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What is a day in the life like for some of the biggest up-and-coming artists in Hip Hop? Our Who's Next Day in the Life series showcases a piece of what new artists experience as they work towards their dreams of being Hip Hop's next superstar. HOT 97's Who's Next has seen the likes of Drake, Travi$ Scott, J Cole, Slaughterhouse, A Boogie, Ty Dolla $ign, and more hit the stage and be featured as part of the brand which highlights up-and-coming artists. Who's Next Live Goes Down at Blue Night club Tuesday, February 28 at 7PM! Performances By: NYM Lo, Austin Sour, Courtney Bell, & artists from Benny the Butcher’s Collective: Black Soprano Family incl: Heem & Pretty Ricky Hyde! Hosted By: Drewski & Music By: DJ Lil Taj!<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@hot97"></a>

Who's Next Presents: A Day In The Life at MNRK W/ Austin Sour

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Detroit rapper Courtney Bell has been making noise with his lyrics throughout the past few years. He sits down with HOT 97 to give us an inside look into who he is as an artist, what he did as soon as he started seeing success, where he sees his career going and more! He'll be performing at HOT 97 Who's Next Live!<a href="https://www.hot97.com/whos-next" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Who's Next Live</a> Goes Down at Blue Nighclub Tuesday, February 28 at 7PM! Performances By: NYM Lo, AustinSour, CourtneyBell, & artists from Benny the Butcher’s Collective: Black Soprano Family incl: Heem & Pretty Ricky Hyde! Hosted By: Drewski & Music By: DJ Lil Taj!

Get To Know: Who's Next Artist Courtney Bell

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What is a day in the life like for some of the biggest up-and-coming artists in Hip Hop? Our Who's Next "Day in the Life" series showcases a piece of what new artists experience as they work towards their dreams of being Hip Hop's next superstar.HOT 97's Who's Next has seen the likes of <a href="https://www.hot97.com/hot-news/top-10-funk-flex-freestyles-of-the-decade" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Drake</a>, Travi$ Scott, J Cole, Slaughterhouse, A Boogie, Ty Dolla $ign, and more hit the stage and be featured as part of the brand which highlights up-and-coming artists.<hr class="wp-block-separator is-style-default"/><a href="https://www.hot97.com/whos-next" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Who's Next Live</a> Goes Down at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CoLUY-RrmW-/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Blue Nightclub</a> Tuesday, February 28 at 7PM!Performances By: NYM Lo, AustinSour, CourtneyBell, & artists from Benny the Butcher’s Collective: Black Soprano Family incl: Heem & Pretty Ricky Hyde! Hosted By: Drewski & Music By: DJ Lil Taj!

Who's Next Presents: A Day In The Life at MNRK w/ Nym LO

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Artists are constantly asking DJ's and influencers to listen to their music and give them feedback. They are in DMs and commenting under IG post “Check My Page”, they just want to be Heard. This is the show for them!Every week, Drewski will be randomly selecting people from the comment section of his Instagram asking to be heard and giving them his honest feedback.This week we look at songs from ShellzwithAZ and Mattsfort!

Drewski REACTS To New Music From IG Comments In 'Heard U'

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GET IN TUNE! The Who’s Next Playlist is back in motion, just in time for our legendary LIVE HOT 97 WHO'S NEXT Showcase on September 14 at SOB’s, hosted by Fabolous. Vibe out to this curated Def Jam playlist, featuring some of their hottest stars UP NEXT.https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2XZ16UEvYRubVX0qPSZHjW?si=e88a41d608194f22Get to know the artists: Armani White was signed to Def Jam after exploding over the summer with his electri-fying viral smash “Billie Eilish.” The high-energy homage to the eponymous pop singer’s renowned fashion sense amassed over 30 million global streams, and inspired over 38 billion TikTok views. West Philly rapper Armani’s official Def Jam label debut, “Diamond Dallas,” out last week, debuted as the #2 most-added track at Urban radio.26AR, the 22-year old Crown Heights drill rapper of "Aaron Rodgers" notoriety, solid-ified his stance as ‘The Voice Of The Streets’ with his signing to Def Jam this year, and the release of “Can’t Slip,” his label debut. An authentic knack for keeping it a buck is evident in “Hottest In My City,” his recent video collabo with New Orleans MC Rob49.SwaVay, a native of Atlanta’s bubbling trap fusion scene, recently dropped "FACES," the focus track from Almetha’s Son, his upcoming major label debut album project. 26AR arrived at Def Jam after sharing a Grammy® nomination for “Elevate” (with DJ Khalil, Cordae, Denzel Curry, and Trevor Rich), from the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie soundtrack.Lil Migo, the rawest new voice of Memphis hip-hop, joined the 4TH & B’WAY roster after his incendiary "No Love In My Heart" and "Letter 2 The Industry" earned over 25 million combined YouTube views, and spots on the Rolling Stone Breakthrough Top 25 Chart. Migo’s King Of The Trap 2 Deluxe expanded edition mixtape was released last week, containing his latest single, “Cheated.”Young Devyn, 20-year-old MC and hybrid vocalist from the East New York section of Brooklyn, has evolved into a full-fledged hip-hop and R&B phenom since her landmark “Straight to It” dropped last year. Her 4TH & B’WAY releases, “Rap Sheet” featuring Kenzo B and most recent “Decisions” show off compelling delivery, profound lyrics, effortless flows, and infectious melodies, injected with her unique Caribbean flavor.Doors open at 7p ET at 204 Varick St, New York, NY 10014. Get there EARLY! The Heavy Hitters + our very own DJ Drewski and DJ Lil Taj will be providing the sounds. See you there!

HOT 97 Who’s Next Playlist Is BACK! Be Ready For Our LIVE Showcase With Def Jam

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Music fans worldwide may have more human-to-robot interactions.Capitol Music Group is the latest label to add a robot to their roster - <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CM0fZCJpmAp/?hl=en">FN Meka</a>. The "robot rapper" has 10 million+ Tik Tok followers and nearly 200k on Instagram. FN Meka rocks green hair, gold chains, and a Gucci-printed Tesla truck. He regularly showcases original music on his social pages. On August 12th, he released "Florida Water", executive produced by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/turbothegreat/?__coig_restricted=1">Turbo</a> (Travis Scott, Lil Baby) which features Gunna and professional Fortnite player, <a href="https://twitter.com/Clix/status/1557449583474638848">Clix.</a>While FN Meka, is voiced by a human, everything else about him, lyrics to the chords, is generated by AI.https://www.instagram.com/p/B-7UKk6pfYk/?hl=enAccording to<a href="https://www.virtualhumans.org/human/fn-meka"> Virtual Humans</a>, FN Meka made his first public appearance on April 22nd, 2019 and has since became an internet sensation. He has amassed over a billion views on Tik Tok alone, making him the "most popular synthetic being on the platform". Naturally, big brands have partnered with Meka to capitalize on his fanbase. If you glance over his social presence, you'll see short-form videos featuring Starbucks, Minecraft, and Xbox. In March of last year, the rapper dropped non-fungible token (NFT) artwork, the SUPERTOILET. The <a href="https://nftscryptoguide.com/crazy-nfts-weird-nft-sales/">NFT Crypto Guide </a>details more on the peculiar art piece. "The NFT is a Lamborghini-styled porta-potty, designed by the artist called RTFKT, which was sold on the SuperRare NFT marketplace for $6500 to the acclaimed DJ Don Diablo."In an interview with <a href="https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/this-robot-rapper-has-9-million-followers-on-tiktok-his-creator-thinks-traditional-ar-is-inefficient-and-unreliable/">MBW</a>, Anthony Martini, the co-founder of the virtual record label, Factory New, explained more about FN Meka's inception and the state of the music business. He questioned the business model of artists today by asking "Think about the biggest stars in the world. How many of them are just vessels for commercial endeavors?".He adds "If fans only ever see their favorite artists on screens anyway, then what difference does it make if those artists are real people or avatars?"“EVEN WITH ALL THE MONEY LABELS DEVOTE TO FINDING TALENT, THE SUCCESS RATE IS A PITIFUL 1%. NOW WE CAN LITERALLY CUSTOM-CREATE ARTISTS USING ELEMENTS PROVEN TO WORK, GREATLY INCREASING THE ODDS OF SUCCESS.” -Anthony Martinihttps://www.tiktok.com/@fnmeka/video/6751756843372006662?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1&lang=enAI Powered influencers are computer generated people whose characteristics and personas mimics those of an actual human. These influencers are becoming increasingly common within pop culture. FN Meka is the latest to join the new breed of influencers. <a href="https://www.instagram.com/lilmiquela/?hl=en">Lil Miquela</a>, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/shudu.gram/?hl=en">Shudu</a>, and <a href="https://mixmag.asia/read/whet-records-new-roster-virtual-influencer-ha-jiang-local">Ha Jiang</a> are other AI robots in the modeling and music scene.

World's First A.I Powered Rapper Robot Inks New Record Deal

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<h3 id="h-hot-97-s-alum-connie-diiamond-has-been-making-new-york-proud-with-her-hot-and-gritty-bars">HOT 97’s alum, Connie Diiamond, has been <a href="https://www.hot97.com/read-whos-next/whos-next-spotlight-bxs-very-own-connie-diiamond" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">making New York proud </a>with her hot and gritty bars! </h3>Born and raised in both Queens and the Bronx, Connie Diiamond doesn’t yet claim her title as “The Queen of Drill” despite her fans saying otherwise. In an interview with HOT 97 DJ Mike Medium, Diiamond stated that she doesn’t want to claim titles that would refer to her as the “Queen of Drill” or the “Queen of Rap”. Alternatively, she only claims herself as being “The Biggest Diiamond”. This is one example of how she represents her uniqueness from other artists. Additionally, she chooses to use her individuality to express herself instead of fixating on sex to sell her music. As well as being her authentic self, Diamond has been successful with the help of her work ethic. When asked about her success, Connie Diiamond had only one answer in mind: consistency. Staying consistent as an artist is the key component to success in the music industry. Releasing music regularly while maintaining the best quality songs allows listeners to appreciate the artist’s music more and simultaneously exposes the public to their…. music. During the interview, Diiamond recalled, “For me, I had a moment where I wasn’t always consistent. I realized I had better results when I was putting out music every day.” Though, consistency doesn’t always come easy. Despite her inspiring work ethic, Diiamond’s self-journey of finding out her passion was unclear. She discussed with Mike Medium that she had self-doubts about pursuing a career in the music industry. She asked herself questions like: “Am I sure of this? Do I want to go down this route?” However, she noticed that every time she took a breather away from music, she was always drawn back in. From there on, she accepted her fate of being an artist and followed her path.Remy Ma has been one of Diiamond’s most loved artists ever since she was young. As well as her music, Remy Ma’s passion and aggression were inspirational to young Diiamond. Consequently, Diiamond was influenced by that and expressed her own aggression through hip-hop, rap, and drill music. During the interview, she jokes about how being a May Taurus contributes to her aggressive side.Keeping true to her word, Diiamond is on top of her game and has been consistently dropping hits. One newly released video that Ebro promoted on Apple Music is “Dance 4 U”. In addition to this, Diiamond recently released a freestyle with Jack Harlow’s “Churchill Downs” beat. Be sure to follow Connie Diiamond on her Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/_conniediiamond/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">_conniediiamond</a> to get updates on her new releases.

Connie Diiamond Wants To Be Known As A 'Well Based Artist'

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2021 Destination Summer Jam winner, K Goddess sits down with Miabelle to discuss her excitement following hitting the Festival stage, lesson she learned after her performance last year was cancelled due to the weather, and what to look forward to next.Stay tuned for more highlights and exclusive content from Summer Jam which went down Sunday, June 12, at Metlife Stadium.

K Goddess On Who's Next + Lesson In Waiting For First Performance

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<h1>Armani White Went Viral On TikTok, But He’s Much More than a “TikTok Rapper.”</h1>West Philly artist Armani White had been bubbling on the Philly hip-hop scene for years before a snippet of his now hit song “Billie Eilish” made his name nationally recognizable. Back in February, a snippet of White and friends dancing in the studio to the hook of Billie Eilish went viral on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdweMPxA/?k=1">TikTok</a> introducing his music to a wide international audience. However the viral snippet also prominently features a sample from the 2002 hit “Nothin’” by N.O.R.E. and The Neptunes, which made the sample take a long time to hit the streaming shelves. Nearly three months later, the Neptunes, N.O.R.E, and Billie Eilish herself gave the green light for the song to drop!Now in the Summer of 2022, Billie Eilish has been streamed nearly 10 million times and the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vYOwhll1fs">music video</a> has skyrocketed to over a million views.<h3 style="text-align: center;">Watch our interview with Armani White highlighting the story behind his breakout song “Billie Eilish.” </h3>White has been after it for years, a quick scan of his YouTube channel will show you highly produced music videos from as far back as 2014. Armani White has had both a powerful delivery and an eye for stunning visuals for years, but now the young rapper is finally getting national recognition. Patrick Mahomes, Apple Music, and the NBA have all taken note of White’s talent through previous projects such as his 2021 EP Things We Lost In The Fire and 2019 album Keep In Touch. Now the success of Billie Eilish has brought millions of eyes to other songs of his that made smaller waves but are still every bit as good as his viral hit. Armani White is a standout talent out of the fruitful Philadelphia rap scene. Philly doesn’t have a signature sound at this moment, but what it has been able to do is generate stars like Lil Uzi Vert, Meek Mill, and Tierra Whack who all make stylistically different music - but are the best at what they do. The same way no one sounds like Meek Mill and no one sounds like Tierra Whack, no one sounds like Armani White. There is no “wave” to hop on that will carry you out of the Philly rap scene, you have to make your own wave and Armani White has been doing just that.White may have popped off because of viral success, but he is not a viral rapper. He has put the time in, worked at his craft, and is reaping what he sowed. Anyone who is tapped in with the Philadelphia scene knows that Armani White is on a short list of artists who are up next.

Viral Hits: The Making Of \"Billie Eilish\" By Armani White

<h1>From TikTok Trending to the Charts - Meet Akintoye!</h1>On TikTok Toronto-artist Akintoye (22) has 2.5 million followers, which can be both a gift and a curse to a young creator. In the short time that TikTok has been around, it’s heavily influenced the sound of pop music and has given new artists a platform to display their talent. However hip-hop artists on TikTok tend to get painted into the label “TikTok rappers” and have a difficult time breaking out of that mold. Akintoye has made many viral TikToks showing off his creativity, sense of humor, and sincere rapping ability. Not only has he made freestyles and songs that’ve been viewed millions of times, his song “Pizzazz” has gone viral as a TikTok sound that thousands of creators on the platform have used to make their own videos. Over the last two years Akintoye has parlayed his viral success and rapping ability into millions of Spotify streams on multiple songs, but how else will he separate himself from his peers and break free from the label of “TikTok rapper?”<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 720px; min-width: 288px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@yeahitsak" data-unique-id="yeahitsak" data-embed-type="creator"><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@yeahitsak?refer=creator_embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@yeahitsak</a></blockquote><h2>HOT 97 sat down with Akintoye to discuss his successes, how TikTok changed his life, and his future plans. </h2><h4>Jason Peters of HOT 97: So how did you get into hip-hop?</h4>Akintoye: I'm from Toronto, Canada but initially from Lagos, Nigeria, but I ended up moving to Toronto when I was nine years old. My music background is sort of weird, I was in middle school, I didn't really know nobody, and I kind of was on my own.Then one day my teacher was like you know, we have a little end of the year concerts where they get the kids together and they like hold hands and they sing a song, you know what I mean? Yes. So, we had one of those “Waving Flag” cause this is right around like… <h4>Jason: K’naan! K’naan was popping back then around that World Cup! </h4>Akintoye: Yeah! Yeah! “Waving Flag” was huge and my teacher was like, all right, we're gonna do the Canadian “Waving Flag” rendition that had all Canadian artists and there was a Drake verse on there. So my teacher was like, “Hey, we need somebody to rap the Drake verse. Do you wanna rap the Drake verse?” And I was like 10 years old so, I was like, yeah!So after that performance, I went home and I started writing verses for the first time. Through my childhood and teenage years I spent most of the time just diving into the culture. Then when I went to college in 2017 I decided, you know what, I'm gonna just start making music, like, why not? And at first, it was garbage. The music was terrible.<h4>Jason: It's never good at the beginning. It's never good at the beginning. (laughing)</h4> <iframe style="border-radius: 12px;" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/artist/1EgCxqT8GgE5oXX3PkeGhq?utm_source=generator" width="100%" height="380" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>Akintoye: Awful. (laughing) It was atrocious like some of the worst music anybody could ever possibly make. But I stuck with it and put a couple years in and just learned the craft and understood what I was doing.I was pretty much figuring it out by myself. Then a friend of mine and I linked up one day and he was like, yo, like, “you know how to make beats, right?” And I was like, “this is the first time you ever told me about that.” (laugh) So we linked up and we started recording and that's when it started clicking.Right before COVID in 2019, I had dropped an album that’s no longer available on streaming, but I had dropped a project at the time. So my friends and I put together this show in the city and we pulled together a hundred people to just come watch us perform. And it was so crazy to me. That same night I was like, all right. So this is the way we gotta get to the people that start doing these shows.<h4>Jason: But then COVID hit?</h4>Akintoye: COVID said, no, you are not. And I got asthma, so I can't be playing with that, you know what I mean? I just wasn't even risking it.But yeah, so COVID hits and now I'm in the crib and I'm like, wow, I can't do anything. But like I was making all the music outta my crib so I can still make music, but it's just that I'm trying to figure out ways to reach people. And I kind of didn't know what to do, but my friends and I decided, you know what? Let's just start. Let's keep working on our music. We'll do it remotely. So that's kind of what we were doing.Then I wanna say right at the end of April 2020, there was this challenge going around TikTok. It was like this rap challenge. And at the time I had never made content for TikTok. I had a TikTok and I only had it cuz the kids I was working with were like, “oh you gotta get on TikTok.” And I was 20 and I was like, “I'm too old for TikTok.”<h4>Jason: Too old (laughing) at 20?</h4>Akintoye: You know? I mean, this was me at the time thinking, yeah (laugh” I was like, “I'm too old for that.” That is a young person thing and then one of my homegirls was like, “just download it so I could send you stuff.”<h3>Jason: Shout out to whoever that is. </h3>Akintoye: Shout out to you Hannah, cause she's the one who legit made me go download this application, shout out.Anyway I throw the first video up, not thinking nothing of it. I remember I had 44 followers and I knew all of them by name. These were the homies. I get the video up, I'm not thinking anything. Then that video just did some stupid numbers. It started taking off. I had never seen 10,000 views and we had like 10,000 views in one day and I was like, what? And by the end of the week we were in the millions, you know what I mean? I've never tried this before. So I’m like let me see how far I can take this. Lemme try another one. I posted another video and that one got like a million views and then another one and that got a million views. And I was like, oh wait, all right, this is a thing like, this is for real.<h3>Akintoye explains that after going viral, things didn’t immediately take off. He finished college, moved back to his parents house, and continued to make Tiktoks every single day. Although his audience grew, it didn’t directly correlate to musical success.</h3>Akintoye: I would wake up, roll outta bed, record the video, record the audio, record the video, go back, write another verse. And that's all I would do all day. <h4>Jason: How irritating is it to see 1 million views and then have like less than a thousand dollars in your bank account and be at your mom's house? How's that feel? </h4>https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DpA5xSBkZ7sAkintoye: I don't think people understand this about the way social media works. A lot of people that got 200,000 or 300,000 followers, a lot of them are broke. We are regular-degular folks, like social media, you don't get followers and then money lands in your pocket. That's not how that works.Like when I posted the “I’m Broke” video, I had around a million followers on TikTok and I wasn't joking when I said, “yo, I’m broke.” I was looking at my bank account and was broke.<h4>Jason: I’ve seen that video - that’s what made me follow you! (laughs) How did it feel having EARTHGANG duet your Billi freestyle?</h4>Akintoye: I didn't think they were gonna see it. I didn't think nothing. I was thinking it's gonna be another one of the duets I do where I go on and I rap and it's fun and I enjoy it and like, that's pretty much it. But like right when I posted it, they almost right away within like 20 minutes, they reposted it. It's wild to me that stuff could reach people that I look up to, which is so insane to me cause I really do look up to those guys.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4Oe8G7-wQw<h4>Jason: Do you have any inspirations on the move from social media to the industry?</h4>Akintoye: Yeah. I'm more so trying to break the mold myself. I think the social media to like actual mainstream music transition is very difficult. I made a separation of like, you know, this is the social media stuff and then this is like the actual stuff. Like I had to make that distinction. <h4>But I'm not just trying to cross over to the mainstream with a hot song, like I'm trying to stay. The name of the game is longevity. So I'm really trying to get in there, make music that lasts, and make music that people love, make full length projects that people could listen to.</h4><h4>Akintoye can be found on all social media platforms and has a popular single out titled "<a href="https://lnk.to/ak-pizzazz">Pizzazz.</a>" Be sure to check out <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@yeahitsak?lang=en">Akintoye's TikTok</a> and to come back to HOT 97 to learn about the newest, hottest, viral artists!</h4>

Gone Viral: Meet Akintoye, Toronto’s Viral Rap Sensation

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Stage Name: Connie DiiamondBirthplace: BronxDescribe your sound: Gritty & GhettoWho are the Top 5 artists (dead or alive) that inspires you as an artist?REMY MA , JADAKISS , MISSY ELLIOT , XXXTENTACION , TRIPPY REDDHow did you know this was something you wanted to do?Every time I tried to quit I just couldn’t something always pulls me back into doing music now I’m going full throttleWhat is the name of the first track you ever recorded? It was a love song called nobody but you lmaooo I sent it to two different guys too cause the first one kinda rejected me lmaoWhat was the first show you have ever gone to?My first real show was at sobsWhat’s the craziest thing you have ever done? Somebody dared me too jump on the hood of somebodies car for 10 seconds while the person was in itTell us about your first performance.My first performance went really well . I feel like I’ve always had really good stage presence and the crowd always loves my energy .What has been your favorite quarantine hobby?Doing nails and cookingWhat Made You Submit Your Music To Who’s Next?I wanted to find different ways to expand my audience and I just knew the people would love this song since it was already going viralLet us know why YOU are Next!Style Cadence , energy And vibe im providing that allll while still showing you where I’m from and who I am .Follow Connie Diiamond on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/_conniediiamond/">IG</a>+ check out her <a href="https://soundcloud.com/conniediiamond-1">Soundcloud</a>Check out "Dumb" + subscribe to her <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/ConnieDiiamondMusic1/featured">YouTube channel</a>!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-eI16dEVVI

Who's Next Spotlight: BX's Very Own, Connie Diiamond

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Get to know more about our 2021 Destination to Summer Jam semi-finalist!Stage Name: SmooveTheGreatAge: 25Birthplace: Pignon, Haiti<hr />1. Describe your sound.My sound exudes a youthful tone that brings an energetic note to hip hop.The tonality is consistent with my extroverted personality. With a flexible sound I am able to adapt to different harmonies. For instance, I am able to calm my voice or add a grainy tune to beats that are more poetic and romantic. 2. Who are the Top 5 artists (dead or alive) that inspires you as an artist?Drake, Bob Marley, Kanye West, Marvin Gaye, Tupac 3. How did you know this is what you wanted to do?I grew up in a family that love music, at a younger age my parents made sure myself and my brother played instruments and participate in the church choir they didn’t really care much when it came to sports. When my parents brought us our first keyboard we self taught ourselves on it crazy thing is I never knew how to read the notes. Later on I started making beats on FL studios around 13. I was a huge Kanye West Fan one time I couldn’t find the lyrics on the internet so I tape recorded the whole song when it was on the radio and wrote the song down memorizing all the lyrics. That was back then when it was extremely hard to download songs so I used to tape record them. I loved watching a lot of music videos on mtv and also music award shows whether it was the VMA’s, BET awards or the Grammys I always dreamed of performing at one of those three. Music is really my passion there’s really nothing else that makes me feel the way music makes me feel. A lover of poetry I was destined to be a musician. 4. What’s the name of the first track you ever recorded? What was your inspiration behind it?The first track I ever recorded was a remix of one of my favorite songs “Forever” by Drake, Kanye, Lil Wayne and Eminem. Growing up those four ran the game so that song was just greatness itself. I was inspired to do my own version so I played with the sound on FL studios and made it sound like Alvin and the chipmunks. It came out on 2009 and It’s called “Lambo kid Alvin and the chipmunk remix” Not gonna lie it sounds terrible it’s still on YouTube till this very day. 5. First person you ever saw in concert & where.I actually didn’t go to my first concert until I was 22 which is surprising and it was when Juice Wrld came out to perform on August 4, 2018 at the knockdown center in Queens. Very dope experience I went with two of my friends from college. 6. Tell us about your first performance.My first real performance was on August 21, 2019 when I performed at the VNYL in New York. My first single “Watch Out” had just dropped that month and it was the only song I had at the time. I was invited by my boy Alexander who runs a platform called Star Chasers which hosted a lot of networking events for independent upcoming artists. It was a small crowd but that performance was fire I never felt a feeling like that before I performed one song three times and the crowd enjoyed every minute of it. It was just a life changing experience after that I fell in love with performing. 7. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?I did a lot of crazy things when it came to music but not too long ago I did what most would consider the craziest thing ever. On my birthday this year in July I went to Europe for a month. From early 2020 I was able to build a lot of overseas connections through social media with upcoming rappers, singers, Djs, videographers and producers all across Europe. I first started out in Paris I shot two music videos with my boy DGT KORP and then linked up with a few producers I knew out there and recorded some songs while also banging out some features with upcoming French rappers. I left Paris and went to Luxembourg city, Luxembourg I shot a video on my birthday July 12 titled “Free”. After leaving Paris I took a flight to London I was almost denied entry in the UK because of COVID protocols so it was stressful getting there. From London I then took a 4 hour bus to Liverpool, England to go do a music video out there with a rapper that has me featured in one of his songs titled “Crowbar”. After finishing the shoot in Liverpool I went back to London and shot “Get witcha London edition” that was the 5th music video I finished out while I was in Europe. My last stop was Holland a few Dutch rappers wanted to work with me so I took a euro Train out there. I spent about a week in Amsterdam I was preety much in the studio all day everyday and then made a song about my whole journey in Europe I called it “Leap of Faith”. I talk about me believing in myself in the song and shot the music video for it In Amsterdam. Most would say I’m crazy because I shot 6 music videos in 4 different countries and I was all by myself I know traveling alone can be dangerous for some but life is about taking risks for what you love. Just me alone in different countries meeting dope people I met off Instagram who love music as much as I do. 8. What has been your favorite quarantine hobby?During the peak of quarantine which was last year I spend a lot of time in the studio working on my album which I was able to drop in July 2020. That whole album was a quarantine album because I was really locked in. Other then that I’m usually writing a song a day reading books about the music business or just working out at my in home gym. My favorite was definitely just locking myself in the studio.9. What Made You Submit Your Music To Who’s Next?I wanted to submit my music to who’s next because I believe it’s my time to shine. A loyal supporter of my music DJ Johnny of Hot 97 told me about the competition and how I should submit. I listen to him and wanted to give it a shot being from the New Jersey/ New York area it’s every artist dream to perform at Hot 97 summer jam so I looked at it as an opportunity. 10. Let us know why YOU are Next.As an independent artist you have to be well rounded I’m always reading and trying to learn I self taught myself how to edit videos on FCPX and have edited 90% of my videos. There was times I had to spend my last penny for studio time, paying off videographers or just taking trips and coming back home broke just because I truly believe in investing in myself will pay off one day. I have no management, no sponsors, every trip, studio time, videographer I paid came out of my pockets. I literally been doing this on my own I’ve done what most people would call the impossible. I’m doing what I love and I love every second of the process. It’s very rare to come across an artist like myself Im next up and my message is bigger I just want the world to know who SmooveTheGreat is.11. Shout out your social handles & where people can find your music.@SmoovethegreatYou can also find my music on every major music platforms I’ll leave <a href="https://www.flowcode.com/page/smoovethegreat">my flow code link here.</a><hr />Check out his 300 Unplugged x Hot 97 Who's Next performance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=norrXC4-NUM

Destination To Summer Jam Semi Finalist Spotlight: SmooveTheGreat

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Get to know more about our 2021 Destination to Summer Jam semi-finalist!Stage Name: Kyah BabyAge: 26Birthplace: Jamaica Queens, NY<hr />1. Describe your sound.- Unexpected , indescribable honestly not to be cliche but I have a sound of my own so it"s hard to describe. You would have to listen for yourself.2. Who are the Top 5 artists (dead or alive) that inspires you as an artist?- Mary J Blige, Missy Elliot, 50 Cent, Nicki Minaj, Lauryn Hill3. How did you know this is what you wanted to do?- I came to a point in life where I literally lost it all doing all the wrong things in life, at that point I realized music is all I wanted to do and I was willing to risk being broke doing that. That's when I realized I was in love with this.4. What’s the name of the first track you ever recorded? What was your inspiration behind it?- The first track I ever recored was a freestyle to Joe's "Baby Where You At" lol. At the time I was with a rap group called Team Lite Werk. They embraced me like a little sister when rapping was just a hobby to me. Being it was a remix the inspiration came from the original track; basically a love song.5. First person you ever saw in concert & where.- The first person I ever saw in concert I believe was Usher lol I don't remember where it was.6. Tell us about your first performance.- My first performance was at a college. I was nervous as hell because I had literally just started rapping I had never performed live before. I remember passing gas like crazy but I got through it lol.7. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?- Sky jumped off of the 5th tallest building in the United States (The Stratosphere) or maybe went to jail that was real ghetto and crazy8. What has been your favorite quarantine hobby?- Yoga9. What Made You Submit Your Music To <a href="https://whosnext.hot97.com/">Who’s Next?</a>- Any opportunity I can make to better my career I'm going to take full advantage of it. Hot 97 Who's Next has been providing me with opportunities for some years now and I've been blessed to touch the SOBs stage, Enuffs Freestyle Hot Box & Out The Box as well as Flexs Freestyle. Now I'm seeing to it I grow to that next level which is Summer Jam Festival Stage!10. Let us know why YOU are Next.- Everything's all about timing & my time is NOW. I'm well prepared, I'm a seasoned artist and there's not many who have kept pushing and going for as long as I have. It's time for that new sound in music, not just for females, but for music period. I'm here to bring that feel back. My only way to go from here is up !11. Shout out your social handles & where people can find your music.- My Instagran handle is @<a href="https://www.instagram.com/kyah_baby/">Kyah_Baby</a>. You can follow my <a href="https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/t3RtCwpgDjcyNERxF9skMS?domain=linktr.ee">linktr.ee/KyahBaby</a> that's in my bio and it will take you to all streaming platforms where you can find my latest project <a href="https://unitedmasters.com/m/60c266ed6b55ac21c851d256">P.S. It's Not About You</a> along with latest videos "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6zKR5qhgUs&feature=youtu.be">Love Story</a>", "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KK6fqObOeQ">Timing</a>" & "Go Savage" as well as my other social media handles.<a href="https://www.ticketmaster.com/hot-97-summer-jam-east-rutherford-new-jersey-08-22-2021/event/00005ACBEE2657DE">Get tickets for SUMMER JAM on Ticketmaster NOW!</a> See you at the show!<hr />Check out her 300 Ent Unplugged x Hot 97 Who's Next performance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWON9bHprdE

Destination To Summer Jam Semi Finalist Spotlight: Kyah Baby

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Get to know more about our 2021 Destination to Summer Jam semi-finalist!Stage Name: K GoddessAge: 24Birthplace: Brooklyn, NY (Brownsville)<hr />1. Describe your sound.My sound is Unique, there’s nobody with my sound. I have a HipHop/Edgy/Rap/Drill Sound but I still know how to be versatile & switch it up and sing. I was the 1st Female to EVER Do Drill In NYC. So when you hear a female rapper doing Drill, it’s because of me. 2. Who are the Top 5 artists (dead or alive) that inspires you as an artist?My Top 5 Artist : Notorious B.I.G , Fabulous, LIL Baby, Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé 3. How did you know this is what you wanted to do?I knew this is what I wanted the moment I saw the look on my Grandmothers face when she told me she was sick & wanted to leave the projects. I knew I had to make something happen for her! 4. What’s the name of the first track you ever recorded? What was your inspiration behind it?The First Track I Ever Recorded Was A Song called “Whipping Excursion” Remix from an UK artist name “Giggs”. The inspiration behind it was to catch Giggs attention & it did just that. Not only did I catch Giggs attention... He Co-signed me & instantly my fan base started in the UK before it even started in the states. That’s how I became the First Female of Drill in NY because of that song. 5. First person you ever saw in concert & where.The first person I ever saw in concert was Rihanna & Eminem in NJ years ago. It was motivation & I always knew I would be touching stages like that one day. 6. Tell us about your first performance.My first performance was at an Spice event, like the dancehall queen “Spice” yes. It was hilarious because I was rapping a fast ass song not knowing how to do breathe control so my voice was cracking. However, That move was beneficial because Spice knew who I was & so did the people in the building, it worked out for the better Lol. 7. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?I’ve done a lot of crazy things in my time, I don’t know what’s the craziest thing I’ve done but I do know to think before my actions now. 8. What has been your favorite quarantine hobby?My favorite quarantine hobby has been to workout & freestyle off the head. Usually when I go into the studio I’m writing but lately I’ve been getting more intuned with myself as an artist & been growing. 9. What Made You Submit Your Music To <a href="https://whosnext.hot97.com/">Who’s Next?</a>I’ve been submitting my music to HOT97 Who’s Next since I began my rap journey 4years ago. Each year I felt like I wasn’t making enough noise to even be considered so I’ll pay my $20 without a problem. I submit it because it’s a opportunity HOT97 is a station for the tristate & a major platform in our Community, I get stamped by Who’s Next I’m stamped for life & I feel lyrically, emotionally & physically I’m ready! 10. Let us know why YOU are Next.I don’t feel like I’m Next. I feel like I’m NOW. The whole NewYork watched me grind from nothing. I been on these rappers NECKS, this year & next year is my YEAR. I’m the only GODDESS in the Rap Game. I’m setting an example for the youth, for my community, I’m motivating other artist. Your sister, cousin or aunt can relate to me. The listener can relate to my music & it’s HITTING. 11. Shout out your social handles & where people can find your music. What’s Good yall it’s your Girl <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kgoddessofficial/">K Goddess</a> aka K Motherfuccin Goddess aka a Brooklyn Bitch Anyhow.. aka I’m from NY where we stomp bitches out in our timberlands on the Checc in & you can find my music on all streaming platforms @Kgoddessofficial on all social media platforms except for Twitter it’s @ShesTheGoddess ... GLLLLLLLTTTTTT BOW. <a href="https://www.ticketmaster.com/hot-97-summer-jam-east-rutherford-new-jersey-08-22-2021/event/00005ACBEE2657DE">Get tickets for SUMMER JAM on Ticketmaster NOW!</a> See you at the show!<hr />Check out her 300 Unplugged x Hot 97 Who's Next performance:https://youtu.be/9x9Kl7-pyps

Destination To Summer Jam Semi Finalist Spotlight: K Goddess

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Get to know more about our 2021 Destination to Summer Jam semi-finalist!Stage Name: T.O.GREENAge: 32Birthplace: College Park , Atlanta Georgia (Southside)<hr />1. Describe your sound.DIFFERENT, UNIQUE, ITS VERSATILE, ITS DISTINCT, Recognizably different2. Who are the Top 5 artists (dead or alive) that inspires you as an artist?2pac, Dmx, future, Nipsey Hussle, Rick Ross3. How did you know this is what you wanted to do?Because I always loved music, and once I started making music I knew I was dope at it and it was something I wanted to pursue.4. What’s the name of the first track you ever recorded? What was your inspiration behind it?First track I ever recorded was called “Ready for war” and the inspiration behind it was because Pastor Troy5. First person you ever saw in concert & where.It was Pastor Troy at birthday bash in ATL6. Tell us about your first performance.My first performance I was nervous and I had to wear shades because I didn’t like all the people looking at me.7. What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?The craziest thing I've ever done was SKYDiving.8. What has been your favorite quarantine hobby?My favorite quarantine hobby has been writing music.9. What Made You Submit Your Music To Who’s Next?My manager told me about it and felt like was it was a dope idea and it was well worth the opportunity10. Let us know why YOU are Next.I am next because my style is versatile and I don’t feel like nobody could do what I do and I don’t sound like nobody that’s out right now and I can compete with the best of them.<a href="https://m.soundcloud.com/trap-america">Check out his music.</a>+ <a href="https://www.instagram.com/iamtogreen/">Follow him on IG!</a><a href="https://www.ticketmaster.com/hot-97-summer-jam-east-rutherford-new-jersey-08-22-2021/event/00005ACBEE2657DE">Get tickets for SUMMER JAM on Ticketmaster NOW!</a> See you at the show!<hr />Check out his 300 Unplugged x Hot 97 Who's Next performance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=_zjx1sC3GSE