Meet Music’s Future 25
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“Since I was a kid, I was always trying to find new music,” Bad Bunny says. “It’s part of my routine, like eating breakfast or taking a shower.” For this year’s Future of Music issue, our new cover star helped us pick 25 rising artists who are rewriting the rules in 2023 and beyond. You’ll find in-depth interviews with an Afrobeats sensation from Lagos, the hottest rapper in Puerto Rico, a South Korean girl group doing things their own way, a música Mexicana phenomenon, the realest voice in Detroit, a truly wild industrial-dance band from Brookyn, and much, much more. What all of them have in common is the thrill of something new. “I don’t know the future,” Bad Bunny adds. “But I ask myself that question with the guys: ‘What’s next? What’s the next sound that’s going to break?'”
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GloRilla
Image Credit: Nicol Biesek for Rolling Stone The fiercely independent Memphis MC is the hottest star in Southern rap — and after her breakthrough year with hits like “F.N.F.” and “Tomorrow 2,” she’s just warming up. Read more.
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NewJeans
Image Credit: Nikolai Ahn for Rolling Stone The teen K-pop group’s unconventional surprise release strategy in 2022 made them one of the fastest-rising acts in the world. This summer, they’re aiming even higher with new music. Read more.
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Villano Antillano
Image Credit: Stephanie Segarra for Rolling Stone The Puerto Rican phenom is out-rapping your faves, reinventing golden-age reggaeton, and building the future she wants to see, one hot track at a time. Read more.
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Model/Actriz
Image Credit: Griffin Lotz for Rolling Stone The industrial-dance rioters are the wildest, buzziest band in Brooklyn. Get on board early while you still can. Read more.
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Asake
Image Credit: Manny Jefferson for Rolling Stone He’s gone from grinding in Lagos to selling out shows worldwide with his unique sound. His next challenge? Trying to stay spiritually grounded amid the chaos. Read more.
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Young Miko
Image Credit: SHOTSJPG* Since releasing her EP Trap Kitty in 2022, she’s upended the sound of Latin trap with bouncy tracks and incomparable Spanglish lyricism. “I feel she has so much to show people, like she hasn’t showed people all her tricks yet,” Bad Bunny says. Read more.
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Otoboke Beaver
Image Credit: Mayumi Hirata* The Kyoto band are a force of nature onstage — four larger-than-life hardcore punks, blazing through sets with wrath and sarcasm. Read more.
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Sudan Archives
Image Credit: Obidi Nzeribe* If you’re looking for the future of music, you might want to check first in Sudan Archives’ L.A. basement. “The sound is classic and futuristic at the same time,” says Bad Bunny. “I always like that combination.” Read more.
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FLO
Image Credit: Conor Cunningham* “It’s very important for everybody to speak up,” says one member of the U.K.’s fastest-rising girl group. “Don’t let anybody make you feel like you’re being a diva.” Read more.
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Brittney Spencer
Image Credit: Jimmy Fontaine* A rising Nashville singer-songwriter who’s breaking new ground in a part of the music industry that has not historically or even recently made space for Black women. Read more.
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Doechii
Image Credit: Samuel Valdivia* “Do I really want to be scared right now? No. Bitch, I want to make a great song and I want to have fun.” Read more.
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Omar Courtz
Image Credit: TNR Public Relations His flexible, endlessly edgy sound, combining elements of R&B and trap, has made fans out of some of his heroes. “I think he has that stickiness,” Bad Bunny says. “Like the choruses stay in your head, the tone of his voice.” Read more.
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Babyface Ray
Image Credit: Flo Ngala* He’s one of the top voices in Detroit’s street rap scene, and he’s planning big things soon: “The summer’s mine.” Read more.
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Elyanna
Image Credit: Adam Kudeimati* At 21, she’s venturing into uncharted territory by blending Arabic, Latin, and Western pop sounds — and she just made history at Coachella. Read more.
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Peso Pluma
Image Credit: Arensovski* Peso Pluma woke up one morning this spring and learned he had the biggest song in the world. “Boom! In a moment, he blew up,” Bad Bunny says. “When that happens, you’re like, ‘I told you he was coming hard!’ ” Read more.
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Tsumyoki
Image Credit: Gully Gang Entertainment* 2023 is a great year to be an artist from India. There’s a new-music boom happening all over the country, led by a crop of young pop, rap, and R&B musicians with a hunger to leap into something greater — artists like Tsumyoki. Read more.
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Teezo Touchdown
Image Credit: Greg Noire* The first thing you notice about Teezo Touchdown is his look. But his music is just as provocative. Read more.
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Soul Glo
Image Credit: Christopher Postlewaite* The Philly bruisers playing a nuanced, unpredictable hybrid of hardcore punk, metal, and hip-hop are proving that heavy music can be anything, and everything. Read more.
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Destroy Lonely
Image Credit: Myles Henrik Hall* “We are really from the south side of Atlanta and be going all the way across to the other side of the globe, and these people out here talking about ‘Your music changed my life.’” Read more.
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Baby Rose
Image Credit: Eric Saulsberry* Everything about Baby Rose is a rarity, from her zodiac sign to the distinctive voice that’s helped her find a unique lane in R&B. Read more.
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Annie Blackman
Image Credit: Tonje Thilesen* At 13, she got some life advice from Taylor Swift: “She took me by the shoulders and looked straight into my soul and told me to never stop writing.” Now, more than a decade later, Annie Blackman is one of this year’s standout singer-songwriters. Read more.
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McKinley Dixon
Image Credit: Christian K. Lee for Rolling Stone The title of McKinley Dixon’s Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? is a direct homage to three novels by Toni Morrison, whom he calls “the greatest rapper ever” for the depth of substance in her work. Read more.
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Water From Your Eyes
Image Credit: ARIEL FISHER* “Experimental pop” is probably the most succinct descriptor for the music made by Brooklyn duo Water From Your Eyes. But it’s also a little bland, which is why singer/vocalist Rachel Brown follows it with the more expressive “dance punk, question mark?” and “art rock, shrug.” Read more.
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Black Belt Eagle Scout
Image Credit: Jovelle Tamayo for Rolling Stone Katherine Paul has won fans with introspective songs like the 2018 single “Soft Stud.” Her new album feels like she’s reaching out, creating a more expansive vision for her band. Read more.
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Balming Tiger
Image Credit: Griffin Lotz for Rolling Stone “What we want for the future generation in Korea is to show you don’t have to be the prettiest, most handsome, or perfect person. Just follow your heart. You see Balming Tiger and say, ‘I could just do what I want to fucking do.’” Read more.
Contributors: Jon Blistein, Jayson Buford, Riddhi Chakraborty, Boutayna Chokrane, Nelson C.J., Verónica Bayetti Flores, Jon Freeman, Dewayne Gage, Andre Gee, Kory Grow, Meagan Jordan, Sam Yellowhorse Kesler, Kristine Kwak, Julyssa Lopez, Tomás Mier, Gabrielle Nicole Pharms, Frances Solá-Santiago, Briana Younger, Simon Vozick-Levinson, Zhenzhen Yu