NOW That’s What I Call Music! 65 spotlights artists focused on both the old and the new in the latest NOW What’s Next series
NOW That’s What I Call Music! 65 is the latest installment in the NOW compilation series. It includes 16 recent hit songs, including Camila Cabello‘s Billboard Hot 100 #1 “Havana” and six NOW What’s Next tracks by emerging artists. NOW What’s Next has been part of the NOW package since 2010’s NOW That’s What I Call Music! 33 and although most of the NOW What’s Next artists have remained unknown to mainstream listeners, others have broken through. The latter group includes Capital Cities, The Wanted, Hunter Hayes, and Walk The Moon.
NOW What’s Next 65 introduces the 33rd group of emerging artists, some of whom bring the sound of 2003 while others sound like today. Kicking off the show is Sidibe and “Unreachable,” a smooth R&B track channeling Brandy and Janet Jackson of the early 2000’s. @sidibe’s claim to fame is being the last singer Prince cosigned before his death in 2016. If you’re into the non-EDM dance music of the early 2000’s, NOW What’s Next 65 provides the laid back “Just A Feeling” by Phantoms feat. Vérité. Although the track may be mistaken for Europop, Phantoms are actually former actors based in Los Angeles and Vérité hails from Brooklyn.
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Sidibe is proud of being the only independent artist on the NOW What’s Next 65 roster
Then we have emerging artists eager to embrace today’s chart-topping sound. DJ Indian Trap hails from London and looks to combine EDM with “cultural roots of Punjabi, Bhangra, and Bollywood music.” His first single “Look Like Monaaay” ft. KresZenzia does a good job introducing the new genre of Indian Trap, but KresZenzia’s heavy-handed rapping recalls the moment of madness when Iggy Azalea dominated charts all over the world in 2014. Looking like monayyy is a tired topic, and speaking of tired we also get “Made Of Gold” by Olivia Noelle. While the L.A.-based 25-year-old could be mistaken vocally for Ariana Grande, the song’s a clunker built around the line “if I ain’t part of your plan / then tonight it’s you and your hand.” Who knew Pink‘s questionable hit single from 2007 would get a shout-out on NOW What’s Next 65?
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Olivia Noelle is touring with Hippie Sabotage this month
Besides Olivia Noelle NOW What’s Next 65 introduces the world to Eves Karydas, an Australian model-singer whose “There For You” is a quiet, sultry pop ballad that thankfully avoids mentioning U + Ur Hand. Her version of slow pop recalls Lorde and Lana Del Rey; if @ya_girl_eves achieves half of their accomplishments she may become the biggest star of this edition of NOW What’s Next. The final new artist of the bunch is the best known. Virginia’s Jacob Sartotius is only 15 years old, but he already made the lower rungs of the Hot 100 with bubblegum teen pop songs “Sweatshirt” and “Hit Or Miss.” @jacobsartorius got his start on social media, and today Sartorius has 9.1 million followers, more than Post Malone. His feature on NOW 65 is “Skateboard,” which leaves bubblegum pop for pop-R&B sound that Justin Bieber used in his transition from a teen idol to a mature pop star. Check out the video for “Skateboard” below and pick up or download NOW That’s What I Call Music! 65 today!