Sexyy Red doesn’t just confidently play the part as one of the year’s most exciting rap acts—she reinvents her St. Louis roots into something all her own.

Dancehall's newest superstar discusses the breakout success of “Talibans,” his newfound whirlwind lifestyle, and what to expect from his debut album. ⁠

It’s no exaggeration to say the 24-year-old now-legend has reinvigorated the New York scene, at the intersection of club music and drill.

At just 17, Tyler Meeks has honed in on his own brand of low-stakes yet remarkably focused Florida street rap.

“I always had this thing in my head that to be a star, I need to present myself in a way that has this aura of fabulousness that people want to aspire to. Then I realised that what people actually love me for is me in my rawest form. A girl from South London, who has something to say.”

The London rapper’s new album found its genesis in words written to come to terms with an unprovoked, racially motivated street attack he suffered in 2021. The result is a project that provides a stark snapshot of the state of the nation.

“The nature of my content was sometimes getting boiled down to ‘he's an anti-establishment rapper’ and like, yes, naturally - I'm fucking black. There is more though. There’s more that exists to a person than just the chagrin and disdain they have for the political schema they find themselves in.”

Though still faithful to the hallmarks of breezy, beautiful R&B, Joyce Wrice is testing the genre’s limits.

A shared appreciation for past heroes able to create entire worlds within their songs became the catalyst for FlyAnakin and PinkSiifu’s collaborative concept - a fictional record store named FlySiifu’s Records & Tapes.

New York City producers Tony Seltzer and A Lau have been friends for 10 years, and estimate the number of songs they’ve made together at close to 1,000. 

For an artist that’s held strong in the Greater Seattle Area—a region that’s still finding where it fits into the oversaturated hip-hop landscape—Khris P has emerged as one of Tacoma’s leaders.

“I can't sit here and not be appreciative and humbled. There's a lot of people who wish they could do this type of thing. But at the end of the day, you still got your ups and downs, especially with something strenuous like this. After two months of that, you're like, ‘what the fuck, man?’”