After sharing our favorite albums from the year in both the dance/electronic and hip-hop/R&B realms, we now get the chance to look ahead to 2023. We are always diligently looking for new music, and today we’ve had the pleasure of compiling a list of artists who are in great positions to succeed next year.
Whether they’re poised to deliver a debut or perhaps a comeback project, below is our list of artists to watch in 2023. Enjoy!
Denver, Colorado, is a hotbed of talent when it comes to bass. Of the many aspiring producers who specialize in the psychedelic, spacey, low-end focused magic that we love, NotLö’s sound sinks in the most. She doesn’t rely on massive build-ups for shock value, instead opting to draw us in with her intricate soundscapes, weaving in perfectly sculpted low-end frequencies at the right moments. In 2022, she hit many of our favorite US bass labels like Gravitas, Odyzey, Deadbeats. On her socials, she’s been teasing some drum & bass experiments, and we can’t wait to see how those surface.
If you’ve been following ODESZA recently, then NASAYA could already be on your radar. He was tapped by the duo not only to provide direct support on The Last Goodbye Tour but to release his brilliant RÊVES EP earlier this year as well. Foreign Family Collective has always been an incubator for promising young talent (Kasbo, RÜFÜS DU SOL, and more started there), and it appears NASAYA, with the most experimental sound heard from the label thus far, has his eyes set on a bright future.
The next deadmau5 protogé, Lamorn, delivered a series of near-perfect releases via mau5trap in 2022. He also has been on tour with the label boss for most of the year, developing his performances and taking his sound to the next level. The live elements of his productions add a layer of depth to his sound that most electronic bands wish they could replicate. In 2021 Lamorn shared a formidable debut with Encore, but we have no doubt that he has more up his sleeve, and we can’t wait to see it in 2023.
Nia Archives has wasted no time becoming one of the hottest talents in dance music, and there’s no reason to expect she’ll slow down. Breaking out with catchy, drum & bass-leaning (a la PinkPantheress) hits, Nia Archives showed us she wasn’t just a viral star with her jaw-dropping, jungle-filled Boiler Room set. The well-rounded future star is just beginning to blossom, and we’re already sold. There aren’t many other artists who can sing, produce, DJ, and have the type of lustrous energy that she does.
Over the past year, Saka has been the delivering head-spinning left-field takes on bass that the American music scene so desperately needed. With a range of support that stretches from RL Grime to Four Tet, his sounds garner the attention of the industry’s top players. Saka appears to specialize in high-bpm segments like drum & bass, but that won’t stop him from pounding techno, half-time, and more into the same track. Saka is intent on keeping his listeners on our toes, and with only a handful of releases in 2022, there’s no telling what he’ll do in 2023.
After a huge boom in house music in the late 2010s (and a ton of saturation to follow), it’s been hard to sort through all of it. There’s at least one act that has poked out through the masses, and that is the budding UK phenom Barry Can’t Swim. The art of the wholesome, feel-good groover is tough to master without getting stale, but Barry’s sounds, with the help of frequent collaborator Taite Imogen, keep us coming back for more. He brings the same radiant energy to his DJ sets, too, and keeps things fresh with a little UKG every now and then.
Overmono burst onto the scene overseas in 2016 with a string of releases on venerated indie label XL Recordings. Since then, they’ve been slowly but steadily becoming rave titans. 2021 saw the release of two smash hits, “So U Know” and “Bby,” and in 2022, the duo shared their most cohesive EP, Cash Romantic. Overmono, now, have never seemed more set up to drop a major project and complete their evolution into global headliners.
I. JORDAN refuses to be defined by a genre or anything else. Still a fresh face on the scene, their music has a distinct UK flavor to it, but besides that, can take any form whatsoever. In 2022 they unsheathed a brutal rave weapon with “Reclaimed,” summoned beaming energy with “Always Been,” and linked with Fred again.. for a dancefloor tear-jerker with “Admit It (u don’t want 2.” While I. JORDAN’s sonic palette expands with every release, and in 2023, we hope to see that culminate.
Sam Gellaitry earned his fame in the mid-2010s as one of the most promising, forward-thinking beatmakers with his Escapism series. Naturally evolving into a multi-faceted musician, he began to lend his sound more toward cutting-edge stylings of pop. In 2022 he shared a very strong effort with his VF VOL II project; it still listened like a mixtape at times. While bursting with talent, it still feels like Sammy G is awaiting his breakout moment. That moment may come in 2023, and when it does, we’ll be ready for it.
Golden Features has made all the right moves since the beginning. At first, he became the next future house star with his debut album, SECT, at the right time in 2016. As the niche genre evaporated, he meshed with the Foreign Family Collective and, before you knew it, was partnering with ODESZA to bring us one of the most exciting projects of the pandemic with BRONSON. Now that the dust has settled from ODESZA’s return, Golden Features is on deck to deliver his next solo endeavor. With a string of mighty singles to cap off 2022, Golden Features is preparing to drop his next album, Sisyphus, easily one of our most anticipated projects of next year.
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