Indie Artists You Must See at Rolling Loud: New York 2022

As a Coney Island native and self-proclaimed “Mayor”, Nems has established himself as one of the stand-out artists of a new generation of emerging emcees. After releasing numerous mixtapes (FYL Valium Won, Free Nems, FYL Valium Too), he signed to Psycho-Logical Records and toured the U.S. After releasing mixtape Super Marvelous in 2008, Nems joined Creative Juices Music as a home to record his official debut album. Nems has since followed up with projects such as Filthy Fly Shit, Coney Soprano, Broke Safety, Fuck Your Love, Gorilla Nems, The Planet Of The Apes series, and Skinny Nems. Known for his strong, brash lyrical capabilities and comedic skits, Nems continues to make a name for himself and build his fan base worldwide. His brand FYL continues expanding and plans on releasing an album with ILL BILL “Shoot Out at The Cyclone”. Nems is set to perform on Friday, September 23, 2022.

Packed into Brooklynite raptress Lola Brooke’s petite frame are all the makings of the music world’s next superstar: a boisterous personality, the versatility to carve her space in any creative medium; and above all the lyrical ability to hold her own against any competitor. She quickly made a name for herself on New York’s unforgiving freestyle circuit, drawing the attention of producer Reefa Slater, who signed her to his newly formed Team 80 imprint in 2016. By the time she delivered her first official single, “Not The Same” in September 2018, her growing fan base was locked in. As she gears up for the release of her debut EP, Lola Brooke’s warm-up singles “Bipolar,” “Boy,” and “Cash Out,” are proving that she’s got next and very few newcomers can even attempt to challenge her on that front. Lola Brooke is set to perform on Friday, September 23, 2022.

Florida-based rapper Robb Bank$ caught the attention of the masses shortly after releasing the first mixtape; he has steadily grown with more refined production and lyrical content. After several successful mixtapes, Robb Bank$’ album, Year of the Savage released during his time on label, 300 Entertainment, hit the charts and brought Bank$ into a more mainstream realm. His 2016 mixtape C2: Death of My Teenage served as a sequel to Calendars and featured guest spots from the late XXXTentacion and Los Hosale. During this time, he released several EPs and singles and briefly entertained the idea of signing on with Cash Money Records, but ultimately chose to remain independent. His mixtape Molly World appeared in 2018 with cameos from Chief Keef, Famous Dex, and others. Robb Bank$ is set to perform on Friday, September 23, 2022.

With a spaced-out, subdued flow that sometimes sits at the edge of mumble rap, Chicago rapper Lucki sets himself apart from the herd with inventive production choices and exceptionally vulnerable lyrical narratives. The charismatic young talent has addressed troubles with addiction and mental health in his songs, and collaborated with artists like Danny Brown and FKA Twigs. He has released multiple innovative mixtapes such as 2015's Freewave along with more fleshed-out projects like 2021's F1lthy collaboration Wake Up Lucki. For a brief time in 2016, Lucki stopped working on music completely to get his head together, returning in 2017 with Watch My Back. His music continued to delve into personal issues, with early 2019 bringing the emotionally upheaving Freewave 3 and the more hopeful Days B4 III arriving before the year was up. Another album, Almost There, appeared in 2020, setting Lucki's typically heavy subjects against a slightly more upbeat backdrop. In 2021, he collaborated with Philadelphia producer F1lthy on the darkly ethereal Wake Up Lucki, a 12-song project somewhere between an EP and an album. Throughout the next year, Lucki released a series of stand-alone tracks, including the trappy "New Drank" and Nate Husser collaboration "Lil Big." Another song, "Y NOT?," appeared in June 2022. Lucki is set to perform on Saturday, September 24, 2022.

Hailing from Queens, New York with Chinese and Guyanese roots, rapper Chinese Kitty gained attention from her social media presence. After spending time in the entertainment industry, she took the recognition and ran with it. With over 3.1 million followers and counting, Chinese Kitty initially graced the covers of Smooth Magazine and have been featured as the lead in music videos for hip-hop’s biggest artists. Taking her fame and talent to South Beach, she created a strong fan base by appearing on VH1’s Love & Hip-Hop Miami. This helped her launch her rapidly successful music career. Her first project, As If, dropped major hits “On Me” and “Fleek of the Week.” With her top songs, colorful attitude, fresh style and outlandish boss-like mindset she caught the eyes of WorldStarHipHop, RapWave and Rolling Out. Her latest album, Kitty Bandz released this past October, has given her more fame and led her to more new exciting opportunities. Chinese Kitty is set to perform on Saturday, September 24, 2022.

Raised in Miami after moving from Jersey, Skodi (pronounced Scotty) developed a diverse auditory palette from what was played in her childhood home. Her mother was a DJ spinning Chicago house and disco throughout the days, which opened Skodi’s young ears to the beauty of all different types of music. The self-proclaimed ‘anime protagonist’, Skodi’s blend of these sonic influences has made her the face of the new wave of alternative rap. With break out singles “Back,” “I Don’t Like You,” and “F.O.M.W.” Skodi is one of the artists to watch coming out of South Florida. Skodi is set to perform on Saturday, September 24, 2022.

Newark, New Jersey native, rapper Tsu Surf is known for his visceral lyrics and domineering presence. Starting his career in the most pure form of Hip-Hop, battle rap over a decade ago, Surf battled his way to the top of the battle world and is credited as a veteran of the craft. With several projects to his name it wasn’t until 2019 that Surf gained mainstream media’s attention with the release of Seven25. The project landed him the number 2 spot on iTunes and number 29 on the Billboard charts. This highly accredited project features Mozzy and Griselda alum Benny The Butcher. He didn’t stop there, Surf capped off 2019 with critically acclaimed joint project Blood Cuzzins with Mozzy. Surf and Mozzy brought the East and West coasts together with Blood Cuzzins. In 2020, Surf followed up Blood Cuzzins with his project, MSYKM (an acronym meaning Make Sure You Kill Me) in response to his close call with death. Surf’s new lease on life and showcasing his ever improving lyricism and collaborative capabilities. It’s been a decade in the making, but Tsu Surf is the next big independent rap talent to come from the garden state. Tsu Surf is set to perform on Sunday, September 25, 2022.

Brooklyn-bred, Atlanta-based artist Ben Reilly burst onto the scene with the release of his 13-track project Freelance in 2021. The project featured breakout track “Maytag (Tax Free)” which spiked across multiple platforms and charted on multiple Spotify Charts including number 1 on Viral 50 (Global, USA, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, and UK) and number 2 in Germany, Russia, Portugal. As the pseudo-leader of Abstract Media, a five-person brotherhood of rappers and producers spreading positivity and sharing their bond with the world, Reilly is the first out of the collective to release solo music. Abstract Media consists of a trio of rappers – Reilly, Miseye, and Luke Royal – who formed in 2010 and have been releasing music together as far back as 2015 on SoundCloud. Additionally, Reilly prides himself as an avid comic book collector in which he took on the moniker “Ben Reilly” as an homage to his favorite superhero. A version of Spiderman that mainstream fans may not know about, Ben Reilly is the clone of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man created by super-villain the Jackal. Reilly also emphasizes the name’s double meaning, as Be.N stands for “Be Nahree,” the artist’s given name. “It’s supposed to represent me embracing myself from within.” Ben Reilly is set to perform on Sunday, September 25, 2022.

When people think of the city Winston-Salem, North Carolina, you have to think of rapper TiaCorine. Growing up in a multicultural household (Japanese, African-American, Shoshone, and Indian) exposed her to a diverse range of music. Exposed to Hip-Hop's elite artists ranging from the old to the new school and the greatest hits from pop & rock, TiaCorine knew she wanted to become a musician. In the fourth grade, Tia began performing at local talent shows and started taking flute & piano lessons. After the release of her single, “Lotto,” Tia caught the attention of local radio stations, DJs, clubs, and started growing on the internet, which spread her name across the U.S. In late 2019, TiaCorine signed to SCMG and is currently working on her debut project set to be released in the third quarter of 2020. TiaCorine is set to perform on Sunday, September 25, 2022.

H-town's Monaleo has begun to appear on the nation's radar, mostly for her hit track, "Beating Down Yo Block," which utilized a remastered sample from popular Houston anthem, "Knocking Pictures Off Da Wall," by Yungstar. The track makes for a confident and unapologetic debut. She wrote the song while struggling with a bad breakup. The song went viral on social media in January 2021 with over 3 million streams on Spotify and 3.3 million views on the music video on YouTube. Monaleo later released the singles "Girls Outside" and "Suck It Up". In under two years, Monaleo has gained mainstream cover and praise from the industry. Before the success, Monaleo was pursuing a degree from Prairie View A&M University but had to pause due to her musician career. Monaleo is set to perform on Sunday, September 25, 2022.

Born in Los Angeles, California, rapper JELEEL! has been performing and making music since a young age. JELEEL! experiments with different beats and vocal sounds, some considered hyperpop or emo rap. He is using new techniques and creative lyrical stylings to express himself and create an original sound. His music continues to build on the success he’s found as well as his own creativity. He writes about his challenging journey as a musician. He has experienced the struggle of living in a very busy and expensive city as an artist attempting to make it in a broad way. He describes being houseless for a time in LA. He describes his motivation to make music coming from people doubting him and what he could do. JELEEL! is set to perform on Sunday, September 25, 2022.