They’re extremely young, innovative, and they’ve been changing the music landscape lately, especially this year. Dua Lipa, Jorja Smith, Rosalía, Kali Uchis, and Tierra Whack are five singers under 25 headlining festivals, performing sold out shows, launching albums, and making (almost) everyone fall head over heels for them.
The British artist, born in 1995, has had quite a busy year. In October, she released Dua Lipa (Complete Edition), an extended version of her 2017 album Dua Lipa. In addition, the GrammyAward-nominee has written and performed for the song One Kiss, produced by Calvin Harris, and performed together with Diplo, Mark Ronson and Silk City in Electricity. All that, of course, with a busy festival season: Tomorrowland in Belgium, Mad Cool in Madrid, iHeart Music in Las Vegas, etc. And with some pretty exciting news: she’ll be performing the single Swan Song for the upcoming film Alita: Battle Angel.
R&B and soul singer Jorja Smith was born in 1997 to a Jamaican father and English mother, and she first went viral with the 2016 release of her EP Project 11, catching the attention of rappers like Drake and Stormzy. However, after collaborating with Preditah on her hit single On My Mind in 2017, and dropping this year her debut album Lost & Found, which she had been working on for five years, is when her career started to really take off. And take off it did, she has won the Brit Awards Critic’s Choice award, been featured on the Black Panther soundtrack, and toured around the world attending festivals like Coachella in California and Primavera Sound in Barcelona.
The Spanish singer has been one of the most talked about artists this year. The 25-year-old released her second album, El Mal Querer, in November, for which she’s won two Latin Grammy awards and thanks to which she’s changing the landscape of flamenco music forever. She first presented it at Sónar festival in Barcelona and is already set to perform in upcoming festivals like Ceremonia in México or BBK Live in Bilbao. Among her collaborators, we can find emerging creatives such as Filip Custic (the photographer in charge of her album’s images and videos) and Alejandro from Palomo Spain, and even film powerhouses like Pedro Almodóvar and Rossy de Palma. She’s just getting started!
Karly-Marina Loaiza, also known as Kali Uchis, was born in the United States to Colombian parents in 1994 and split her time between both countries throughout her childhood. In 2017, she collaborated with Gorillaz on the song She’s my Collar, and also with the aforementioned Jorja Smith on Tyrant, and supported Lana del Rey on her North American tour. And after being featured in many singles, in addition to Tyler, the Creator’s See you Again, and being nominated to a Latin Grammy award and Grammy award for two of those, her debut album Isolation, that has R&B, early soul and doo-wop influences, was finally released in 2018 to rave reviews.
Born in 1995 in North Philadelphia (United States), Tierra Whack is an up-and-coming rapper who released her first LP, Whack World, this year. It is a visual album in which each one-minute-long song – there are fifteen in total – is accompanied by a music video that creates a unique universe encapsulating the mood and story of each single. She has been nominated for a Grammy award in the best music video category for the song Mumbo Jumbo, is set to perform at Primavera Sound in Barcelona next year, and is rumoured to have worked with renowned rappers like Childish Gambino and Aminé on soon-to-be-released songs.