2024 was undoubtedly a massive year for music. Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter emerged as artists who revolutionized the music scene for the foreseeable future.
2025 may struggle to keep up with those same expectations popularity-wise, but several upcoming artists come to mind with innovative sounds that could see them break into the mainstream or become a staple in their respective genres. Regardless, here are five underground artists to know in 2025.
2hollis
20-year-old 2hollis has made himself a notable figure within the underground electro-pop scene this year. His album “Boy” was released shortly after going on tour with Atlanta rapper and Opium label affiliate Ken Carson. Since the tour, 2hollis has made a name for himself among the Opium rapper’s cult fanbase. Since then, his popularity has skyrocketed this year, with over 600,000 added monthly listeners since the beginning of the tour. 2hollis’ new song “gold” channels the energetic vibe of the tour into an aggressive, fast-paced, and catchy banger. 2hollis’ popularity in 2025 will surely increase, with “Leg One” of his tour that kicked off in late October. “Leg Two” begins in January, and has already sold out across the twelve tour dates added in the U.S.
Social media platform TikTok has also been partly responsible for the blow-up of the electro-pop artist’s music. Most recently, a TikTok video of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith danced to his viral song “jeans” that gained over 300,000 likes and 1.7 million views. His latest song “gold” has become his most popular work and has gained a dedicated fanbase from Ken Carson’s tour. Upcoming artist 2hollis is poised to soon revive the electronic scene that took off in the early 2010s.
xaviersobased
Xavier Lopez, prominently known as “xaviersobased,” is a 21-year-old New York City rapper who cites iconic hip-hop artists such as Chief Keef, Lil B, and Bladee as inspirations for his work. Currently the most notable member of his collectives 1c and NOVAGANG, he has completely reshaped the underground hip-hop scene with his distinctive production and clever flows and rhyme schemes. Additionally, he and producer “kashpaint” have revived hip-hop’s “jerk” scene, described with its sparse beats, simple melodies, and party-centric lyrics, a niche subgenre that has not been relevant since the early 2010s. Due to this revival, underground rappers such as YT, Nettspend, Yhapojj, and Duwap Kaine have all followed in the footsteps of Xavier, as he continues to spark inspiration for others within hip-hop.
Xavier has proven to be sporadic with his live shows. He performed at Lyrical Lemonade’s Summer Smash Festival over the summer, which featured prominent rappers Playboi Carti and Travis Scott. He has performed a total of nine times this year with other various underground rappers. While Xaviersobased has been creating music since 2016, the young prodigy is finally making his mark on the rap game. He only continues his status as an icon as an underground artist.
80gawd
Among the huge wave of electropop/electroclash artists to emerge in the last few years, 80gawd is yet another upcoming artist looking to break out of obscurity. He offers a unique blend of aggressive-sounding EDM and a fresh electronic sound. While he is relatively unknown, 80gawd released his first project, “uui87,” in July and has produced for Maxon, an underground rapper from Florida best known for his song “Syrup,” which has garnered over one million streams on Spotify.
80gawd has remained in the depths of the electroclash scene, a genre headlined by The Hellp, The Dare, 2hollis, and Snow Strippers. While they all get near mainstream attention, artists like 80gawd often receive little recognition. The sky is the limit for 80gawd, as he has gained many new fans this year.
Ghost Mountain
Ghost Mountain is an up-and-coming witch house and experimental hip-hop artist. He is known best for founding the Haunted Mound group with fellow California horrorcore rapper Sematary. Although Ghost Mountain and Haunted Mound had been releasing projects since 2019, he and Sematary had personal differences, causing Ghost Mountain to break contact. As a result, Ghost Mountain had stopped releasing music altogether for nearly three years. A cult fanbase grew amongst Haunted Mound over that time frame, and many waited for the return of Ghost Mountain
In September of this year, Ghost Mountain surprised fans with his solo synthpop release “Apollon.” If that wasn’t enough, he also reunited with Sematary on a track titled “Dark Harvest” in October. He was welcomed back with an ever-changing Haunted Mound collective featuring two new members since his departure: GRIMOIRE and Anvil. With Haunted Mound on an international tour and fans anticipating a Ghost Mountain show, his popularity is set to rise.
Nala Sinephro
Nala Sinephro is a Caribbean-Belgian composer, producer, and musician who fuses the ideas of meditative sounds, jazz, folk, and field recordings. Although she may not reach the same popularity as others listed due to her experimental niche, she is highly talented. Her sound is completely forward-thinking, as Sinephro has the potential to make her mark on ambient music in the same way that Aphex Twin did in the 1990s.
Her music is gentle, ethereal, and genre-bending, as demonstrated by her album “Endlessness,” released in September of this year. “Endlessness” has reached the top 20 albums in 2024 on RateYourMusic, and Pitchfork rated the album an 8.5, becoming one of this year’s most critically acclaimed albums. Nala will continue to spread her music across Europe next year with shows in the Netherlands and the U.K. as her audience continues to grow globally. Many fans admire her impressive accomplishments before turning 30, establishing herself as a significant figure in her field.
