The 10 Most Exciting Young Musicians From The Underground Rap Scene
In search of music’s voices of the future, VWM has taken it upon ourselves to find artists who are shaping and defining the sounds of tomorrow. The artists shown in this list are exemplar of what it means to make a splash and do it your way, please enjoy.
1) Kankan
Age: 20
Hometown: Texas, USA
Key Track: "Goin' To Hell"
Kankan is a rapper as well as a music producer from Texas, USA. He started working in the music industry in 2016. Trust Issues and Calliou were his first projects, both of which were produced by him. Furthermore, in the next few years, he got a chance to work with several popular celebrities like Autumn and Summrs. Kankan started his career only as a music producer. It wasn't until the year 2018 where he started his rapping career. Additionally, the rapper is a member of SlayWorld, which is a group that has around 29k listeners on Spotify.
2) Showjoe
Age: 19
Hometown: Virginia, USA
Key Track: "Batman n Robin"
Showjoe is a versatile recording artist from Virginia, USA. He began making music in 2018 with his debut single, Foreign Drip. After that, it was history. Showjoe would go on to drop loads of music and connect with artists like Yung Fazo and producers such as Nick Mira and SupahMario. The world is in his hands as he continues to develop his sound and grow a following across all social media platforms.
3) Onlybino!
Age: 20
Hometown: Florida, USA
Key Track: "Butterfly Doors"
Onlybino! is a hip-hop artist born in Jamaica but raised in Broward County, Florida. From a young age, he taught himself how to sing and make music which quickly boosted the start of his career in 2019. Within the past year, his innate ability to create memorable lyrics and catchy hooks over a variety of hip-hop/ R&B beats has quickly landed him in the spotlight of underground music. As he continues to create and share his remarkable talent to a wider audience, Onlybino will surely land himself in the arms of superstardom sooner rather than later.
4) Autumn!
Age: 23
Hometown: Louisiana, USA
Key Track: "Still The Same"
Benjamin C. Phillips Jr., better known by his stage name Autumn!, is an upcoming artist and producer from Crowley, Louisiana. He currently resides in Houston, Texas. Autumn! released his debut project, Happy Birthday, in June 2017 while working exclusively as a producer. His November 2018 mixtape would then gain traction on multiple platforms— particularly “Nina!” becoming one of his breakout songs. The Louisiana native would drop twelve projects over three years, ending with June 2021’s Golden Child, Chapter 1, the first of six in its series.
5) Yung Fazo
Age: 16
Hometown: New York, USA
Key Track: "Adding"
Since 2019, 16-year-old artist Yung Fazo has been steady dropping single after single — on a mission to become one of the youngest pioneers of the new wave. He's known for hits including "Adding" with SoFaygo, "Wesson" with Raeusi, "Frozone" and "SpaceX." He was a gamer and his first songs became popular within the Fortnite community.
6) Slump6s
Age: 16
Hometown: New York, USA
Key Track: "Moment"
Namil Bridges (b. December 20, 2004), known professionally as Slump6s (aka Dakota or Dakotax6), is an up-and-coming rapper from Rochester, New York. Slump started rapping when he was a junior in high school. He found success with fellow rapper BabySantana on the hit single “Antisocial,” as well as its sequel, “Antisocial 2”. He is currently signed to Field Trip Recordings, a subsidiary of Republic Records. So far, he has released two projects; his 2020 debut EP 16, and his 2021 collaboration EP with BabySantana, DAKOTAROMANI. Slump released his debut studio album, Origins, on November 17, 2021.
7) Xhulooo
Age: 16
Hometown: Georgia, USA
Key Track: "opp pack"
Arturo LaMotta (b. June 21, 2005), better known as Xhulooo is a young, up-and-coming artist. His style is similar to that of fellow underground artists SoFaygo, SSGKobe, BabySantana, and Yung Fazo. He was a feature on BabySantana’s hit song Antisocial which featured most of those above and would go viral, reaching up to 10 million plays on Spotify.
8) K Suave
Age: 23
Hometown: Ohio, USA
Key Track: "Tripple H"
Kevin Gainer (Born Dec. 16, 1997), better known by his stage name, K Suave, is a rapper from Ohio, US. He is a member of Trippie Redd’s 1400/800 crew. His music is a blend of cloud rap and trap and features him melodically rapping and singing over equally melodic instrumentals. His style has commonly been compared to that of Californian rapper D Savage, although the two don’t seem bothered by the comparisons and have collaborated together multiple times, with a collaborative project by the two in the works. K Suave’s first big break came in early 2019, on March 26, 2019, when the music video for his song “Remix?” was uploaded to the 1400 800 GANG YouTube channel—a channel run by Trippie Redd which features music videos from himself and other 1400/800 members. This quickly became one of Suave’s biggest songs, totaling more than 75,000 views. He appeared on the channel a second time in May of the same year, with the music video for “Black Mirror.”
9) Summrs
Age: 21
Hometown: Louisiana, USA
Key Track: "just cant"
Deante Adam Johnson, better known by his stage name Summrs, is an American rapper and singer from Lafayette, Louisiana. He is a member of RR (Really Rich), along with Kankan. He often works with XanGang, Goyxrd, CashBently, and Alexzander Pray. Summrs is well known for his incredible work ethic, having released a total of seven projects in a little over half a year in 2018. These would include three EP’s in Summr and Friends, Patience Is Key, and Drug/Love!; two mixtapes for his ex, Bell, entitled BellWorld and BellWorld 2, and four other mixtapes: ENDEAVOR777, DEPARTURE666 (Living To Die…), Devotion, and Revived.
10) Ken Car$on
Age: 21
Hometown: Oklahoma, USA
Key Track: "Yale"
Kenyatta Frazier Jr. (b. April 11, 2000), better known by his stage name Ken Car$on, is an American recording artist and producer from South Atlanta, Georgia. Ken met record producer TM88 in 2015 and signed to 808 Mafia as a rapper. In 2019, he signed to Opium, the label founded by Playboi Carti. He released his first two EPs, in 2020: Boy Barbie & Teen X. The latter featured Ken Car$on’s biggest song to date, “Yale”. In 2021, Ken Car$on kicked off the year by releasing the Lost Files compilation on SoundCloud and releasing his third EP, Teen X: Relapsed which features standout song “High as Sh!T”. His debut album, Project X was released in July 2021.