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Sound Signal: Anime-Inspired Rap, Colorful Pop, and More
TBC Score: 69
Almost a year after he released his 2022 song “Tomioka,” 24-year-old New York rapper Jay Eazy decided to heavily re-promote it on TikTok this March, determined that it would again be “the song of the summer.” After one TikTok featuring Eazy's girlfriend got 5.5M views, the Demon Slayer-referencing track became a sleeper hit and spawned 251.1K videos. Though Jay Eazy had his first minor hit with the 2021 gimmick song “Pinkeye,” he’s been able to reel in his core audience of anime fans (which he’s built from his many anime-inspired songs), yet also appeal to a mainstream crowd with the catchy Ponderosa Twins Plus One sample on "Tomioka." The success of “Tomioka” is also translating off TikTok, as Jay Eazy’s Spotify monthly listenership has climbed from 226.6K to 686.6K since March.
TBC Score: 75
Equal parts gaudy and gloomy, 6arelyhuman’s take on dance pop is introducing a new generation to the forgotten sounds of the Myspace era. Self-described as “the hottest alien in the club,” 6arelyhuman makes colorful pop songs that recall the Pixy Stix-snorting energy of 2000s Eurodance and the chaotic scene-dance of once-maligned acts like Brokencyde. The Auto-Tuned EmoDM banger “Hands up!” is 6arelyhuman’s first viral hit, garnering 73K TikTok creates and placements on playlists like Spotify’s hyperpop and Ultimate Pop Gaming. But other tracks like “XOXO (Kisses Hugs)” and “Death City” are on the rise too, each generating millions of streams of their own. No doubt, 6arelyhuman is set to bring some chaos to the club this summer.
TBC Score: 71
For St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red, desire is an art. A string of viral tracks has kept her on rap's radar, with her brazen bars catching everyone's attention. Her breakthrough single "Pound Town," a collaboration with Memphis producer Tay Keith, is a maximalist's approach to bedroom banter. With an 89.1K increase in Shazam counts, it's clear that fans want in on Sexyy Red's charisma. Since March, the track's popularity soared and led to the artist’s rise on Spotify: She has 431 percent more monthly listeners (1.8M in total) and has received placements on prominent Spotify playlists like Get Turnt and Feelin' Myself. Sexyy Red's stellar features—on tracks including NLE Choppa’s similarly ribald “Slut Me Out” and Memphis rapper Gloss Up’s confident “Check”—has only left fans wanting more.
TBC Score: 59
As a new signee to Latin Grammy winner Carin Leon’s label, Kakalo is the latest musician to successfully bring regional Mexican music to the global stage. Together, the two Hermosillo natives released “Mil Maneras de Morir,” inspired by American folk while using mariachi and crooning '50s rock to convey all-consuming heartache. The song has racked up 4M streams since its release on March 28 and has been added to major Spotify playlists like Top México (500,000 likes) and La Reina: Éxitos de la Música Mexicana (2.5M likes). With an influx of listeners, a viral hit, and the backing of one of the genre’s most established artists, Kakalo is finding his footing as a pioneer of this rich Mexican movement: Since April, his Spotify monthly listeners have increased from 50K to 1.6M.
What Is Music Intelligence?We're at least two generations into the world of big data, where data points are generated by the millions and uses for them are multiplying exponentially, all the time. Data can be a powerful tool for understanding what's happening around us and making educated guesses about what's going to happen next. But it's only one type of information, and it will never completely unseat human intelligence and intuition as a likewise valuable tool for evaluating context. This is especially true when it comes to realms that are non-scientific, such as culture. Culture—meaning all the creative and decidedly human things we generate and exchange—is unpredictable and irrational, and that's a large part of what makes it so interesting.
Every day, people around the world are listening to music using dozens of platforms. And that generates big sets of data that can provide some level of insight into what's trending and what is meaningful. With something as subjective and amorphous as music, though, the cultural knowledge and intuition of humans is essential to making sense of the data. The key is to connect the quantitative (the data) with the qualitative (the human insights that contextualize it). Using those two analytical perspectives in tandem, it's possible to make sense of a mountain of information—combining, sorting, and analyzing it to discover where tastes, trends, and creativity are headed.
We're calling this music intelligence. The term refers to collecting and analyzing music consumption data and looking for patterns and also diversions from patterns, and then interpreting that information using human knowledge and learned intuition. This approach creates countless opportunities for companies that work in or partner with cultural enterprises of all kinds, including music.
Take the quirk from late 2022 where Lady Gaga's "Bloody Mary" (off 2011's Born This Way) saw an abrupt spike in traffic. What was going on? The wildly popular Netflix series Wednesday had featured a very memorable scene where the titular character performed a dance right up there with Napoleon Dynamite's most indelible sequence in terms of wonderful weirdness. TikTok noticed. TikTok could not resist the temptation to meme it to infinity. But instead of setting the memes to The Cramps' "Goo Goo Muck," which Wednesday danced to in the episode, the world of TikTok landed on "Bloody Mary." The platform is known for being an incubator where ideas get melted down, stirred together, and spat out as something new. But it takes human understanding to follow the data up the chain, find its apex, and contextualize a phenomenon so particular to its moment.
Viral trends on social media, like that one, often drive surges in catalog listening habits, and music curation projects need to examine those trends in order to understand what is happening and why. Then they can use that information to create experiences that are relevant and compelling to listeners. They can also assist owners of vast swaths of user-generated music in identifying the value in their portfolios in ways that are meaningful and even predictive. And the marketing departments of streaming platforms need data to identify and engage with highly relevant, on-brand emerging talent.
Doing this work effectively requires designing systems that strategically intertwine human expertise with the data, each providing checks and balances on the other. The first step is analysis of the data points, including their sources. For example, an artist or track surging on TikTok is an entirely different phenomenon than one surging on a traditional DSP. The music on TikTok is often not the centerpiece of the content, and while a spike on that platform can sometimes lead to lasting success, it’s frequently ephemeral. To get a sense of what direction a trend is headed, that signal needs to be analyzed alongside ones from platforms where music is the focus.
With understanding of the significance of relevant data signals in place, it's possible to construct a simple algorithm that establishes baseline criteria around artist performance across multiple platforms and then weights those signals appropriately. This algorithm can sift a pool of artist candidates to see which of them are likely gaining serious traction, versus enjoying a viral flash. Literally millions of artists (and AI bots) are looking for their big break at any moment, but only a fraction have the skills and timing to earn it.
Human intelligence re-enters the process at this point. Metrics measuring engagement (the number of people listening) and velocity (how quickly that number is growing) are invaluable, but in isolation they can be misleading. That's where highly specialized music experts spanning genres, scenes, and territories lend the big-picture context that's crucial to identifying what's actually happening. This team can include taste makers, DJs, writers, and people who are themselves musicians, past or present. They can discern the difference between an emerging act being signed to a buzzy label and a sound or genre entering the actual zeitgeist, making it more likely for adjacent artists to gain a broader audience. With the list of relevant emerging talent now sifted again, the remaining pool can still be large—as many as 1,000 artists.
To further winnow it down, data and human intelligence need to operate in tandem again. An algorithm that looks at the variance in the performance metrics between the remaining artists can produce a simple weighted score that accounts for those signals. The above visualization is an example of a Third Bridge Creative tool that presents a score to allow a subject matter expert to quickly orient around priority artists. This score enables the expert to provide the final—and crucial—layer: actually listening to the artists and evaluating their music and brand. This is perhaps the most important step, because regardless of what the data indicates, an artist is not going to be popular if their sound isn’t compelling.
Though the process laid out above is oriented around identifying emerging artists, music intelligence isn’t a single product or service. It's flexible and modular, a highly customizable approach to strategic content development and decision-making. The insights can identify trends in catalog music or help streaming platforms prioritize new releases. Marketing teams can also use the information to identify trends within the music world so they can make key alignments.
In the current world of music consumption, where more than 7 billion tracks are streamed every day, it's impossible to keep track of what's going on without the benefit of data. But to use that data effectively and figure out how to anticipate which 7 billion tracks will be queued up tomorrow and also next month, human intelligence is equally essential, and this is where the music intelligence approach produces results that either method can't achieve alone.
Sound Signal: Thoughtful Country, Rowdy Electronic, and New Hip-HopTBC Score: 79
It’s hard not to be moved by Sam Barber’s fierce, sorrowful singing and delicate finger-picked guitar. After years of singing covers (a video of him singing Dani and Lizzy’s “Dancing in the Sky” received a whopping 4M views), the Missouri-born musician’s original songs are getting just as much buzz. Earlier this month, a snippet of “Straight and Narrow,” a contemplative country ballad, garnered 3.4M views on TikTok, with 40.6K users flocking to the sound since April 6. Barber’s earnest lyricism and rock influences have even translated to the Billboard charts: “Straight and Narrow” debuted at No. 24 on the Hot Rock Songs chart and No. 38 on Hot Rock & Alternative Songs. At just 18 years old, Barber is heralded as country’s next great storyteller.
TBC Score: 70
BLP Kosher’s dizzy drawl resembles fellow Sunshine State artists like Kodak Black and SpotemGottem, but the Broward County native stands out from his contemporaries thanks to some inherent contrasts in his presentation. He wears his hair in wicks—a Florida-born hairstyle brought to the mainstream by Kodak—while centering his Jewish background in his public image. A snippet of his single “The Nac 2” generated nearly 2M plays on TikTok since January. On March 31, the provocative rapper released “Mazel Tron,” a punchy track featuring Michigan rapper BabyTron ripe with on-the-nose wordplay. Even without attention from legacy media publications, he’s received the ultimate co-sign from Lyrical Lemonade: a video directed by Cole Bennett. In the weeks since the premiere of “Mazel Tron,” the video has garnered nearly 2M views.
TBC Score: 67
DJ/producer BAMBII has been a fixture in Toronto’s rave scene since the early 2010s, when she launched JERK, the cult queer party centering Caribbean music. After acting as a touring DJ with Mykki Blanco, she gained confidence to be a solo artist: She’s been issuing a steady stream of club-ready heaters since 2019—always an electrifying mix of dancehall, jungle, and garage. In February, she gained recognition for co-producing nine tracks on Kelela’s new album, Raven, and shared her rowdy new single “One Touch,” which earned Best New Music from Pitchfork. Since its release on April 3, her Spotify monthly listenership jumped from 31,554 to 124,283, signaling a breakthrough.
TBC Score: 75
While most high school seniors are focused on graduation, rising rapper Kanii is still excited about his major-label debut single. His latest offering, "I Know," a song about a failed love has the right components for virality: a memorable hook and the popular Jersey Club bed squeak. When YouTuber Penguinz0 used "I Know" in a video a week after its release, it became the go-to sound for gaming and anime content. A student at Washington, D.C.'s Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Kanii represents the intersection of traditional musicality and internet culture. With nearly 7M monthly listeners on Spotify, he’s a fixture on playlists like Mint and big on the internet.
Sound Signal: Internet Rap, Satirical Hyperpop, and Progressive R&BGenre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Building a name on his introspective raps since 2015, Navy Blue has found his mainstream breakthrough with Ways of Knowing, his debut album for Def Jam. The Brooklyn-based rapper, producer, and skateboarder born Sage Elsesser is an established figure in the indie hip-hop scene, having collaborated with Earl Sweatshirt and provided crackling, soul-sampling beats for the likes of Wiki and MIKE. The reflections on love, family, and relationships on his new LP (released March 23) are the result of four years of soul-searching and closely working with the producer Budgie, which has led to a 129K percent increase in his Spotify editorial playlist reach.
Genre: Pop, Hyperpop
Sometimes, when hyperpop sibling duo Frost Children are asked what kind of music they make, they respond “it’s confidential.” It’s a cryptic answer that nonetheless reveals the winking, satirical sensibility at the core of their music. On tracks like “BL!NK,” the duo reference Blink-182 and SpongeBob SquarePants over a beat that morphs from jittery and glitchy to a cyclone of raspy vocals, ricocheting drums, and chaotic, video game-like blips. Since getting their start during the onset of quarantine, they have released three full-length albums, with another slated to be released on April 14. With this new project, they are primed to bring their singular sense of humor to hyperpop.
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
Destroy Lonely has been making massive waves in internet rap’s everchanging vortex. In 2021, the Atlanta rapper signed with Playboi Carti's label, Opium, where he released NO STYLIST, a 19-track project bringing fans into his euphoric soundscape. Before he released “if looks could kill” last month, the single leaked and became hugely popular on TikTok and SoundCloud, building anticipation for its official release. As evidenced by over 14M Spotify streams and his appearances on coveted playlists like Rap Caviar, Destroy Lonely's growing popularity is positioning him as a must-see this festival season, when he'll perform before crowds at Rolling Loud, Bonnaroo, and Lollapalooza.
Genre: R&B
Boston-born artist Khamari is paving his own lane in R&B and soul. After leaving Berklee College of Music in 2017 to pursue a recording career, Khamari released Eldorado, an EP that bears acoustic and progressive R&B sensibilities. Khamari's now a Los Angeles resident, and his latest single, “On My Way,” is an autobiographical look at the singer-songwriter aiming to strike it big. The gentle song prominently samples 1972 Al Green classic “Love and Happiness” and as of this publication has achieved nearly 300k Spotify streams since its release, with Khamari garnering 428K monthly listeners (and climbing). Featured on noteworthy playlists like R&B Weekly, Lowkey, and R&B Rising, Khamari is writing his way into R&B’s future.
Sound Signal: Viral R&B, Aesthetic Rap, and Buzzy Pop PunkGenerally speaking, artists don't literally break through overnight. For weeks or months or sometimes years before their name is on the tip of everyone's tongue, they've been working, creating blips in the collective music-listening radar, turning a few heads here and there. And right before the big moment, the velocity data—that is, the data that indicates how many new people are paying attention to them over time—gives a clue that the moment is nigh. They're ready to emerge.
These four artists are the ones we’ve identified for the latest installment of Sound Signal—a biweekly music intelligence newsletter, produced in partnership with Chartmetric, in which we identify emerging artists and tracks, as well as other scenes, trends, or new genres. Check out their music in the accompanying playlist. And if you like knowing what’s next, you’d probably enjoy Sound Signal.
You can sign up here.
With blazing punk riffs and catchy pop melodies, Meet Me @ The Altar have emerged as pop-punk’s new leaders since signing with Fueled by Ramen. After forming online in 2015 as teenagers, the trio started getting buzz with punchy, uplifting tracks like 2020’s "Garden" and 2021’s "Hit Like a Girl," an anthem of female solidarity. After opening for Green Day last summer, they released Past // Present // Future, a bold debut album that veers from honest self-deprecation to boundless optimism, earlier this month. Connecting with listeners who have waited for mainstream pop-punk to reflect its diverse fandom—all members of MM@TA are POC, with two of the members being queer. The LP has grown their Spotify playlist to 14M listeners.
The colorful K-pop girl group FIFTY FIFTY made a splash when they debuted in late 2022, impressing listeners—including The Recording Academy—with their remarkably self-assured approach to pop songcraft and a uniquely dreamy visual identity. Still, they’re rising even higher in early 2023 thanks to the success of "Cupid," a breezy cut that recalls both the simmer of early ‘00s R&B and the plasticine sheen of city pop. The track’s become a hit on shortform, notching over 41K creates on TikTok in just over a month, resulting in prominent playlist placements, including Spotify’s big on the internet and Pop Rising. All eyes are on FIFTY FIFTY, one of K-pop’s most ascendant new acts.
1nonly is a rising star of the internet-addled hip-hop scene known as aesthetic rap, owning his gruff-voiced cool on his 2022 single "Mine." He twists the TikTok-popular indie rock cut “Notion” by the Rare Occasions into a heavy-lidded, club-minded rap track. It’s not the only time he’s coasted over a beat featuring a viral sample—but he does so in a way that feels familiar yet true to his identity. He’s adopted other internet-popular genres like Phonk ("Step Back!") and rage ("GHOSTKILLA")—landing him on big editorial playlists that document online music (for example, Spotify’s Internet People and Top Gaming Tracks). With 6M monthly listeners on Spotify, he has a knack for reaching new audiences with every track.
Hailing from the UK, emerging singer and producer JayO blends smooth R&B and the heart of Afrobeats. "22," a sensual single, is nothing like the cheeky Taylor Swift track of the same name. After teasing a snippet on TikTok in January, 22-year-olds on the app rejoiced: The song has been used for over 200K creates, despite the Tottenham singer releasing the track in late February. In the month since its release, JayO has banked over 13M streams on Spotify and earned more than 4M monthly listeners.
The TBC QueueThe TBC Queue is Third Bridge’s playlist of new music, featuring songs our staff is currently obsessed with. This update kicks off with a stretch of playfully aggressive tracks perfect for soundtracking the coming summer. It starts with DJ Manny’s “Raga R&B” ft. Teklife, selected by TBC Senior Editor Colin Joyce, who shared: “Out of all the rhythmic contortionists in the Teklife orbit, few are as interested in lushness and melody as DJ Manny. This new single further indulges that side of his work, floating effortlessly above the dance floor while everyone footworks down below.” Recently released bangers from rapper billy woods, R&B singer Victoria Monét, and rappers Killer Mike and Sha EK continue the forward momentum. Later in the set, TBC Senior Producer Hannah Elliott selected the punchy rocker “DIRTY ROOM” from Korea’s Snake Chicken Soup because she’s “going through a phase where I'm looking for the stuff so loud it hurts a little.” Turn it up.
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