Music streaming service Spotify celebrated some of this year’s Grammy Best New Artist nominees which include SZA, Khalid, Julia Michaels, Alessia Cara, Lil Uzi Vert with a special star studded event which included guests Sting, Jared Leto, Keith Urban, Hailey Baldwin, Ansel Elgort, Shaggy, Justine Skye, Nick Cannon, Normani Kordei, Alesso, CHVRCHES, Martha Hunt, Danielle Brooks, Rachel Platten, Marshmello, Pentatonix, Jade Bird, Ryan Leslie, DJ Z-Trip and more along with 300 of these artists’ biggest fans on Spotify Premium at New York City’s Skylight Clarkson SQ on Thursday January 25th.
NEW YORK, NY – JANUARY 25: Singer Khalid performs onstage at “Spotify’s Best New Artist Party” at Skylight Clarkson on January 25, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Spotify)
The best new artist nominees hit the stage to perform some of their popular hits that have helped them to achieve recognition and stand out. There were also special guest performances by Logic and Marshmello. Speaking with fashion model Martha Hunt about what stands out about the new artists, she gushed talking about SZA, “Well I’ve been a fan of her for a long time since ‘Sweet November.’ Then to see her excel with this new album it’s been really exciting for me because I think she is a true talent and she has one of those artist souls and I respect that about her.”
The Knockturnal also spoke with music legend Sting who discussed the importance of Spotify for finding new artists:”Well there are so many of them, and they’re all available on Spotify, so you can find them.” The music legend went on to further discuss his latest collaboration with reggae artist Shaggy and their meshing of musical styles, “Well you know I’ve been into Jamaican music from Ska from Blue Beat through reggae through Bob Marley. I knew Shaggy’s music because he’s one of the biggest stars in the world and so it was kind of a natural thing when we started to go in there and explore reggae with an authentic reggae artist. So we’re trying to produce something kind of hybrid of what I do with what he does and I think we manage a very successful combination of the two of our vocal styles and two of our musical styles which has been mainly fun more than anything.”
You can check out their new song below:
