Meet 17 New Artists Whose Time is Now
Sales have leveled out, but artists can kick-star careers with a click. It's a good time to be new. Meet 17 acts whose debut albums will win your ears in 2012.
 | Azealia Banks | TBA Date: TBA Twitter: @azealiabanks Genre: hip-hop |
After honing her skills at New York's La Guardia High School -- whose alumni include Nicki Minaj and Kelis -- 20-year-old Harlem rapper/singer Azealia Banks caught the attention of hip-hop blogs on her club-ready single "212," which hit iTunes in December. Formerly signed to XL Recordings, on Jan. 18 Banks announced she had signed to Universal Music. She is prepping her debut album for a 2012 release. In the meantime, she's issued more Internet-baiting tracks ("Liquorice," "L8R"), plotted a U.K. tour that kicks off Feb. 7 and confirmed spots at Coachella and Tokyo's Springroove Festival. | |
 | Alabama Shakes | "Boys & Girls Genre: independent, blues-rock |
| Athens, Ala., blues rock quintet Alabama Shakes has built a monstrous buzz since self-releasing its self-titled debut EP in September through Bandcamp. Paste magazine recently named the band its best new artist of 2011, and the act's face-melting live shows-featuring the devastating lead vocals of frontwoman Brittany Howard-have been selling out faster and faster. The band's full-length debut, "Boys & Girls," is set to drop in early April on ATO in the United States and Rough Trade in the United Kingdom. | |
 | Willow Smith | "Knees and Elbows" Date: April Genre: R&B |
| Ever since Willow Smith stormed onto the scene in 2010 with "Whip My Hair"-No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100; 1.5 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan-fans have been wondering what's next. Well, the 11-year-old dynamo is back with new single "Fireball" (featuring Nicki Minaj), while her Roc Nation debut album, "Knees and Elbows," is due in April, just in time for the Kids' Choice Awards (hosted by Willow's famous father, Will). The set's producers and songwriters include Tricky Stewart, the-Dream, Jim Jonsin, Warryn Campbell, Ester Dean, Andre Merritt, Red Styles and Stoopid Robots. According to Omarr Rambert, music director/A&R executive for Overbrook Entertainment, which manages Smith, "This album is like a gumbo of R&B, pop and rock. It's pretty much all the music that inspires Willow." | |
 | Duck Sauce | TBA Genre: dance |
| Duck Sauce started out as a side project: a chance for friends and fellow DJ/producers A-Trak and Armand Van Helden to indulge their love for all things "zany and absurd," according to A-Trak. In 2011, that resulted in a mere three singles: feel-good disco-house anthem "aNYway," minimal-house chant "Big Bad Wolf" and what might be the year's most surprising Grammy Award nominee (for best dance song), "Barbra Streisand." The simple track-which bleats the diva's name over a sampled disco loop-inspired a celeb-dotted video (66.3 million YouTube views thus far) and even a make-your-own microsite, which allowed users to set any similarly syllabic set of words to the same instrumental. It was enough to prompt the occasional duo to start work on a full album, set for a 2012 release. "It still sort of feels like a side project, because Armand and I both continue to do our own solo work in parallel," says A-Trak, also founder of label Fool's Gold. "Dance music's not going anywhere, and with Duck Sauce I feel like we really have our lane, our own place. Not to sound cocky, but no one's really making records like us on this level. Our approach is minimal and fun. We take pride in being outsiders and doing things our own way." | |
 | Ed Sheeran | "+" Genre: pop |
| British artist Ed Sheeran has already made a big impression in his homeland. Signed to Asylum/Atlantic Records, the 20-year-old singer scored three top five singles in 2011 with his chart-topping debut, "+." Now Sheeran has set the United States in his sights. Live shows at New York's Mercury Lounge (Jan. 30) and Los Angeles' Hotel Cafe (Feb. 2)-booked by New York-based Paradigm-have already sold out. An appearance at South by Southwest is also scheduled. A U.S. release date for the album (on Elektra/Atlantic) is yet to be announced, but expectation for the folk-pop artist is growing. "Ed is a phenomenal talent, a unique voice and one of the biggest U.K. breakthroughs of the year," Atlantic Records U.K. chairman Max Lousada says. "His brilliant album is already attracting him a passionate global audience, and we're extremely excited about [its] U.S. campaign." | |
 | Brent Anderson | TBA Genre: country |
| Brent Anderson can recall singing in the hallway at a casino while his band played the main room because he was too young to legally be in the venue, but such obstacles didn't deter the Sea Gayle Records/Arista Nashville newcomer, who began writing songs when he was 10 and fronting his own band at 13. The Pascagoula, Miss., native spent the latter part of 2011 introducing country radio to his debut single, "Amy's Song," which features guest vocals by Vince Gill and Pure Prairie League's Craig Fuller. "We've been doing a lot of radio shows at clubs and bars, so we're getting in front of listeners," says Anderson, now 23, who has also been opening shows for Ronnie Dunn, Jerrod Niemann and Brad Paisley. "He's a unique songwriter and a unique singer," says Paisley, who co-wrote two songs for Anderson's debut, set to arrive this summer. "He has this really cool voice and when I heard the way he writes, I was in. I hope he has all the success in the world." | |
 | J Balvin | TBA Date: TBA Genre: latin |
| For the past three years, J Balvin (real name Jose Alvaro Osorio Balvin) has permeated the airwaves of his native Colombia with self-released, danceable reggaetón tracks boasting romantic lyrics and catchy hooks. In 2010, EMI Colombia signed Balvin to a distribution deal, leading U.S.-based Capitol Latin to sign him as an exclusive recording artist. After collecting a gold plaque in Colombia for sales of 15,000 copies of his 2009 debut, "Real," Balvin is now preparing to go global. His first international album will hit later this year, but in January Capitol Latin will drop a mixtape featuring hits and unreleased material. "What he has accomplished on his own has been unprecedented," Capitol Latin VP of marketing David Alvarado says. "We are happy to take him to the next level." | |
 | Karyn Williams | "Only You" Genre: Christian |
| In 2007, Karyn Williams left her real estate career in Orlando, Fla., and moved to Nashville. An indie effort stirred interest at Christian radio with the single "Rejoice" and paved the way for a deal with Inpop Records. "It has its roots in pop/worship," Williams says of label debut "Only You," coming in May. "I have a broad variety of musical influences that range from Amy Grant to Mariah Carey to the Judds, so there is a little bit of everything on this record." | |
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Via: Billboard
