Each and every year we see new artists breaking into the music industry and making their mark. Whether big or small, there’s artists out there with the ability to shift the culture in a positive direction. I’ve listed nine artists that I’ll be keeping my eye on this year and you should too!

1. Lil Skies

Lil Skies came into the game running in 2017. My first discovery of him was through Cole Bennett’s video for Red Roses. Skies has an album coming this month titled “Life of a Dark Rose.” He’s released a few tracks from the album which are stellar! My favorites are Nowadays and Lust.

2. Stan Sono

I’ve mentioned Sono in many articles but there was no chance I was leaving him off of this list. The Chicago native is preparing for a big year! According to his social media, new music and videos are ready for us to dive into.

3. Jay Trilogy

I first heard of Jay Trilogy while at Illinois State University. I was very surprised when I heard the quality of his music and him being from Bloomington, IL. He recently signed to Tech N9ne’s label “Strange Music.” He’s got a unique sound and ability to out rap many artists today.

4. Damon Alexander

If there’s any artist you need to check out, it’s Damon Alexander. His versatility and eagerness to be at the top is unmatched in today’s music scene. I’ve heard him create songs with no boundaries and somehow it all sounds amazing. He’s got a lot in the vault and preparing to release a collaboration project with wheresawill who you’ll hear about later in the article.

5. Tobi Lou

Chicago is one of the cities that has artists pushing unique sounds left and right. Tobi Lou is a prime example of this. When I first heard one of his tracks, it was without a doubt on a different level than other artists. From his singing to the word play, it was next level. Be on the look out for a project from him this year!

6. Landon Cube

This Maryland artist/producer really started to blow up in 2017. He had a music video directed by Cole Bennett for his song “18” which is when I discovered him. Landon has a sound that is so much different than others in the music game right now. Landon is a good friend and frequent collaborator with Lil Skies. The two have enormous tracks together that are taking the internet by storm.

7. Sylvan Lacue

Sylvan has been around for some time but he is still on fire. On January 12th, he will be releasing an album titled “Apologies In Advance.” This album has been in the works for a while and he’s already released a few singles. My favorites are “Best Me” and “5:55.”

8. wheresawill

There are artists across the world that put out quality music and wheresawill is one of them. From the suburbs of Chicago, wheresawill has talent that will not go unnoticed this year. He’s currently working on a project with Damon Alexander that will be released in the near future.

9. Healy

In 2017, Healy released his second album titled "Subluxe." He found his sound organically and listeners notice his uniqueness. With some real traction over the past couple years, 2018 looks very bright for the upcoming artist.

These are nine of the artists that I’ll be keeping my eye on this year. In addition to these artists, there are countless other talented people that will be releasing music this year. I challenge anyone reading this to explore different artists and genres in the new year!