10 rising female artists you’ll have in your playlist in 2021
From Pop and R&B to Indie and Rock, they are considered some of the female rising artists to look out for this year.
1. CELESTE
She already has a Brit Award for Rising Star and a BBC Music Award for Introducing Artist of the Year. The American-born British singer and songwriter Celeste will release her debut studio album Not Your Muse this year and the critics are already excited about it.
Celeste began her career providing vocals for electronic producers such as Avicii, Tieks, and Real Lies while publishing her own songs on SoundCloud. In 2017, she realized her first EP The Milk & the Honey under Lily Allen’s label, followed by the singles Strange, Stop This Flame, and A Little Love, which gave her more attention in the music scene.
Being compared several times to Amy Winehouse, Celeste is a mix of Soul, Jazz, and Alternative. She recently released her new single Love is Back at the new year’s BBC show Jools’ Annual Hootenanny.
2. BENEE
She has been doing a lot of success in her home country, New Zealand, winning Single of the Year, Best Solo Artist, and Best Pop Artist at New Zealand Music Awards in 2019 and 2020. However, Benee jumped to the worldwide spotlight thanks to her single Supalonely (ft. Gus Dapperton), which went viral in TikTok with around 10M dance videos made to the song, reaching more than 2.3 Billion Global streams.
By the end of last year, Benee launched her first album Hey u x, which includes features with artists such as Lily Allen, Flo Milli, and Kenny Beats. Labeled as alternative-pop, the album has a mix of elements and genres from jazz, indie-pop, and electropop.
3. TAYLA PARX
She is best known for her roles in the movie Hairspray and the series Gilmore Girls, however, Tayla Parx has been working in the music industry since she was 19. Apart from having 9 Grammy nomination for co-writing Ariana Grande’s album Thank You, Next and John Legend’s album Bigger, the 27 years old singer from LA, was also credited as a co-writer of several Billboard Hot 100 top 10 singles such as Love Lies by Khalid and Normani and High Hopes by Panic! at the Disco. She has also contributed to albums by other artists like Jennifer Lopez, BTS, Jason Derulo, Mariah Carey, Camila Cabello and she went on tour with Lizzo in 2019.
Parx finished 2020 launching her first album Coping Mechanisms, which is a mix of disco music, pop, and R&B where she writes about her own experiences and learnings from loving without any inhibitions.
4. BREE RUNWAY
Friends with the legendary Missy Elliot, the English singer, rapper, and songwriter Bree Runway is expected to be one of the big names this year. In charge of her entire creative process and completely against genre labeling in music, Bree has expressed her sound as genre-bending as well as genre fluid by finding inspiration in a multitude of genres including pop, rap, dance, R&B, rock, hyper pop, and country. Times Magazine described her as a Pick N Mix artist.
At the end of last year, the artist launched her mixtape called 2000AND4EVA, where she shows the multiple sides of her music: her first single Apeshit mixes hip-hop and rock, Damn Daniel is an 80s-inspired bop song and ATM (featuring Missy Elliot) is could be in any of the albums of the American rapper.
Bree Runway was also was invited by Rina Sawayama to feature on a remix of her single XS.
5. ANITTA
She is Brazil’s biggest pop-star, probably of all times. Anitta started her career singing Brazilian funk, a distinctive Rio de Janeiro-born musical style that has similarities to hip-hop and reggaeton. Most recently she has been stepping in global music charts with her mostly pop and Latin-pop songs singing in three different languages — Portuguese, Spanish, and English. Anitta’s career includes collaborations with global stars like Madonna, J Balvin, Maluma, Snoop Dogg, Diplo, Black Eyed Peas, Rita Ora, Alesso, and Iggy Azalea. Her latest single Me Gusta, featuring the American rapper Cardi B and the Puerto Rican Mike Towers has 91 Million views on YouTube and cracked Billboard Hot 100.
With four studio albums, including the multilingual Kisses, which received a Latin Grammy nomination for Best Urban Music Album, Anitta will launch a new one this year called Girl from Rio, produced by the American singer and vocalist of OneRepublic, Ryan Tedder.
6. DYO
She has been writing lyrics for famous artists such as Maroon 5, Jacob Banks, and Fifth Harmony but got to the spotlight thanks to the smash hit Sexual, by the Swedish producer Neiked’s.
Dyo is an English singer and songwriter that marries Afroswing, R&B, and pop. The London-based singer released her debut EP Dyologue last year and it is getting critics' attention for this mix of sonorities.
Her latest single Let Them Talk, featuring the Nigerian artist Simi has been described by The Independent as a brilliant and catchy hit.
8. BEABADOOBEE
She was born in the Philippines but she is now based in London, where she recently signed her contract with the independent label Dirty Hit. Beadadoobee mixes Indie pop, indie rock, and alternative, which is clearly working for her as she has around 14 million monthly listeners on Spotify, including famous artists like Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Khalid, who publically expressed their admiration for her work.
Her debut album, Fake It Flowers, was at the end of 2020 and went to number eight on the UK Albums Chart and peaked charts in the United States, Australia, Ireland, and Japan.
Recently Billboard ranked Beabadoobee as the Top New Rock Artist of 2020. This year, the artist kick-off her first tour in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
9. AMY MONTGOMERY
Featured in UK Sunday People Legends Of The Future alongside Dua Lipa, Rosalia, and Billie Eilish, Amy Montgomery is being considered an exceptional new voice in the alternative rock music scene.
The Irish singer released her debut EP Intangible at the end of last year, which according to Amy, “is about making peace with the loss or absence of a loved one”. She is creating immediate comparisons to Alanis Morrisett and Janis but with a very modern attitude and style.
After making her Australian debut tour last year, Amy is currently working on a tour in Europe.
10. GIRL IN RED
Her real name is Marie Ulven, but the new Norwegian indie-pop sensation is mostly well known by the name Girl in Red.
She released her debut single I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend on SoundCloud, which gained over 150 million streams online and was listed at №9 on The New York Times list of The 68 Best Songs of 2018. Since then, she has been releasing extended plays from her bedroom studio and has gathered over 7 million monthly streamers on Spotify.
Her first album World In Red was planned to be launched last year, but it got postponed due to the COVID19 pandemic, however, critics' expectations are high and she has been listed as one of the rising stars for 2021.
