Los Angeles his life changed.
He was studying at UCLA when an Uber driver, who was a former music executive spotted him. The man helped him to reach a music label and later, ‘Mind of A Genius’ records signed him. The R&B star has released two EPs. His second EP ‘Love & Affliction’ was released in 2018. After four years, the artist has released his new EP ‘Blue Days’.
9) Wallice
The young and upcoming artist, with an interesting span of genres, Wallice is here to stay. Wallace Hana Watanabe is an indie pop artist born and raised in Los Angeles. In 2020, she released her single ‘Punching Bag’, which proved to be a hit. Wallace attended The New School in New York City and learned Jazz for her vocal training, but she dropped out of school to pursue her solo career. Her early influences were Weezer, blink-182, and she admires Lana Del Ray and Lorde. She has released two EPs so far ‘Off the Rails’ in 2021 and ’90s American Superstar’ in 2022. Her latest single ‘Japan’ is garnering attention.
8) Kim Petras
One of the biggest songs of 2022 is ‘Unholy’ by Sam Smith and Kim Petras. The song reached the No.1 position within a month of its release in September 2022 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. Both Petras and Smith are nominated for the 65th Grammy Awards in ‘Best Pop Duo/Group Performance’.
This is a big thing for representation of the trans and LGBTQIA+ artists as Sam is non-binary and Kim is a trans artist. It took a long time for people to recognize her as she has been on the scene since 2008.
The artist was releasing singles for a long time, but she was recognized in 2017 when Petras released ‘I Don’t Want It at All’. In 2022, she released a single ‘If Jesus Was A Rockstar’. Kim was about to release their fifth studio album ‘Problématique’, but the songs were leaked. But, we can expect some big wins, more EPs and singles, and grand ‘Unholy’ performances in 2023.
7) Joe Kane
One of the underdogs, but highly reputed hip hop artist Joe Kane has released his third studio album ‘Po$$um’. The album has been making waves on Spotify. The Texas rapper is a producer as well. He has been releasing music since 2007. In 2007, he released his first studio album ‘Make Some Take Some’ which had 12 songs and 48 million streams. In 2010, he released an EP ‘Live Now Pay Later’. His second studio album was released in 2020 ‘Copacetic’. The lyricism and rationale of the artist have kept him afloat in the industry, and he is ready to blast.
6) Cody Johnson
The country music singer Cody Johnson had an epic breakout year in 2022. He brought two trophies to the CMA 2022 home for his smashing hit ‘Til You Can’t’ from his ‘Human The Double Album’. The single also received a Grammy Nomination for the year 2023. The former rodeo came to be recognized in 2014 when he released ‘Cowboy Like Me’ which reached No.7 on US Country Chart. The former rodeo will be touring around the world in 2023.
5) Internet Girl
A South-African Indie Garage Rock trio is charting success since 2020. During the pandemic, the band exploded by releasing nine songs back to back. The band has 110,133 listeners on Spotify and they are having a slow-burning success. The trio consists of artists Tk, Neese, and Griggs. The band is receiving guidance from a collective owner Andrei Lacoban. In 2022, they released their new single ‘s*x symbol’. They are one of the promising artists to look forward to in 2023.
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4) Kaytranada
Louis Kevin Celestin aka Kaytranada is the renowned Dance and Soul genre maestro. Since 2010, he has been making music whether it is mixtapes or original music. He admitted that he is inspired by Michael Jackson, The Roots, J Dilla and Madlib. On Spotify, he has 5,102,157 listeners.
At the Grammys 2021, he created waves winning two Grammys for ‘Best Dance/Electronic Album’ for the 2019 album ‘Bubba’. The album charted at the No.1 position on Billboard’s ‘Top Dance/Electronic Albums’. He is signed to RCA Records. Currently, the artist is touring throughout 2023.
3) Ice Spice
The up-and-coming female rapper Isis Gaston aka Ice Spice has been making headlines in 2022 and deemed to be an artist to look for in 2023. The Bronx rapper is 22 years old and has headlined for artists like Fivio Foreign and performed at the BET Hip Hop Awards. Drake and Cardiff showed their support for the artist. She went viral with her breakout song ‘Munch (Feelin’ You)’ . Despite receiving flak, the rapper has shown a lot of potential when it comes to flow and musicality.
2) Tems
Make some way for the Nigerian queen Temilade Openiyi aka Tems! Recently, she was one of the artists on the ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ album featuring Rihanna. She reprised ‘No Woman, No Cry’ by Bob Marley. The R&B rising star was recognized when she was featured on Wizkid’s album ‘Made in Lagos’. However, the singer has been releasing music since 2018. She released ‘Mr.Rebel’ which has 7,096,768 listens on Spotify. Tems released an EP in 2021 ‘If Orange Was A Place’ featuring Brent Faiyaz. In 2022, Future credited Tems on his song ‘Wait For U’ along with Drake. He sampled her song ‘Higher’ from the 2020 album ‘For Broken Ears’. Watch out for the artist in 2023!
1) Anitta
The Latin artist is taking over the globe right now and is rightfully crowned as the ‘Best contemporary Latin artist’. She has been actively making music since 2013 in Brazil. In 2019, she released ‘Kisses’, which had songs in Latin, Spanish, and English. The album peaked at the 16th position on Billboard’s Top Latin Albums list. But, her rise to unprecedented fame was due to her song ‘Envolver’ released in 2022 from the album ‘Versions of Me’. The song has more than 400 million views on YouTube and 229 million streams on Spotify. She made history as the first Brazilian artist to be a chart-topping performer. She is nominated for ‘Best New Artist’ for the Grammys 2023.
