TIDAL Artists to Watch 2025

Here’s some valuable advice: Follow what these artists, songwriters and producers create in ’25. Their recent releases have left our team speechless and, also, very curious, and we’ve got a hunch this year is going to be huge for them, in terms of realizing their potential. Below, in their own words, is how they look at music and life and the power of collaboration. It’s a ride you’ll want to take. 

ATRIP
Dance

Since ’23, the London-based producer and DJ ATRIP has released two mixtapes and remixed Disclosure’s “Higher Than Ever Before.” This year, he’s looking forward to a collection of remixes and a festival in his hometown. “An absolute myriad of new music [is coming in ’25],” says ATRIP. “I’m super keen to embark on a new journey now that TANZPARTEI II is out. Beyond that, more and bigger shows. We just announced All Points East for summer, which will be one of very many.”

Bartees Strange
Rock

Singer, rapper and guitarist Bartees Strange had a big Fall, releasing a TV on the Radio cover (“Wolf Like Me”) on the TRAИƧA compilation before opening for the band at one of its  reunion shows. Strange’s new album Horror, out next month on Valentine’s Day, features old collaborators and a new one — Jack Antonoff. “I think a good collaboration stems from honesty,” he says. “You need to be able to actually connect with the person you’re writing with and be able to put all your weird, bad, nasty, stupid ideas on the table so you can dig through them and find the good stuff. If you can’t do that, then you can’t make something that can stand on its own two feet, I think. I’m sure there’s many examples to disprove that, but that’s my feeling.”

Corbyn Besson
Pop

Corbyn Besson spent six years in the boy band Why Don’t We. But he’s currently flying solo — ’24 saw releases like “Don’t Run” and the NOTD collaboration “Panic” — and working with producer and songwriter Rob Grimaldi (BLACKPINK, BTS, Teddy Swims). “Rob has been such a great friend and collaborator for the past couple years, and working with him is a blast,” explains Besson. “My favorite thing about our process is that no idea is a bad idea, and we ‘never settle.’ We always push for the best sounds, melodies, lyrics, etc., all the way down to the syllables and vowel sounds. I really believe the magic of music is in the details and I love that he believes that too.”

Childlike CiCi
Gospel

Childlike CiCi’s “Christian rap ministry” was founded at the end of ’22. Since then, the North Carolina-based MC has become the “first Black female Christian rapper to sign a major label deal,” according to Capitol Christian Music Group, and she has a new album on the way in ’25. “In my journey, I’ve experienced a shift in my relationship with music,” says CiCi. “There was a time when I found myself almost trauma-bonded to certain songs that, while relatable, also reinforced negative patterns and thoughts. But as I began creating music centered around faith and encouragement, everything changed.”

Flau’jae
Hip-hop

Flau’jae has already proven herself in two highly competitive fields — hip-hop and college basketball, as part of LSU’s ’23 national champion squad. She has appeared on TV shows The Rap Game and America’s Got Talent, and her ’24 debut EP, Best of Both Worlds, features Lil Wayne. “Collaborations are everything — they’re where magic happens,” says the rapper. “I see them as a bridge between worlds, where I can blend my sound and perspective with someone else’s. It’s like storytelling with different voices, and that opens up new possibilities for creativity. Plus, music is about connection, and working with others brings new energy, new ideas and a fresh vibe. For me, it’s not just about making a hit; it’s about building something meaningful together that speaks to people in a real way.” 

Vanisha Gould
Jazz

Based in New York City for the past decade, vocalist Vanisha Gould grabbed the jazz world’s attention last year with her original composition “Demure.” Featured on her latest album She’s Not Shiny, She’s Not Smooth, the song is a pointed retort to anyone who tells you to “be meek, be kind.” “I was raised in a society where being demure is cute,” says Gould. “To shrink is cute. To not be demanding, to not ask for too much, to make yourself small in order to leave room for others to shine. Fuck that. I want there to be absolutely no misunderstanding: I am not demure. Not anymore.”

Rob Grimaldi
Songwriter to Watch
Pop, K-Pop, R&B, Country, Dance

Rob Grimaldi has written hit songs for everyone from BTS to Queen Naija. In his opinion, a hit song needs to be fulfilling for both the artist and the listener. “That’s the question of the day that all songwriters are always trying to answer,” says Grimaldi. “I think hits are very much a balance between feeling and formula. Storytelling and authenticity matter so much in a hit record. But I also really believe in the math that’s been working for many years. If you look at hits of the past and hits of the present, there are certain things that an audience expects to happen at certain times of the song — and it’s my job to figure out where and when that is, and create hooks and moments that will keep you coming back for more.”

Judeline
Latin

Madrid, Spain-based vocalist Judeline counts Rosalía as a fan, and spent time on the road last year touring with J Balvin. Her debut album, released in October, offered her an opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes. “Bodhiria was born from the idea of creating this short story about a character called Angela, who is enchanted by the moonlight and suddenly appears on this ‘place,’ a no-place, where she watches her lover from afar and deals with the feeling of being betrayed and forgotten,” she says. “It’s an interesting process because it didn’t limit my creativity to my own experiences, and this way, I allowed myself to explore emotions and situations that I had never experienced directly.”

Jaz Karis
R&B

Safe Flight, the ’24 debut album from British vocalist Jaz Karis, is named after what her mother texts her as she travels the world making music. The LP features contributions from Mahalia, Tone Stith, Reekado Banks and more. “I think my main takeaway from working with these amazing artists has been the way that each of them approaches a track is different,” explains Karis. “I felt very inspired hearing their perspective, and the way that they enter a track in comparison to how I usually work.”

KATSEYE
K-Pop 

K-Pop girl group KATSEYE calls L.A. home, but only half of its members are from the U.S. — others hail from the Philippines, Switzerland and South Korea. The band sees these unique backgrounds as an X factor. “One of the most unique strengths that KATSEYE has is our diversity and our culture and our ethnicity,” says Sophia. “And we are each beyond proud of who we are and can’t help but bring it into anything and everything we do as artists. Representing or simply seeing yourself in those you look up to has always impacted us as little girls aspiring to be global pop stars. It gives you so much inspiration, hope and warmth when you see a piece of yourself in somebody anywhere.”

KITSCHKRIEG
Producers to Watch
Hip-hop, Pop

KITSCHKRIEG is a Berlin, Germany-based hip-hop duo consisting of two producers. Their latest album, German Engineering Zwei, features Future, Mariah the Scientist and Hunxho. “​​You have to be open to people and situations,” says the group. “Ask questions, be attentive, read the room and energy. Does everyone feel comfortable, what are the distractions (turn off that TV in the studio), who is attentive, who can you incorporate into the process? Also make a speech in the beginning that makes clear why we are all here. We came to work, this is what we are working [on today]. Give the creative process a starting point and then be attentive and let it happen. The process is the same all over the world, there are no differences that matter.”

MORGAN
Reggae/Dancehall

UK vocalist MORGAN got her start with drum and bass group Rudimental. Since then, she’s been involved in the K-Pop scene as a songwriter, and recorded with dancehall star Byron Messia. “Collaboration is so important when writing music, whether it’s for yourself or another artist,” says MORGAN. “When I’m writing for other people, it challenges me to think outside the box and write from a completely different perspective — it makes you both a better songwriter and artist. When you collaborate with other artists on your own music, it just gives a whole new lease of life to the song. You can never stop collaborating when you’re a creative — it’s how you evolve.”

Cole Phillips
Country

Like many country artists before him, Cole Phillips has found inspiration in the music of Hank Williams Jr., Zach Bryan and Zac Brown. But his home state, immortalized on Phillips’ 2024 album No Town, Oklahoma, has proved important, too. “Living in Oklahoma has definitely influenced my songwriting because there’s really nothing to do out here besides getting into trouble or finding heartbreak,” says Phillips. “Those experiences have really shaped my music.”

Moonchild Sanelly
Afrobeats

A South Africa native, inimitable vocalist Moonchild Sanelly calls her music “future ghetto funk.” Her new album, out later this week, unites the disparate areas of her musical personality. “I called this record Full Moon to convey a really clear sense that I got from living and writing these experiences,” explains Sanelly. “Phases showcased all my sides, the different phases of the moon, and this one is all those parts of me being in unison with each other. When the moon is in phases, it shows parts of itself at a time. Full Moon is me, lit up in my entirety. The arrival of my whole self. It’s the arrival.”

Théotime Langlois de Swarte
Classical

Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons turns 300 this year, so, next week, Théotime Langlois de Swarte will release his own recording of the pieces. But the French violinist is interested in more obscure compositions, too. “I think it’s very important to bring the light of masterpieces to unknown works or composers,” says de Swarte. “It’s a way to put music in an historical context of creation, and build a narrative through the different movements. Also, freedom of creation and improvisation was very important in the Baroque era — Vivaldi himself did a lot of different versions of the same work. Finally, it’s important to bring to the listener a fresh feeling with new work never recorded before.”

Ray Vaughn
Hip-hop

As a kid in the early 2000s, L.A. rapper Ray Vaughn would freestyle for family members. Two decades later, he’s rapping with Pusha T and NLE Choppa. “Being able to bring both of the worlds together through a collab that is out of the box is exciting to make,” says Vaughn. “NLE is bold and I’m pretty grounded. The juxtaposition is interesting for listeners. I always want to work with people who rap differently or can think of things differently than me.”