12 – Daya, 18
Along with a pair of top 40 hits (“Hide Away,” “Sit Still, Look Pretty”), the Pittsburgh native collected a Grammy this year for her Chainsmokers team-up “Don’t Let Me Down.” Next is the follow-up to last October’s debut album. “I’ve been living in the studio for the last five months,” she says, “getting to focus on my writing for the first time and take control creatively.”
13 – Alan Walker, 20
“Never give up on achieving [your] dreams,” says Walker, “because one can never know what awaits around the corner.” The Norwegian-British EDM artist’s first hit, “Faded,” came out of nowhere, but the dance track charted in 32 countries and led to opening slots on tour with Rihanna and Justin Bieber.
14 – Becky G, 20
“What empowers you is acknowledging, ‘I am who I am’ — I feel like that’s the influence I want to be making,” says Becky G, who followed up 2014’s career-launching hit “Shower” by honing in on her Mexican heritage. In 2016, she kicked off a run of Spanish-language singles with “Sola,” which landed on the Hot Latin Songs chart, and her new Bad Bunny collaboration “Mayores” reached No. 10 on the Sept. 30 chart — her highest peak yet.
15 – Jake Paul, 20
Paul gained a viral following on the now-defunct video app Vine before moving to YouTube, where he has 11 million subscribers. He now finds himself on the Billboard charts, making his Hot 100 debut with “It’s Everyday Bro” in June (No. 94 peak), followed by “Jerika” in July (No. 86). “Artists really have to get creative to start a movement,” he says. “There’s a huge market for younger kids with music centered on social conversation.”
16 – Why Don’t We, 16-19
Since joining forces as a five-piece pop group in September 2016, the quintet has garnered more than 85 million YouTube views and went from 300,000 Instagram followers to nearly 2 million. That online reach earned it a deal with Atlantic Records after a summer of sold-out headlining shows across the United States, followed by its fourth EP, Invitation.
17 – Zara Larsson, 19
“Music’s been in my life my whole life,” says Larsson, who won the Swedish version of Got Talent at the age of 10. Her U.S. breakthrough came with “Never Forget You,” which peaked at No. 13 on the Hot 100, and the Clean Bandit collab “Symphony,” which rocketed to No. 1 on the Dance Club Songs chart. Her debut full-length, So Good, arrived in March, with a title track that featured Ty Dolla $ign.
18 – TWICE, 18-22
Formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015, this robust collective delivers a combination of catchy hooks, kooky concepts and choreography that nabs it consistent No. 1s in Korea, while its 2017 EP Signal landed at No. 3 on the World Albums chart. “The great love we have been receiving is still dreamlike,” the group said in a joint statement. But it acknowledges that, having formed only two years ago, “we still need to grow.”
19 – PRETTYMUCH, 17-20
With One Direction’s hiatus leaving a boy band-shaped hole in teens’ hearts, fivesome PRETTYMUCH is gunning for the crown with 1D guru Simon Cowell in its corner. Debut single “Would You Mind” recently bowed on the Mainstream Top 40 chart; a full-length is in the works with contributions from Ed Sheeran and French Montana, plus a choreography-heavy live show to go along with it.
20 – Chloe x Halle, 17, 19
Sisters Chloe and Halle Bailey found viral fame after posting a cover of Bey’s “Pretty Hurts” to YouTube in 2013. Two years later, the Atlanta pair signed with her Parkwood Entertainment and released its debut EP in 2016. “Younger artists are able to take more risks,” the duo said in a statement. “We are not afraid and tainted by the world.”
21 – Sabrina Carpenter, 18
As the de facto leader of Hollywood Records’ next wave of Disney stars, Carpenter (who from 2014 to 2017 co-starred on Girl Meets World) released her 2015 debut, Eyes Wide Open, prior to last year’s EVOLution, which debuted at No. 28 on the Billboard 200. She has already followed July’s “Why,” her most adult-friendly single to date, with a slew of U.S. headlining shows. “These are the strangest years of our lives,” she says of being a teen. “We have to work a bit harder to prove ourselves.”
Izvor. Billboard.com
