If listening to “GOOD” music is your passion ETI suggest artists you need to know

Music

ETI talked to the hottest artists who are climbing the charts, breaking the Internet or just dominating our office stereos. Mixtape sensation BK Bambino, burgeoning country star Kelsea Ballerini, speedy post-hardcore quartet Super Unison, Atlanta rap sensation G.O.Y, Mali’s celebrated rock band Songhoy Blues and more.

BK Bambino

BK Bambino

Sounds Like: Late-night, “Wait, let me load YouTube” party cuts that eventually have the whole room singing along

For Fans of: Chance the Rapper, Danny Brown, 2 Chainz

Why You Should Pay Attention: Though BK Bambino has been rapping since age six, the Chicago native didn’t begin taking it seriously until a high-school shoulder injury set back his chances of playing quarterback in college. Then again, “serious” isn’t a word that most would associate with the 20-year-old MC: Bambino’s bars are usually playful, and his most recent music video finds him terrorizing his hometown while dressed as a bearded, overweight cop. This winter, he used the money saved working at a car dealership to move to Los Angeles, where he’s working on a mixtape produced partially by D Phelps, the frequent Vic Mensa collaborator who contributed production to Kanye West’s forthcoming LP.

He Says: “Since the song was so fun to make, we felt that the video should have the same type of vibe — show people character. I’m big into Martin Lawrence, and there was a character on Martin, an officer or whatever, and basically we tried to reenact his whole thing. I like putting on a show. I want my shows to be plays — actors and all of that on the stage. That sheriff costume can be like my Kanye Graduation bear.

Hear for Yourself: “Sheriff” opens with a distorted riff that Phelps recorded on Voice Memo (“I said, ‘Bro, that’s about to be terrible'”) and comes together when crystal-clear piano chords float over the hook. Bambino plays it just right, wilding out but never losing the beat.

 Leon Bridges

Leon Bridges

Sounds Like: Usher as a vintage soul crooner in 1963, backed by Motown’s Funk Brothers

For Fans of: Sam Cooke, Aloe Blacc circa “I Need a Dollar,” John Legend

Why You Should Pay Attention: Leon Bridges’ elegantly smoldering voice often evokes comparisons to Sam Cooke at his finest. However, his tone is unmistakably modern, a result of listening to 112 and Dru Hill as a teenager growing up in Fort Worth, Texas, before discovering Cooke and the Temptations. “I come from a slow jam background, and that carries over into the music I have now,” he says. Four years ago, he started performing at open mic nights, accompanying himself on guitar. It was at Magnolia Motor Lounge where he met Austin Jenkins of rock group White Denim. “His vision was, ‘I want to make it exactly like it came out in the Fifties and Sixties,'” remembers Bridges. Together with White Denim’s Josh Block, they recorded “Coming Home” and “Better Man,” and premiered the songs on Dallas-based music blog Gorilla vs. Bear last October. A bidding war ensued, with Bridges signing to Columbia, and he subsequently earned raves at this year’s SXSW for songs like “Lisa Sawyer,” where he lovingly details his mother’s childhood in New Orleans, and “Brown Skin Girl,” a celebration of women of color. His debut album, Coming Home, drops on June 23rd.

He Says: Born Todd Bridges, he originally performed under the name Lost Child. “My mom, she used to always tell me whenever I had a haircut or something, ‘Boy, you look like a lost child,” he says. “Later, I wanted a more professional-sounding name. A lot of people in college would call me Leon, after the actor. He acted in Cool Runnings, The Five Heartbeats and The Temptations. People were saying I looked like him. I felt that ‘Leon’ and ‘Bridges’ went together very well.”

Hear for Yourself: On “Better Man,” Bridges and his band strum soulfully on a black & white stage straight out of Shindig!

Super Unison

Sounds Like: A blast of speedy Oakland post-hardcore that goes even harder than the Drive Like Jehu song they’re named after

For Fans of: Black Flag, early Sleater-Kinney, Pretty Girls Make Graves

Why You Should Pay Attention: Northern California’s Super Unison have moved faster than their songs (none of which have yet to hit the two-minute mark). Following her split from band Punch, Meghan O’Neil Pennie was asked to join a musical project formed by Justin Renninger of Snowing and former Dead Seeds members Danny Goot and Kevin DeFranco. They had their first practice in December, recorded a self-titled EP in February and have just wrapped up a tour with Composite. “We really just hit he ground running,” Pennie says, noting how quickly the band clicked. Together, the quartet has created tight hardcore tracks perfectly paired with post-punk sensibilities — Pennie describes their sound as “a weird intersection of Dischord Records and riot grrrl.” Next up for the band is a limited tape out on Conditions Records and a seven-inch via Deathwish Inc.

They Say: “I feel like we all take very good care of each other. It’s a very caring band. It’s really nice. I feel the love in this band,” says Pennie. “They’re sweet guys. You know, we’ve all been in bands. We’re all older, so there’s just a bit of knowing what to do and having friends to help us do it and keeping the momentum going.”

Hear for Yourself: Their debut EP is available to stream on Bandcamp — four songs, 7-and-a-half minutes, five bucks.

Kyle

Kyle

Sounds Like: Chilling with your friends at Jamba Juice

For Fans Of: Drake in his “Best I Ever Had” days, Childish Gambino, G-Eazy

Why You Should Pay Attention: “Super Duper” Kyle Harvey makes unabashedly sunny pop-raps, whether it’s looping early Nineties one-hit wonder Jane Child into the winning “Don’t Wanna Fall in Love,” or rhyming about “Fruit Snacks and Cups of Patron.” He claims Jadakiss, Will Smith and Incubus as inspirations. He’s a Ventura, California beach kid whose childhood resembled the Nickelodeon cartoon Rocket Power, and is known to surfboard over his adoring audience at sold-out concerts. But he also raps to provide income for his mother and his three siblings. “My mom is a single mother, and she’s worked really hard to raise us. I’m in a unique situation to make a good sum of money and take that weight off her shoulders,” he says. He’s built a following by really connecting with fans: “touring, trying to see them as much as possible, talking to them before shows. On Twitter I tell them, ‘If you’re having any problems, if you need advice, let me know, I’ll follow you back, and let’s talk about this.’ I want to let my fans know that I’m there for them.”

He Says: Yes, the 1975 Bob Seger song “Beautiful Loser” inspired Kyle’s album title. “My aunt played me that for me as a little kid. I wanted a title that in two words could describe me as a person,” he says. “I wasn’t really a loser in high school, but I was kinda one. I was on the football team, but at the same time, I hung out with the nerdy kids, staying up until 7 a.m. playing medieval video games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.”

Hear for Yourself: Kyle and R&B singer Kehlani bring back Eighties pop on “Just a Picture.”

 G.O.Y

GOY

Who is our fanbase: The G.O.Y brand has many fans because we have a wide variety of talent’s we display. The group (Family) is made up of Radio Hosts, Recording Artist, Producers, Actors, Models, Masseuse, and a World Class Mime. We love and appreciate all of our fans and musically we stay engaged with them through Pandora Radio. Add our stations and send a message it comes directly to our emails we LOVE to hear from you.
Why You Should Pay Attention: Once the G.O.Y brand made National news EVERYTHING CHANGED. People were paying attention to them before that happened but after that, it got crazy. It’s like our following increased overnight literally. After that we quickly climbed up the Pandora Radio Charts gaining over 400,000 spins in just a few shorts months. Once the internet buzz came then the icing on the cake happened. A call from the legendary singer Patti LaBelle to feature G.O.Y’s own Dub Bulloh on the Cover of her latest Album Bel Hommage. From making & selling our own clothing, to empowering women in our local community, and creating our own Award Show (G.O.Y Awards) the people are behind our every move. Music is just a piece of what this G.O.Y brand is. People immediately relate to being a G.O.Y and that’s why we believe that we have the heart of the people. We don’t follow trends we’re leaving a legacy.
How we have connected with our fan base: We all have studied our individual crafts so well that we are able to bring it to the people direct without a middleman. Meaning most Artist or Groups of people have an investor that tells them what to do and/or does it for them. With our unit there is none of that. Everyone on the team must get their hands dirty. We put our own money up. We are in control of how all our projects are delivered to the people. That is key because you have to understand your consumer in order to properly supply them with exceptional content. We know and totally understand how important it is to be as transparent as possible and still leave the fans wanting more. That’s a lost art in today’s music but not with us.
Hear for yourself: Double O featuring Tasha Catour “Night Life”; Dub Bulloh “G.O.Y Gold”, and then people leave the club chanting “My Right Hand” by Tay Real. “Soul Cry” by 1 Purpose Mime won’t be released until the fall of 2017.

Kelsea Ballerini

Kelsea Ballerini

Sounds Like: If Sara Bareilles went country

For Fans of: Taylor Swift (circa 2010’s Speak Now), Carrie Underwood, Katy Perry

Why You Should Pay Attention: If anyone can fill the void Taylor Swift left in country music, it’s this East Tennessee native, who rivals the “Style” singer with diary-entry lyrics, striking guitar prowess and a lot of stage swagger. But after moving to Nashville at age 15 to try to be the next Swift, she learned a lesson that has ended up being the secret to her success: “You can’t be who your inspirations are,” the now 21-year-old relates. So Ballerini found her own voice — both as a singer and songwriter — and became one of the most unique new talents the genre has seen in a long time.

She Says: “I listened to a lot of outside songs, and they’re so good,” Ballerini recalls of putting tracks together for her debut album, The First Time. “But the whole reason I’m an artist is because I’m a songwriter. So I thought it would be more honest of a record if I had my voice and my hand in all of it.”

Hear for Yourself: Inspired by the “sass” of Rihanna’s “Take a Bow,” Ballerini’s debut single, “Love Me Like You Mean It,” is a Top 15 hit — a huge feat for a new female artist in country music.

Eternal Summer

Eternal Summers

Sounds Like: Sun-drenched, shimmery crush-pop with hooks to spare

For Fans of: Velocity Girl, Talulah Gosh, limited-edition seven-inches on lollipop-colored vinyl

Why You Should Pay AttentionThe Roanoke-based trio of Nicole Yun (guitar/vocals), Daniel Cundiff (drums) and Jonathan Woods (bass) has been fashioning clamorous indie pop since 2009. On their fourth full-length, Gold and Stone, Eternal Summers burrow deeper into feedback-drenched guitars and just-sweet-enough vocals, displaying a newfound urgency on songs like the charging “Bloom” and the whispery “Ebb Tide.” They’re hitting the road at the end of May, kicking their tour off at the NYC Popfest, where they’ll be sharing the bill with similarly heart-on-sleeve acts like Club 8 and the Darling Buds.

They Say: “With this album, a lot of the songs were written in different types of spaces,” says Yun. “I was a counselor at Girls Rock! Camp — a really great experience — and the drive was about 30 minutes every day; and I’d be like, ‘There’s only one way for me to deal with this.’ Roanoke is a small town, so any drive over 15 minutes is, oh my goodness, a big deal. During the drive, I would use my phone to record vocal melodies and melodic ideas. When the band first started, I wrote those short, jangly nuggets of songs while noodling around with vocal ideas. [We didn’t] worry about guitars until later. A lot of that was because I really sucked at guitar and wanted to highlight my strength, which is writing tunes. I’ve slowly gotten a little bit better at guitar over the years, but I thought it would be cool to go back to that method of just humming something and seeing what happens.”

Hear for Yourself: “Together or Alone,” the first single from Gold & Stone, is feisty yet wistful, with Yun’s voice ping-ponging between a sigh and a yelp.

 Songhoy Blues

Songhoy Blues

Sounds Like: A churning, loose-limbed garage-rock take on traditional Malian music

For Fans of: Tinariwen, the Black Keys, Amadou & Mariam

Why You Should Pay Attention: In Bamako, Mali’s capital, the group’s electrified version of the stately desert boogie personified by the late Ali Farka Touré was quickly recognized as the real deal. They appeared on Damon Albarn’s Africa Express compilation in 2013 and opened for him at the Royal Albert Hall in London last year. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Nick Zinner co-produced their recent debut album, Music in Exile, whose tough, hypnotic thwack also nods to the vamping guitars and excitable spirit of northern Mali’s nomadic Tuareg rebels. The group — Aliou Touré (voice), Garba Touré (guitar), Oumar Touré (bass) and Nathanael Dembélé (drums) — half-joke that they’d never have started a band if three of them hadn’t been driven out of their northern Mali hometowns by militant jihadists vehemently opposed to non-religious music. “It’s not safe at all to play music,” Garba Touré says. “It’s quite dangerous.”

They Say: “The world has known our country as Mali since independence in 1959,” says Touré. “Before that, the Songhai empire extended across Mali, from north to south and east to west. That empire included many different ethnicities, and the Songhai musical tradition includes many different things. We take different parts of that tradition, rhythmically and melodically, and play them on modern instruments like the drum set and electric guitar. But it all comes from traditional Songhai music.”

Hear for Yourself: “Al Hassidi Terei” is a grooving critique of selfishness.

Superheaven

Sounds Like: A smoky, slow-mo mosh pit in a high school gym

For Fans of: Nirvana, Failure, Title Fight, melancholy and infinite sadness

Why You Should Pay Attention: The second album from the Pennsylvanian band once known as Daylight, Ours Is Chrome, debuted at Number One on the Billboard Alternative New Artist chart and Number Two on the general New Artist chart. Call it a breakthrough; just don’t call it grunge, as many critics have branded Superheaven’s superfuzzy bummer rock. “People comment on the fact that we wear flannel kind of often, but shit, man, so does the rest of the world!” gripes singer-guitarist Taylor Madison. He adds, “I think it’s cool to draw influence from something you really like and put your own spin on it — that’s what we try to do.” Superheaven succeed by mixing shimmery shoegaze and emo-smeared post-hardcore into their grungy big riffs.

They Say: Madison taps into many dark real-life experiences with his lyrics, from the time his family was evicted from their home (“Room”), to the motorcycle accident that paralyzed his younger brother (“From the Chest Down”), to the struggles surrounding his sister’s heroin addiction (“Gushin’ Blood”). “My family is aware of what a lot of the songs are about,” he says. “They like some of it, because they think it’s cool that I care enough about them to write about them. But I don’t think my mom knows the one song is about us being evicted. And I think if she knew, she’d be embarrassed and probably not be that happy about it. But I write about my life, and that was a very big part of it, unfortunately.”

Hear for Yourself: Guitars squeal and soar on “I’ve Been Bored” as Madison, in his gravelly, slackerish voice, shares a worthy sentiment: “I’ve been so sick of flowers on everything.”

The Weather Station

The Weather Station

Sounds Like: Tradition-spanning contemplative folk that captures rare beauty in both lyrics and melodies

For Fans of: Joni Mitchell, the Tallest Man on Earth, Sufjan Stevens

Why You Should Pay Attention: On her third album, Loyalty, Toronto-based songwriter Tamara Lindeman’s poetic reflections are set to minimalist combos of acoustic guitar, keys and just enough percussion to add bite to her words. For the album, she worked closely with Feist engineer Robbie Lackritz and Afie Jurvanen (a.k.a. Bahamas). “Lately, I’ve outsourced my boundaries to other people,” she says. “I require someone or something to tell me when to stop.” In the case of Loyalty, she found out with two months to spare that she was going to record at La Frette Studios in France. When she arrived, she was still rewriting, and had to sing scratch vocals on a few tracks. “There were still one or two words, or like one line that I was going to change,” she recalls. “Everyone just loved the scratch vocal. My two collaborators were like, ‘You’re not allowed to sing it again.'” In turn, her low, rich voice brings out the textures of dry grass, the cityscape, and relentless rain in intimate fashion.

She Says: “I listen really closely to words. I love country music and I love a lot of pop music. Different singers require different material. I can appreciate the simplest song, or the simplest sentiment. If Otis Redding sings it, it’s amazing. I’m always just curious. It’s often very obvious in a song, you can tell if someone believes in what they’re singing. Generally when I don’t like music, it’s when I hear it and I can tell the person doesn’t believe what they’re saying. It can be anything, as long as you’re committed. . .My style of songwriting is I tend to play guitar and daydream and sorta sing stuff. I tend to record it to remember. In that phase, I tend to sing all the same stuff anyone else sings. I sing about rain and the moon. My tendency over time is to refine that into something that feels really meaningful and I can hang onto it for a long time.”

Hear for Yourself: Lindeman’s pin-point attention to detail turns a late-night phone call into a gorgeous, lonely meditation on “Loyalty.”

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