Julie Adenuga is a lightning rod for talent. She’s climbed out of the shadow of her brother, Skepta, to become one of the key hosts of Apple's Beats 1. When she says ‘listen to this’, we add it immediately to our playlist. With 2019 just days away, Julie is here to tell you the six artists to add to your New Year's Eve playlist and constantly namedrop thereafter:
1. Mahalia
Mahalia is a singer, songwriter originally from Leicester who's been in music for a long time. I remember watching her support Ed Sheehan six-years-ago in Birmingham. I've really enjoyed not being able to box Mahalia's sound into one space and love that I never know what kind of track I'm going to get from her. She's a really exciting side to the great R&B artists we already have in the UK.
2. Hamzaa
Hamzaa is a 19-year-old singer, songwriter, producer and pianist from East London who knows how to sing emotions that you didn't even realise you were feeling. I'm so happy that we're back in the space of vocalists who know how to sing~sing. I grew up learning harmonies and leaving songs on until the end so I could learn the runs. I'm really looking forward to seeing Hamzaa perform tracks from her 'signs of me' EP live and fighting back my tears.
3. Biig Pig
Biig Piig grew up in Ireland and Spain before ending up in good old London. Her music feels like she's lying down inside a kaleidoscope with her eyes closed and telling you beautiful stories. Whether she's rapping or singing in Spanish or English, there's just something so spacey and relaxing about her music. I want to see her on live stages all over the country in 2019 making the world chill TF out!
4. Wavy The Creator
I met Wavy in April 2018 when I went to Nigeria for the Boy Better Know Homecoming Festival. I call her my twin but I'm nowhere near as brave as she is when it comes to the freedom of her sound. She's such a breath of fresh air because the music she produces has no name, no box, no genre. She is 'creativity' personified. I think her path will spread further than music, it's going to be great to witness.
5. Kah-Lo
Kah-Lo was born in Nigeria and moved to the US to study and pursue music. She's always been really confident about who she is and rightly so since she was nominated for a Grammy with dance music producer, Riton. Their sound lives in the electronic dance world but what I'm most excited about is hearing what else Kah-Lo has locked away. She can do pretty much anything and sounds amazing doing it.
6. Alicai Harley
Alicai Harley is a Jamaican dancehall artist who continues to keep releasing my favourite songs. I've seen Alicai perform to a crowd of 50 people and I've seen her in-front of thousands, and every single time she absolutely kills it. Her energy is amazing and I think she's going to be one of the biggest and best performers in the country.
Julie Adenuga presents on Apple Music’s Beats 1 Monday-Friday 2-4pm. Listen live HERE or on-demand HERE.