iluvlive Hotlist 2022 Announced

Here is this year’s iluvlive Hotlist 2022

Amaria BB / Arz / Bawo / Bellah / Chrissi / Debbie / Felixthe1st / Jordy / Master Peace / Miss Lafamilia / Ojerime / Poppy Ajudha / Sans Soucis / Tamera / Tendai

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“Our team is really excited about the 2022 Hotlist. We have a strong reputation for identifying and supporting talent years before they reach the mainstream and all of these acts have what it takes to establish successful careers. The Hotlist provides a great opportunity for our iluvlive community to get involved and show support.” - Rachael Bee (CEO/Owner of iluvlive)

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Launched in 2016, The iluvlive Hotlist is an annual initiative that features artists we believe taste makers will be tipping in the coming years. Candidates can be signed but cannot have released an album via a major record label or had a top 20 single. 

Previous successes include Nadia Rose, Ms Banks, Ray BLK, James Vickery, Stefflon Don, IAMDDB, Dave, Pip Millett, Trillary Banks, Knucks, Kojey Radical, Young T and Bugsey, Shaybo, Darkoo, Avelino, Miraa May and Joy Crookes.

Video Playlist

AMARIA BB

Amaria BB doesn’t just defy expectation and explanation, she confounds them. The talented teenager lives her life without being bound to labels, convention or social norms. Her dancehall-leaning R&B is palpably relatable, brilliantly written and beautifully sung. A uniquely distinct talent, Amaria’s perspective on love, life, sex and friendship is utterly unlike anything that has come before. 

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BAWO

Born and raised in west London, Bawo is an artist of Nigerian heritage who reflects his upbringing and the diversity of life in the capital city in his music. Drawing influence from various places, he makes imaginative and borderless hip hop that incorporates a world of different sounds. He taps into his reflective nature and his deep and varied cultural knowledge to tell his stories and share his honest reflections.

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CHRISSI

Chrissi described her sound as “a blend of R&B, pop and alternative.” She’s inspired by the likes of Joy Crookes, The 1975, One Direction, Tame Impala and SZA.

Chrissi says “My lyrics are so frank because I'm a really open and loving person, I like to give that part of myself away easily. Rather than needing people to earn my trust, I go into everything with complete trust; I'm just quite a glass half full kind of person.”

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FelixThe1st

FelixThe1st is not new to the creative industry and has in fact been a professional dancer since the age of 14.

He’s been there amongst them all and now is the time for him to take the front position and showcase his musical talents to the world. FelixThe1st has now began his artist career and released two singles “PSL” & “Own Brand Freestyle”.

The latter has had an incredible reaction and lead to the following achievements thus far: Videos using their sound on TikTok has accumulated over 1BN+ Views and over 2.5M+ TikTok Videos have been created to their sound, over 640,000+ Shazams, 2.3M+ Organic YouTube Views on his channel, 17M+ Streams on all DSP’s

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MASTER PEACE

Few artists capture the rollercoaster ride of being a teenager as vividly as Master Peace, whose genre-meshing moshpit-ready anthems have rapidly made him one of the most exciting names in the UK. 

Having been inspired to make music by his own childhood experiences, as an adolescent Peace enjoyed listening to grime and rap with his friends. Secretly, however, he was also loving bands like Bloc Party, No Doubt and Arctic Monkeys on his headphones at home, absorbing the sounds of indie and alt-rock into his canon. This love for indie and electro-pop however meant he would often get teased by his friends. “I was too shook to tell my friends at Wimbledon College what I was actually listening to,” he laughs, “as I was afraid, they would look at me funny!”

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OJERIME

South London raised artist Ojerime has been a shining light in the UK’s music scene for a while now. With a handful of projects under her belt in the form of ‘Ojerime: The Silhouette’. ‘Fang 2001’ and ‘4U’, the singer/songwriter has continually impressed with her brand of 90’s R&B inspired gems, which culminate on last year’s ‘B4 I Breakdown’ mixtape. Featuring highlights like ‘Give It Up 2 Me’, ‘Empty’ and ‘Whiskey Demo’. The ten-track project is the perfect encapsulation of Ojerime’s ability to convey deep, emotive stories that resonate with the listener on a personal level.

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SANS SOUCIS

Sans Soucis is ready to show up for herself. The London-based songwriter, artist and producer takes her name from a childhood nickname meaning ‘carefree’. Releasing music independently since 2018, she has been on an intense journey to find

herself spiritually and sonically. Her EP ‘On Time For Her’ is a pivotal moment, “I’m finally here for myself and I’m ready to seek happiness in life rather than being stuck in my past traumas,” she says. In regard to the title, Sans Soucis explains, “I use the third person because for a long time, I dissociated myself from my own feelings.”

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TENDAI

21 year old singer, songwriter, producer and performer from Canning Town, east London has been building a unique musical universe. His music holds the blistering honesty of late night laments, throbbing and pulsing with the energy of a London evening. It's at once both cinematic (when pushed tendai speaks of his love of the art of filmmaking) and disarmingly intimate; in tendai's own words “this is music to feel in your bones". Unbounded by genre and at once both nostalgic and totally contemporary, tendai’s stories of being young and falling in and out of love in London have a universality that will resonate in cities around the world.

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ARZ

Arz, hailing from North East London is a 17 year old independent rapper who is about to receive all the recognition he deserves. Arz is mastering his craft, switching flows with ease, showing composure and technical ability beyond his years. His recently released debut project ‘Love Letters’ has received wide recognition, receiving more than 7.5 million streams, the project is yet to reach its peak and is showing continuous growth. Although Arz is focused on Music he also dabbles in acting, featuring as a cameo in Krept & Konan’s "Ban Drill" music video and "The Essence 2" short film.   As the future unfolds, the name Arz is certain to grow.

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BELLAH

When it comes to the next wave of UK R&B, Bellah is leading the charge. The UK’s answer to Summer Walker, Kehlani or SZA, the North London singer-songwriter makes soulful and honest music, treating her words like the inner pages of a diary. 

With lyrics that feel like you’re chatting to a best friend, plus the ability to write a killer hook, Bellah has that rare combination of industry nous and relatability. Her British-Nigerian heritage brings an Afro influence to that unfiltered R&B, a sound that has been hailed by Complex and BBC 1Xtra, who made her debut single their Track Of The Week.

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DEBBIE

The iluvlive team originally came across Debbie in 2018 when she did our open mic competition. Since then she’s been honing her craft and signed to 0207 Def Jam.

Debbie says; “For the past 700 days I have been writing, re-writing, making ideas, scrapping ideas, singing, recording and finding myself..”

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JORDY

Raised in Tottenham, 26-year-old artist Jordy is ready to prove to the cynics that after a brief hiatus, he’s regenerated, matured and back for good. Rapping as early as 8-years-old, his music is a complete representation of his personality which is honest, straight talking, emotional whilst not taking himself or life too seriously. 

Retired from the capital to Essex, Jordy still has the DNA of a Londoner who has been brought up on Garage, Grime, Hip-Hop and Reggae. He first discovered his obsession for music via vibrant music videos naming; Ludacris, Missy Elliott, 50 Cent, Eminem as early influences. Closer to home he cites the likes of Ghetts, Wretch 32, James Blake, Skepta and JME as inspiration whilst mentioning comedy legend Dave Chapelle as a prominent figure.

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MISS LAFAMILIA

Raised in Birmingham, her musical passions stemmed from her own familial surroundings. Immersed in a world of inspiring, talented Black women both on and off the screen, she’s been bolstered to be sure of her own abilities and secure within her place in the world

It’s been a long time coming for Miss LaFamilia but now that she’s here she wants to do it right.2021 is going to be about owning and sharing what is real and authentic to her, in every aspect of her life: “The music that I’ve put out so far is nothing compared to what they’re going to hear. I’msoexcited to give people the real me.”In short, “2021 is all systems go”

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POPPY AJUDHA

Poppy Ajudha epitomises the uniquely diverse musical culture that exists in London. Her South London born, St. Lucian-British background, the scene she has grown up in, and the musicians and creatives she regularly works with have all been pivotal in the forward thinking, socio-politically aware unique blend of Soul, R&B, Jazz and Pop that she is creating. Her releases have seen her rack up over 20million streams, play headline shows across the UK, U.S. and Europe, win awards and pick up a number of famous fans along the way.

Unafraid to stand up for what she believes in, her lyrics speak of feminism, colonialism, gender politics, current social issues and other deeply personal topics. Her groundbreaking debut album 'The Power In Us' is set for release on March 11th 2022.

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TAMERA

Tamera, London based Singer / Songwriter. Having grown up just outside of London in Gravesend, Kent, listening to the sounds of everyone from Whitney Houston to James Brown, Missy Elliott to Mariah Carey. In 2017 she left the suburbs for the big city and threw herself into a totally new reality. Feeling the distance from friends and family to lean on, like diary entries she poured her heart into her songs when she had no one else to talk to about the trials and tribulations of life and love as a young adult, honing her sound and writing in the process.

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Supported By

Songtrust is a flexible, transparent, and writer-friendly solution for collecting global music publishing royalties, administering the musical works of more than 350,000 songwriters, producers, and other rights holders, with a catalogue of more than 3,000,000 songs.