Top Underground Artists to look out for in 2024
As we come into the New Year of 2024, we need to take some time to reflect on the past and the good things that 2023 has brought to us. 2023 was an amazing year for the underground scene especially on Long Island. This year I met and discovered many new artists throughout a plethora of genres who are doing some creative things. This list showcases some of the top Long Island/New York underground artists. This list is in no particular order.
Hood Escobar
Coming from Mastic, Hood Escobar brings a very unique sound to the Long Island underground scene. He brings an unconventional sound blending melodic vocals with his trap like bars. I have been fortunate to see him perform a few times and he’s improving rapidly. Hood Escobar is a part of the Bag Talk Collective. He won the grand prize at the Higher Fortune event hosted by Long Island Rap Radar. One of my top songs by him is Redrum which he dropped in 2022. Find him on Instagram and check out his music below!
K-Dawg
Long Island Native K-Dawg has been a force to reckon with this year. His old school soulful sound has been gaining a lot of attention all over Long Island as well as in the city too. He even was reposted a few times on 38 spesh’s story a few times this year. He dropped Rare Breed in May which was highly acclaimed. It has hits such as All I Need & Hungry on it. He is getting ready to drop a project with producer B divine called Pain And Struggle that should be coming in early 2024 as well as a music video with Kidz On Acid for All I Need. Check K-Dawg out by clicking his links below.
DIFFER3ENT
Coming from Farmingdale NY, DIFFER3ENT went crazy in 2023. He worked hard to improve his melodic sounds as well as began fusing it with other genres such as dance music. He dropped 3 projects in 2023: Come Back Once The Demons are Gone, Sex, Money & Death, Holy Grail. Some of his top songs for me are Chosen and Heaven. He just released a single Looking For to close out 2023 and start 2024. DIFFER3ENT has a multitude of projects in the vaults for 2024 as well as performing at Secko Fineese’s Holiday fest on January 12th. Make sure you check out his links to stay in tune with him.
Jacob Santana
“The dark side of winning is that we all live part time”
Jacob Santanna is a name that I have been hearing a lot about lately. I was fortunate to see him perform a few months ago at one of Social Media Houses events. His performance was electric, his delivery and crowd engagement was some of the best that I have seen from an underground artist. Jacob Santana is one of the most proficient lyricists on Long Island. He dropped his visuals for his song Speedball in October and from then on he has just been grinding and making fire. I'm excited to see what Jacob Santana does in 2024 and how he elevates to the next level. If you haven’t heard some of his music, go take a listen below!
BL8KE G
Coming from Hicksville NY, BL8KE G is someone who has been having a very impressive year. He’s been throwing a variety of amazing shows with his brand Strictly Night Owl as well as doing many shows on his own. He’s been doing tours, he acted in a music video for Lana Shore and his own music has been getting more and more recognized, with his streams climbing up to 158k this year. I am excited to see what he does with 2024, check out his links below to see the growth he has this year.
King Boogs
King Boogs has an interesting story. He’s from Southampton and has been making music for a while now but decided to start taking it seriously this year in August. He has a few songs dropped and they are all bangers. I had the fortune of seeing him perform at one of the open Mic’s that was hosted by Kidz On Acid and I was thoroughly impressed. He even wound up winning the grand prize that was offered. I think that King Boogs is gonna be a great addition to your playlist in 2024, and I'm excited to see where his music goes from here. If you haven't checked him out make sure you look at his work below!
Secko Finesse
Finesse, Finesse, Finesse! For those of you that don’t know Secko Finesse and I have been working together for a little while now. 2023 has been a year of great building for Secko. In 2023 he hosted a lot of shows and had even taken a dive into engineering. One of his prominent projects that he has been working on has been his Method Man series. In this series, he adds a new artist to the open verse of his song Method Man. It is truly a unique challenge. It was nice to see a plethora of different artists hop on the track and add completely different takes to the same song. In 2024 Secko is planning to drop his highly anticipated project as well as on January 12th he will be hosting his annual Holiday Fest event. Check out his link to tap in with Secko Finesse.
Justend
Coming from Queens and Long Island, Justend has been going crazy this year. I discovered him in August and I am impressed as to how much he has been growing since then. His sound is very unique, unlike anything I have ever heard before. He is multi-talented and you can hear in his music the influences of artists such as Frank Ocean and Steve Lacy. One of my favorite songs of his was Michael Myers. When I heard it I just couldn’t stop playing it. I am excited to see what he has in store for 2024; I saw he dropped Internet Girl to begin 2024 and it has already gone viral. Make sure that you check out his music and socials below.
Some honorable mentions are:
Brylone
Passport General
Khi10K
Shawn Deuce
Elite Viewers Only
Okayracer
HavXc
2023 was an amazing year for the underground scene and I am excited to see what 2024 brings!
