From pop to jazz, indie sleaze to drill, here are the best artists to listen to in 2024 if you want to update your playlists or enjoy a musical night while enjoying the best CBD for total relaxation.
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Every year brings new voices. 2023 saw female pop stars such as RAYE, Pink Pantheress, Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift dominate the global charts.
In Europe, however, rap still dominates listening habits. If you can’t find yourself in either of these worlds or if you’re looking for new talent to get the year off to a good start, we have put together a selection of the best artists whose musical identities stand out from the crowd.
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Bb tricks
Some in the media are already calling her the “saviour of drill”, the rap sub-genre that emerged in Chicago at the dawn of the 2010s. But it was in Barcelona, not Chicago, that Bb Trickz’s (or Belize Kazi’s) career took root. She was discovered a year ago thanks to the virality of the track ‘Bambi’, which incorporated elements of Vanilla Ice’s ‘Ice Ice Baby’, as well as a myriad of visual and linguistic elements inherited from the 1990s and 2000s, including Bratz dolls (launched in 2001). It’s a track that places her among the new hopefuls of world rap, alongside the American Ice Spice, whose flow doesn’t seem so far off (earning her the nickname “Spanish Ice Spice”).
Determined to seize the opportunity of her recent spotlight, Bb Trickz unveiled two debut EPs in 2023: Trickstar in April, followed by Sadtrickz in September, imagined as her softer, more emotional counterpart. “It was born out of my sadness at being thrown into this industry and having to deal with fame, money and how people treat you,” the young rapper confides to Interview Magazine. It’s like the symbol of a new generation of artists, often female, whose careers are propelled by social networks. It is an undeniable asset, given that their followers are becoming a form of power and an essential lever in the music industry.
Bellboy
Opéra Partie I, Bellboy’s debut EP released in December 2023, is a blend of romantic tales and sonic experimentation in a resolutely pop and modern format. With a visual identity designed by illustrator Romane Granger, Bellboy’s universe unfolds in a world where the marvellous flirts with reality without ever upsetting it. From the title “Creatures of the Universe” to “Opera”, it is, above all, the quest for love that seems to interest the musical duo formed by Arthur Azara and Joseph Cousin, who met on the benches of the lycée. The duo Sailor and Lula, invented by the filmmaker David Lynch in 1990 and played by Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, becomes a reference among others, an ideal couple for the duo who narrate, in six songs, the trials and tribulations of love.
The sound references are also obvious, as is often the case with early works. Bellboy draws on artists such as Japan’s Ryūichi Sakamoto and François de Roubaix, both renowned for their unforgettable soundtracks. More modern, the lyrical flight of a track like ‘Opéra’ is reminiscent of an album like Sébastien Tellier’s Sexuality. It remains to be seen when the duo will unveil the second part of their romantic opera.
Crystal Murray
Let’s be honest: Crystal Murray’s voice has been with us for several years. First, with a soul and R’n’B-infused debut EP, I Was Wrong, supported by the captivating single ‘Princess’. An era that the artist has since rejected, embracing a more combative, less honeyed identity. It’s worth pointing out that most of the tracks on I Was Wrong were written during her teenage years. As Crystal Murray grew into adulthood, her words became sharper and more incisive. The result is songs like “BOSS”, unveiled by Berlin music curation channel COLORS, and the searing “Like It Nasty”.
In 2024, the Parisian singer seems ready to return to the forefront of the music scene, two years after her R’n’B-sounding project produced by names like Sacha Rudy and Loubenski: Twisted Bases. On her Instagram account, the artist hints at the release of a forthcoming album, the first single that should be short in coming.
Jasmine Yen
At just 19, Hong Kong’s Jasmine Yen is the youngest artist to be signed to the Sony label in China (and more precisely, to RCA, one of the major label’s many subsidiaries). Her very first single, “idk”, released in July 2023, is reminiscent of the R’n’B rhythms of Ariana Grande, mixed with the K-pop productions of a group like TWICE. A viral success, it heralded the release of “tbh”, a short 8-track album, barely two months later. The album was inspired by the pink and glossy aesthetic of the 2000s, with songs rarely exceeding 3 minutes. It’s a strategy similar to England’s PinkPantheress, whose success with teenagers and young adults is well established.
Laufey
Her second album, Bewitched, has broken the record for the biggest chart-topper on Spotify for a jazz album in 2023. Iceland’s Laufey is a phenomenon with a golden voice whose timeless melodies have won over a very young audience. With over 3 million followers on TikTok, Laufey shares every moment of her musical adventure with her mostly female fans, who go to her concerts dressed like their idols – white dresses and ribbons in their hair.
Her grandmother was a pianist, and her mother was a violinist. Laufey was practically born with an instrument in her hands. But as a teenager, she had a revelation and realised that her voice was also an instrument, almost an antidote to the gloom of those who listened to her. Her influences include vocal jazz icon Ella Fitzgerald and contemporary pop star Taylor Swift. No surprise there. Both write about very personal experiences, as evidenced by the song “Letter To My 13 Years Old Self”.
