Artists to Watch 2019: Steve Lacy

Steve Lacy is the most popular of the three artists, and the most likely to make a splash in 2019. Member of soul band, The Internet, Lacy has already started to make his solo work relevant over the past few years. He released a demo in 2017, won a Grammy in 2018 and finished his solo album this month.

He’s only 20, but Lacy has superstar potential. He can write songs and hooks that are bound to top charts and hearts. He was featured in a Louis Vuitton editorial at the end of last year. I saw The Internet in November, and the Lacy-focused energy was immense. The only thing I can compare it to is old Beatles performance tapes, where the only thing that drowns out girls (and dudes) yelling was the beginning of a new song. All this energy was focused at the guitarist of a band, a heartthrob who sings in less than half of the songs.

The excitement around Lacy should lead to success as soon as he drops his debut solo album, which is due later this year.

SONGS TO CHECK OUT

• Some

• C U Girl

• Dark Red

Artists to Watch 2019: Rico Nasty

The past few years have been filled with young male rappers yelling very loudly into a microphone until someone payed attention to them. Many of these careers have not lasted more than twelve months, because no one want to hear rap the sticky, uh.

Rico Nasty is aggressive too, but in a way that we haven’t heard before, her confidence more metal than Nicki or Cardi’s swagger. She also has one of the best producers of 2018, Kenny Beats, making her albums. She’s infectious where Nicki can seem annoying.

In fact, she shouldn’t be compared to other female rappers because she is something so unique. Other rappers have meddled with metal rap in the past few years but haven’t been working with the songs to properly make it. Her studio sessions with Kenny lead to perfectly matched beats and lyrics, not the mass-produced trap beats we’ve heard try to match wannabe rap metalheads.

2019 is shaping up to be another big year, as she is already rolling out her new album. She’s already released two singles and is finished the album in a week.

Beware to live your life with one word constantly ringing in your head… KEENNNNNYYYYYY

SONGS TO CHECK OUT

• Countin’ Up

• Rage

• Smack a Bitch