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Whos topping the charts, going viral, and ruling our earbuds?
Each month, EWs introducing the freshest music talent you have to hear now.
Credit: Scott Dudelson/Getty Images; Burak Cingi/Redferns; Rick Diamond/Getty Images
(BLK is an acronym for Building, Living, Knowing.)
I started to write my own [stories] in the form of songs.
Shes also the first completely independent artist to win the prize.
Ive had the opportunity to do things and present myself exactly how I want, she says.
Then I realized, the 39-year-old recalled, [the movies soundtrack] is my heart and soul.
For years I thought my first record would be balls-to-the-wall with attitude, she recalls.
All, Here I am!
No one sounds like me!
and all this kind of crap.
2, Hembys hopeful.
You know what, Ive never been this far along in the record process!
I am enjoying it immensely.
Its nice to have full creative control.
Key Track: This Town Still Talks About You, a whimsical and knowing peek inside small town life.
You dont know country from 80s rock now.
Its so diluted, he says.
Thats why he called his solo debut, released last October,My Gospel.
I attempt to be an honest songwriter, he explains.
I knew it was going to be my breakout record, he admits.
I knew it was going to be the record that was going to turn heads and get everybodys attention.
Whats Next:My Gospelis just the first installment in Cauthens three-album plan.
After that release, hell dropMy Family, which he says will lean heavy into blues and ballads.
Key Track:The rollicking Ill Be The One.
My economics professor Glenn MacDonald was instrumental in helping me decide, he says.
He made me realize that I only had one shot to make it in the music business.
My parents always stressed the importance of giving back throughout my childhood, he says.
I decided that as my influence as an artist grew, I had a responsibility to do something bigger.
In 2016, he raised $200,000 for the organization.
It was on the air within a week.
Whats Next:After releasing a handful of original tracks in 2016includingFireandYou Want Morehes working on an LP.
It embodies all of the things Ive learned over the past 6 years making dance music.
A new single, On My Mind, is on its way too.
The projects jams most of which she produced herself capture her signature aesthetic swirl of soul and hip-hop.
Syd explains her approach as a soft touch that still has a lot of attitude.
Its good everybody gets to get everything out of their system.
I started taking vocal lessons shortly after [the Internet] started touring, Syd explains.
Id rather not go out and get another band to perform my solo music with.
It seemed natural to have us all go out on tour and do each others solo songs.
We like our stuff a little more quirky than that.
She also befriended electronic producers like Gold Panda and Daniel Avery.
Music is my escapism and at the same time its so direct, says Owens.
I want whomever listens to be like, What the f was that?
What did I just listen to?
I could imagine someone being stoned, lying down, listening to my music, and it being meditative.
I want to make it obvious that Im not just a singer, she says.
Im the fing boss!
I wrote the music and produced it I want to be confrontational like that, in a way.
Key TracK:CBM, one of the years most seductive minimal-techno jams.
I was obsessed with the Beatles, says the 21-year-old Brit.
But I didnt know what pop music was, until I was about 11-years-old.
Thats when she discovered Avril Lavigne, who inspired her to start writing her own songs.
I wanted tobeAvril, she says.
Istillwant to be Avril.
I got a lot of flowers thrown at my face!
I found it funny and kind of cool.
Theres one song Im working on thats my favorite song Ive written so far, she says.
The other [new music]….I write in so many different styles.
Its an eclectic jumble.
