These Days

Chicago Artists to Watch

2024

For those paying attention, it’s no news that we’re entering an expansive new era of Chicago music. However, the sobering reality is that artists, no matter how talented, face growing challenges. Their chances of earning a living wage are increasingly elusive, algorithms and social media drown out bodies of work, and traditional media spaces focused on curating local music are collapsing (Long live Vocalo!). It’s a great time to be a cynic. 

But even the staunchest pessimists aren’t immune to art’s power to spark emotions that transcend reason and instill optimism against our better judgment. This year's Chicago Artists to Watch class epitomizes this spirit. They create music that tells our city’s stories, gets us through the bullshit, and inspires us to imagine a brighter future.

As These Days nears its decade mark, the fuel behind our lasting presence is the experience of discovering a new artist and obsessing about them with others. Our Artists to Watch feature invites you to join us in this experience.

Creative communities will continue to face challenges, but this list represents our refusal to succumb to cynicism. As long as Chicago produces great new music, we will never stop obsessing over it.

- Pedro Gonzalez

* * * *

Amira Jazeera

Amira Jazeera builds dreamlike worlds through pulsating pop records that stir people to move —both physically and emotionally. Yet, her creative process starts with a grounded routine: retreating to her home studio with her cat Falafel to produce, arrange tracks, and record vocals. It's a simple approach that seems to unlock her vast potential by relying solely on herself, her equipment, and a love for music, including 80s pop, Madonna, and Prince.

Amira’s primary creative language is music, but her expression is boundless. It can be seen in her recent stick-n-poke tattoo work, her creative direction of visuals, and her highly stylized outfits. 

The past year has been a journey of profound transformation for Amira filled with new collaborators, skill-building as both a producer and vocalist, and experiences that have deepened her bond with art as a form of resistance.

Navigating this type of evolution is typically a balancing act: make space for the change by submitting to the Universe, as Amira says, while redirecting your course to meet your soul's needs. For the Palestinian Pop Princess the reroute kicked off 2024 in L.A. with live performances and contributing to The Art of War, an album executive produced by Eddy Mack. The project brought together artists from across the world to give voice to the people of Palestine. Amira's track, “Rhythm of Resistance,” brought her ethereal vocals alongside spirited production. The lyrics proclaim freedom and owning one's identity while featuring Jazeera's first-time singing in Arabic, which pairs beautifully with her rich tone. 

As her transformation continues, she's focused on one more balancing act: making music that’s healing and an escape at the same time.

- Iman Music

Listen to Amira Jazeera on Spotify & Apple Music

Follow Amira Jazeera on Instagram

* * * *

Cece BKE

Cece BKE’s appeal lies in her undeniable authenticity —a quality shaped by her upbringing as a self-proclaimed "Humboldt Park baby" and her later residence in the Austin neighborhood. Hailing from Out West has instilled in her a distinct and fearless personality, which she exudes effortlessly in the booth. Her style and approach to street-driven lyrics, party anthems, and knocking beats have resonated deeply within the City over the past year —a testament to her lifelong obsession with music and performance. 

As a child, she loved reciting Lil Wayne songs for her family and received formal training in violin and piano. She ultimately embraced the defiant and free spirit of rap more than the confines of traditional instruments. However, her foundation in musical theory is still present in her ease of mastering different pockets and flows. 

Listening to Cece’s music is like being with that one friend who can singlehandedly reignite a function, keeping the party alive long after others are considering calling it a night. Play any track from her 2023 project Duffle Bag Girl, and you’ll find yourself either dancing or rapping with your whole chest. The breakout single, "Ehn Ehn," saw her momentum truly surge, propelled by playful mocking ad-libs and cutting taunts, and she hasn’t looked back since. Her ascent continued with "Backbone," "Facecard" and numerous visual freestyles and interviews. With eyes set on an even more monumental 2024, Cece BKE proves that her hunger for success matches her undeniable talent.

- Pedro Gonzalez

Listen to Cece BKE on Spotify & Apple Music

Follow Cece BKE on Instagram

* * * *

J Bambii

Jasmine Barber, aka J Bambii, blends diverse influences and a deep passion for her community into introspective and subversive rap. Representing Chicago’s South Side, Bambii taps into her community-centric ethos to curate events that prioritize and amplify Black women and queer voices while also using her background as a Tarot reader to allow the universe to shape her creative process.

Naturally fueled by the fiery traits of being a Sagittarius, Bambii immersed herself in a myriad of poetry growing up, paving the way for music that reflects her personal journey and serves as a catalyst for defiance against the status quo.

Inspired by artists like J Dilla, Bahamadia, D'Angelo, and Jill Scott, J Bambii’s sound features jazzy loops, texturized percussion, and assertive vocals that command attention. Her blunt realities of anxiety, struggles growing up, and toxic relationships are illustrated through candid lyricism that is incisive and thought-provoking. She distills real experiences and raw emotions with lyrical prowess, exemplified by lines in her new album like,  “Front row, your love and your envy I can see it / Wondering how I made it, wondering how I fleed it. / Wondering how I made it this far with all the bleeding. / Wondering how I kept on loving when my heart was leaking.”

Bambii’s intentional creative approach is evident throughout her small but mighty catalog. “CHAOS,” one of the two songs she released in 2023, was accompanied by a terrific short film that portrayed the harrowing effects of internalized racism and societal pressures on Black women. With a long-awaited debut album —Black American Beauty—on the way and shows lined up for the summer, she is someone you need to have on your radar.

- Annelise Daley

Listen to J Bambii on Spotify & Apple Music

Follow J Bambii on Instagram

* * * *

Jay Foster

Jay Foster is moving at his own tempo. Far removed from expedited rollouts and recycled gimmicks, the West Side Chicago rapper is seemingly unfazed by popular industry-prescribed standards. Rather, for better or worse, Foster’s timeline is dictated solely by the demands of everyday life. Life lessons are the fuel for his art, oftentimes forcing him to focus on getting over the day-to-day humps before even beginning to tackle the pen. But when it happens, the music that comes out is undeniably special. Foster's style resembles braving a house of mirrors; layering various ad-libs and vocal takes, causing his words to somersault mid-air and reflect back at himself. Whether over a brooding beat or something jazzier, he hops onto every track with the same comfortableness as walking into your own home. If his music were a video game, then his signature move would be his laid-back delivery. Surrounded by an air of mystique, even between intimate bars, Foster maintains a poker face.

Growing up, Foster watched 106 & Park and Music Choice on-demand, where in a classic music-fan-at-heart style, he would record full songs onto his flip phone for later listening. This straightforward relationship with music still holds strong today. Free from frills and ulterior motives to chase industry clout, Foster is staying true to creating music that resonates with him. Unlike those churning out corny IG reels that beg for validation from faceless suits, Foster provides something truly human to connect with—a rarity in today's world.

- Ellie Naughton

Listen to Jay Foster on Spotify & Apple Music

Follow Jay Foster on Instagram

* * * *

J.Y.N.

J.Y.N.’s brand of alt-rock is made for early aughts house shows in humid basements, for those last few MTV live performances broadcasted to swooning girls in disco pants, for those aspiring rock stars building out their Napster catalog. If you don’t look long enough, you might see a young, leather-clad Julian Casablancas emerging from the carnage of the Mercury Lounge. But it’s not 2001, we’re not in New York, and this ain’t the Strokes. It’s J.Y.N., and he’s repackaging the garage rock revival sound and indie sleaze aesthetic for Zoomers raised on bedroom pop. 

J.Y.N.’s eclectic range of influence makes sense given his musical background. The singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist became a bedroom producer by circumstance during lockdown, and began emulating the SoundCloud rappers that defined that era. J.Y.N.’s early recordings are rough-and-ready yet undeniably catchy, exposing a raw talent that he would go on to hone over years of working at recording studios. 

The result of those man-hours is Bittersweet EP, a body of work that launches us into the next iteration of J.Y.N. in just over 15 minutes. Released in Nov. 2023, the EP is a homage to the greats of the early aughts. Amy Winehouse, Alex Turner, and Karen O are all there for the party, and they stay to mingle with contemporary indie mainstays like Mac DeMarco and Alex G. It’s this marriage of old and new that makes J.Y.N.’s music appealing to the disgruntled millennial trashing this year’s Lolla lineup and to the TikTok-addicted Zoomer —probably also trashing this year’s Lolla lineup. It’s also what sets J.Y.N. apart as an artist to watch.

- Kira Leadholm

Listen to J.Y.N. on Spotify & Apple Music

Follow J.Y.N. on Instagram

* * * *

Kaicrewsade

Kaicrewsade, a 21-year-old emcee and singer, is carving his own path and honoring the lineage of those who preceded him as he strives to become the city’s modern-day face of jazz. His upbringing, split between Chicago’s West Side and Jackson, Mississippi, exposed him to several musical eras shaped largely by family recommendations. From funk and jazz pioneers like George Clinton and Roy Ayers to culture-shifting rappers such as Chance the Rapper and Playboi Carti, it all helped him develop a taste for boundary-pushing music.

Refraining from using stock loops in his production, Kai prioritizes the soulful energy of live instrumentation to bring forth Black music traditions enhanced by his youthful energy. Whether delivering hyper vocal inflections bouncing over sparkling keys or laid-back singalong choruses with his array of collaborators, Kai has successfully found the connective tissue between the Dungeon Family, Parliment, and Chicago’s 2010s spoken word scene. 

Kai’s love for his hometown can’t be understated. “I would rather be one of the best artists in Chicago than one of the best artists, period,” he said. He started the year with “Chickenscratch - Live,” a breakout single about bonding over listening to Noname, and recently dropped Tank on E, a three-track EP featuring theMIND reminiscing about Telefone’s recording sessions.

Tank on E also finds Kai balancing being an effusive young person living in a complex world. He bemoans Obama's covert drone war and having to cruise with low gas but also revels in the simple joys of getting high with friends and trying to out-rap them. As we await a full-length project, these releases offer a glimpse into Kai’s coming-of-age and promising future.

- Henry Netherland

Listen to Kaicrewsade on Spotify & Apple Music

Follow Kaicrewsade on Instagram

* * * *

Moyana Olivia

Moyana Olivia’s music, often exploring themes of love and relationships, might not seem as radical on the surface, but her message is one of resistance and perseverance. From the onset, her music has intertwined the personal and the political to amplify underrepresented voices. Growing up in Minnesota and getting involved with music through her family’s connection with the church, the up-and-coming songstress weaves her soulful R&B-influenced vocals with intimate and vulnerable songwriting to create heartwarming hymns that offer refuge, particularly to Black and queer individuals. 

Moyana originally moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern University as a pre-med student. However, her passion for music steered her towards creating art that serves as a pillar for healing to its listeners instead. Her prodigious voice and stirring arrangements quickly garnered her significant local and national recognition, including the Recording Academy’s Quinn Coleman Scholarship, the Music Forward Foundation’s LGBTQ+ Emerging Artist Award, and a John Walt Foundation fellowship.

Since establishing herself in the city, Moyana has gone from being an admirer to a colleague of some of her favorite musicians in a scene that inspired her early work. Having already worked with artists she would listen to in high school, such as theMIND, and gracing stages like Northwestern’s Dillo Day festival and Schuba’s Tavern, she is poised to achieve even greater milestones in 2024. With her classical acoustic black guitar, Florence, by her side and heart-string-pulling songs like “Revival” and “Next to Me,” Moyana Olivia is ready to rise as one of the most inspirational voices in the new wave of artists in Chicago.

- Josué Olivares

Listen to Moyana Olivia on Spotify & Apple Music

Follow Moyana Olivia on Instagram

* * * *

Feature Photography

* * * *

CREDITS

Interviews by:

Pedro Gonzalez, Iman Music, Ellie Naughton, Henry Netherland, Josue Olivares, Kira Leadholm & Annelise Daley

Produced by:

Pedro Gonzalez, Carlos Castillo & Iman Music

Feature Photography:

Kayla “Swiper” Delson & Alex Jibaja

BTS Photography:

Iman Music

Video Shot & Edited by:

Myles Wright on behalf of @abgallery.7023

Set Design & Production:

Iman Music

Graphic Design:

Jada Milazzo

* * * *

Presented in Partnership with

South Facing Windows