The annual BBC guide to music’s next big thing has been unveiled with Chicago native Chance The Rapper, soul-singing Londoner Sampha and Swedish-Australian twin sisters Miranda and Elektra Kilbey of Say Lou Lou among the 15 names announced for the BBC Sound of 2014 longlist.
The list is compiled each year by a panel of music editors, critics, producers, radio and television presenters and bloggers, who are asked to choose their three favourite new acts expected to make waves in the coming year.
The panel are told specifically to base their predictions on quality, not hype and the acts cannot be already well-known to the general public. They also can’t have been the lead artist on a UK top 20 single or album before 4 November 2013 but can have featured as a guest vocalist.
Which explains the inclusion on this year’s list of 21 year-old Sam Smith, whose soul stylings featured on Naughty Boy’s hit La La La. Plus the aforementioned Sampha who is featured a lot on SBTRKT’s debut record and on Drake’s recent output.
The 2014 list is comprised of five solo females artists, seven solo male and three duos. As the BBC point out, one of said duos, Royal Blood, are the only representatives of rock music. The rest of the list favouring either an electronic or RnB-centric vibe.
The list will be narrowed down to a top five in the beginning of January, with the winner to be named on 10th January. Californian trio Haim nabbed first place last year with Adele, Jessie J and Ellie Goulding also amongst past winners of the prize.
Check out the full BBC Sound of 2014 longlist below:
BANKS
Chance The Rapper
Chlöe Howl
Ella Eyre
FKA twigs
George Ezra
Jungle
Kelela
Luke Sital-Singh
MNEK
Nick Mulvey
Royal Blood
Sam Smith
Sampha
Say Lou Lou
