FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Music

The BBC Has Published the Sound of 2017 Longlist and it's Actually Pretty Great?

This year's list is heavy with independent artists, UK rap, and grime, which makes a welcome change.
Lauren O'Neill
London, GB

The BBC has announced the longlist for its Sound of 2017 Award and you know what? It's actually kind of a doozy. Following the success of Skepta at this year's Mercury Prize, the list is refreshingly heavy with independent acts, as well as skewing significantly towards grime and UK hip hop, which will, if we are lucky, indeed characterise the sound of 2017. Appearing on the list are Nadia Rose, who won this year's Best Video MOBO award for "Skwod", Stefflon Don, the British answer to Nicki Minaj we have always hoped for and do not deserve, and Dave, the only rapper from Streatham who has been remixed by Drake, and AJ Tracey, who we all know and love. Considering that previous winners have tended to stick to a bit of a middle-of-the-road theme (Adele, Sam Smith and Ellie Goulding have all shouldered the title in the past), we're kind of hoping that 2017 will signal a bit of a sea change for the award, in that someone who is fun and exciting might *whisper it* actually win. See the full list of nominees below:  AJ Tracey
Anderson .Paak
Cabbage
Dave
Declan McKenna
Jorja Smith
Maggie Rogers
Nadia Rose
Rag n Bone Man
Ray BLK
Raye
Stefflon Don 
The Amazons
The Japanese House
Tom Grennan Follow Lauren on Twitter. (Image via BBC)

Advertisement