Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift, The Weekend…. The music industry is full of smart and complete artists who are always trending in almost everyone’s playlist. If you don’t have their famous songs uploaded, certainly you will recognize them when they are played. But, some musicians can bring some amazing tracks to our ears and still can’t have half of the success of the most popular ones. Of course, we believe that the artists trending today have a huge talent, but this doesn’t change the fact that many great others are erased by the music industry. Let´s know some of them?
- Michael Kwakuna
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The British-Ugandan singer Michael Kwakuna is someone who can bring a combination of the genres rock, folk-soul, and R&B, creating some excellent tracks, which usually don’t receive enough appreciation. His albums were nominated for some awards, but he rarely won anything, which is, sort of, unfair, due to the high quality of the tracks created by Michael.
With his soft voice, guitar, and some diversified instruments such as harps and orchestrations, his last album, “KIWANUKA”, is very well constructed. In this disco, he has some depressing lyrics but combined with an upbeat, criticizing racism, the US. police shootings and the time-machined world. Sometimes he explores his own self: his insecurities and anxieties, making his songs a mix of subjects and instruments which surely deserve more recognition from the public.
- Hippo Campus
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The indie rock band Hippo Campus brings such a good vibe to anyone who listens to it. The Americans bring songs about love, self-knowledge, and how to comprehend society, making the listeners feel on top of the world.
The quintet is from Minnesota and knows how to mix up calm and joy, creating very upbeat and comforting tracks. It is the kind of band that is always experimenting with different sounds, and you want to listen to when you want to release some serotonin, but also need to chill. “Buttercup” and “South” are their most known tracks, but we also recommend listening to their whole album and their EP’s. For sure, they deserve more space in the alternative-rock universe.
- Terno Rei
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The Brazilian group Terno Rei is, in my opinion, one of the best alternative bands in the country. Since 2010 they have produced amazing tracks, such as “Luzes de Natal” and “Pivete” which are my favorites. But the foursome only started to have more success in 2019, when they released their third album, “Violeta”, with hits such as “Yoko”, “Solidão de Volta” and “Dia Lindo”.
Each one of those songs reached 3 million streams in the music app Spotify. The band always brings daily subjects in their songs such as relationships, self-knowledge, and maturity, in a melancholic and urban way. They are small for now, but I am certain that someday they will receive more attention, their songs are very addicting and beautiful.
- Rina Sawayama
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Do you miss pop songs from the beginning of the ’00s? That is the style of the British-Japanese Rina Sawayama, who creates a style combining j-pop with rock and electro-pop. Her songs are very vibrant with a little bit of aggression, creating a dancing atmosphere, where the listener can feel her emotions being unleashed in each song.
Rina only released two albums, the first one portraying her pop-princess side, and the second with more aggressive behavior, with strong criticisms against racists and revealing a lot about herself. Her last disco, SAWAYAMA, is about many different subjects, and it also has some references to different bands such as Evanescence. If you miss pop from the beginning of this decade, it is worth a try!
- Tash Sultana
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Have you ever heard of a one-person band? This woman is the definition of it! Tash Sultana is an Australian who can sing and play guitar, keyboards, drums, trumpet, pan flute, mandolin, saxophone, piano, bass, and do some percussion, all by herself. She combines all of them creating a unique sound, mixing the genres of rock, indie, and reggae, which, in my opinion, does not receive enough appreciation.
Of course, her singles “Notion” and “Jungle” are pretty famous, but she has three albums and some EPS, which have not achieved a huge public. Tash suffered from a drug-induced psychosis when she was 17 years, and she claims that music was her salvation at that time, helping her to get over her toxic past. She challenges the music industry since she does not have a defined genre, her songs just go with the flow, changing all the time. “Cigarettes” is one of the best songs of this complete artist, it is worth it to listen.
- Mitski
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Mitski is a Japanese-American singer, who composed mainly slow pop songs. Even though she has produced many upbeat songs, their lyrics are mostly very depressing, combined with her beautiful and mature voice. Her first two albums were recorded when she was in college, with successes such as “Strawberry Blond“, always exposing many particularities of love relationships.
Even though her songs are very descriptive, she leaves a lot of space for the listener to interpret them the way that they want. Sometimes Mistki also calls attention to the lack of space of Asian women in the music industry, which is still very frequent nowadays. Her newest release, Be the Cowboy, is her most successful album, with many addictive tracks such as “Nobody” and “Me and my husband“. If I were you, I would check it.
- O grilo
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The seventh position of this ranking is occupied by the band O grilo. Formed by four young adults, they bring a combination of genres in their songs such as samba, pop, Brazilian, but, mainly, rock. Just like the other bands, the foursome started their music career releasing their EP “Herói do Futuro” and, this year, their first album.
The disco is about a character named “Lauro” and his mixed feelings about the world and himself while he is living his life. Most of the tracks are very vibrant, making us want to dance around the room, such as “Serenata Existencialista” and “Onde Flor”. But, of course, there are the ones that are more calm and melancholic, like “Meu Amor” and ‘Sambinha’. So, if you want to know a diversified band that plays with passion and makes us feel daily inspired, this is it!
- BROCKHAMPTON
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Leaving one of the bests for the end… The American band BROCKHAMPTON is a boyband with a lot of diversity: from the group members skin color and preferred genre until the themes approached in their songs. The only thing that they have in common is the ambition to become pop stars. Formed by 8 men, the band focuses on the hip-hop style, sometimes in a very soft beat as we can notice in the song ‘NO HALO’ and other times in a very exciting rhythm, just as in ‘BOOGIE’.
Even though there are many members, each one has a specific contribution to do with the band, which improves the quality of the songs created. With seven albums, changing the group members a few times, the band only had one big hit, which is the track ‘SUGAR’, since it was used in a trend in the app TikTok. Talking about mental health, racism, family, and elaborating creative music videos.
It is important to know that even though those artists do not have the highest numbers of reproductions or aren’t at the top of the charts, they still have a lot of talent and are very skilled people. That is why it is important to give a chance to those stars, to enrich your playlists with some good music!
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The article above was edited by Marina Ponchio.
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