Over the last eight years, Spotify has honored the top rising stars in the music world with an annual celebration recognizing their accomplishments in landing a nomination for Best New Artist.
We’ve remained committed to supporting emerging artists across all genres, helping them to launch their careers, and connect with fans all over the world. And that continues with this year’s eight nominees—Gracie Abrams, Fred again.., Ice Spice, Jelly Roll, Coco Jones, Noah Kahan, Victoria Monét, and The War and Treaty—representing a wide-ranging spectrum of sounds, voices, genres, and backgrounds that have caught the ears of listeners everywhere.
To celebrate this diverse group of talent ahead of their biggest night yet, we hosted the week’s hottest pre-show party at Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Featuring live performances from the nominees and special DJ sets from Ladies of Leisure and HoneyLuv, the party produced many standout moments. Noah Kahan and Gracie Abrams performed “Everywhere, Everything” together on stage, while Jelly Roll invited Lainey Wilson to the stage to perform “Save Me.”
Many of the music and entertainment world’s biggest names were in attendance, including Renee Rapp, Kesha, Orville Peck, FINNEAS, Madison Beer, Remi Wolf, Ross Lynch, Cara DeLevingne, Anthony Ramos, The Chainsmokers, Becky G, Conan Gray, Flyana Boss, Yung Gravy, Bazzi, Dixie D’amelio, Tove Lo, Moneybagg Yo, Simu Liu, Storm Reid, Gavin Casalegno, and many more.
Additionally, as this year’s sole party sponsor, Dunkin’ brought a bespoke menu to the experience with coffee, donuts, custom cocktails, and exclusive merch, adding a sweet note to an already delicious evening
But if you’re just discovering these Best New Artist nominees for the first time, we got you covered. Keep reading to find out what each of these talented individuals achieved in 2023 to earn them a nod.
Gracie Abrams
Gracie started 2023 off with a bang, releasing her critically acclaimed debut album, Good Riddance, which was co-written and produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner.
Using the album’s success as a springboard, she toured as the opening act for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, contributed to the soundtrack for the TV series The Buccaneers, and collaborated with Noah Kahan on “Everywhere, Everything.”
Ice Spice
Building on her 2022 momentum and her chart-topping single “Munch (Feelin’ U),” Ice Spice kept rolling in 2023.
The New York rapper kicked things off with the release of her debut EP, Like..?, featuring “In Ha Mood” and the Nicki Minaj collab “Princess Diana,” teamed up with PinkPantheress for “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2,” and joined forces with Nicki again and Aqua on the Barbie soundtrack cut “Barbie World.”
To crown her year, Ice Spice enlisted global superstar Rema for the single “Pretty Girl” before joining Doja Cat’s U.S. tour as an opener.
Jelly Roll
Known for his distinct blend of country and rap, Nashville artist Jelly Roll truly cemented his place in music last year releasing his album Whitsitt Chapel to much fanfare.
Jelly Roll then took a victory lap with his Backroad Baptism North American tour, and closed out 2023 by collaborating with Jessie Murph on her single, “Wild Ones.”
Coco Jones
Building on the momentum of her starring role on the TV series Bel Air, Coco grabbed the spotlight in 2023, releasing her debut EP, What I Didn’t Tell You, being named an Artist To Watch in 2023, and headlining our R&B First Nights concert series in Toronto. After recording the duet “Until The End Of Time” with Leon Thomas as part of our Spotify Singles series, the R&B vocalist released the Justin Timberlake-assisted remix of her standout single “ICU.”
Bringing her whirlwind year to a close, Coco embarked on a headlining U.S. tour and recorded “You See Me” for The Color Purple soundtrack, while collaborating with Brent Faiyaz and Renee Rapp on their respective tracks “Moment Of Your Life” and “Tummy Hurts – Remix.”
Noah Kahan
If it seemed like Noah was everywhere in 2023, that’s because he was. Following the release of Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever), an expanded version of his 2022 album, the singer-songwriter appeared on Joy Oladokun’s single “We’re All Gonna Die,” collaborated with Wesley Schultz on his Spotify Single “If We Were Vampires,” and appeared on the Zach Bryan hit “Sarah’s Place.”
But if that wasn’t enough, he also reimagined many of Stick Season’s most notable tracks as collaborations, calling in the help of Post Malone (“Dial Drunk”), Kacey Musgraves (“She Calls Me Back”), Hozier (“Northern Attitude”), Lizzie McAlpine (“Call Your Mom”), Sam Fender (“Homesick”), and the aforementioned Gracie Abrams (“Everywhere, Everything”). Oh, and he found himself in the middle of everyone’s favorite Spotify Wrapped meme.
Victoria Monét
Victoria has enjoyed a steady rise to music stardom, but 2023 represented a coming out party of sorts for the R&B star. One of the main faces of our RNB X playlist launch campaign, Victoria was also the first-ever artist to take part in our R&B First Nights concert series.
In August, she released her Her album Jaguar II, featuring the hit single “On My Mama,” plus guest appearances from Lucky Daye, Buju Banton, and Earth, Wind & Fire. Victoria then finished her year by setting out on her headlining Jaguar tour, and recorded “We Might Even Be Falling In Love,” a duet with Bryson Tiller as part of our Spotify Singles series.
The War and Treaty
The War and Treaty’s 2023 breakout moment is a testament to hard work and nonstop touring. In the wake of releasing their fourth album, Lover’s Game, and recording the Spotify Single “Whiskey River” as a tribute to Willie Nelson, the rock-soul duo crossed paths with Zach Bryan, leading to a hit collaboration on “Hey Driver.”
Fred again..
After starting the year with the release of “Rumble,” his collab with Skrillex and Flowdan, Fred again.. never stopped making moves in 2023.
The UK producer and songwriter hit the road with Four Tet and Skrillex—which spawned the trio’s single “Baby Again..”—while also headlining numerous festivals. He then linked up with a wide-ranging cast of artists like Dermot Kennedy, The Streets, and Baby Keem, and released a string of hit singles including “adore you,” “ten,” “Mike (desert island duvet),” and “leavemealone.”
And if all that wasn’t enough, Fred again.. conjured enough time to help produce The xx-member Romy’s solo debut album, Mid Air, and release Secret Life, a collaborative album with the legendary Brian Eno.
(Source: Spotify)
