FEATURE:
Names to Remember…
IN THIS PHOTO: Tyla is among the ten fabulous names selected by BBC Radio 1 in their Sound of 2024 longlist/PHOTO CREDIT: Anne Reid
Inside BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024 Longlist
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I will end with a playlist…
featuring two songs each from the ten longlisted artists who have just been announced for BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024. It is a time of year when lists are being made that tip artists who are going to blow up next year. The ones we should all know about. The BBC Radio 1 (you can follow them on Instagram and Twitter) annual announcement is an exciting one, as it does signal to some very important artists who are going to be huge. A reliable insight into the very best rising artists. This year saw a hugely respected and judging panel decide which ten names should make the longlist. BBC Radio 1 Sound of 2024 Live will take place on Monday, 8th January. Before getting into the longlist more, here are details of the names who have made the longlist this year:
“The longlist for BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024 has been revealed, tipping ten new artists for success next year.
This year’s longlist has been chosen by a panel of over 140 industry experts and artists, including Olivia Rodrigo, Declan McKenna, Chase & Status, Mahalia and more.
The acts are (in alphabetical order):
Ayra Starr
Caity Baser
CMAT
Elmiene
Kenya Grace
The Last Dinner Party
Olivia Dean
Peggy Gou
Sekou
Tyla
Last year girl group FLO were crowned the winner ahead of a strong longlist featuring the likes of Fred again.., Asake, Dylan and Cat Burns. Artists named on the list over the years include Stormzy, Adele, Lady Gaga, Dizzee Rascal, The Weeknd, Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish and Lewis Capaldi.
The countdown of the Top 5 will kick off across Radio 1 on Monday 1 January 2024. The winner will be revealed on Friday 5 January 2024 on Radio 1.
Radio 1 will also host a special event – BBC Radio 1 Sound of 2024 Live – which will be held at Maida Vale on Monday 8 January with performances from artists on the longlist. The application for tickets is now open on the BBC Shows and Tours website.
Jack Saunders says: "The Sound Of list continues to flex as a diverse list of music’s most exciting artists to watch out for over the next 12 months. All ten names are set to have an impact in 2024 and I’m really looking forward to celebrating that over the coming weeks with interviews and live performances."
Chris Price, Head of Music for Radio 1, says: “With so many female artists on the Sound Of list this year, I’m really encouraged about the next generation of festival headliners. The list is as diverse as ever, reflecting the genre-agnostic nature of BBC Radio 1, which has supported every single one of the acts on the longlist. 2024 promises to be a great year for new music!”
The list was compiled using recommendations from 149 influential music experts, including artists, DJs, radio and TV producers, journalists, streaming experts and festival bookers. All were asked to name their favourite three new acts, who could be performers from any country and any musical genre, whether or not they are signed. They cannot have been the lead artist on a UK number 1 or number 2 album or more than two UK top ten singles before 12 October 2023. They also must not already be widely known by the UK general public (for example, a member of a hit band going solo or a TV star) or have appeared on the Sound Of… list before.
Further details of the panel and how the list was compiled are available on BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024 website”.
Ayra Starr
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Ayra Starr and I am the future”, declared the Benin-born newcomer in a 2022 speech, after winning the Viewer’s Choice at the Headies awards. Her self-confidence is not misplaced - at a time when new Afrobeats talents are emerging at breakneck speed, Ayra is one of the most exciting.
The Nigerian artist turned heads with ‘Rush’, a delicately-constructed slice of Afropop that showcases her one-of-a-kind, commanding vocal; instantly identifiable in a crowd.
Caity Baser
Few popstars arrive as unapologetic as Caity Baser, a Southampton-raised force of nature whose ascent shows no signs of stopping.
Her super-upfront style of songwriting has won her plenty of adoring fans (dubbed the “Slaysers”). And if Caity wasn’t already in their good books, she took things to new levels when she capped ticket prices for a recent UK tour, to reflect the cost of living crisis.
She is a rare pop force in that she seems to be 100% in tandem with those who love her music. A new mixtape, ‘Still Learning’, awaits in early 2024.
CMAT
Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson’s (CMAT’s) unique take on country-tinged pop is in a world of its own. Take this year’s ‘CrazyMad, For Me’ as an example; an album about a 47-year-old woman who goes back in time to stop herself from entering a toxic relationship that would eventually turn sour.
The album itself is just as engrossing as that plot might sound, filled to the brim with whipsmart storytelling and instant hooks. Both of the Dublin-born star’s albums have topped the Irish Albums Chart, and 2024 looks set to be the year she goes global.
Elmiene
Dubbed the future of UK R&B, Elmiene has already found himself praised by BBC Radio 1’s own Benji B, in the studio with Justin Timberlake, collaborating with Sampha, and remixed by Canadian electronic-jazz wizards Badbadnotgood. And back in 2021, his song ‘Golden’ ended up soundtracking the late designer Virgil Abloh’s final Louis Vuitton show.
His sugar-coated vocal is the calling card, capable of holding up just about any instrumentation and taking an intricate, studio-penned song into an intimate jam within seconds.
Kenya Grace
Greg James called Kenya Grace’s breakthrough track ‘Strangers’ a “rare example of a TikTok song actually being better in real life.”
The track, inescapable in summer 2023 whether you were browsing TikTok or not, is a glistening, drum-and-bass-fused slice of pop vulnerability; perfect as a snackable 10 second snippet, but even more enticing fleshed out into a full song. It topped the UK Official Singles Chart, making Grace just the second female artist to score a #1 hit as a sole writer, producer and performer. The first? Kate Bush.
The Last Dinner Party
2023 was a pure headrush for The Last Dinner Party. They released debut track ‘Nothing Matters’, played a packed-to-the-brim Woodsies tent at Glastonbury, sold out shows in the States and announced a headline gig at 3,000-capacity London venue Roundhouse - all in the space of a frantic few months.
While talk surrounding the five-piece increased to an extreme, they were busy behind the scenes recording debut album ‘Prelude to Ecstasy’, which showcases, in their words, “an archaeology of ourselves”. It's due out in February 2024.
Olivia Dean
“I enjoy imperfection,” Olivia Dean told Rolling Stone earlier this year. Her debut album ‘Messy’, rather than being a perfect realisation of youth or some coming-of-age stroke of genius, is enjoyable because it sees life for what it is - complicated, full of contradiction and unpredictable at every turn.
It deservedly earned itself a Mercury Prize nomination and a debut in the Radio 1 Live Lounge (where Olivia performed a seriously assured cover of Beyoncé’s ‘Cuff It’).
Peggy Gou
Following years of underground fame via house-inflected 12” singles, South Korean-born producer Peggy Gou went stratospheric in 2023 with the single ‘(It Goes Like) Nanana’. The instant earworm was arguably this summer’s standout song; a staple of clubs, house parties and radio playlists around the world.
After this brush with the mainstream, she followed it up with the ‘90s-nodding ‘I Believe In Love Again’, a collaboration with rock superstar Lenny Kravitz. Her next step is anyone’s guess.
Sekou
Every so often, a distinct voice marks an artist out as a superstar-in-waiting. Ashby, Leicestershire-raised newcomer Sekou has one of those voices. Recent ballad ‘Time Will Tell’ strips things back to showcase that vocal, gliding over minimal, reverbed guitars.
At just 19 years old, his phone is probably reaching boiling point from the number of producers, rappers and pop overlords who want a piece of him.
Tyla
Johannesburg, South Africa-born star Tyla truly announced herself earlier this year with ‘Water’, a spirit-filled single that navigates the fast-growing sound of Amapiano, alongside Afrobeats and heart-on-sleeve R&B.
It landed a top five spot in the UK Official Singles Chart, before picking up a re-version with Travis Scott and a remix from Marshmello.
Now signed to Epic Records, a debut album of globe-spanning pop is poised for 2024.
I do like the fact that longlists like that feature a lot of female artists. BBC Radio 1 is a great station, yet it still struggles to balance its playlists when it comes to gender. I hope that lists like that show that there is incredible female talent out there who can make the playlist and show that inequality and imbalance in 2023 is hard to excuse. Maybe there are one or two artists on the Sound of 2024 longlist who have been around a while but may be newer to BBC Radio 1 – Peggy Gou has been putting out music for many years now -, but there is a good spread when it comes to genre. We will get the shortlist announced in January. The top artist named. Looking at those names, there are who particularly who stand out. In terms of them having particularly busy years. The Last Dinner Party and CMAT have been getting a load of kudos through 2023. Especially The Last Dinner Party. Award-winning and sure to be pretty much on everyone’s lists of the names to watch next year, I would be surprised if they did not make the shortlist. Regardless of who does and which artist is named the winner, the longlist is a great reference. I think all of the artists are going to have massive years ahead. It is the fact that some incredible women are named that gives me most hope for progress next year. At a time when radio playlists struggle to balance their playlists, having these longlists with incredible women means that things naturally will become more balanced. Anyway. Congratulations to all of the great artists named by BBC Radio 1 as those to look out for in 2024. It shows that the future of music is...
IN very good hands!