On The Up Archives - New Hip Hop News

On The Up September — Nailah Howze/Jackie Radinsky/Henry Hanky/Jesse Lirola/Maclay Heriot/Ralph Ordaz

On The Up is back after a short break, once again highlighting five new artists you should be listening to this month. September’s picks jump from a surging Bay Area R&B singer to a new face on the Brazilian music scene signed to Stones Throw Records. Fans of Big Thief will be hyped on one of our picks, while a dizzying LA rapper and rising Aussie psych-pop group round out September’s group. Check ’em out and listen in below.

Zyah Belle

We’ve been featuring some of Zyah Belle’s tracks in our Best New R&B column dating back to when the Bay Area singer signed with Guin Records last year and dropped the silky Who’s Listening Anyway EP. She hasn’t let up in 2022 and has her album, Yam Grier, set to drop on September 9th. “Not The One” beams with some serious mystique from her and LA rapper Tempest, while “DND” is armed with a sultry, electro-R&B bounce. Named after ’70s blaxploitation film queen Pam Grier (who also starred in Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 cult classic, Jackie Brown), Yam Grier sees Belle channeling that alpha woman energy Grier made famous on the silver screen and she says the album is, “The embodiment of a woman who has finally come into her own, unapologetically.”

Gabriel Da Rosa

When Brazil’s Gabriel Da Rosa arrived in LA eight years ago, he was armed with a guitar, a backpack, a dog, and a rock and roll dream. Where he’s at today looks very different — well, at least musically. The latest signee to the always-eclectic Stones Throw Records label, Da Rosa is making music in the mold of the Brazilian samba, bossa nova, and tropicalia greats. On his debut single, “Jasmim Parte 1,” that uncanny breezy guitar, pairs with lush Wurly keys, bossa horns and a gorgeous Brazilian sidewalk flute. In the song’s video, the avid vinyl collector flips through records from legends like Joao Gilberto, Novos Baianos, Gal Costa, etc… and if any of those names mean something to you, you’re gonna want to press play on “Jardim Parte 1” stat.

Tenci

We’ve got a soft spot for so many artists on Austin’s indie workhorse label Keeled Scales. Acts like Sun June, Why Bonnie, and Katy Kirby are helping shape the label’s roster and now Chicago’s Tenci are pushing towards their second album on the imprint. A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing is due out on November 4th, and lead single “Two Cups” showcases singer/bandleader Jess Shoman’s imaginative arrangements and inviting vocals that harken to Adrianne Lenker’s distinct range.

Rhys Langston

LA’s off-kilter art rap scene has always rested on the foundations of MCs dropping stream-of-consciousness raps that in actuality, aren’t that at all. For these cats are just delightful, highly-intelligent weirdos with a microphone and a lot to say. Rhys Langston is one of these artists and the POW Records-signee has a sharp-tongued, verbose approach that comes across as trippily as smashing melons on the shores of the La Brea tar pits. The Sufjan Stevens-esque-titled “I Will Stop At Nothing (I A Magnetized And I Move!)” is a spiraling display of wordsmithery, as Langston spits in a controlled fury, “And my voice box full of stuffing, dressings, fixings / MacGuyver’d, Epoxy, aluminum wire. Ready-made, sculpted tableau portmanteau…” His album Grapefruit Radio is set to drop on September 14th and also features Jersey’s Fatboi Sharif, LA mainstay The Koreatown Oddity, and others.

Babe Rainbow

In a most unusual, but wholly welcome collaboration last year, Jaden Smith guested on the sunny, shore-break airiness of Babe Rainbow’s “Your Imagination.” It was another high-profile co-sign for the Aussie psych-y surf pop band following a release on Danger Mouse’s 30th Century Records and King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard’s Stu Mackenzie producing their debut. Now the group are pushing towards a new album as tunes like “Smash The Machine” have grown increasingly more psychedelic. It’s no surprise that their upcoming tour begins on Sept 30th at SoCal’s buzzy, psych rock-focused (but still eclectic) Desert Daze festival alongside Tame Impala, King Gizzard, and Sky Ferreira.

On The Up is Uproxx’s monthly column that brings you a round-up of the best new artists that you need to be listening to. Some of these musicians might be brand new, some might have been making music for a while and are starting to hit a major stride, but they’re all destined for bigger things in the very near future. Our July edition features a UK soul singer that crushed it at Glastonbury, an unreal vocalist, the second coming of The Roots, a singer-songwriter evoking shades of Elliott Smith, and Flying Lotus’ latest vocal muse. Check it out.

Greentea Peng

Neo-soul and R&B singer Greentea Peng has a style that harkens back to the ’90s British boombap R&B heyday. While the Londoner’s debut album Man Made dropped last year, she collaborated with UK garage innovator MJ Cole and Gorillaz/Jorja Smith/Ezra Collective drummer Femi Koleoso on the brand new “Stuck In The Middle.” Peng operates over psych-jazz and hip-hop instrumentation from her band, the Seng Seng Family, and drops metaphysical lyrics like, “I believe in magic because I’ve seen it,” (on “Nah It Ain’t The Same.”) She just left an indelible mark at Glastonbury and has appearances on deck at other UK summer festival staples like All Points East and End Of The Road.

Laufey

There are gorgeous voices, and then there’s Laufey. The Icelandic-Chinese singer, violinist, and pianist now lives in Los Angeles and when you hear her sing, it feels like you cozied up to a fancy piano bar and stumbled into a jaw-dropping vocalist. Her music is cinematic, instantly elegant, and even a bit showy. “Fragile” hums with pronounced strings painting a canvas for Laufey’s delivery, which will legit send chills down your spine. Her debut album, Everything I Know About Love is due out on August 26th and Laufey’s U.S. headlining tour that begins in September is almost entirely sold out.

Butcher Brown

If you’re a fan of The Roots, then Butcher Brown is for you. You might’ve heard the Richmond, VA jazz and hip-hop five-piece led by MC/multi-instrumentalist Tennishu with their rendition of Little Richard’s “Rip It Up” as the theme music to Monday Night Football for the 2020 NFL season. They’ve established their prowess in a series of albums, but are now embarking on the more expansive big band jazz sound with the Triple Trey album due out on September 16th. Tennishu comes across like golden era rap legend J-Live, as drummer Corey Fonville lays groundwork for a horn section, synths and Andrew Randazzo’s sick sax solo on “Liquid Light.” Finger snaps, bells, and even tuba pop up everywhere, and it’s clear that these dudes are master jazz-hop instrumentalists. Butcher Brown is on the festival circuit this summer, including appearances at Afropunk, Pitchfork Fest, and the Blue Note Jazz Fest in Napa.

Blondshell

The solo project of indie singer-songwriter Sabrina Teitelbaum, we highlighted Blondshell’s debut single, “Olympus,” in June. Skillfully produced by indie superproducer Yves Rothman, the song has heavy, visceral lyricism, where Teitelbaum confesses her helplessness in a destructive relationship. “I wanna save myself, you’re part of my addiction. I just keep you in thе kitchen while I burn,” she sings. Moments like this seethe with shades of Elliott Smith’s dark honesty and you root for her to come out on the other side. More music is on the way soon and the LA-based, New York City-raised Blondshell is undoubtedly one to watch.

Devin Tracy

Probably the same spark that went off for Flying Lotus when he discovered LA future-soul vocalist Devin Tracy at a recent session, is what hearing Tracy for the first time will do to you. Tracy was FlyLo’s vocal muse of sorts on their mid-June collaborative double single release, “The Room” and “You Don’t Know.” Tracy floats in wavelengths over Lotus’ silos of strings on the former and rides a controlled wormhole of snare drums on the latter. He just appeared on Sango’s new Great Lakes Series mixtape, soaring on the dance floor batucada of “Winter All Year.” There’s a sensual androgyny to Tracy’s voice that’s just irresistible, and we want to hear more of it stat.

On The Up: The Must-Hear Artists To Know This Month