Every year has its turning point, a moment when the noise clears and you realize the artists you’ve been whispering about in late-night conversations have officially arrived. 2026 feels different, though. It feels electric. Across genres, scenes, and continents, a new wave of musicians are pushing at the edges of what popular music can be, blending the visceral with the visionary, the underground with the undeniable. The Cultmag Watchlist is our annual deep dive into the names you need to know before everyone else does — the artists who aren’t just making good music, but making the kind of music that shifts the culture around it. These are the ones burning brightest right now. Pay attention.
Elyslime!
Elyslime is part of a new French wave that blends trap, rage, and punk energy into something chaotic but sharply curated. His music feels volatile, sometimes abrasive, sometimes hypnotic but always intentional. What makes Elyslime stand out is his refusal to soften his edges for international palatability. Easily one of the most overlooked talents out there today because he represents a distinctly European evolution of underground rap that’s starting to bleed into global youth culture. Production on his projects are always of the highest quality and the bilingual ability to get the bars out isn’t something to be underestimated.
CM Standout Song – Fulani
Dexter in the Newsagent
Dexter in the Newsagent operates in the margins where songwriting, social observation, and quiet irony intersect. Her strength lies in detail: the essence of being a londoner, fleeting conversations and emotional subtext most artists overlook. Cultmag sees Dexter as part of a necessary counter movement music that resists spectacle and instead documents real life with wit and tenderness. DITN is proof that subtlety can still cut through noise.
CM Standout Song – Stranger To Love
Slew
Slew brings raw urgency back into UK rap unfiltered, confrontational, and emotionally loaded. His bars feel lived in rather than performed, and his cadence carries the tension of someone with something at stake. What earns him a place on Cultmag’s watchlist is his hunger: Slew sounds like an artist still sharpening his blade, still dangerous, still unpredictable. That edge is rare and often the spark before a breakout year.
CM Standout Song – FRIEND OR FOE
8SZN
8SZN merges genre with intention, mixing rap with alternative, jazz, soul and experimental influences. He doesn’t fit neatly into any one box, and that’s exactly why he’s compelling. His most recent album 888 showcases textured beat work, thoughtful lyricism, and a willingness to blur lines between traditional hip-hop flows and avant-garde structures. 8SZN’s music feels like a creative frontier, inviting listeners into new sonic spaces while staying rooted in classic rhythmic instincts. He’s on the CultMag radar because he represents the next shift in UK rap aesthetics, not just another voice in the crowd.
CM Standout Song – HEATA
WOHDEE
Wohdee is a voice from the underground whose approach to UK rap feels both reflective and purposeful. The Birmingham native’s bars nestle between atmospheric and sharp lyricism, blending street narrative with introspection. Wohdee’s creativity is underlined by her innate ability to freestyle, able to hang with the best of them. Her work resonates with listeners who are drawn to artists that build worlds rather than chase trends. Wohdee is on Cultmag’s radar because she is unapologetically crafting a catalogue that speaks to real experience, artistic intent and a wavey vibe. This translates into a career trajectory that music executives and tastemakers alike will find impossible to ignore. Our exclusive Q+A with Wohdee dropped exclusively on CM and can be found HERE!
CM Standout Song – No Behaviour
PXUL
Think PartyNextDoor and Yxng Bane with a hint of old school Jamie Foxx. PXUL brings raw emotion and amazing buttery vocals into everything he touches. His work blends thoughtful lyrics with immersive, rhythmic soundscapes that reflect both personal experience and broader social themes. Tracks like “Undercover Freak,” and ‘I Know’ demonstrate his versatility, balancing soulful beats with introspective content. His artistic voice will surely resonate across different territories, especially with a sudden resurgence in truly talented R&B acts coming to the forefront. PXUL’s growing catalogue and compelling lyrical identity make him a name to watch throughout 2026. Buy your stocks NOW.
CM Standout Song – Undercover Freak
Ricky Bishop
BIGRACKS AKA Ricky Bishop is a singer-songwriter originally from Bordeaux who’s quickly carving out a name for himself in the French rap scene. With Guadeloupean roots he has been steadily rising alongside a new wave of French artists who have put their own modern spin on Bouyon. Originating in Dominica in the late 1980s, Bouyon pulls from across the Caribbean, and Ricky Bishop treats it as a living, shape-shifting genre infusing it with trap, R&B and even electronic influences. His latest EP #newbouyonexperience reimagines the genre through a contemporary lens, blending autotuned vocals and sharp modern flows, for a sound that’s both rooted in the past and resides in the near future. Look out for his regular collaborations with Implaccable which never miss!
CM Standout Song – SOS (50/50)
Natanya
Natanya feels destined for a breakout year because she’s hitting that rare intersection of artistry, identity, and cultural timing. Her sound blends diaristic vulnerability with a sharp, modern pop sensibility, and she delivers it with a confidence that makes every track feel like a statement. Natanya’s rise feels even more inevitable when you factor in her 2025 run as the opening act for PinkPantheress, a tour that quietly turned into a proving ground for her star power. Pair that momentum with her diaristic songwriting, her sleek, modern pop sensibility, and the world‑building she’s doing around her identity and sound, and she’s positioned not just to stand out in 2026, but to define the year’s emotional landscape.
CM Standout Song – On Ur Time
Trends come and go, but genuine artistry has a way of outlasting the moment that births it. Every name on this year’s Cultmag Watchlist represents something bigger than a hot streak or a viral moment, they represent a restless creative energy that refuses to be boxed in. Some of them will become household names before the year is out. Others will remain cult favourites, beloved precisely because not everyone gets it yet. Either way, we’ll be watching. And if this list proves anything, it’s that the most exciting music isn’t something you stumble across — it’s something you seek out. Consider this your map.
Every year has its turning point, a moment when the noise clears and you realize the artists you’ve been whispering about in late-night conversations have officially arrived. 2026 feels different, though. It feels electric. Across genres, scenes, and continents, a new wave of musicians are pushing at the edges of what popular music can be, blending the visceral with the visionary, the underground with the undeniable. The Cultmag Watchlist is our annual deep dive into the names you need to know before everyone else does — the artists who aren’t just making good music, but making the kind of music that shifts the culture around it. These are the ones burning brightest right now. Pay attention.
Elyslime!
Elyslime is part of a new French wave that blends trap, rage, and punk energy into something chaotic but sharply curated. His music feels volatile, sometimes abrasive, sometimes hypnotic but always intentional. What makes Elyslime stand out is his refusal to soften his edges for international palatability. Easily one of the most overlooked talents out there today because he represents a distinctly European evolution of underground rap that’s starting to bleed into global youth culture. Production on his projects are always of the highest quality and the bilingual ability to get the bars out isn’t something to be underestimated.
CM Standout Song – Fulani
Dexter in the Newsagent
Dexter in the Newsagent operates in the margins where songwriting, social observation, and quiet irony intersect. Her strength lies in detail: the essence of being a londoner, fleeting conversations and emotional subtext most artists overlook. Cultmag sees Dexter as part of a necessary counter movement music that resists spectacle and instead documents real life with wit and tenderness. DITN is proof that subtlety can still cut through noise.
CM Standout Song – Stranger To Love
Slew
Slew brings raw urgency back into UK rap unfiltered, confrontational, and emotionally loaded. His bars feel lived in rather than performed, and his cadence carries the tension of someone with something at stake. What earns him a place on Cultmag’s watchlist is his hunger: Slew sounds like an artist still sharpening his blade, still dangerous, still unpredictable. That edge is rare and often the spark before a breakout year.
CM Standout Song – FRIEND OR FOE
8SZN
8SZN merges genre with intention, mixing rap with alternative, jazz, soul and experimental influences. He doesn’t fit neatly into any one box, and that’s exactly why he’s compelling. His most recent album 888 showcases textured beat work, thoughtful lyricism, and a willingness to blur lines between traditional hip-hop flows and avant-garde structures. 8SZN’s music feels like a creative frontier, inviting listeners into new sonic spaces while staying rooted in classic rhythmic instincts. He’s on the CultMag radar because he represents the next shift in UK rap aesthetics, not just another voice in the crowd.
CM Standout Song – HEATA
WOHDEE
Wohdee is a voice from the underground whose approach to UK rap feels both reflective and purposeful. The Birmingham native’s bars nestle between atmospheric and sharp lyricism, blending street narrative with introspection. Wohdee’s creativity is underlined by her innate ability to freestyle, able to hang with the best of them. Her work resonates with listeners who are drawn to artists that build worlds rather than chase trends. Wohdee is on Cultmag’s radar because she is unapologetically crafting a catalogue that speaks to real experience, artistic intent and a wavey vibe. This translates into a career trajectory that music executives and tastemakers alike will find impossible to ignore. Our exclusive Q+A with Wohdee dropped exclusively on CM and can be found HERE!
CM Standout Song – No Behaviour
PXUL
Think PartyNextDoor and Yxng Bane with a hint of old school Jamie Foxx. PXUL brings raw emotion and amazing buttery vocals into everything he touches. His work blends thoughtful lyrics with immersive, rhythmic soundscapes that reflect both personal experience and broader social themes. Tracks like “Undercover Freak,” and ‘I Know’ demonstrate his versatility, balancing soulful beats with introspective content. His artistic voice will surely resonate across different territories, especially with a sudden resurgence in truly talented R&B acts coming to the forefront. PXUL’s growing catalogue and compelling lyrical identity make him a name to watch throughout 2026. Buy your stocks NOW.
CM Standout Song – Undercover Freak
Ricky Bishop
BIGRACKS AKA Ricky Bishop is a singer-songwriter originally from Bordeaux who’s quickly carving out a name for himself in the French rap scene. With Guadeloupean roots he has been steadily rising alongside a new wave of French artists who have put their own modern spin on Bouyon. Originating in Dominica in the late 1980s, Bouyon pulls from across the Caribbean, and Ricky Bishop treats it as a living, shape-shifting genre infusing it with trap, R&B and even electronic influences. His latest EP #newbouyonexperience reimagines the genre through a contemporary lens, blending autotuned vocals and sharp modern flows, for a sound that’s both rooted in the past and resides in the near future. Look out for his regular collaborations with Implaccable which never miss!
CM Standout Song – SOS (50/50)
Natanya
Natanya feels destined for a breakout year because she’s hitting that rare intersection of artistry, identity, and cultural timing. Her sound blends diaristic vulnerability with a sharp, modern pop sensibility, and she delivers it with a confidence that makes every track feel like a statement. Natanya’s rise feels even more inevitable when you factor in her 2025 run as the opening act for PinkPantheress, a tour that quietly turned into a proving ground for her star power. Pair that momentum with her diaristic songwriting, her sleek, modern pop sensibility, and the world‑building she’s doing around her identity and sound, and she’s positioned not just to stand out in 2026, but to define the year’s emotional landscape.
CM Standout Song – On Ur Time
Trends come and go, but genuine artistry has a way of outlasting the moment that births it. Every name on this year’s Cultmag Watchlist represents something bigger than a hot streak or a viral moment, they represent a restless creative energy that refuses to be boxed in. Some of them will become household names before the year is out. Others will remain cult favourites, beloved precisely because not everyone gets it yet. Either way, we’ll be watching. And if this list proves anything, it’s that the most exciting music isn’t something you stumble across — it’s something you seek out. Consider this your map.
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