Sam Barber
Genre: Country
TBC 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.
BLP KOSHER
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
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.
BAMBII
Genre: Electronic
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.
Kanii
Genre: Hip-Hop/Rap
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.
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