10 New Artists You Need to Know: September 2016

Sounds Like: A perfect marriage of K-pop and A-town trap

For Fans of: CL, 2NE1, Ariana Grande and Fifth Harmony's harder moments

Why You Should Pay Attention: "K-trap" may not be an actual genre but Blackpink, YG Entertainment's new girl group, are on the verge of breaking with a unique fusion of bubblegum pop and hard-hitting hip-hop. Each member of the group underwent a rigorous training process anywhere from four to six years before the group debuted this summer. The group had been teased over the years before finally releasing the two-song Square One EP. "I couldn't believe it; it was such a long awaited debut that it was hard to tell if it was all a dream or not," says member Jisoo. "However, once we did debut I also felt a sort of emptiness in my heart thinking that I've reached my goals. But now I have even bigger dreams to fill that emptiness. We've accomplished the first step by debuting, but I'd also like to achieve other bigger goals soon."

Singing and rapping in both English and Korean, the bilingual group each grew up on as much of a fusion of genres as their music displays, with each member citing everyone from Lianne La Havas to Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande as influences. "I feel like we are well-prepared for any music style and dancing," Jennie says of their eclectic backgrounds. "We have a strong color as a group, which we will reveal through our music."

They Say: Blackpink credits their executive producer Yang with their name. "We considered so many different names just like any other group," Jisoo explains. "Most of those names were created by Yang and Blackpink was also created by him. He always wanted us to show our different colors at all times, which is why Blackpink was chosen." 


"We had many names over the years until we officially became Blackpink," Jennie adds. "I feel like Yang wanted to make a name that represents our two strong features, which is being a strong performer on stage but also our natural selves off stage, just like how black and pink are two opposite, contrasting colors."

Hear for Yourself: All low-end boom and high-end tweets, the infectious "Whistle" feels like perfect pop update of the similarly chirpy Ying Yang Twins classic "Whistle While You Twurk." Brittany Spanos

Sounds Like: An introspective conversation at a mid-August barbecue between Lauryn Hill, André 3000, and Jay Electronica

For Fans of: Chance the Rapper, Anderson Paak, Mick Jenkins

Why You Should Pay Attention: A frequent collaborator with Chance the Rapper (she appeared on both Acid Rap's "Lost" and Coloring Book's "Finish Line/Drown"), the Chicago artist's debut mixtape, Telefone, has gained a significant amount of attention since its July 31st release – including being asked to open the first three shows on Lauryn Hill's The MLH Caravan: A Diaspora Calling! Tour. Telefone is an online smash thanks to its neo-soul-based production, striking lyricism and guest appearances from Raury and Xavier Omar. Beginning her career as a rapper performing at cyphers and poetry slams in Chicago, Noname has spent the last few years honing her sound and sharpening her lyrics in order to cement her place in the rap game. 

She Says: "I pretty much grew up in my grandparents house up until I was like 13. … My granny low-key only listens to gospel, Michael Jackson, and the blues. So that's kind of what I grew up listening to … mainly the blues more so than anything." She dubs Nina Simone and Andre 3000 as her musical relatives lyrically, while stating that, "in terms of creativity, freedom of expression, and fearlessness, I'd definitely have to throw Missy Elliott in there. … She is one of the most creative-minded artists ever."

Hear for Yourself: "All I Need" is slow and groovy neo-soul track backed by Xavier Omär. Raaziq Brown

Sounds Like: The throbbing, synth-heavy soundtracks to imaginary Seventies and Eighties flicks – most likely found in VHS shell cases

For Fans of: Tangerine Dream, Giorgio Moroder, John Carpenter

Why You Should Pay Attention: You may have heard Survive's Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein providing the soundtrack to Netflix series Stranger Things, the year's most celebrated nostalgia trip. But together with fellow Austinites Adam Jones and Mark Donica, they make up this warm, goosebump-centric band that explores a darker, more grandiose breed of cinematic menace. After releasing a handful of cassette and vinyl releases since 2010 (earning the attention of Stranger Things creators the Duffer Brothers in the process), Relapse is releasing Survive's most high-profile album yet, RR7349, a moody giallo full of vocoders, zombie-stepping drum machines and swooning melodies. The band will tour the U.S. throughout October.

They Say: Dixon credits I Luv Video, Austin's self-proclaimed "oldest and largest video store in the world" for helping him expand his horizons. "I Luv Video is literally one block from my house, so I just walk down there. I try to rent from them as often as possible. … They have a huge horror section, so a lot of times I'll just get stuff if it's got a Goblin or a Tangerine Dream score and just see what it sounds like. They have a huge Argento collection, so we get to see all that stuff, and then, like, Sorcerer. There's a Tangerine Dream score for Sorcerer that's great. I've rented that one a few times. The Keep. I think you can only get The Keep on VHS.

"I'm a huge fan of Giorgio Moroder's soundtracks," says Stein. "and the stuff that he did with Harold Faltermeyer. Just, they have, like, a weird romance vibe. I don't know if it's some modal-style of playing, but it's … really ingenious. Obviously John Carpenter's films. That brooding kind of … awesome use of dissonance and just propelling scenes.

Hear for Yourself: Album opener "A.H.B." stomps through gritty horror-flick atmosphere and sweeping bloody valentines. Christopher R. Weingarten

Sounds Like: Strolling down a Brownsville sidewalk with your girl and your pet pit bull

For Fans of: Bobby Shmurda, French Montana, 50 Cent

Why You Should Pay Attention: With her New York anthem "Ooouuu" cracking the Billboard Hot 100, Young M.A has brought an astonishingly original image to the rap world. She's a street rapper who talks unapologetically about sexing the ladies, downing bottles of Hennessey and bringing enough lyrical skills to "body" any rapper – male or female – that opposes her. "Ooouuu" is the latest peak for an artist who has been uploading her freestyles and tracks to the Internet since she was in high school. After forming RedLyfe with some Brooklyn friends, she released a freestyle over the late Young Pappy's "Chiraq" that has earned 5 million YouTube views since 2014. Other viral hits followed like "Girlfriend" and "Karma Krys," where she raps about her relationships with women with tough love and sensitivity. But it's "Ooouuu" that has broken her out of the NYC rap ghetto, earned remixes from veterans like Jadakiss and Nicki Minaj, and major labels offers from Universal and Atlantic. "Beyoncé used the record on her Instagram video," she says appreciatively. "That's the one that got to me the most."

They Say: Before "Ooouuu" took off, Young M.A got an offer to join the cast of the TV soap opera Empire. "I actually turned it down. I just didn't want to be known as a character from Empire before I was known as Young M.A," she says. "They was trying to make me, um … some type of girl name in there, I think it's Freda Gatz? The initial name was Betty Bars. Everything they wrote, like, everything [rapper/actress Bre-Z] is playing in the scenes was written for me. That's why she's from Brooklyn in the show. But I turned it down, that's why they got someone else to do it. It just wasn't for me."

Hear it for Yourself: On "Summer Story," Young M.A celebrates the warm months over a loop from Audio Two's "Top Billin'." Mosi Reeves

Sounds Like: Every room at a killer warehouse party, shaken and stirred

For Fans of: The actual spirit of PLUR taken to its musical conclusion: love for all genres

Why You Should Pay Attention: As electronic dance music continues to contract into more and more exclusive microgenres, Mija's ready to huff, puff and blow all those walls down. The Phoenix-raised, L.A.-based producer's ethos came across loud and clear on a popular mixtape, Fk a Genre, which has garnered some 132,000-plus spins on Soundcloud. It eventually birthed parties of the same name, dedicated to booking big names to play out of their comfort zones. Now, the Fk a Genre tour is hitting 12 cities this fall featuring acts like A-Trak, Lunice, Kill the Noise, Boogie, Joey Purp and Jack Beats

Mija's original material, too, happily skips across tight confines. A single track might draw on sounds from the drum'n'bass from her early raving days, the house on which she cut her DJing teeth and the new vibes she picked up in L.A.

She Says: "Moving to L.A., I got really into hip-hop and trap music and basically a lot of the sounds you would maybe normally see in a festival. For whatever reason, I was so involved in vinyl and house at the time, I didn't even know that I liked trap. [The expansion in musical taste was] probably the opposite for me that it is for most people.

"In the studio, like to start with just words, depending on how I'm feeling. I'm huge into poetry. I have so much poetry that I've written, so I love writing words down and figuring out melodies I can sing over them. Whether or not I use those vocals or not, it really helps build a foundation."

Hear for Yourself: Mija's new track for OWSLA – where all the cool, genre-hopping L.A. kids are seemingly landing these days – sees her teaming up with labelmates Vindata for a chirping, stuttering slab of optimism that alternates between old-school jazz'n'bass breaks, major-key synths and sugar-rush vocal snippets. Arielle Castillo