Category: News

It is bonkers to think that we’ve only gotten halfway through the year, yet we’ve already gotten an absolutely massive collection of new albums from some of the biggest names in hip-hop. Those names have included Gunna, Cordae, Earl Sweatshirt, Saba, Kanye West, Lil Durk, Denzel Curry, Latto, Vince Staples, Pusha T, Future, Black Star, Jack Harlow, Kendrick Lamar, and Post Malone… and I’ve skipped more than a few of our favorites.

With all that, you’d think we’d be all out of new music to discuss for at least the next six months, but you know what they say about hip-hop parties and stopping. As the weather heats up, you can expect the pace to pick up as well, with even more established stars and rising newcomers staking their claims on our cookouts, pool parties, picnics, and summer basketball leagues. With that said, here are our picks for the ones you should be keeping an ear out for this summer.

Mount Westmore — Bad MFs

Although technically, this album has already been released via the Gala Music platform, fans who aren’t sold on blockchain quite yet can still look forward to enjoying this album from the California supergroup on DSPs sometime soon. With Bay Area pioneers E-40 and Too Short teaming up with their SoCal counterparts Ice Cube and Snoop Dogg, this one is the latest proof in the growing body of evidence that California still knows how to party.

Erica Banks — Diary Of The Flow Queen — Due June 17

Despite the obvious similarities between 1501 Certified’s more recent signing and her immediate predecessor, Erica Banks has managed to distinguish herself thanks to the viral TikTok trend based on her breakout hit “Buss It” and a string of strong performances that show she can more than hold her own and bring something new to the table. It should be fun to see how she continues to set herself apart on her debut project.

Logic — Vinyl Days — Due June 17

For a guy who’s two years past his “retirement,” Logic sure has been busy. His seventh studio album will be his last under his Def Jam contract, and he apparently wants to go out with a bang. Vinyl Days is expected to boast a 30-song tracklist with features from all corners of the hip-hop world. Action Bronson, Blu & Exile, Curren$y, Royce Da 5’9”, Russ, RZA, and more all contribute.

Kevin Gates — Khaza — Due June 17

Gates’ last album, I’m Him, dropped in 2019 — you know, a whole lifetime ago. The intervening years should have given the 36-year-old Baton Rouge rap vet plenty to talk about and lots of time to sharpen up his pen. Plenty of his peers had similar gaps before their 2022 releases and have impressed; can he keep up the trend?

Duke Deuce — Crunkstar — Due June 17

Regular Uproxx readers will know that this site has been following the Quality Control Music artist from Memphis since just about the beginning of his rise to stardom. His 2021 debut Duke Nukem certainly paid off that early support in quality, and we’re looking forward to seeing how he improves on the formula while capitalizing on his No. 3 Heatseekers chart placement with his sophomore effort.

Westside Boogie — More Black Superheroes — Due June 17

Boogie made an impressive entry to the rap game with his mixtapes Thirst 48, The Reach, and Thirst 48, Pt. II. Since then he seemingly slowed down the pace of his releases, taking another three years to drop his Shady Records debut Everythings For Sale. Three years later, he’s back with another serving of his unique, Compton-bred perspective. His low-and-slow approach to the last album paid off, and we fully expect it to do so again.

Joey Badass — 2000 — Due June 17

A rapper’s rapper, the 27-year-old Brooklynite has 10 years in the business, but only two full-length albums to his name. That should be enough to tell you why his new album is one of our more anticipated releases of the year; the quality with which he’s approached every project beginning with his breakthrough mixtape 1999 at just 17 years old bodes well — especially considering 2000‘s title appears very much to evoke a spiritual successor that exciting introduction.

Black Thought & Danger Mouse — Cheat Codes — Due August 12

Let’s keep it a buck. There are few rappers better at rapping than Black Thought. He’s hands-down one of the illest spitters to ever pick up a microphone, and three decades of releases are all the proof he needs to support this claim. Anyone who disagrees should get their ears examined. Meanwhile, Danger Mouse is one of indie music’s most respected producers, even though his output has slowed down a bunch in the last few years. However, during his most prolific era, he produced some of the most groundbreaking, genre-blurring projects in popular music, from the Gorillaz album Demon Days to the MF Doom Adult Swim experiment The Mouse and the Mask to projects with ASAP Rocky, Norah Jones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Karen O. Basically, this one is as close to a must-listen as it gets.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Newsmax host Chris Salcedo is hardly a household name. But if he’s looking to go the Tucker Carlson route to media infamy, he’s off to a good start. On Tuesday night, as Mediaite reports, the anchor floated a pretty bonkers theory about Nicholas John Roske, the armed 26-year-old who called the police from outside Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house and informed them that he was having both suicidal and homicidal thoughts.

Last night, while speaking with Illinois congressman Rodney Davis, Salcedo casually slipped in his theory that some part of Nancy Pelosi might have been cheering Roske on.

“A lot of folks are starting to ask some questions out there, congressman,” Salcedo explained. “They’re openly wondering why Nancy Pelosi sat on a bill that was passed by the Senate to protect Supreme Court justices. Now she’s moving after an assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaugh. Are Americans right to question if Pelosi was actually hoping for, or encouraging, violence that could lead to Joe Biden appointing a new Supreme Court justice?”

After seeming momentarily taken aback, Davis attempted to sidestep the inflammatory part of Salcedo’s question and responded that Pelosi and others “need to answer [questions] as to why she thought somehow Justice Kavanaugh, after having an assassin in his backyard, is somehow safe over the weekend. We could’ve gotten to this bill last week, but she chose to hold it up and she needs to answer as to why.”

The bill, which mandates additional security for Supreme Court justices was passed on Tuesday with a vote of ​​396-27. President Biden is expected to sign the bill as soon as it reaches his desk.

Meanwhile, it has been more than three weeks since a teenage gunman walked into Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas and killed 21 people, including 19 children. It’s just one of more than 250 mass shootings that have occurred in the U.S. this year alone. And Republicans are still fighting over whether fewer doors, more prayers, or some other bullshit answer is the best way to tackle America’s mass shooting epidemic.

(Via Mediaite)

Harry Styles has been breaking records musically lately after releasing his album Harry’s House, but on Monday (June 13) he broke another barrier by becoming the first Western artist to appear on the Japanese YouTube series The First Take. The former One Direction member performed a stripped-down, single-take version of “Boyfriends” with the backing of vocalists Sarah Jones and Elin Sandberg and guitarists Ny Oh and Mitch Rowland. The 28-year-old made it look easy.

Though the show’s purpose is to challenge artists to perform similarly to Styles, one-take without any effects, the pop star came in with a bit of an edge as the version he performed on The First Take is identical to his Coachella arrangement from this past April. Prior to Harry, the series welcomed the likes of K-pop artists Tomorrow X Together and Stray Kids plus the Japanese band Chai.

Harry Styles’ aforementioned 2022 album Harry’s House earned the most first-day streams for a pop album in 2022 just two hours after it was made available on Apple Music. It debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with 521,500 units sold in its first week, with 330,000 of which being pure sales. With four songs residing in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 Songs chart concurrently, he became the first British solo artist to achieve this feat and joined only the Beatles in terms of overall British acts.

Check out Styles’ performance of “Boyfriends” on The First Take above.

James Patterson is walking back his controversial remarks where he claimed that white male authors are the victims of “another form of racism.” The 72-year-old author, and current Dolly Parton collaborator, sparked a flurry of headlines following his interview with The Sunday Times where he essentially said that white writers are being discriminated against in the entertainment industry. Specifically, older writers like himself. (Depending on which Google sources you deem credible, Patterson is reportedly sitting on a net worth of $800 million.)

“What’s that all about?” Patterson told the Times about the alleged racism. “Can you get a job? Yes. Is it harder? Yes. It’s even harder for older writers. You don’t meet many 52-year-old white males.”

However, Patterson is now apologizing for his remarks. In a Facebook post shared on Tuesday, the author wrote that he doesn’t believe white writers are experiencing racism and he “supports diversity” everywhere. Via James Patterson on Facebook:

“I apologize for saying white male writers having trouble finding work is a form of racism. I absolutely do not believe that racism is practiced against white writers. Please know that I strongly support a diversity of voices being heard—in literature, in Hollywood, everywhere.”

During the controversial interview, Patterson also voiced his opinion that Woody Allen’s memoir should not have been canceled by Hatchette. The author appears to be sticking to that sentiment, which in fairness, is not as controversial as suggesting, “Hey, it’s tough for white guys out here.”

(Via James Patterson on Facebook)

You may remember that back in 2017, Joey Badass went viral for allegedly staring into a solar eclipse, incurring an eye injury that forced him to wear special eyewear and had to cancel his tour with Logic. And while he made light of the situation after the fact, fans couldn’t help but speculate about whether he’d really done it or was just finding an excuse to skive off the remainder of the Everybody Tour.

Well, those fans finally (belatedly) got their answer from Joey himself, who’s currently preparing to drop his third studio album 2000 this Friday. After a fan brought up the incident in response to his observation on Lizzo’s recent decision to re-release her new single “About Damn Time” due to a disability advocate’s gentle admonishment over an inadvertent ableist slur in the lyrics, Joey admitted(?) that he faked the injury just to get off the tour.

“Speaking of solar eclipses, you know I never got any type of eye damage from that solar eclipse shit that ‘happened,’” he tweeted. “I just really wanted an excuse to be off the Logic tour. Blogs literally created a story and I went with it because it was convenient for me at the time. But it was also funny to see how gullible people are. It taught me a valuable lesson, whatever the media puts out in unison, people will simply believe. Even if the source isn’t validated. Scary world.”

He took care to point out that “logic is my n****,” though, avoiding any more Logic beef speculation. “The tour just wasn’t serving me well at the time,” he explained.”

Now, could this be a lie to cover up an embarrassing faux pas from his wild younger days too? Possibly. But you know what they say in Texas: “Fool me once…”

Anyway, Joey’s new album is due on 6/17 via Columbia Records.

In his free time, when he’s not making some of the most popular music in the world, Harry Styles is a movie star. The “As It Was” singer made his non-One Direction concert film theatrical debut in Christopher Nolan’s Dunkirk; since then, he appeared in a post-credits scene in Marvel’s Eternals, and he’ll soon star alongside Florence Pugh in Don’t Worry Darling, directed by his girlfriend Olivia Wilde, and My Policeman.

Based on Bethan Roberts’ novel of the same name, My Policeman follows a closeted police officer (Styles) in the 1950s who dates a female schoolteacher (The Crown star Emma Corrin) while having a secret love affair with a museum curator (David Dawson).

Here’s the official plot synopsis:

A beautifully crafted story of forbidden love and changing social conventions, My Policeman follows three young people – policeman Tom (Harry Styles), teacher Marion (Emma Corrin), and museum curator Patrick (David Dawson)– as they embark on an emotional journey in 1950s Britain. Flashing forward to the 1990s, Tom (Linus Roache), Marion (Gina McKee), and Patrick (Rupert Everett) are still reeling with longing and regret, but now they have one last chance to repair the damage of the past. Based on the book by Bethan Roberts, director Michael Grandage carves a visually transporting, heart-stopping portrait of three people caught up in the shifting tides of history, liberty, and forgiveness.

My Policeman comes out in select theaters on October 21 and hits Prime Video on November 4.

New York drill rap — and the larger, global scene of which it is just a small part — has come under fire since its inception for the violent lifestyles allegedly promoted and propagated by its practitioners. And while many drill rappers have pushed back against this characterization, there’s no denying that their raps and their realities do reflect each other. In the latest case, Brooklyn rapper 22Gz (pronounced “Two-two jeez” — real name Jeffrey Mark Alexander) was arrested Sunday and charged with attempted murder for a March shooting in which three people were injured, according to Billboard. The 24-year-old was reportedly arrested at JFK Airport after a flight from Atlanta to perform at Hot 97 Summer Jam.

According to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, “This shooting not only wounded the victim but endangered the lives of everyone in a crowded club. Senseless gang rivalries fuel much of the gun violence in our communities and I remain committed to vigorously prosecuting anyone who engages in this criminal conduct.” The shooting in question took place on March 6 during a party in Brooklyn. One of the victims identified 22Gz as the shooter. According to the NYC Department of Corrections, his bail was set at $500,000, but it’s unconfirmed whether or not he bailed out of Rikers Island. His court hearing on charges of second-degree assault, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and first-degree reckless endangerment, in addition to the primary attempted murder in the second-degree charge, is set for July 19.

In September, Megan Thee Stallion and Tory Lanez will find themselves in court over Lanez allegedly shooting Megan. When all that is said and done, Meg knows exactly what she wants the outcome to look like.

In a new Rolling Stone feature, Meg said, “I want him to go to jail. I want him to go under the jail.”

Speaking about she and Lanez initially bonding over the mutual loss of their mothers, Meg also noted, “I thought we had a real connection. I thought he knew me. And I never would’ve thought he would’ve shot at me at all.”

Elsewhere, she said, “What nobody knows is, I had to get the surgery the same night. I stayed in the hospital in California for maybe four days, then I was in New York for a while. Both of my legs wrapped up. I could not walk. I still have bullet fragments in my feet right now. I was very scared that I was not able to be Megan Thee Stallion no more. And I was f*cked up.”

Of her detractors, Meg noted, “I’m trying every day to get through it and be good. I feel so bad because I don’t feel like anybody’s taking me seriously, but I don’t want them to see me cry. I don’t want them to know that I feel like this, because I don’t want them to feel like, ‘Oh, I got you. I’m breaking you.’”

Read the full feature here.

Megan Thee Stallion is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Sophie Turner once confessed that she and her on-screen sister Maisie Williams “tried to sneak a kiss into every scene we did together,” which would have fit right in with Game of Thrones‘ pro-incest agenda. They were unsuccessful in “freak[ing] everyone out a bit,” however, so Williams had to settle for her character, Arya Stark, kissing Gendry Baratheon. The pair, who first interacted in season one, later had sex in season eight’s “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” which surprised Williams at the time.

“The first time that I was surprised by Arya I guess was probably in the final series where she whips off her clothes and sleeps with Gendry,” Williams told Teen Vogue in a “First” video. “I thought that Arya was queer, you know? So… yeah. That was a surprise.”

The Pistol star initially thought the sex scene was a prank.

Showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss have pranked their cast by sending them bogus scripts in the past (such as sending Kit Harington a scene in season one where Jon Snow’s face gets horribly disfigured). “At first, I thought it was a prank,” Williams says. “I was like, ‘Yo, good one.’ And [the showrunners were] like, ‘No, we haven’t done that this year.’ Oh f*ck.”

Maybe Arya is bi. There’s a lot of good-looking fish (and Tyrells) in the Westeros pond.

You can watch her Teen Vogue video above.

(Via Teen Vogue)

Pop is a formless thing in 2022, an ever-evolving collection of cults of personality. The sound of pop, the music itself, is eclipsed by the spirit of the individual who makes it, and their ability to catapult themselves into the public consciousness. Yes, the music still matters, but the traditional bright, crispy, and expertly produced sounds of mainstream pop have been overhauled. That’s a great thing. Check out our picks for some of the biggest personalities in the genre below.

Avril Lavigne, Love Sux

Releasing music for the first time in three years, Avril Lavigne’s seventh album Love Sux marks a return to her emo roots. With fresh artists pioneering a pop-punk revival, it is only right that Avril finds her place in the genre she helped forge a path for years ago. The album’s title perfectly captures the overall theme that love sucks — people lie, cheat, and use you in romantic affairs of the heart. Despite the heavy topic, Lavigne conveys these messages in an upbeat, fun, and guitar-driven burst of pop-punk perfection. – Lindsey Burton

Bad Bunny, Un Verano Sin Ti

Very few artists are able to pull off the surprise release technique, but in the case of Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti, this album came at just the right time. Across 23 tracks, Bad Bunny tells a story of heartbreak, longing, and healing. The album feels like an hour-and-a-half-long movie, ending with the Tainy-produced “Callaita,” which, even three years after its release, still sounds so fresh in the context of the full album. – Alex Gonzalez

The Chainsmokers, So Far So Good

Whatever the preconceptions or misgivings might be about this EDM duo, they should be dropped for the pair’s fourth album. With a tongue-in-cheek promo campaign that acknowledged the eye-roll attitude some listeners have toward them, Alexander Pall and Andrew Taggart then doubled down by delivering one of the most introspective albums of their career thus far. “High” laments the impact drugs and alcohol can have on intimacy, and “iPad” delves into the sad power of old memories. Plenty of the songs here deal with unrequited love and breakups, but from a more adult perspective than in the past. And the synths and beats are as addictive as ever. —Caitlin White

9. Charli XCX, Crash

Charli XCX has always maneuvered in and out of the mainstream, creating iconic hits over the years while remaining outside the typical pop star image. Not anymore. Charli XCX’s fifth studio album CRASH is literally crashing the mainstream party. The poptastic dance record is saturated with ’80s and ’90s influences, conveying femme fatale themes through dark, synth, electro-funk, and techno-pop sounds. The high-energy, destructive album reminisces on the past while looking forward to the future. – L.B.

Ethel Cain, Preacher’s Daughter

Debut albums can be tricky in the streaming era, especially for artists like Ethel Cain who have already created a robust social media presence. But as good as the missives that flow off-the-cuff from the @mothercain Twitter handle might be, her debut album Preacher’s Daughter is even better. Between the oh-so-breezy synth-pop diatribe of “American Teenager” and what just might be Cain’s opus, the sprawling “A House In Nebraska,” she’s made it clear that being cute online isn’t the end game here — full-blown pop star is. Preacher’s Daughter proves she’s got the chops to pull it off, no svengalis needed. – C.W.

FKA Twigs, Caprisongs

FKA twigs’ latest mixtape is all over the place, in the best way possible. The entire tape is mostly devoid of catchy hooks or a singular narrative, but it works for the artist whose sound is genre-bending by nature. Thinking back to projects like Magdalene, where we see Twigs pair up with Future (of all people), collaboration is rare for her. But with Caprisons, we get Twigs and The Weeknd on a track straight out of Abel’s universe, “Careless” with Daniel Caesar, and “Jealousy,” an afrobeats single featuring Benin City’s Rema. Although different from her dark, alt-pop past, each track on Caprisongs features at least one element of Twigs that we love, whether her soprano vocals, honest lyrics, or electro-acoustic stylings. – Ellice D. Ellis

7. Harry Styles, Harry’s House

Emerging from the pandemic lockdown — a time marked by deep self-reflection and reacquaintance with the concept of “home,” Harry Styles brings us his third solo album Harry’s House, an intimate pop record with folk, disco, and funk infusions. From the chart-topping single ”As It Was” to the lowkey acoustics of “Boyfriends,” the album invites listeners into “Harry’s House,” welcoming them home. Describing it as his biggest, most fun, but also most intimate album yet, Styles explores his space both physically and mentally without confining himself to the pressures of commercial success (though it’s already outperforming his first two albums!). – L.B.

Hatchie, Stop Giving The World Away

Veering out of the indie world and farther and farther into mainstream pop, there’s absolutely nothing like Hatchie’s blown-out, ’80s pop melodies. Fans of Tamaryn and deep-cut ’80s synths and harmonies will find lots to love on Stop Giving The World Away — and even the album’s title conveys the beatific dramatism of the ’80s. But even when she’s going full-on throwback, Hatchie finds a way to put her own golden twist on things, delivering a record full of longing and potential that marks her as one of the brightest young voices in pop. She’s on her way to the top, world safely in her pocket. – C.W.

8. Kim Petras, Slut Pop

No matter what she does, Kim Petras turns heads — she’s just turning a few more than usual with her latest explicitly explicit record, Slut Pop. Though Kim may be casually detailing sex acts that most people keep behind closed doors, there is something freeing and empowering about hearing her voice needs and desires that plenty of people share. For something slightly more veiled, check out “Superpower Bitch,” a Marvel-esque anthem about her special skills in the bedroom, and for a song as sexually straightforward as it gets, “Throat Goat” moves quickly from the bleating of its animalistic title into a litany of Kim’s thoughts about fellatio. Needless to say, this album is best heard on headphones — or only around those who have happily consented to get into the Slut Pop headspace. – C.W.

Lizzy McAlpine, Five Seconds Flat

The first rule of Lizzy McAlpine is we don’t talk about TikTok. This twenty-something singer-songwriter dropped out of music school at Berklee when one of her off-the-cuff clips blew up on the social media platform, but the adoration of millions only convinced McAlpine she could do better. After a debut album, Give Me A Minute, came out peak pandemic in 2020, McAlpine quickly followed it up with Five Seconds Flat this spring. The record is full of soft and tender story-songs that evoke easy comparisons to masterful lyricists like Phoebe Bridgers and Laura Stevenson, and through it all, Lizzy has never lost focus on her own singular vision of who she is as an artist. – C.W.

Lykke Li, Eyeye

Across eight gut-wrenching songs that offer an intimate look at love and loss, Lykke Li attempts to excavate her interior, emptying out all the feelings of romantic grief and wiping the slate clean. But this Swedish purveyor of heartache should know that a memory isn’t something that can be swept clean, and fragments of her past lovers linger across each of these lo-fi tunes. Upon a deeper look, Eyeye is more about the persistence of loss than any real ability to move past it. Perhaps “Highway To Your Heart” and “Over” illustrate this best, exploring the dark night of the soul — and daydream of a way back — that sudden loneliness can bring. – C.W.

Maren Morris, Humble Quest

Maren Morris has really hit every mark on the bingo card: Successful career, great marriage, new baby, and beloved by her peers aka The Highwaywomen. So what did the woman who has everything do for her next act? Eat a slice of humble pie, and hunker back down in the nitty-gritty of life. Turns out, even when things look perfect, there are still some heavy emotions going on behind the scenes, and Humble Quest distills Maren’s search for more. Come for her powerhouse vocals and brilliant lyricism across every track, stay for the song-within-a-song concept contained in “Circles Around This Town.” – C.W.

Mxmtoon, Rising

Known for her bedroom-pop comfort tunes, singer/songwriter Mxmtoon made smooth transition to more electronic-influenced sounds on her sophomore album, Rising. Largely influence by the solitude Mxmtoon felt during COVID, Rising features Mxmtoon throwing a dance party for herself as the world is in disarray. Songs like “Sad Disco” showcase her ability to create endearing bops amid feelings of loneliness and insecurity, while “Dance (End Of The World)” feature her living her best life, as the world around her is on fire. At the young age of 21, Mxmtoon is wise beyond her years, yet still encompasses the feelings of uncertainty of being a young person in the time of COVID, climate change, and mental health crises. – A.G.

Omar Apollo, Ivory

On his full-length debut album, Ivory, Omar Apollo proves to be one of the songbirds of his generation. Unabashedly queer, the fluidity of his sexuality is represented by way of his fusion of pop, rock, and Latin-influenced sounds, soundtracking the happy moments, the heartbreaks, and the regret of a young LGBTQ person’s life. From the flashy, Neptunes-produced “Tamagotchi,” his music sounds like what being a queer Gen-Z-er feels like. – A.G.

Rosalia, MOTAMAMI

On her most ambitious project to date, Spanish singer Rosalia conquers a writer’s block she felt early on in the pandemic and owns her sexuality, unabashedly sharing her desires for — well, it’s pretty self-explanatory here. – A.G.

Sasha Alex Sloan, I Blame The World

On her debut album, Only Child, Sasha Alex Sloan was getting her sea legs as a solo artist, and not just as a songwriter for others. On its follow-up, I Blame The World, she pulls the curtain back much further, letting the world see how her battle with depression during a global pandemic unfolded. These sometimes “unhopeful” songs, as she calls them, are at turns wry, funny, and sad, and offer the kind of solidarity that toxic positivity can never achieve. Check out “Adult” for a twenty-something’s lament on growing up, and “Global Warming” for a paean to the force of one good person in your life, even in the face of an unrelenting universe. – C.W.

Sigrid, How To Let Go

After her stunning 2019 debut, Sucker Punch, Sigrid is a Norwegian pop star is who more than ready to take her sound international. Between an early collaboration with Griff for “Head On Fire,” and the majestic rush of “It Gets Dark,” her next album’s lead single, her re-entry into the spotlight in early 2022 was a feat to behold. The rest of How To Let Go doesn’t disappoint, and fans of Scandinavian pop, deeply felt lyrics, and huge vocal soars will be adding this record to their personal top ten lists. – C.W.

Tate McRae, I Used To Think I Could Fly

Tate McRae is as real as it gets. Breakups and broken hearts are a dime a dozen for teenage pop stars, but Tate’s take on the pain and loss she’s experienced in her short life remains entirely her own. Against a backdrop of synth production and trap beats, she crafts mesmerizing, personal missives that still get your body moving. And don’t be surprised to catch her turning things up on a notch on highlight tracks of her debut album I Used To Think I Could Fly, as pop-punk creeps into bangers like “She’s All I Wanna Be” and “What Would You Do?” – C.W.

Winona Oak, Island Of The Sun

There’s a certain excitement that surrounds the debut album from an artist like Winona Oak. Just on the cusp of breaking out into mainstream American pop, Winona has been slowly but surely releasing a string of strangely sad, unbelievably sweet Swedish pop songs that prove her worth. She’s been working through her past experiences for some time now, mining the jewels from her childhood, past lovers, and time in the industry. Now, she’s ready to share just how bright her lyrics and melodies are. Island Of The Sun is one of the best pop debuts of 2022, and will likely quickly become one of the year’s best albums, too. – C.W.

Yeule, Glitch Princess

Self-proclaimed “fourth generation goth” Yeule has one thing right – she’s building on a whole cohort of artists who made vocal manipulation, glitchy production, and downright weirdo status their whole MO. The good news for Yeule? This Singaporean songwriter also brings an entirely new set of ideas into the studio, mixing and remixing her baby-soft vocals with industrial sounds, echoes and samples, and her own razor-sharp wit. All of this makes Glitch Princess one of the funniest, sweetest, and most surprising gifts of 2022 pop so far. – C.W.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.