The Deans List (Top 25 Artists of 2013)
Here are our picks for the top up and coming and newcomer artists of 2013. There was a lot of artists to pick through but we narrowed them down to 25. These artists we believe had one of the best years in 2013 and are certain to make a bigger name for themselves in the 2014 and beyond.
YC The Cynic: Even though homeboy been out for a few years, we didn't really catch on to him until 2013. His "GNK" album was one of the Top Of The Year and his single and video for "Molotovs At Poseidon" was incredible. His lyrical wordplay is on point and he makes this shit seem easy. Between spitting good in the pocket and his delivery as well as lyrical metaphors, he is a deadly emcee. I see him signing a deal in the near future.
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Favorite track: "Molotovs At Poseidon"
J Nolan: The CT to Atlanta artist made a big impression on us this year. His wordplay and lyrical delivery is very rare nowadays in Hip Hop. And we really are down for what he and his Manifest Movement stand for. His "
Distinction" mixtape was Top Of The Year and 2014 seems to be another great year for homie. From all his mixtapes staring back in 2007, Nolan defines the word grind and he doesn't show signs of stopping. Just before the year ended he featured on one of J-Live's newest singles so expect him to be sought after in the future.
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Favorite track: "Bright Lights"
ADD-2: ADD has been making noise since 2009 but 2013 was his best year to date. After dropping his "
More Missed Calls" mixtape and working with 9th Wonder, he soon signed to Jamla Records. His first project with the label was the Khrysis collaborative "
Between Heaven and Hell" EP which was highly acclaimed and made our Top EP's of The Year. Jamla is a great move for ADD and we expect him to be at the top of the list in 2014 and years to come.
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Favorite track: "Club Church"
G4SHI: The Albanian rapper who barely knew how to speak English turned to Hip Hop to help get through his hard times as an immigrant. 2013 G4SHI dropped a few singles and videos but his biggest accomplishment came when he was cosigned by Busta Rhymes. Since then his name has been buzzing around. Look for homie to make a lot more noise in 2014 and work with some dope artists and producers
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Favorite track: "Laughing"
Dynasty: Working with the greats like Talib Kweli, Skyzoo and legendary producer DJ Premier gave Dynasty a good look for her debut project "
A Star In Life's Clothing". And our interview with her just made her more appealing and respected. 2013 was a good year for females in Hip Hop and Dynasty is at the top of the list. She has flow that most women can hardly master and her content is very dope. Signing to Jakarta Records has the upcoming already making the right moves and 2014 looks to be even better.
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Favorite track: "Stay Shinin' feat Talib Kweli"
JMega: Mega the God and his True Masterz crew fucked us up. These dudes took us back to the Golden Era with their music. With a style like Wu Tang mixed with Jedi Mind Tricks, JMega made a classic project with his "
Niggaz Iz Kingz Forever". His beat selection is ill and his flow is on point. Definitively looking towards 2014 with homie.
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Favorite track: "Night And Day"
Vic Mensa: Vic first fucked the game up with his Orange Soda single. Then when his "
INNANETAPE" dropped his buzz went even crazier. Homies style was a perfect blend of underground roots mixed with a J Cole ish type of feel the way he can spit and smoothly sing over some beats. Unfortunately I can't say we're looking forward to his music in the future seeming that after claiming the fame he seems to have turned to more of a commercially type of music that we can do without.
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Favorite track: "Orange Soda"
Nolan The Ninja: Homies flow is what first caught our ears. He has that dope delivery that can ride a hard beat for days. And he can produce as well remixing a few classic joints from Mobb Deep and Nas. After a few singles and videos, Nolan left us with a great impression and we are looking forward to his upcoming "
Ill Sh-t" project dropping this year.
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Favorite track: "F-ck The Wack"
Luke Christopher: After blazing the the internet with his "
Alphabet" single and video, the LA rapper soon dropped his anticipated "
The Wonder Years" EP and made waves. For a young cat it's pretty dope to hear the type of music he makes although he can sometimes travel off into that commercial type of flow and track. Looking for another good year from homie.
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Favorite track: "Hell of a Rhyme"
ScienZe: He has been around for a minute releasing projects in 2010 til now. 2013 was a geat year for homie with his critically acclaimed "
Ella" album as well as pre and post projects to album. Working with producers like Lord Quest, Vinyl Frontiers and Nameless to name a few, as well as his camp and features with artists like Blu really certifies his music the in the underground scene.
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Favorite track: "Charlie Brown feat Blu"
Gone Wallace: The Philadelphia rapper was on his grind in 2013. Dropping his "
Summer Tour" EP's gave us the chance to get to know more of homie and his music. Although his buzz may not be too heavy, his official flow and rhyme scheme will be one to look out for in years to come. His work ethnic is that of a hard worker and puts every effort into his music, 2014 should be an ven better year.
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Favorite track: "Real"
Jeremiah Jae: Brain Feeder Records artist and producer Jeremiah made some dope waves in 2013 working with producers like Flying Lotus. A few singles here and there as well as a dope EP "
Dirty Collections Vol 1", 2014 sees Jeremiah collaborating with producer Cohenbeats on their upcoming "
Pennies" project. His style is conscious like and his lyrics can be very powerful which makes him an artist to watch in 2014.
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Favorite track: "Cat Fightttttt"
Jamall Bufford: Changing his name from Buff1, wordsmith veteran, Athletic Mic Leaguer, and The Black Opera member Jamall Bufford has been making waves since his 2007 debut "
Pure". But in 2013 being signed to Mello Music made his name even more popular working with 14kt and Ugly Heroes. His latest album "
Victim Of A Modern Age" certified his career. The album is a classic and he can only get bigger.
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Favorite track: "Travel Light feat Magestik Legend"
Jared Evan: The New York singer/rapper/producer started off 2013 with bang with the Statik Selektah collaborative album "
Boom Bap and Blues"which had Jared at the top of his RnB game. The talent of this artist is undeniable and his willingness to prove his worth in music is strong. While promoting a few singles and videos off the project he put in work of his next EP "
Pieces" which made the Top Of The year for us because of the more diversity of all his talents and less features. We expect to see Jared a lot more in 2014 and wouldn't doubt if he gets signed to a major label.
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Favorite track: "Are We Almost There Yet?"
Bishop Nehru: Rockland County, NY artist and filmaker Bishop Nehru first came on the scene in late 2012 with his debut mixtape "
Nehruvia". After creating some noise with a few of his music videos, he dropped his sophomore effort "
strictlyFLOWZ" which took the media by storm. His underground flow complimented rising stars like Joey Bada$$ and his Pro Era crew as well as dark artists like Chester Watson. 2013 found Bishop collaborating with legendary MF Doom for a new project in 2014 as well as another new "
Nehruvia" project.
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Favorite track: "Mobb Dizzle"
Denmark Vessey: Taking the name of a famous slave who planned a rebellion comes our next artist Detroit rapper Denmark Vessey. After moving to Chicago and debuting his "
Slut Bag Edition" album, which got to the racks of Fat Beats store with the help of DJ Houseshoes, Denmark got some dope recognition. Soon after he got signed to producer Exile's Dirt Science label and released his critical "
Cult Classic" with Scud One. Homie's lyrical ability is incredible and his fashion style is out of this world lol.
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Favorite track: "Ego Trip"
Clear Soul Forces: Coming out of Detroit is the 4 man hip hop group with 3 emcees and one emcee producer. They formed in 2009 and debuted in 2010. After a few singles and videos as well as performing at SXSW festival, the group released their 2012 debut album "
Detroit Revolution(s)" which garnered a good buzz for their "
Get No Better" single. 2013 found the group at their highest buzz peek with their latest project "
Gold PP7" which was a very critically acclaimed album and should have made our Top Of The Year. The undeniable talent of the Forces will make 2014 a year to look out for and so on.
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Favorite track: "War Drums"
JohnNY U: This NY up comer, who's name is short for UniteUs, made a dope impact in 2013. 2012 debuted JohnNY's "
Thorned Roses" which first shedded some light on the emcee. 2013 found him working with an A-list of dope underground artists and producers including frequent collaborator ScienZe and producer Thelonious Martin. The end of the year he finished strong with dope collaborated EP with producer Psynum "
Smok'N Word" as well as his sophomore "
Higher.Intelligence.Giving.Hints". What more can an up comer ask for besides a better year in 2014.
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Favorite track: "FirEscape"
Rapsody: After this North Carolina femcee disbanded from the group Kooley High in 2008, she landed a deal with 9th Wonders Jamla Records. All her hard work from 2010 built up to make her 2013 mixtape "
She Got Game" a highly anticipated project. Working with the Jamla crew as well as artists like Mac Miller, Jared Evan, Chance the Rapper, Jay Elctronica and Raekwon to name a few really made 2013 a stand out year for the female artist. Not sure what she has lined up for 2014 but we know it'll be another dope year for her.
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Favorite track: "Jedi Code ft Phonte and Jay Electronia"
MoRuf: Coming from New Jersey is Nigerian-American emcee MoRuf, which is his actual real first name. Since 2010 Mo has been releasing music and jas had the privileged to work with artists such as Like of Pac Div. He took the web by storm with his Jesse Boykins III featured and THC produced "
Homie.Lover.Friend" which ended up on his acclaimed "
Shades.Of.Moo" mixtape. Being influenced by JDilla and Madlib to name a few, Mo's music is a rare find these days. With his Love Over Everything movement, Mo is surely to make more of an impact in 2014.
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Favorite track: "Respect94"
CJ Fly: Besides Capital Steez and Joey Bada$$ (obviously), CJ Fly is the only Pro Era member to release a project since they came on the scene. He first started out 2013 with his Cookin Soul produced "
The Error", then came "
Tug-At-War". We never really paid too much attention to the clique besides Joey so I wasn't expecting much from CJ. The we listened to his "
Thee Way Eye See It" mixtape and it blew our minds. One of the Top Of The Year mixtapes, CJ has me fiending for more, We just hope that we don't have to wait for the rest of the Era crew to drop before I get to hear another project from dude.
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Favorite track: "Still The Motto"
Nicky D's: The first time we heard the Southern Cali rapper was his "
Say It Right" single. Immediately we were impressed with a youngster like him flowing the way he does. Very few have that presence that initially get your attention and homeboy has it. His debut "
The Grey Area" was a very dope and classic project, the content was ill and beats were too. His talent landed him an article on XXL's website. We only hope he can get on his grind and push out more material in 2014 because me know anything he does will be dope.
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Favorite track: "From The Sole"
Midaz The Beast: The Orlando Florida artist has been in the game for a minute first releasing projects since 2006. he has been recognized by many websites including Potholesinmyblog, DJBooth and Kevinnottingham which led to him signing with HipNott Records. 2013 had Midaz dropping a new single pretty much every month. He has worked artists Roc Marciano, Wordsorth and producers IMAKEMADBEATS, Oh No, Alchemist and Marco Polo. His debut "
AU: Another Universe" was a hit with blogs and solidified his mark in hip hop. This hard working artists doesn't seem to slow down so get used to him in 2014.
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Favorite track: "Champion Of The Block ft Illustrate"
Thornbro: Coming from Chapel Hill NC is our last artist for the Deans List. Thornbro is a student at UNC and is active in the schools Project 2 Product course which focuses on the musical and cultural history of hip hop. Tracks like "
Voices" and "
Elevated Conscience" really grabbed our ears and paid more attention to this conscious artist. He plans on dropping his debut mixtape "
The Year Of The Believer" this year which we look forward to. We expect a bright future with homeboy.
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Favorite track: "Voices"
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