By: Rashidah Zhussanbay
Hip-hop is ever changing. With every new face in the industry comes a new flavor and style, diversifying the sound, theme and messages conveyed through the art form. Three new artists tower over the Billboard 100s. Dej Loaf, K Camp, and Bryson Tiller have all developed their own unique sound and are taking the competition by storm.
Dej Loaf
With her first single “Try Me” in 2014, Dej established herself as one of the strongest female rappers in her age group. In comparison to Angel Haze, Azalea Banks or Tink, Dej has had more commercial success, and has expanded her audience by collaborating with established rappers like The Game and Lil Wayne. After the release of her first commercial EP, “… And See That’s The Thing,” she re-established herself back on the charts with the help of fellow Detroit rapper Big Sean on the single “Back Up.” Dej’s individuality mainly comes from her very soft voice, which contrasts with the hardcore content in her music. Dej Loaf has been signed with Columbia Records, solidifying her place in the rap world for at least a few more albums.
K Camp
Chosen for the XXL Freshmen Class of 2015, Atlanta rapper K Camp is making a new name for himself. He first came into the spotlight after the 2014 hit “Cut Her Off” dropped and was followed by his record deal with Interscope soon after. “Only Way Is Up” was released in September 2015, which featured the single “Comfortable.” The slow jams in his tracks stay true to his Atlanta origin, but he is noted for infusing a level of honesty in his music that has been lost to the idolization of money and fame prominent in hip hop these days. K Camp is currently on tour, and will be in New York at Irving Plaza on November 25th.
Bryson Tiller
Although the debate as to whether this artist’s music belong to the hip-hop genre or PBR&B, he remains a fresh face in the music industry. For Bryson Tiller, success has come from his own music distribution efforts over the music media platform “SoundCloud.” Gaining attention from the song “Don’t,” which was self-released, Tiller was co-signed by other artists such as Drake and Timbaland, leading to his record deal with RCA Records in August 2015. Within less than two months, he released his album “T R A P S O U L” which continues to gain commercial success everyday. Whether the fact his song “Don’t” was tied to the “DontJudgeMeChallenge,” which thousands of social media users created to combat the assumptions people make on others based on appearance, or just his musical abilities, it’s clear Tiller has a long career ahead of him.