Sadé Sanchez

2017 was a great year for music. When you thought the mumble rappers were going to take over, in comes the lyricists. When you thought the industry forgot all about R&B, in comes a slew of R&B releases from both oldies and newbies. Streaming sales took over the game, podcast-galore, and well, the memes were downright legendary. Let’s not forget when the rest of the world seemed to catch up with us when it was announced that Hip Hop became the dominant genre of the country. Uh, duh.

2017 was a great year for music. When you thought the mumble rappers were going to take over, in comes the lyricists. When you thought the industry forgot all about R&B, in comes a slew of R&B releases from both oldies and newbies. Streaming sales took over the game, podcast-galore, and well, the memes were downright legendary. Let’s not forget when the rest of the world seemed to catch up with us when it was announced that Hip Hop became the dominant genre of the country. Uh, duh.

CyHi The Prynce, Kelela, Roy Woods and more - here are all the standout debuts of this year... part six that is. And yes, this is the last installment of this series. Don't forget to check out part five.

Jitters. Butterflies. Sweaty palms, weak knees, “arms are heavy” — Good thing I said no to my mom’s spaghetti. Yes, I was nervous, to say the least. Something I didn’t consider to happen for years, but I took a lead of faith and made it happen. I started plottin’ and schemin’, took a few months — and several migraines — but, finally, I organized and hosted my first open mic show.

A$AP Twelvyy, Daniel Caesar and more — here are all the standout debuts of this year... part five that is. Don't forget to check out part four.

So I had a pleasant surprise while I was digging up talent for my open mic series, Check It! I came across this video, and after just a few seconds I think, "I need to hear more from this guy." After reaching out to him, I received an invitation to a listening party for his upcoming debut project. His name? No, that's not a typo, you read it right.