There’s merit in mystery when it comes to being an artist. Take, for example, Kanoa. Kanoa is a Maui-raised talent who we first met via his Zzz EP earlier this year. The project offered 6, massively impressive songs, bounded by raw, unfiltered acoustics and intimate songwriting – all of which introduced us to a mysterious new artist named Kanoa, and one who chose to speak with the music first, leaving space for curiosity before he started answering any questions. Today, in perhaps his first step toward unmasking parts of the face behind the music, Kanoa is here to premiere his brand new single entitled “Mistakes.” Not only is it a worthy follow-up to the string of impressive songs he’s released thus far, but it’s also Kanoa’s first release with full production. In fitting fashion, it had to be the one that we premiered on our pages, and it had to be the one where the story begins to unfold. Speaking to the budding talent on the phone the other day, Kanoa described the Sparknotes of his life story: from Maui, came to LA a few years back to get his rap career going, struggled with addiction during that time, returned to Maui …

Since the last time we spoke with South Carolina’s 18veno, the BoyMeetSpace representative has been on a tear, offering new music and new videos every few weeks for the past couple of months. In light of this consistency – never misstepping and always raising the bar – Veno has quickly transformed into a favorite for next up out of South Carolina. Today, he’s here to prove it with an official stamp: his debut project, Pablo. 11 tracks long, Pablo fuses Veno’s massively versatile skillset into a pot of mean-mugging charisma, quotable lyrics, and otherworldly production. The result is a project that not only has something for everyone, but flows seamlessly as a whole, upping the ante with each successive track. You couldn’t write a better story. Coming from Winnsboro, South Carolina, Veno landed in company with jetsonmade and Neeko Baby, among others, all of the sudden being paired with some of the best producers in music to kickstart his career. And when it came time to take that first step into the spotlight, Veno didn’t fold. He’s been on an unstoppable rise over the past few months, with Pablo as the celebratory exclamation point to cap it all off. This project is the …

Every so often, an artist will come forth with a release that feels like a mission statement; something that acts as a foundation for their art as a whole, and something that sticks out as especially true-to-self, so much so that it seeps through the music. 17-year old artist Tommy Fleece is here today with a masterful example of such. Taken off of his brilliant Audio Tactile Synesthesia project, the Detroit-based talent just delivered a brand new video for “All Down To Me,” and by all counts, it looks, sounds, and feels like Fleece in his rawest form. On one hand, the track is decorated with an out-of-tune piano, deeply personal in its imperfections and a wonderful complement to Fleece’s heart-strung vocals. On the other hand, the music video for this one builds on the rawness of the music, using mesmeric visual effects to portray the movement and emotion in the song without missing a beat. Bringing the two together, “All Down To Me” becomes a massively compelling culmination of sound, visuals, and personality, representing everything that makes Tommy Fleece such an exciting new artist. To summarize the release, Fleece himself offered us a few words: “All Down to Me” felt so …

We’re in the midst of bleak times right now, there’s no hiding it. 2020 has been but a series of severely unfortunate events adding onto the pile with each passing day, and COVID-19 has proven itself as an issue set to linger around at least for the foreseeable future. In such times, I often find myself resorting to music to make sense of things. What are musicians making? What music reflects how the world feels, and how are people using their voices to create that soundtrack? Quiet Luke has always been a resource in these contemplations. His art is inherently deep, for lack of a better word, and its source material is sincere emotion – both in an external and internal sense. This very fact has always pushed his music to the forefront when it comes to art as a reflection of reality, and Luke’s latest release – “Void Exit Blues” – is no different. Just under three minutes in length, “Void Exit Blues” begins with the crushing combination of an acoustic guitar, a heart-wrenching bassline, and Luke’s vocals. It’s simple, but the emotion in the song grows with every passing lyric, only to be pressed against beautifully-distorted guitars after each …

Simply put, 18Veno hasn’t missed yet. With undeniable consistency, the BoyMeetSpace prodigy has been delivering a new release every few weeks over the past month or two, and thus far, has only heightened the excitement around his name as one of South Carolina’s most promising new acts. Match this with names like Neeko Baby and jetsonmade behind the boards, and you have an all-star cast of characters, all pushing Veno to inevitable stardom. Today, the man himself is back, this time sharing a brand new song and music video entitled “Who At The Door.” Barely over 2 minutes in length, “Who At The Door” continues on Veno’s theme of short releases, packing the most punch in the leas amount of time. With lyrics like the below… Who the f**k at the door, don’t let ’em in Got a shooter at the door, he don’t smile, he don’t grin Big choppas n***a, we got big f**kin racks I’m the man of the house, I put my family on my back … Veno’s charismatic approach stands at the forefront of his music, using chip-on-the-shoulder deliveries and spacey production to maximize the impact of each new release. Quite clearly, this approach works seamlessly …

The last time we heard from Nashville’s Dreamer Boy was in the form of “Puppy Dog” – an infectious release, and one that further established the world of Dreamer Boy as an insurmountably bright one, guided by its sense for seeing sounds and translating heart-led music into top-tier art direction. Today, we hear from the man himself once again, as he ushers in the latest era of Dreamer Boy with an infectious new song and video, “Know You.” Decorated with clips of friendship in all different forms, “Know You” tasks itself with creating the soundtrack to every new, or even potential friendship made. The mellowed production echoes the track’s underlying themes of understanding, connection, and joy, while the music video pieces together a supply of shots that seamlessly illustrate all of this and more. Fusing the sonic and aesthetic identities of the release, “Know You” becomes a joyous expression of what connection between two people means, and for that reason and more, it’s a fantastic introduction into Dreamer Boy’s next chapter. Nasvhille’s own has built out a brilliant catalog thus far, and the way that each release successfully captures even the most particular of feelings is perhaps its greatest strength. “Know You” …

Ever since hearing “this body means nothing to me,” I’ve been obsessed with the work of Atlanta native shrimp. Few artists have captured such a raw, emotive voice in the space that shrimp exists in, and even fewer have been able to craft work that ages as well as his. As a result, the 11-month gap between shrimp’s last two releases has been a long one, but nevertheless, well worth the wait, as ATL’s own returns to our pages today with some of his best work to date in the form of “fear of failure / scared of success.” Nearly 3 and a half minutes in length, shrimp’s latest furthers the conversation around his songwriting abilities, using the title as a thesis statement for the song’s brash sonics and deeply personal lyricism. Throughout the first half of the release, shrimp essentially lets his heart loose atop a massively energetic wall of guitars, while during the second half, he offers an almost ethereal cool-down to end the song. The balance between the two is reflective of the connotation around the title, and ties shrimp’s latest together as one of my favorite releases of the past few months. No one is doing …

Seemingly by the day, the entire “hyperpop” scene is crafting colorful, unruly, and downright fascinating combinations of sounds and styles. Genres have been thrown out the window, and the result is a new frontier of music that knows no bounds and therefore, constantly innovates. Today, we’re seeing this in the form of “anxious” by numl6ck. At its core, the genius of “anxious” exists in the song’s dynamic between production and lyrics. On one hand, you have a bright, 8-bit instrumental from victxrw that wouldn’t feel out of place in an old Nintendo game. On the other hand, you have numl6ck’s introspective lyricism, blending rap-inspired brags with thoughts about ambition, loyalty, and the frustrations of life in its every-day form. The yield of this combination is a fascinating blend of infectious, hip-hop-oriented songwriting and an earworm, melody-based instrumental, balancing two sides of a coin that might not make sense together on paper, but work flawlessly in practice. Numl6ck is the latest in my ever-growing obsession with this whole world of artists on SoundCloud, so don’t sleep. Be sure to check out the impeccable new single below: Produced by victxrw numl6ck · anxious (p. victxrw)