10 Emerging Acts From 10 Cities You Should Know

We're in an era of information saturation. There are statistics and streaming numbers. There’s social media, metrics, publications, celebrities, friends, Romans, Pokémon. There are opinions and more opinions. If the audience wants a certain type of artist, and he or she doesn't exist, they can invent him (i.e. someone will fill the void). More than ever, such accidents of chance can lead to very temporal celebrity status. Maybe that means a hit record or a few blog posts; maybe it means a record deal or a radio show on Beats 1.

Some artists will have what it takes to sustain, regardless of the misfires and missteps. But figuring out who those people will be has become the real challenge for today's devoted hip-hop fan. In the late 2000s, a small group of blogs dictated the conversation. Soon, publications—finally catching on with the Internet—stepped in to take their place. In that era, new artists with a grassroots following could arrive and feel like a burst of fresh energy: ignored by the industry, rappers used YouTube and social media to build an independent following, ultimately making the press and labels look behind.

Now that an artist can go from not mentioned at all to gossip fodder with a stray celebrity tweet, it seems obvious that the balance has shifted. With so many artists bubbling—in the press, through the grassroots, or on the back of a celebrity endorsement—it's begun to feel like no one is going to "make it." The next generation will face more of an uphill climb as they traverse the new social web and remember to make music that matters, too. But there is hope. On The Rap Game—Jermaine Dupri's new show on Lifetime about young emerging artists aiming for their shot—that process itself is portrayed. The career begins before the career has even begun.

Here are 10 artists from 10 different cities whose odds look good.

City: Chicago

Much like Young M.A, Dreezy became a national name after releasing a "Chiraq" freestyle, although her local breakthrough came courtesy of West Side rapper Mikey Dollaz's local hit “Break A Band.” From a technical point of view, she's inarguably one of the city's best rappers, without sacrificing a sense for musicality in phrasing or the purposefulness of her ideas; with her 2016 hit "Body," she's also become one of Chicago's few hitmakers, a rarity for a scene so influential yet so far from Billboard. In her crossover, she's veered towards R&B, but her recent Gucci Mane collaboration, "We Gon Ride," proved that she still has that fire inside. Her newest album, No Hard Feelings, will be a major proving point.

City: Atlanta

Cosigned by Gucci Mane as far back as 2013, Peewee Longway has been celebrated as a "rising rapper" for three years. But it wasn't until the release of 2016's Mr. Blue Benjamin that all the pieces came together. A tightly rapped, well-crafted, and—crucially—well-engineered project, MBB saw an established rookie raising the stakes. It's not the kind of thing that gets celebrated much—an up-from-nowhere narrative is much more likely to catch eyeballs. But Peewee was even rewarded with a cosign from none other than LL Cool J, who claimed on the “Kidd Kraddick Morning Show” that he'd recently become a fan. Longway has always had a barreling flow that threatened to ricochet into clipped-syllable double-time at any minute. Now, though, his unique narrative approach has started to come into focus.

City: Brooklyn

24-year-old Brooklyn rapper Young M.A has seen her profile rise in New York over the past two years—she made her name with the release of a freestyle over Nicki Minaj and G Herbo's "Chiraq" back in 2014. But it wasn't until the release of smoky single "Ooouuu" that she delivered on that promise with a fully realized song. It takes Bobby Shmurda's "Hot N****" flow and downshifts to a relaxed, hypnotically inviting canvas. With a husky voice and undeniable presence, she's the most promising Brooklyn rap star since Shmurda himself.

City: Baltimore

YBS Skola is young and raw, but with one understated project, he's become one of Baltimore's most popular new rappers. A member of the YBS (Young Ballers Shining) crew, Skola came up in the wake of the success of Lor Scoota, the celebrated Baltimore rapper behind the regional hit "Bird Flu." Scoota—who was killed in a targeted shooting June 25 after attending an anti-violence event—appears several times on Skola's No Pen Just Paper, a concise, consistent debut project from an artist who is just coming into his own. Green though he may be, local hits like "Whole Lotta Money" suggest Skola could have a promising future.

City: Vallejo, Calif.

Nef the Pharoah took flight with the Big Tymers tribute song "Big Tymin'" in 2015. Nef builds on the playful rap style and sly wit of his Vallejo hometown's patron saint Mac Dre, crossed with the youthful, zen-like cool of Wiz Khalifa. His last project, the Cardo-produced 2016 release Neffy Got Wings, didn't launch any major hits but it did cultivate a sound and style that successfully wed past and present—local and national. (See highlight "Saydaat.") His music is a slice of sunlight, captivating for its seemingly effortless good humor.

City: Philadelphia

PNB Rock—recently signed to Atlantic Records—built his name with 2014's “My City Needs Something," an elegiac, melodic, musical plea. He sounds, in some ways, like an album-oriented Fetty Wap; where Fetty's recent single "Wake Up" sheds the nuanced emotional subtext of his breakthrough record, PNB Rock looks for that space where tragedy limns celebration, the intersection of resilience and pain. His latest record, "No Time," successfully transposes these emotional contradictions to a love song that promises only to get larger in the coming months.

City: Detroit

Detroit rapper Lonnie Bands is a member of BandGang, a young group of street-oriented rappers who by and large fit into the dominant Detroit rapper archetype: violent content, uptempo piano-driven production and a sense for rhythm that goes against the grain. But Lonnie Bands, whose latest project Antisocial has taken off since its release earlier this year, stands apart thanks to his distinctive rapping. With short, uneven phrases and a rise-and-fall style that approximates the patterns of speech, he seems intent on developing a fresh approach that is as mesmerizing as it is unpredictable. While his biggest records to this point don't scream "hit," songs like "Detroit N****" suggest originality and musicality still coexist in hip-hop.

City: Lauderhill, Fl.

With the breakout success of Kodak Black, Florida is again establishing itself as a source for unique hip-hop. Lajan Slim, whose sparse solidarity anthem "Haitians" was recently cosigned by Pusha T, is a prime example. The gangly rapper has a distinct look and a clever rap style. "Haitians" is still only a potential hit, and Lajan is largely unproven. But as a statement of purpose, it's one of the strongest debuts this year.

City: Richmond, Va.

$ilk Money has received attention from Erykah Badu and Andre 3000—legends whose cosign should count for a lot. But his burgeoning fan base—as well as those of his crew Divine Council—was built outside of celebrity endorsements. With SoundCloud as the group's medium, $ilk Money, Lord Linco, Cyrax!, and producer ICYTWAT have built up real enthusiasm for music that blends the irony and historical pastiche of SoundCloud rap with a more traditional focus on craft and performance. $ilk Money's rap style bears a resemblance to Fat Trel, but it's coincidental—his favorite rapper is Curren$y, and his interest in the effect of assonance and consonance over melody and vocal affect is, in 2016, a refreshing about-face.

City: Los Angeles

Over the last few years, a new local gangster rap sound has arrived in L.A. thanks in large part to DJ Mustard, YG, and protégé RJ's future-traditional sound. Drakeo is the city's newest potential star; where YG and RJ shout over tracks, Drakeo's delivery is more taciturn, though no less tense. On records like Mustard's "Mr. Get Dough," he brings a controlled, understated monotone to the proceedings. But perhaps most promising is a record like "Devil In My Head," which captivates through subdued ambiance and rap restraint.