The names gathered here are shaping the direction of the future of music; through carefully built worlds, disciplined release strategies, songwriting rooted in lived experience. Moving into 2026, their work reflects a shift away from immediacy and toward longevity, where sound, story, and identity move together. Here are some artists we feel are paving the way into the new year.
Rook Monroe
Rook Monroe closed out 2025 firmly established as a creative force both behind the scenes and in his own right. Known for his work as a songwriter and producer for artists such as Rihanna, The Chainsmokers, Aminé, and Jeremih, Monroe continues to build a solo career defined by growth and experimentation. Since the success of his debut project, Californialand— which has surpassed 30 million global streams— he has leaned further into a sound that blends R&B, hip-hop, and punk with increasing confidence. Throughout 2025, releases like “i don’t wanna be you.” and “Brrrt” showcase his willingness to disrupt structure through beat switches, vocal shifts, and sharp storytelling centered on identity, ambition, and personal evolution.
Tash Blake
Tash Blake has spent 2025 solidifying her place as an emerging force in dance-pop, blending performance, music, and visual storytelling into a cohesive artistic identity. Los Angeles-born and NYC-based, Blake has built steady momentum with two EPs, multiple supporting tour slots, and a growing fan base reflected in sold-out shows across New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, and beyond. Her recent releases, including “TOKYO,” “TOKYO (tashi’s version),” and the latest single, “Die In Your Arms,” signal a clear artistic evolution. Through the track, she shows a sharpened sound, elevated choreography, and a bold, emotionally-charged pop language, all while drawing inspiration from icons like Madonna, Britney Spears, and Lady Gaga. Blake strikes a balance between homage and originality, pairing powerhouse vocals with a visual world that is equal parts grunge and glamour.
For 2026, Tash Blake is preparing the release of her third EP; a project that pushes her sound into bolder territory. She’ll be her signature vocal intensity with a pronounced electronic edge. The rollout will support a fully realized high-fashion visual universe titled The Pop Dungeon. There will also be choreography designed to immerse audiences in the chaos, beauty, and duality that define her creative psyche. With this next chapter, Blake aims to expand both her sonic and visual scope. It will surely position herself as an artist whose pop sensibility is as performative and conceptual as it is emotionally direct.
Jazzie Young
Jazzie Young experienced a breakout year in 2025 with the release of her debut full-length album, Everything Changes. The album traces a coming-of-age journey marked by emotional shifts, romantic highs and lows, and personal growth. The record was introduced through a strong run of singles, beginning with “Waiting On You!,” whose visual garnered nominations at the Pasadena International Film Festival and the Berlin Music Video Awards, and won Best Low Budget Music Video at the Music Video Awards.
Heading into 2026, Jazzie Young will continue to build on the momentum of her debut album with ongoing promotion and press runs in both New York City and Los Angeles. Alongside expanding the reach of Everything Changes, she remains focused on writing and developing new material. Her direction signals a steady progression rather than a rushed follow-up. Jazzie has a growing audience and a clearly defined artistic language, and soon she’ll enter the next part of her career with a poise that deepens her narrative all while expanding her sonic scope.
Lara Snow
Lara Snow writes pop for the hours when sleep won’t come. It’s music that lingers in the quiet space between heartbreak and hope. Throughout 2025, she began unveiling her debut album. She introduced a cinematic, melancholic sound shaped by dream-pop, sadcore, electronic, and indie textures. Her intimate soundscapes, nostalgic atmospheres, and lyrics aim to be read like midnight confessions. The songs quickly gained traction.
She garnered tens of thousands of streams, international press, and a growing global audience drawn to her emotional honesty. Her earlier EP, Delete Forever, had already marked an international breakthrough, leading to performances across Europe’s indie and electronic scenes, but 2025 positioned Snow as a rising voice capable of turning vulnerability into a defining artistic language.
In 2026, Lara Snow will continue to unfold her debut album through a carefully paced release schedule. It’ll begin with “Wicked Game,” a Chris Isaak cover, at the start of the year; followed by a collaboration with producers Kadosh and Sun Tailor and new singles “Bravery Like Poetry” and “In Rainbows.” Snow’s debut album is set for release in late summer, featuring collaborations with Sun Tailor, Roy Avital of Garden City Movement, and Gilbert Broid. The album will weave organic textures with dreamlike production into a cohesive body of work. Additional collaborations and tour plans are also on her horizon.
Lara Snow enters 2026 poised to deepen her cinematic pop universe while expanding her reach as one of the most compelling voices in melancholic pop.
Naomi Jane
Throughout 2025, Naomi Jane cemented herself as one of the most disciplined and intentional emerging artists in her lane. She maintained a relentless six-week release cadence and paired each with fully realized visuals. That consistency has translated into real momentum, over 9 million streams, 15 million video views, three official videos surpassing one million views in under a month, and growing editorial recognition. Her December 2025 single, “IDWK (I Don’t Wanna Know),” functions as a clear hinge moment in her catalog. Lyrically and conceptually, it closes the heartbreak arc established across “Letterman Trilogy” and “sweet talk,” reframing late-night uncertainty into a defining question about self-worth, direction, and agency. Sonically and visually, “IDWK” gathers the threads of her past work and points forward with purpose.
In 2026, Naomi Jane moves fully into her next era with the rollout of her debut album, a project that widens her sonic palette toward alt-indie, folk-pop, and country-fringed textures while maintaining her signature narrative specificity. The year unfolds through a carefully mapped release schedule, beginning with the official video for “IDWK” in January, followed by a series of singles including “Pumpkin Eater,” “Clementines,” “Farren Rd.,” “Measure Forever,” and the lead single “Passenger Princess,” culminating in the album release in July. Naomi Jane is backed by collaborations with acclaimed producers and songwriters and supported by a growing live performance strategy. 2026 positions her as an artist executing a long-game vision, all built on world-building, emotional clarity, and a clear sense of where she’s going next.
LIANZI
LIANZI is an artist, songwriter, and producer who’s spent 2025 quietly shaping a distinct art-pop identity, all rooted in her multidisciplinary background. Raised in a home steeped in traditional Chinese music— with both parents being celebrated performers in China’s national orchestra— she developed an early understanding of music. Before fully committing to her solo project, LIANZI earned recognition in fashion design and saw her visual work and poetry published across niche platforms. These prior influences now define her cinematic, fashion-inflected aesthetic. Recognition as a John Lennon Songwriting Contest finalist and International Songwriting Competition semi-finalist further underscores her ability to sculpt emotion with restraint and intention.
In 2026, LIANZI steps forward with her new EP I Want What They Have. This project deepens her exploration of longing, nostalgia, and the quieter, shadowed desires that shape human experience. As she moves into this next chapter, LIANZI solidifies her place as an art-pop artist to watch, guided by emotional clarity rather than trends and driven by a long-form vision that continues to unfold.
Labit
Los Angeles–based Filipino-American multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and producer, known as Labit, continues to build a reputation for unfiltered, deeply personal songwriting. He creates music that sits comfortably between intimate and universal while drawing from the people and experiences that have defined his world. Beyond his solo work, he has remained a sought-after collaborator and songwriter. His compositions have landed sync placements across pop, rock, and R&B; including credits alongside artists such as Emei and BYRNE. His approach blends expressive guitar work with a strong vocal delivery. He maintains a storytelling first, and a genre-bound artist second.
Looking ahead to 2026, Labit is set to expand his reach with a series of projects. He will join Galdive as a supporting act on tour. This will mark a key step forward in bringing his music to new audiences. Alongside the tour, Labit plans to release additional collaboration singles, new EPs, and select tracks from his forthcoming third studio album, currently in development. With potential international festival appearances across Southeast Asia also on the horizon, 2026 positions Labit for a broader global presence, all while continuing to build on the emotional honesty that defines his work.
Star2
Star2’s story begins rooted in survival, displacement, and resilience. Born in a Thai refugee camp after fleeing genocide by the Burmese army in Myanmar, his journey to the United States began through a resettlement lottery that brought him to San Diego with his grandmother and family.
In 2025, Star2 continued to transform that lived experience into a powerful artistic identity, blending heartfelt storytelling with striking visuals that resonate far beyond genre lines. Under the mentorship of producer Chico Bennett, he has built an expansive catalog of collaborations with artists such as Soulja Boy, $tupid Young, Mozzy, Luh Kel, Lil Poppa, and others. Through these collaborations, he continues to grow his influence as a leading voice within Asian-American hip-hop. Parallel to his music releases, he’s continued to strengthen his connection with his audience by documenting his life on and off the road through YouTube series titled: “Adventures of Star2.”
In 2026, Star2 is set to expand both his musical output and his broader creative ecosystem. The year includes the release of two EPs in collaboration with Young Henny and $tupid Young, alongside new songs with Sprite. His live presence will extend internationally with shows scheduled across Thailand, Laos, and the Philippines.
Beyond music, Star2 plans to launch a live-streamed rapper talent contest from Thai refugee camps, continue his Adventures of Star2 vlog series with projects in Japan and at sea, debut a pilot for “The Adventures of Star2” cartoon series, and officially launch the S2MG label to promote Ka-ren artists in Thailand. These initiatives position Star2 as a cultural architect shaping platforms for stories often left unheard.
Indigo Syndicate
Indigo Syndicate spent 2025 building momentum as one of the most fluid and genre-agnostic acts emerging from the alternative pop space. The Nashville-based trio, composed of Preston Pospisil, Samantha Sanford, and Jharyss Granger, operates with pop as its foundation while freely incorporating elements of alternative, indie, and soul. The group has become known for their immersive hooks, strong harmonies, and self-produced tracks. Indigo Syndicate closed out the year with a reinterpretation of George Michael’s “Last Christmas,” offering a distinctive but respectful take that reflected their playful yet intentional approach.
On January 30, Indigo Syndicate will release their debut album, Sasquatch. The release marks a defining step in their trajectory. The project brings together fan favorites such as “Wondering Why,” “sick in japan,” and “Ravioli,” capturing the group’s ability to blend humor, emotional honesty, and genre-crossing production into a cohesive release.
A.D.A.M. Music Project (AMP)
Founded by musician and producer Adam DeGraide, A.D.A.M. Music Project (AMP) operates as a collaborative collective rather than a traditional band. The project has gathered a rotating roster of vocalists and instrumentalists united by high-energy storytelling and cinematic scope.
Since 2022, AMP has released six full-length albums; each explore the emotional and psychological landscape of gamers and the characters they inhabit, as well as some of the psychology behind gaming and the gaming universes within. Inspired in part by DeGraide’s own experience as a top-ranked Apex Legends competitor, projects like “Apex Rising” and “Apex Risen” laid the foundation for an ambitious narrative arc. That vision expanded with “Smash It Up” and reached new heights in 2024 with “World Takeover” and the PUNCH OUT album, whose title track propelled AMP onto Billboard’s Top 40 Mainstream Rock chart.
AMP is set to bring their universe fully into the live arena and into a new release cycle this new year. January will feature tour dates alongside Aranda and The Founder, followed by additional North American touring plans throughout the year. A new album is scheduled for spring 2026, continuing AMP’s tradition of large-scale, character-driven rock narratives. AMP has an established catalog, a growing live presence, and a creative model built on collaboration and concept. They enter the next year positioned as a fully realized modern rock project that expands what the genre can encompass.
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