25 Rappers You Should Get to Know Before They Blow Up

From: Atlanta, GA

Rome Fortune is an interesting man. He wears cut off crop top shirts, dyes his beard different colors, and he's got an ear for off-kilter production (he even did a project with Four Tet). Rome Fortune is also a smart man. He's one of the most creative artists from the new batch of Atlanta talent, but he understands exactly what he's doing. With Rome, you can't predict what you're gonna get next, but you can bet it's going to be good.

From: New Orleans, LA

This year has been full of strong debut albums, but Pell's is definitely up there with the best. Showing himself capable as both a rapper and a singer, Pell's debut full-length, Floating While Dreaming, is a cohesive, consistent, and unified work. The New Orleans-based rapper's personal rhymes are relatable, his live show is on point, and he knows how to craft a good hook. Pell yeah.

From: Virginia Beach, VA

The first track we heard from DP, "Jabar," exuded a vicious, venomous energy from the gritty, bass-heavy production to the hard-as-nails lyrics. Could he replicate that energy on subsequent songs? Yes he could, and with his subsequent tracks it's become clear that his fierce, foreboding sound has legs. DP has us hooked.

Plus, when he came out with Wara From The NBHD at our No Ceilings show, he killed it.

From: Long Beach, CA

While a lot of West Coast rappers are trying to make ratchet DJ Mustard-esque bangers or replicate past greats, Boogie has a sound all his own, and demonstrates an effortless versatility and creativity on his debut album Thirst 48. While the standout song is "Bitter Raps," the entire tape is fantastic, with Boogie's easy ear for melody, incredibly sharp eye for detail, and casually witty lyrics meaning that its full of songs that are worth listening to 10, 15, 20 times to catch everything that's going on. The production is another selling point, parts soulful, parts hazy, and the whole package introduces us to an artist of huge potential.

Download Thirst 48 here.

From: Atlanta, GA

If you think Father’s "Look At Wrist" is just a random internet hit, go see Father perform it live. It can inspire full-blown mosh pits, and it's taken a life of its own. It's going to be hard to recreate the magic of that one, but if there's any time and place to do it, it's modern day Atlanta.

From: Virginia

GoldLink is evidently on the right path. Initially drawing interest thanks to his enigmatic presence, GoldLink blossomed into one of the most exciting new rappers of the last two years with The God Complex. Featuring inventive production and impressive rapping, the whole project oozes charisma. He's making moves fast, and the future looks incredibly bright. Oh yeah, and Rick Rubin's a fan.

From: Adelaide, Australia

Australia's Tkay Maidza has pop appeal, plain and simple. But unlike certain other Australian rappers with pop appeal, her music feels honest and genuine—full of the youthful energy and joie de vivre of any 18-year-old living out her dreams. What Tkay has proven so far is that she's versatile, with her Switch Tape mixtape featuring everything from quickfire spitting to gentler reflective moments to massive pop hooks to tear up the main stage of a dance music festival bangers.

For an artist still experimenting and finding her sound, Tkay has already made some impressive moves—a strong and focused EP and then an album in 2015, and she could be a star in no time.

From: Hampton, VA

Calling D.R.A.M. a rapper is almost unfair but my rule is that if you rap, you're a rapper. D.R.A.M. can rap, but it's the Virginia native's ability to write a catchy melody and a big chorus that sets him apart. He's got tons of energy and if you ever see him live you can't help but leave a fan. Plus, that "Cha Cha" joint is still rising. It's at over 126,000 plays on SoundCloud now, and the remix hasn't even hit yet. Get his #1EPICSUMMER mixtape and read more about D.R.A.M. here.

From: Minneapolis, MN

Whether it's as part of rising four-piece thestand4rd or with his own material, Allan Kingdom is always a unique presence. Switching between goofy but precise rapping and spectral crooning, Kingdom is all about that versatility. He's been making music for years, maturing his sound into what it is now, and always injects his distinct character into what he makes. No one sounds like Allan Kingdom, and in today's saturated market, that's a huge advantage.

From: Brooklyn, NY

Junglepussy is a name-change away from being a breakout star. That name might hold her back a little, but it's also a reflection of her lack of fucks given, and in today's hip-hop climate, that's worth a lot. Junglepussy—as her name indicates—doesn't hold back. She's sexy, unapologetically raunchy, and best of all, she's super talented.

Check out her Satisfaction Guaranteed project here.

From: Boston, MA

Michael Christmas dropped his Is This Art? mixtape earlier this year and immediately became one of our favorite young characters in hip-hop. He's got that charming Boston weirdness and a sense of humor, but it's his knack for good beats, confident rapping, and off kilter visuals that give him an edge over most punchline rappers. Plus, Childish Gambino and Mac Miller are fans—a couple of big collaborations or remixes and Michael Christmas could be the next to pop.

From: Atlanta, GA

The most interesting thing about Daye Jack is that he's not trying to be anything he's not. The NYU student grew up listening to 50 Cent and Jay Z, but in our interview with him, he explained that while he liked it, he couldn't relate to it. He's not alone—there's a new wave of hip-hop artists who have nothing in common with the traditional rapper stars of the past, and guys like Chance The Rapper and Childish Gambino have shown that fans are ready for it.

Check out Daye Jack's Hello World project here.

From: London, UK

In England, Skepta is a star. He's a grime OG, the founder of Boy Better Know with his brother JME, and is four albums and over ten years deep in the game. Up until very recently, he was criminally under-appreciated in America, but that looks to be slowly changing. In 2014 he performed his first show in New York, and he recently collaborated with A$AP Mob member/founder Young Lord and Wiki from Ratking. With the likes of Theophilus London and Virgil Abloh loudly supporting, the rap landscape becoming ever more open to new sounds, and Skepta's next album on the way, hopefully 2015 will see his stock rising in America too.

From: Washington, DC

Washington, DC's Chaz French has lived a life worth talking about. By the age of 22 (an age we tend to forget is still very young), French has been homeless, fathered a daughter, traveled the country with Goldlink and SBTRKT, and released an impressive debut project, Happy Belated, encapsulating many of his experiences, dreams, and frustrations from his journey thus far.

French is potential in motion; technically gifted, but not so much so that he obscures his message with verbal acrobatics; emotional and energetic, but capable of balancing his fire with moments of restraint so he doesn't lose his urgency or presence; a gift for melody adds depth to his rapping and hints at a path to greater accessibility without losing himself.

Though still very much in the discovery phase of his career, French has all the tools to build something much bigger on the back of Happy Belated.

From: Detroit, MI

Dej Loaf's "Try Me" went viral with dangerous speed. It's dangerous because all too often, when an artist suddenly pops up on everyone's radar due to one hit, they disappear just as quickly. It takes most artists years to build a fan base, and in the process they grow, learn, and gain loyalty. Dej Loaf skipped a lot of that growing process, but with her mixtape Sell Sole, she proved that "Try Me" wasn't just a lucky strike.

From: Los Angeles, CA

Ever since he dropped "Dreams" earlier this year, Cozz has been killing it. He signed with J. Cole's Dreamville label and dropped a strong first project with Cozz & Effect, and we'll see him live for the first time later this month (check out details here). Cozz has a youthful energy, but he's also very sharp, and it's this combination that makes him such a threat. It's hard to imagine him writing a poppy radio hit, but that's part of the reason we like him.

From: Chicago, IL

With collaborations with Danny Brown and FKA twigs already under his belt, Lucki Eck$ is getting noticed by all the right people. He has an intricate approach to flowing over beats, and although his delivery is laid-back, it is far from lazy. At only 18 years old, he's still got a lot of room to improve, even if his output so far is leagues ahead of countless other rappers. His melody-focused approach and choice of beats is refreshing, making it easy to see why he's gaining attention from such heavy hitters.

From: Toronto, ON

While Toronto's primary hip-hop export might still loom larger than any of his counterparts, the winds of change are stirring in a city now seemingly packed to the brim with budding talent.

Part of the eclectic, exciting Get Home Safe crew, rapper Jazz Cartier only has three songs to his name on Soundcloud (though if you dig DEEP into the P&P archives, it appears he was putting out music years ago). With his small, concerted body of work (largely with talented, inventive up-and-coming producer Michael Lantz), Cartier exhibits considerable energy and personality that tweak the expectations of the "Toronto sound."

From: London, UK

Little Simz doesn't try and hide the fact that she is British, or specifically court a US audience, but she doesn't have to—she's a good enough rapper to quickly blow away any assumptions or expectations listeners might have. With three EPs already released since many of us were introduced to her through "Bars Simzon," Little Simz is keeping her work rate incredibly high but not letting the quality drop on any tracks. At only 20-years-old, and still at university, we'll definitely be keeping a close watch on Little Simz' next moves.

From: Carol City, FL

Denzel Curry is already killing it in his own right, just recently coming off the Bow Down tour with Deniro Farrar, having previously toured in Europe, and releasing an impressively varied album, Nostalgic 64, at the end of 2013. Keeping things totally independent, he already has the sleeper hit "Threatz" to his name, but proves with each new song that he can deliver honest, real messages through his music.

He's turned down label deals already and is focused on building his fan-base organically but combine the following he already has with the right backing and push, plus his growing maturity, and Denzel could really take it to the next level.

Read our interview with Denzel Curry here.

From: Atlanta, GA (via Brooklyn, NY)

It's important to note that although Wara From the NBHD is based in Atlanta now, he's originally from Brooklyn. "Atlanta kind of genuinely forces my creativity," Wara told us. "It makes me want to shit on everything and everybody that’s doing what I’m doing, but in a competitive way. I’m always trying to figure out how to make everything I do stand out. Most of the time it comes out effortlessly and it’s just usually me doing me. As far as Brooklyn, I think that’s where the rawness comes from. The I-don’t-give-a-fuck trait within my creativity. So yeah, ATL is like the light and NYC is like that darkness, feel me?"

Wara's one of the rawest out right now, but he's figured out how to channel it into a compelling, intelligent delivery. His Kidnapped project is one of the year's strongest hip-hop releases, and Wara is still getting better.

From: Corpus Christi, TX

Mixing genres is becoming ever more common-place in rap in 2014, but few do it quite as well as 18-year-old Kevin Abstract. The versatile Abstract showed his true potential with MTV1987. Not only capable of writing a brilliant hip-hop song, he proved himself a strong songwriter with a keen ear for melody and adventurous song structures. Melding pop, hip-hop, and even elements of old school bedroom emo, MTV1987 is one of the most impressive projects of the year. Any other time, Kevin might be a niche artist, but it's starting to feel like hip-hop is ready for someone like him.

Read our interview with Kevin Abstract here.

From: London, UK

Being a rapper from the UK with ambitions overseas comes with the twin hazards of being seen as a sellout at home and being quickly dismissed by U.S. audiences. Danny Seth has avoided these pitfalls, it seems, by mixing his distinctly and proudly British accent and drops ("The British are coming") with the kind of hard-hitting beats we're used to hearing Future or Yong Thug over.

Specifically targeting America, Seth has already dropped collaborations with Key!, G. Eazy, A$AP Ferg, and Eric Dingus, and his Perception project is coming soon to make sure he finishes off the year with a bang. Watch out, because the British are coming.

From: Detroit, MI

Is ZelooperZ going to be the next Kendrick Lamar? Probably not. But he could certainly follow the path of someone like Danny Brown. He's got energy, charisma, and style, and he has one advantage—he's young. With XXX, Danny Brown had his breakthrough moment at 30 years old. It took Danny a while to figure it all out, but he learned a lot in the process. Danny knows how to balance eccentricity with appeal, and he's taken ZelooperZ under his wing. With natural talent and that kind of mentorship, ZelooperZ could be one of the next rockstars of rap.

From: Atlanta, GA

Atlanta, Atlanta, Atlanta. There's not much more to say that hasn't already been said about the city that is keeping rap interesting right now (both on the MC and the producer side), but rest assured, Key! is one name you need to know. One of the founding members of the Two-9 crew, but now working more on his own projects, Key! has been involved in two of the biggest underground hits of 2014–"Look At Wrist" and "U Guessed It." He's a couple more big songs away from blowing up, and we wouldn't be surprised to see him really shine in 2015.

Check out a playlist of rappers you should get to know before they blow up below.