Smino
Putting St. Louis on his back like Nelly in the 2000s is Smino whose blkswn effort received widespread critical acclaim. The year for Smi included putting on for his Zero Fatigue team, a video series with TIDAL and joining fellow breakout artist SZA across the nation.

Daniel Caesar
Many people will look at Daniel Caesar and immediately point to his dominance in R&B with Freudian and his heart stealing singles like “Get You” and “Best Part.” To make his run even more impressive there is not a label behind the Toronto product, just good strategy, and great music.

Lil Pump
2017 was the year of SoundCloud rappers and leading the push was Lil Pump. Amassing a large and loyal following, Pump hit a strong run with his songs and social media presence, which hit its peak with “Gucci Gang” hitting the Billboard charts and creating records.