Best New Artists of the Year

Los Angeles-based by way of Pittsburgh, the duo Social House — consisting of Michael “Mikey” Foster and Charles “Scootie” Anderson — have worked as a production team for artists such as Ariana Grande and Jennifer Lopez for years. They stepped into the spotlight this year as performers, however, with the release of their debut EP, “Everything Changed…” Their single “Boyfriend” — a collaboration with Grande — peaked at No. 8 on the Hot 100 in August and has garnered more than 240 million streams on Spotify.

The early part of the life of country singer Jimmie Allen sounds like a country song. The African-American singer from Delaware overcame homelessness and worked various jobs to keep himself afloat until he finally got his break in country music. Allen, 33, has toured with Toby Keith and performed at the Grand Ole Opry. Following on his self-titled debut EP, Allen released the album “Mercury Lane,” named after the street he grew up on, a mixture of danceable and introspective songs, including “American Heartbreaker,” “Make Me Want To,” and “Best Shot.”

The rapper from Santa Clara, California, born Diamonté Harper, built her following online by singing rhymes over Khia’s hit “My Neck, My Back,” which developed into the song “ICY GRL.” The song’s video went viral, was viewed millions of times, and helped Saweetie get a deal with Warner Bros. That song was part of her first EP, “High Maintenance,” which rose to No. 32 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop chart. In July of 2019, Saweetie entered the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time with the single “My Type” from her second album “Icy.”

Summer Walker has been successful since releasing her debut album in 2018. The 23-year-old Atlanta-based R&B artist followed that up with another LP in 2019 titled “Over It.” The two versions of the record’s lead single, “Playing Games” — there is an extended version featuring additional vocals from singer Bryson Tiller — have amassed more than 77 million streams on Spotify.

NLE Choppa (born Bryson Lashun Potts) is a 17-year-old rapper-songwriter based in Memphis, Tennessee whose influences include rappers NBA Youngboy, Meek Mill, and Lil Wayne. NLE Choppa — NLE stands for “No Love Entertainment” — had a breakout single in 2019 titled “Shotta Flow” that went to No.1 on the Billboard Bubbling Under R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and was certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song rose to No. 36 in July on the Billboard Hot 100.

Dean Lewis is an adult contemporary Australian singer-songwriter, who broke through in Australia with the song “Waves” in 2016. His first success outside of Australia was the single “Be Alright,” which rose to No. 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March. That song is on Lewis’ debut album “A Place We Knew,” which peaked at No. 31 on the Billboard 200 in March and topped Billboard’s Emerging Artists chart that same month.

SHAED is an electropop trio (singer Chelsea Lee and producers of Max and Spencer Ernst) that topped the Billboard Emerging Artists chart in September when the group’s single “Trampoline” reached No.1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart and No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019.

Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up” topped Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, latching on to the country-rap trend. The Georgia native leveraged the song’s presence on video-sharing platforms YouTube and TikTok to build an audience for the song, which rose to No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Brown, who has collaborated with Pitbull and Fergie, released his debut album, “Honeysuckle & Lightning Bugs,” in October.

Chicago rapper Polo G has only sent one single to the Hot 100 charts thus far –“Pop Out” nearly broke into the top 10, peaking at No. 11 in June of this year. The song features fellow newbie Lil Tjay, whose own song “F.N” hit No. 56 on the chart this year. “Pop Out” currently has more than 163 million views on YouTube, and the artist’s video for his single “Finer Things” has over 81 million views. Polo G is currently signed to Columbia Records.

Flippant rap group City Girls hail from Miami, where they’ve built a dedicated following. The duo of Yung Miami and JT had a solid hit with “Act Up,” which peaked at No. 26 on the Hot 100 this June and has been certified Platinum by the RIAA. The group have also collaborated with pop stars Drake and Cardi B.

The Scottish singer-songwriter made big waves with his song “Someone You Loved,” which hit the top spot on the Hot 100 in November. It also currently has more than 840 million streams on Spotify. The 23-year-old first rose to prominence in Europe before making the jump overseas following the release of his debut album “Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent” in May.

Queens-based rapper Lil Tecca turned 17 only days before releasing his debut mixtape, “We Love You Tecca,” in August of this year. The album includes the track “Ran$om,” which shot up the Hot 100, peaking at No. 4. Tecca has had a total of six tracks appear on the chart, all of which reached their peaks in 2019.

Megan Thee Stallion reached the No. 10 position on the Billboard 200 chart with her debut studio album, “Fever,” this past June. Her mixtape “Tina Snow” peaked at No. 166 just one week prior. Based on the timing of these albums’ successes, it’s fitting that the Houston rapper’s biggest hit to date is titled “Hot Girl Summer.” The single, which features Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign, sparked a viral “Hot Girl Summer” meme used by fans across numerous social media platforms.

Ava Max, the daughter of Albanian immigrants, burned up the charts in 2019 with the hit “Sweet But Psycho” that rose to No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the charts in six countries. The infectious dance number features a video that is a send-up of slasher movies, with a vengeful Max wielding an axe and knife on ex-boyfriends.

Gunna, a 26-year-old rapper from Georgia born Sergio Giavonni Kitchens, posted his most notable success, the collaboration with Lil Baby “Drip Too Hard,” in 2019, which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Also in 2019, Gunna’s album “Drip or Drown 2” climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and the LP was certified gold by the RIAA earlier this year.

The 31-year-old Detroit native, combining rap and gospel soul, has been a major pop presence in 2019. Lizzo, born Melissa Jefferson, had three songs land in the Billboard Hot 100 in 2019, including the No. 1 hit “Truth Hurts,” which spent 32 weeks on the chart. The song was originally released in 2017 but didn’t reach the charts until it was included on the deluxe version of Lizzo’s 2019 album “Cuz I Love You.” Lizzo also appeared in the movie “Hustlers” and performed at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Normani is Normani Kordei Hamilton, a singer, songwriter, and dancer originally from New Orleans whose family was forced to move to Houston in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina struck the city. Normani performed on the television show “The X Factor” and then became a member of the pop group Fifth Harmony. The 23-year-old had a top 10 hit with Khalid with the single “Love Lies” in 2018, and this year, she and Sam Smith from London collaborated on “Dancing with a Stranger,” which rose to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Atlanta-based rapper made music history in 2019, when his collaboration with country singer Billy Ray Cyrus, the country-rap single “Old Town Road,” topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a record 19 weeks. Like many young performers, Lil Nas X leveraged the video-sharing site TikTok to boost the success of the song. The 20-year-old singer followed on that success with the song “Panini,” which reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Charlotte, North Carolina-native DaBaby, born Jonathan Kirk, released his debut studio album “Baby on Baby” this year following numerous mixtapes. The album peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and featured the 27-year-old rapper’s biggest hit to date, “Suge,” which also climbed to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The accolades were plenty for Billie Eilish, a Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter. Music journalists have called Ellish the “voice of generation Z,” by capturing the anxiety and ennui of her generation. Eilish’s genre-blending debut album, “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” has been certified two-times Platinum by the RIAA. Its single, “Bad Guy,” topped the Billboard Hot 100 in August of 2019 and spent 37 weeks on that chart. Eilish has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist.