Annie Mac rose through the ranks of DJs who work for BBC Radio 1 over the past decade, eventually taking over Zane Lowe‘s BBC Radio 1 show in 2015. She’s curated radio shows for multiple platforms, and has played a strong part in exposing rising electronic artists to new listeners. Her ear for talent was the focus of a recent feature article on mixmag that highlighted her six picks for the artists to watch in 2016. Ranging from the 19-year-old Mura Masa to Disclosure collaborator Mao, her picks covered a wide spectrum of music. Read her quotes on her six artist picks and listen to some tracks from the artists below:
Denis Sulta: “I found out about Denis when I asked Jackmaster for help with booking some solid local Scottish DJs for my AMP show up there. He suggested Denis. One of the things I like most about him is his natural ability to have fun in his music. The mixes are really well put together, you can tell his record collection runs deep. His productions are really accomplished for someone who hasn’t been making music that long.”
Sam Gellaitry: “Sam’s 18 and from Stirling. I first came across him when I heard his track “Long Distance” and played it incessantly on my show. It sounded like nothing I’d heard before. The quality of his productions is so high for someone so young. In a world of SoundCloud trap fodder, his music stands out for being tremendously creative and imaginative.”
Nao: “This girl is something special. I put her AK Paul collab ‘So Good’ on my AMP 2014 compilation and have been watching her ever since. She’s found a real sound – groove-laden, slinky pop music – but it’s her voice that shines through. Flawless r’n’b/soul. She’s gonna have an incredible year.”
CoCo: “As grime gets more and more ubiquitous, there are more MCs breaking through from outside London. CoCo killed it at the end of 2015 with ‘Big Bou Yah’, a dancehall-sampling, spacey banger. His bars are sharp and funny and memorable and I’m super-excited to see him break through in 2016.”
Mura Masa: “A terrifyingly talented young man from Guernsey. He’s nineteen years old and already a brilliant songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and music producer. He has that ability to make amazing pop songs with a real sonic edge – pop that feels familiar and foreign all at the same time.”
ANOTR: “ANOTR are two friends from Amsterdam in their early twenties who used to make music under the name Piotr & Zhan. They changed their name and their sound to be more hard-hitting; now it’s really solid house music for the dancefloor. I’ve been supporting their DFTD release heavily in my sets and shows.”
Read the full article on mixmag