Atlanta musicians to watch in 2025

These four artists have an answer.

Hometown: Atlanta

Age: 26

Recommended song: “Good Soup”

Jai’Len Josey’s honeyed alto sounds as refreshing as a tall glass of sweet tea on a humid summer day. The mastery of her runs is endless. Her tone can adapt to any genre. But last year, the singer wanted to nurture the big heart behind the big voice. Intense self-discovery was her 2024 goal.

“Sometimes it scares you,” the East Atlanta native said about her budding confidence today. “But then it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m human. I’m doing this. I have a purpose.’”

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Josey’s artistic purpose was established at Tri-Cities High School, where she shined in musical theater. She later signed with Def Jam and dropped her 2023 EP “Southern Delicacy.” That same year, she toured with R&B star Ari Lennox, for whom she co-wrote songs like “Pressure.” In 2024, Josey made her One MusicFest debut and appeared on MC Lyte’s album.

Now, she’s on the brink of dropping her debut album, “Serial Romantic.” Grammy-winning Atlanta hitmaker Tricky Stewart, who’s written for stars like Beyoncé, Katy Perry and Rihanna, serves as the album’s executive producer. It’s slated for release this summer.

“I might have been going through some sort of trials and tribulations with love, but I feel like I was just narrating experiences that maybe I’ve seen my friends go through or things I’ve seen other people go through,” Josey said of the new album. “I love people watching.”

“New Girl,” the album’s love-dovey lead single out March 28, blends doo-wop soul and up-tempo pop with ease. “Serial Romantic” underscores her star-turning evolution. Another standout is “Won’t Force You,” featuring acoustic chords and vocals that become more thunderous with each line about unrequited love. There’s also a hushed ballad co-written with Atlanta hitmaker The-Dream.

In addition to Stewart and The-Dream, the album features credits from multi-platinum songwriter Theron Thomas. Together, they tally 12 Grammys between them

“If you really care about Black music, you can’t let somebody like her go out without being fully armed with everything that she needs,” said Stewart, who calls Josey the “voice of a generation.”

Though her new album isn’t purely autobiographical, Josey admits that the songs stem from a very real place.

“I think that my lyrics sometimes tell the story of a late bloomer. I’m not gullible, but I’m very energetic. I love a lot and sometimes that can be seen as naive. I give a lot. Sometimes people have taken advantage of me in ways that have broken me, but not necessarily all the way to where I wasn’t able to fix myself.”

That’s partially why Josey has one word in mind when thinking about 2025: freedom.

“I can’t wait to bring people on the journey of how I change.”

Hometown: Atlanta

Age: 32

Recommended track: “Like This, Like That”

Will Hill’s lyrics of love and luxury evoke a charming cool-boy flair. And he has the unyielding confidence to match. The rapper’s keen sense of self oozes with each bar. His tone is casual but not cavalier.

“I’ve always had this idea that this was going to work,” said Hill.

The independent artist grew up listening to jazz, hip-hop and funk. He cites Outkast’s “Elevators (Me & You)” as an early source of inspiration — so much so that he formed a rap crew in high school called HOME (High Off Music and Entertainment) Team. The Georgia State alumnus released his debut project in 2013.

Since then, he’s dropped a handful of projects, including last year’s “For the Passenger Princess.” The seven-track EP is his most R&B-leaning music to date. And it’s all about the ladies. Pleasing them. Protecting them. The project was a pivot from his typical lyric-driven style in hopes of building his female fanbase.

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But it’s all part of his sound that Hill describes as “player lifestyle music,” referencing Jay-Z as a heavy influence.

“It’s telling you the type of things that interest me. The player part is just like, I don’t try too hard.”

He’s carrying that same tone in 2025, which will feature two projects from the rapper. The first is “Job Ain’t Finished,” a seven-track EP produced by Chase N. Cashe, who’s composed songs for Beyoncé, Lil Wayne and Drake. The project, out April 2, is rooted in Hill’s signature laid-back sound.

The other project is slated for later this year. It’s produced by Hill’s frequent collaborator Hollywood Cole. Hill promises the upbeat project “will get you moving.”

One of its standouts is a dance-driven song with a catchy hook and drenched in ‘80s pop synths. But it feels very modern at the same time. It’s the type of song to go viral on TikTok without trying too hard. And like the vibe of his last project, the song also centers women: “Never met another girl like you / let me tell you what we gon’ do / dinner reservations for two / and we’ll just slide in my 4-door coupe.”

About his mood for 2025, Hill said, “These are the times when you just want to engulf yourself in your craft and be in love with this. These are times that you can never get back, but it’ll add up to the big story.”

Indeed, Hill isn’t laser-focused on reaching a final destination. He’s simply enjoying the process and memories built along the way — especially with his community of fans and peers. This year, he aims to work with 50 artists. The goal isn’t braggadocio, though. He wants to create an ecosystem of artists in Atlanta who collectively help each other.

“I don’t really have to go too far and too fast as far as spreading out to a lot of different people that might not really (be into) me,” he said. “I’d rather just build with the people that already enjoy what I’m doing and lock in.”

Hometown: Savannah

Age: 23

Recommended track: “Gag”

When Maleigh Zan first heard her 2023 debut single “Gag,” she didn’t like it.

“I couldn’t stand how my voice sounded. You know when you record a video of yourself, then you hear your voice, and you’re like, ‘Who is that?’ It was like that for me, so it took a long time for me to kind of accept it. I was also scared to fully step into music. As a young woman, I think that there was a lot of fears that I had, and I wanted to be prepared. I wanted to be secured.”

Before she was a singer and rapper, Zan was a full-time model since the age of 16. She wanted to be a musician, but she didn’t know if she was ready. As she got older, she got disgruntled with modeling and “feeling like I was always on display,” so she turned her focus to music.

“Gag,” a dance-pop jam filled with thumping bass, sounds like it could turn up any party. Her performance of the song on music platform From the Block went viral last year, garnering a nod from super-producer Timbaland. Donning cornrows, hoops and a blue two-piece set laced with a fuzzy fur shawl, Zan looked like the star you’d never gag over. Instead, she’s the one you want to be.

“My heart was beating so fast because it was just so many people at one time,” Zan said about going viral. The video has reached 120,000 views.

The experience led to her signing with record label Gamma. Since then, Zan dropped a handful of singles and performed at Rolling Loud Miami. Earlier this year, she took the giant step of moving to London because her agency is based there.

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She’ll drop her first project before the year is over.

Born in Savannah and raised in Atlanta, Zan knew she was made for the stage. As a child, she’d direct her twin sister and cousins in impromptu home performances. While attending Cobb County’s Campbell High School, she was inspired by her peers’ freestyling raps in class.

She wants her upcoming project to be reflective of those experiences.

“My new EP has way more melodic stuff. I’m really excited to show everybody that side of me. Before I even knew I could rap, I was trying different types of styles and techniques. I was singing and writing music from a really young age. Singing was what I always preferred to do, then I started exploring with other things. Now, I’m glad that I can mix worlds and mix genres and make music that I want to hear.”

Stylistically, Zan’s new music toys with Afrobeats, R&B and house music. Her first single of the year is “Passenger Princess,” which is out March 28. Backed by a Jersey club beat, it’s “something for the girls,” according to Zan. The track features Belgian singer Dina Ayada.

“I think a lot of what I’m writing about is about finding and loving myself. It’s something that I’m going through now, as somebody who’s kind of been co-dependent or hasn’t really had the proper time as a young woman in her early 20s to sit down and be with myself and learn what that feels like.”

Her other goals for 2025 include more fashion partnerships and festival appearances. A collaboration with Grammy-winning dance producer Kaytranada is also in the works.

“Are y’all ready? Because I’m ready. That’s how I feel,” she said. “I’m ready to hit the ground running.”

Hometown: Blytheville, Arkansas

Age: 25

Recommended track: “Seven Years”

Although LG Malique has only lived in Atlanta for a few years, he’s already making waves in the city and beyond. Last year, the rapper signed to Warner Records, dropped a remix to Lucas Graham’s “Seven Years” (attracting over 3 million YouTube viewers) and released an EP. In December, he was selected as the latest musician for Pandora’s Artist Accelerator program, which helps break emerging acts.

But achieving those feats once felt like a very distant dream for LG Malique.

“I was depending on (music) to come through for the rent,” he said about his time before getting signed. “I was supposed to be evicted — I was one knock away from getting put on the curb. I don’t know how, but we just turned it around. I had to start hustling again.”

The rapper, whose real name is Dasherrick Andrews, carries that grit and struggle in his rhymes. You can hear it in his 2024 EP “Living Gold,” his debut project with Warner Records. His deft blend of melodic rap and Southern soul eschews gimmicks or trends. It’s all heart. And pain, too.

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That’s why “Living Gold” is not only the name of his project and personal label. It’s a mantra.

“When I dropped out of college, that was what I came up with to make a label out of. We were homeless. It was hard around that time, and I needed something to basically be delusional about — to manifest and be that dream I had in my head.”

On “Seven Years,” originally performed by Lukas Graham in 2015, the rapper details how his experiences with poverty led him closer to his goals. His honesty unlocked a new level of fandom. At roughly 5 million Spotify streams, it’s LG Malique’s most popular single to date.

“Give it to God,” his first offering of 2025, dropped March 7. He plans to release another project this year. Although he’s mum about the timeframe, he guarantees there will be more vulnerability on the new music.

“It’s basically me recognizing that we’re alive and blessed to see another day,” LG Malique said.

It aligns with the biggest revelation he learned in 2024 that’s defining his 2025: Nobody believes in you more than you.

“This will probably be the year where I really put my foot down and prove myself”