WHAT IT IS: Emerging from Mobile, Ala., up-and-coming rapper Rylo Rodriguez—born Ryan Adams—is known for his ingenuity in recontextualizing classic pop and R&B song into stories of his life. Last month the rising star dropped his second studio album, Been One, which includes features from Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, Lil Durk, Est Gee, Fridayy and more. Rodriguez’s penchant for love-drunk ballads and seamless R&B flips is resonating with fans, as his album peaked at #3 on the Rap charts. Rodriguez is the inaugural signing to Dominque Jones aka Lil Baby’s label, Glass Window Entertainment, in conjunction with Motown/Capitol.
ALBUM: Been One
RELEASE DATE: 6/30
SINGLE: “Thang for You” f/NoCap
LIVE: Currently opening for Lil Baby’s It’s Only Us Tour
INTERNET: Nearly 2m monthly Spotify listeners, 350k+ followers; 1b+ YouTube streams, 561k+ subs; “Been One” #1 Apple Music Hip-Hop; 1m+ Instagram followers
RADIO: “Thang for You” f/NoCap” debuted at Urban with 50+ adds
PRESS: Complex, HotNewHipHop, Audiomack (“Been One, packed with soulful reflection, outlandish punchlines”), more
BOOKING: Glass Window Ent.
PUBLISHING: BMI
MANAGEMENT: Lawanda Brooks/Glass Window Ent.

WHAT IT IS: 24-year-old Icelandic-Chinese artist Laufey grew up playing cello and piano while getting hooked on Ella Fitzgerald. While studying at Berklee in 2020, she dropped debut single “Street by Street.” Her first full-length, Everything I Know About Love, debuted at #1 on the Alternative New Artist Album chart, while lead single “Valentine” hit #1 on Spotify’s Jazz chart as she became the platform’s most-streamed jazz artist of 2022. “From the Start” from her upcoming Bewitched has notched 60m+ streams and 650m+ TikTok views and is the most-streamed jazz song in the U.S.
ALBUM: Bewitched
RELEASE DATE: 9/8
SINGLE: “From the Start”
TV: Kimmel (January 2022)
LIVE: Sold out 30k tickets in minutes for The Bewitched Tour (fall); the Kennedy Center w/National Symphony Orchestra (9/8), the Ford w/L.A. Philharmonic (9/16); wrapped sold-out headline tour in Australia and Asia, more
INTERNET: 500m+ career streams; 7m+ monthly Spotify listeners; 2m+ TikTok followers, 1m+ Instagram, 507k+ YouTube subs; 500k+ new fans per month; “From the Start” added to Today’s Top Hits; 1.5m+ daily streams
RADIO: Support from Music Choice, Coffee Shop Cuts, WFUV, Flood FM; sessions and interviews with WFUV’s Acoustic Café and KEXP; KCRW “Today’s Top Tune”
PRESS: NPR Music, Genius, UPROXX, Ones to Watch, more
BOOKING: Zac Bluestone/Wasserman
PUBLISHING: Warner Chappell
MANAGEMENT: Max Gredinger/Foundations Music

WHAT IT IS: Nigerian artist Davido’s latest offering, Timeless, brings together the sounds that have shaped his 11-year career. His first studio release since the platinum-selling award-winner’s critically acclaimed 2020 project, A Better Time, the new album homes in on his Afrobeats foundations on tracks like “FEEL,” “GODFATHER” and “PRECISION.” A Better Time broke several global records for an African artist, streaming over 133m in its first week, earning the most first-day streams ever for an African album on Apple Music and debuting at #2 the World Music chart. It also produced three top charting singles, including TikTok smash “UNAVAILABLE,” which debuted at #8 on the Afrobeats chart, followed by “OVER DEM” (#10) and “FEEL” (#11).
ALBUM: Timeless
RELEASE DATE: 3/31
TV: Colbert; Mo Gilligan; BET Awards
LIVE: Recently rapped N.A. Timeless Tour; embarking on EU tour (9/13)
INTERNET: 8.3m+ monthly Spotify listeners; 133m+ first-week streams on Timeless, broke several global records for an African artist on Apple Music; his highest-charting project, debuting at #2 on World Music chart
RADIO: “UNAVAILABLE” impacting radio 8/24; 36 early adds, #41 at Urban at presstime
PRESS: Rolling stone, Forbes (cover), UPROXX, BBC, Complex, Revolt, more
MANAGEMENT: LVRN, B.F.A. & THE PLUG