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Sad bois of the world, unite! Alternative R&B crooner Ben Kelly burst onto the scene in January 2023 after years of dreaming about pursuing music but never putting pen to paper. Throughout the month, he dropped a flurry of singles - You & Me, With Me, and Change. In February, he added All You Wanted and Clingy to his catalog, followed by Senses and Back to You in March. In April, he dropped the electric throwback jam In My Life and followed it up in May with Malcolm X Park. He’s also been active collaborating with other artists - in March he released Ring with producer Hihohohogamer, and May saw the release of his collaborative EP, Coast to Coast, with Jay Naundros. An east coast boy through and through, he hails from Connecticut but is currently based in Washington, DC. Ben’s music reflects his eclectic tastes, but typically features a unique mix of contemporary alternative R&B and older soul sounds. What will 2023 hold for this new artist? Follow along to find out.

Gess is an r&b/pop artist, songwriter, producer who creates contemplative alt r&b delivering what has been called “a heartbreaking and sexy exploration of self.” His sound can be compared to Banks, Sabrina Cladio, Alina Baraz, Khalid. GESS hit the scene in 2018 and in that time he has accumulated 4 million streams on Spotify and appeared on Billboard 9+ times, with work featured on 4 of their LGBTQ playlists. His latest EP “Tangerine” premiered in Paper Magazine and was debuted live at LA’s Pride Festival with Christina Aguilera. Hes written alongside Sam Sparro (Black and Gold), Mykki Blanco and Shea Coulee (Rupauls Drag Race Winner) Most recently, their song “YOUR NAME” produced by Sam Sparro premiered on VH1. GESS has performed at major venues throughout California including the notorious Viper Room, Soho House, as well as renowned queer events in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Amsterdam. Most recently he played LA Pride, Venice Beach Pride and contributed supporting vocals at Chicago Pride’s Main Stage.

As his streams, views and likes climb with every drop and his hit list of features turns from big timers like Wiz Khalifa, French Montana, Quavo and YG into legendary icons like Nas and Wu-Tang Clan, this Armenian, LA-born, Amsterdam-raised artist raps as the voice of his people. After graduating UCLA, finishing Pharmacy school and starting 9-5 work as a pharmacist, R-Mean met a major fork in the road; when his right hand man and business partner Alex Kodo sat him down and asked him to decide if he was ready to risk everything for music. They gave up everything, their cars, apartments, nights out, personal wants, and invested every resource to start grinding out gold. From the early buzz of his first project Broken Water, to the next level waves of his tracks “Lost Angels” feat. The Game to Wu- Tang Clan recruiting him to appear on their 2017 album. The Saga Continues to then performing weekly on B-Real TV after attracting the attention of Cypress Hill's B- Real, R-Mean consistently leveled up. In 2020 he teamed up with Berner for the fiery joint project. The Warning powered by "On God” feat. Dave East and "Kings" feat. Wiz Khalifa & B- Real, meanwhile packing out shows and tours across the US and Canada, performing on festival stages like Rolling Loud [MIA, NY, and LA] while amassing a loyal following. BIO He then linked up with legendary producer Scott Storch [Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Megan Thee Stallion], reaching critical mass with their track “King James” feat. Jeremih hitting 4.3 million Spotify streams and getting licensed by ESPN, while R-Mean's latest single, “Yalla Habibi” feat. French Montana, has already claimed 1.6 million YouTube views, 1M Spotify streams and charted at #61 on the Urban Radio Charts in April 2022. After his tribute hit "Letter to the King", dedicated to his childhood hero Nas, R-Mean received a FaceTime call from the legend himself and the rest is history. Sharing stages and collaborating on the unreleased single "Candle of the Devil,” Nas has blessed R-Mean with a life changing verse, but more importantly his support. Receiving praise from Huffington Post, XXL, HotNewHipHop, and many more. R-Mean stays busy racking up tens of millions of streams and views, collaborating with some heavy hitters on his newly released Storch produced full-length debut, M.E.A.N., [Pentagon Records). But that is not all. The philanthropic side of R-Mean has earned the support of Cardi B, Post Malone and the late DMX just to name a few for his powerful movement “Open Wounds",which started from a song with the same title. R-Mean sold tens of thousands of t-shirts emblazoned with the phrase "Our Wounds Are Still Open" to raise awareness of the Armenian Genocide of 1.5 million people and decided to establish a non-profit to continue giving back to his community as well as open his own merchandise storefront,recording studio and art gallery "The Pentagon LA” to create a space for worldwide artists like himself - committed to building legacy in honor of Hip Hop forefathers like Nipsey Hussle and 2pac,who lived and died for the voice of their people.This is the legacy of R-Mean. A true testament to following your dream, believing in yourself and not stopping regardless of the hurdles, R- Mean is about to show the world that HE is the ONE!

Dubbed the “Godfathers of LGBTQ+ TV”, Real-life married couple, Deondray & Quincy LeNear Gossfield are the creators, writers and directors of the iconic GLAAD award-winning anthology series, The DL Chronicles. Building on their brand and following their passion of telling Black, LGBTQ+ stories, they created and directed the Amazon Prime spinoff series, The Chadwick Journals. The third season, featuring Jamar Michael (Dear White People), won a 2021 Silver Telly Award and garnered a 2020 Daytime Emmy® Nomination for lead actor, Damian Toofeek Raven (“Chadwick”). The Gossfields were also tapped to be part of the producing teams for hit shows like, Kocktails with Khloé (FYI), and Sunday Best (BET). Their short film , Flames Executive Produced by Lena Waithe and Rishi Rajani (ray sure Johnny) starring Deion Smith (Outer Banks) and Dontavius Williams, premiered with critical acclaim at 2021’s Tribeca Film Festival and won two Telly Awards for “Best Directing” and "Best Drama”, several SFAAF awards including “Best Directing” and “Best LGBT Short”, 1st Runner Up for “Best Local Short” and the Jury Award for “Excellence in Cinematography” at Out On Film, Atlanta. Their short film, Congo Cabaret, highlighting the LGBTQ+ contribution to the Harlem Renaissance, has won numerous awards, and features Parisa (pareesea)Fitz-Henley (Luke Cage), Kevin Daniels (Modern Family), and Darryl Stephens (B Positive). Their film, Smoke, Lilies and Jade, narrated by Emmy® and Tony Winner, Billy Porter (Pose) premiered at Outfest Film Festival in Los Angeles and went on to win “Best Short Film” at 2021’s Black Alphabet Film Festival in Chicago. The pair made their TV directorial debut in 2022 on Lena Waithe’s and Showtime Network’s drama, The Chi.

An independent hip-hop artist, vocalist, & producer from California, Verum not only writes about the human experiences of love & heartache, but also about trauma, women’s rights, & the way we deem people monsters. He exposes our hearts in ways we feel afraid to say out loud & in turns soothes us. By embracing the dark & the bliss of life without rejecting the emotions we’re taught not to accept in ourselves, he materializes viral moments that ignite connections to his songs “This Letter I Write,” “Planet,” “Speak,” “Monsters,” and “That’s You.” 

Introducing Jordan Anthony, a young singer/songwriter all the way from Perth, Western Australia in his LA performance debut!   Jordan is a vocal powerhouse that captured the hearts of the Nation when at the age of only 14 he became the youngest finalist ever in the history of the series to make the Top 4 in the 2019 season of The Voice Australia. Following the Voice, Jordan was selected to represent Australia in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest with his original song ‘We Will Rise’.   From a young age Jordan Anthony had an ear for music and a passion for singing. Writing music from the age of seven, Jordan used money from busking to fund and independently release his first album ‘One Word’ in 2018 and has a passion to share his experiences with others through his music.   With a passion to act as the voice of his generation, Jordan is consistently growing his skills on the piano, guitar and songwriting, taking inspiration from his idols Guy Sebastian, Calum Scott, Ed Sheeran, Charlie Puth, Sam Smith & Shawn Mendes. His personal lyrics provide insight into his experiences of bullying, heartbreak and loss.   His 2020 Independent release ‘Broken Love’ is nearing 400,000 streams on Spotify and earlier this year Jordan released ‘Higher’, a track about his close knit community of family and friends and a reminder that they are a continual part of his journey, who are there for the highs and the lows. He says of this community and the song: “None of what I’ve achieved would have been possible without them and I think the song reflects that. It’s a song that everyone has the ability to relate to and it’s a message that I think should be heard."   Jordan’s powerful voice and song writing continues to grow from strength to strength. He is currently working on a catalogue of tracks with the view to refine these and release an EP within the next twelve months and take his music career to the next level.

He's already been named "One to Watch” by Taste of Country, The Boot & Sounds Like Nashville. Stepping off the highs of a pre-pandemic 108-stop radio tour and an extensive, high-energy touring schedule spanning 45 states and 3 continents, the Washington native settled into his home studio just outside of Nashville, TN to begin recording what would become his next album. From artist to songwriter and multi-instrumentalist to producer, Jakobsen has always been one to do things his own way and into his new album Set Fire to the Night, he continues to prove himself as the outside thinker he strives to be. Set Fire to the Night is a bounding step into the climate of todays society, but with a positive outlook on the present times and how you have the power to remain in control of your own tomorrows. It's a theme you'll find engrained throughout the entirety of it's track listing. Between the opening jangly guitars of “Beautiful” and the silver lining, state of mind lyrics found in “Don't Ya Think?” there's a radiating energy that shines through. Songs like “Get Back” and “Six” only prove to solidify the country-rockers stadium-like qualities and rhythmic flow that all comes to a cusp with the closing track “Into the Light”

Rob Eberle is a young, versatile singer/songwriter & producer originally from Long Island, New York. With the release of his debut EP, "WHERE'S MY MIND?" The New York native captures what it truly means to be heartbroken. Rob writes all of his own music, lyrics and works with various producers to create unique moments within his songs. Each one of Eberle’s songs are stories and moments into his life and others around him. Influences from an eclectic group of artists such as FINNEAS & Billie Eilish all the way to Madison Beer, Olivia Rodrigo & JVKE have helped to create Eberle’s genre bending darker-alternative to traditional Pop.

Doug Locke is an artist from Houston, Texas currently based in Los Angeles. Doug’s sound is a unique blend of pop and alternative r&b with a rock sensibility. His work has been featured in Billboard Magazine, The Huffington Post, AFROPUNK, Out Magazine, Idolator, GLAAD, Logo’s NewNowNext, Upworthy, PopMatters, American Songwriter, Queerty, Blurred Culture and many others. His Spotify counts over 1.1 Million streams. His debut single “#ThisCouldBeUs” hit no.32 on the iTunes Hot 100 chart.  The music video for this song has over 1.3 million views and his video for “In or Out” was nominated for “Best Indie Music Video” in the 2018 Queerty Awards.  Locke returned to Houston to film his music video for “KING” which has a strong anti-bullying message and themes of self-empowerment and love.  
In addition to playing shows at legendary Los Angeles venues like The Roxy, The Hotel Cafe, Harvard & Stone, Dirty Laundry, Sassafras Saloon, and Boardner’s, Locke has headlined Portland Pride Festival, performed as a part of LiveXLive’s Music Lives ON Festival and supported Gavin Turek on the “Good Look for You” tour.  Locke made his debut at the legendary Viper Room on the iconic Sunset strip with a sold out show. He has also made televised appearances on kCal/CBS ‘Morning Show: Los Angeles’ and ‘Great Day Houston.’  Locke has recently released the “Black Travolta EP,” and the “Why? EP.” New music coming soon!

WHO IS JACK THE UNDERDOG? In just over half a decade, Jack The Underdog has reinvented the pop-punk genre. He fuses pop-punk styles with electronic and hip-hop elements to create a totally original sound, dubbed “R&P” (rhythm and punk). Inspired by social justice, Jack The Underdog writes music for the misfits. Jack understands the battles of feeling unheard, and he aims to be a voice for the marginalized and misunderstood, hoping they can find some solace in his melodies. Jack The Underdog began his career as Jack Ohmes (old miss), writing songs in his hometown of Saint Paul, Minnesota. Music has always been in his bones - beginning at a young age, Jack took piano lessons, played in the school orchestra, picked up other instrument lessons, and attended School of Rock, where he was coached on performance and songwriting. Just a few years later, he formed a band with his high school peers called Painting Stars. As he began to emerge as Jack The Underdog, Jack's music led him to Nashville as he continued his music education at Belmont University. Jack majored in songwriting and music business and minored in social justice. Within his first few months in Nashville, Jack and his band, Painting Stars, were given the opportunity to open for the punk rock group The Story So Far. Jack The Underdog’s songs, “Dolly,” “Hard To Read,” “Sleepless,” and “Writing My Future” have been featured on popular Minnesota radio stations. His song “Dolly” gained popularity on the social platform Tik Tok as it was being used by popular content creators. With the release of “Wastin’ Away” in March of 2022, Jack The Underdog established himself in the pop-punk genre. He continues to represent the underdogs, finding ways to aid people however he can. Inspired by his mother’s battle with cancer, Jack donated all of the proceeds generated by one of his songs to Gilda’s Club, a support community for those living with cancer. Jack also works full-time at a non-profit that works to prevent sexual violence across the state of Tennessee. Jack The Underdog’s most recent release was his 7 song project, ‘Acoustic Variants.’ His progressive attitude and hard-hitting lyrics will undoubtedly catapult him all the way to the top. Jack will continue to release music through 2023, most recently collaborating with artists such as Kellin Quinn of Sleeping With Sirens and more.

When it comes to setting the bar high, Canadian r&b-pop artist Josh Sahunta never lets his feet touch the ground. Drawing upon his influences of John Mayer, Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd, Josh's songwriting is packed with deeply rich narratives and cool, contemporary soundscapes. Josh has opened for the likes of Scott Helman and Joey Landreth, and he continues to perform across Canada, the US and Europe. Josh’s music has gained significant support from editorial playlists on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music. He has also had huge success in the  European music scene, as his previous single “Wanting” was played by Pete Tong and MistaJam on BBC Radio 1 in the UK and by Tiesto himself, on his weekly podcast. Josh’s song “Take All I Am” was used on season 2 of the Netflix Original show The Order, and his song “Summertime” was used on the first season of Netflix Original Tiny Pretty Things. Josh recently also had 2 original songs placed in the third season of the hugely popular Netflix Original Love is Blind. Josh was also involved in the writing and singing on a major release by Sony India that has already amassed over 5 million views on YouTube. Josh has recently celebrated the release of his 2nd full-length album Mellowdrama and has had the opportunity to perform the new album on the main stage of the Calgary Stampede in July. “Josh Sahunta is one of those creative prodigies who excels at absolutely everything he touches.” – BK On The Scene

Kevin Maher, a Los Angeles native, is a world renowned Choreographer, Creative Director and Teacher.  As a dancer, he toured the world with Mariah Carey & Eve. He was featured in You Got Served and danced for Missy Elliot, J-Lo, Cyndi Lauper, Whitney Houston & Gwen Stefani  As a Choreographer he has worked with Madonna, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Becky G, Kelly Clarkson, Carly Rae Jepson, Pitbull, Nick Jonas, Jennifer Lopez, Natti Natasha, Selena Gomez & Bad Bunny.  He has Creative Directed 15 years of world tours for New Kids on The Block as well The Sydney Opera House hit, “Blanc De Blanc”  He is currently on tour with Monsters of Hip Hop and Hollywood Vibe. 

Big city vibes, small town mind. This mindset drives the sound of Matthew Thomas. Matthew Thomas is a singer songwriter from the suburbs of Chicago. Having lived in Indiana since 2006, though, he considers himself an adopted Hoosier. His debut EP, “Mustangs & Thoroughbreds, Vol. 1”  released in October of 2021. The project gives voice to the tension between the people we are and the people we aspire to be. It's an invitation to be honest about where you’re at but to not settle for what’s comfortable. Leaning on the musicianship and production of his friends, the EP was recorded at Stillwater Studios in Cedar Rapids, IA and produced by Stephen West.  In addition to being a verified artist on the critically acclaimed custom song website, Songfinch (fence) Matthew was the grand prize winner of the Al Johnson Songwriting Competition at the 2022 Wildflower Arts & Music Festival in Richardson, TX. 

Justin Dukes, born and raised in Vidalia Georgia, grew up loving anything to do with country music. He started his singing and performing career at the age of 15 years old playing bars and festivals all over the state of Georgia. After graduating college at East Georgia College in 2015, he moved to Nashville, TN to pursue his songwriting and recording career. While touring all around the country, Justin has opened for artists such as: Vince Gill, Charlie Daniels, Justin Moore, Big & Rich, Luke Combs, Joe Diffie, John Michael Montgomery, Shenandoah. He has played the world famous Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, TN and several songwriter festivals as well. He has an unique voice like no other in country music and his writing ability reaches all ages in the country music genre. Justin has released singles”Ain’t Nothin’ New”, “Don’t Think I Won’t”, “One Step Away”, “Don’t Think I Won’t”, “She Don’t Know It Yet”, “Get Around To That”, “It Don’t Take Much”, and one EP titled “Warning Sign - EP” which includes the singles “Warning Sign” and “Lovin’ You”. His music video for “Warning Sign” has been played on Heartland TV and The Country Network. Be sure to check out Justin’s social media sites on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, and Youtube

Bruno’s dad’s Brazilian and my mother is from Ecuador, My dad is a marine biologist and he met his mother when she was at the university in Ecuador, he was her teacher, after that he was working with shrimps his whole life, had a couple of farms and cultivated it, because of that he had to change a lot and the whole family would move with him, He moved more than 43 times in his life, changing schools, neighborhoods, citys, states, countrys. He lived in Argentina, Ecuador, Brazil, Miami, Germany, Portugal, Italy and Mexico.  Because of all the changing he had to adapt and never had this sense of belonging. After awhile Bruno lived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and started studying environmental engineering and received a scholarship to go to Europe and continue his studies there, thats when he moved to Munich, Germany. I When he came back to Brasil he finished his studies and graduated He didn’t know exactly what he loved doing, didn’t know what to do, he just knew that the normal job from 8 am to 5 pm inside an office wasn’t for him. His parents got cancer on that decisive moment of his life, at the same time..he took a couple of months to myself and to be with them. After awhile he was wondering what he would like to do with his life, career wise, and people would tell him that He captured the camera’s attention, that his charisma would be great for acting..so He started doing gigs as extra in Brazil.  When he saw the actors and what they were doing he fell in love, bruno realized he liked being on camera..then started studying, doing commercials and he got some featured extra jobs on soap operas and movies in Brazil. After that he was called from an agency to go to Mexico city and start his journey. He did a Dolce & Gabanna runway and Mercedez Benz fashion week, commercials, catalogues, editorials for Levis, nike, claro, etc and most recently Cinépolis, Lamborghini, IZZI, Telcel, Gatorade, Del Valle, Shein, MOTF.  In Portugal its a small market so I’ve settled myself there with some agencies, i did some commercials and photoshoots, a reality show too that was nice, like American next top model but Portuguese.