Kacique, Yaksta, Bella Blair among Pandora’s ‘Caribbean Artistes to Watch 2022’
SUBSCRIPTION-BASED MUSIC streaming service, Pandora, on Tuesday released its ‘Artistes To Watch picks for 2022: The Pandora Ten’, but this year there is a slight difference. In addition to the cross-genre main list, there are lists by genres. Pandora states that the 2022 playlists “dig into a wide range of genres, from Latin and Afropop to Caribbean and country music”.
Wearing the title, Reggae/Caribbean Music Programming & Curation, over at Pandora is Diego Herrera, who curated the ‘Caribbean Artistes To Watch 2022’ list. It contains some rather interesting names. Herrera emphasised, however, that the list is not in chronological order; rather, it is dependent on the flow of the songs.
“This year, Pandora highlights, even more, the fantastic breadth of artistes in each genre,” an enthusiastic Herrera told The Gleaner.
“Caribbean Artistes To Watch 2022 is a mix of artistes with a diversity of sounds, and it features artistes in different stages of their careers. There are artistes who are in the growth stage of their careers and are really just enjoying their moment in time,” he added.
First up on the ‘Caribbean Artistes To Watch 2022’ playlist is Projexx, with the song Sidepiece, followed by Joby Jay’s Deception; Laa Lee with Tip Inna It and Klassick Frescobar with Zessiando. Rounding out the first five is Yaksta’s Ambition. Bella Blair makes the list with Famous; Hey Choppa with Love Trip; Indie Allen trips in with Wanted; Kacique and Romieikon represent with Knock It, and Melly Rose ends the list with Amazing.
Herrera admitted that it is “very difficult to make the right decision who to choose because there are so many fantastic artistes”, but he explained that it is 100 per cent about talent, the artistry and the artiste’s contribution to the world of music.
He gave his own personal synopsis on some of those on the list.
“Kacique is a young artiste who is very promising; Joby Jay is ready to spread her wings; Laa Lee really captured the dancehall; Projexx got signed to a label and released a few singles, plus he’s from a family that is big in music; Bella Blair has a sound, she’s doing reggae and dancehall with pop, and R&B; Indie’s Wanted is a fantastic song that I can’t get enough of; Yaksta’s Ambition is a great palette cleanser; Escobar is of
Jamaican descent, and he sits right between soca and dancehall, and Millie Rose is blooming more and more as an artiste,” Herrera told The Gleaner.
For young artiste Kacique, this kind of validation of his music from Pandora means a lot. “This is a first for me, getting recognition of this magnitude, and it’s a great feeling. Pandora is motivating me to become THAT artiste to watch for 2022. Bay work haffi put in!” he told The Gleaner.
Romieikon said that he was filled with pride. “I feel very proud about this placement not only for Kacique, but the future of the genre. It shows that our music is still attractive to a larger diaspora, and they’re willing to help us put a good foot forward. Big up all the artistes selected, to Diego and the entire team at Pandora,” he shouted out.
In a release, Pandora stated that the company chooses a wide range of artistes who show great promise for the following year. “By leveraging a combination of human insights and sophisticated data analytics based on listener behaviour, Pandora and its Artiste To Watch programme have recognised a diverse range of artistes years before they broke through and became stars, such as Post Malone and Blackbear back in 2016, Lizzo and Dua Lipa in 2017 and H.E.R., Phoebe Bridgers and Greta Van Fleet in 2018,”the release stated.
The ‘Artistes To Watch picks for 2022: The Pandora Ten’ features Amaarae (Afropop); BIA (Hip Hop); Bino Rideaux (Hip Hop); Conner Smith (Country); LISA (Pop/K Pop); Mora (Reggaeton); Nessa Barrett (Alt/ Pop); Otis Kane (R&B); PinkPantheress (Alt/ Pop) and Remi Wolf (Alt/Indie).