Ones to Watch
The musicians who will make an impact in 2017, both musically and in fashion.
Lil Yachty
2016 was the year we saw the 19-year-old hip hop artist suddenly appear. Beginning the year sleeping on “my friends Gianna Mora’s Floor”, Lil Yachty first came to our attention after modelling for Kanye West in his infamous Yeezy Season 3 Madison Square Garden fashion show where Kanye also debuted his album The Life Of Pablo. He then released not one, but two mixtapes in 2016 featuring songs such as One Night, Minnesota and Life Goes On.
Lil Yachty also achieved a Top 5 record on the Billboard Hit 100 featuring on Brocolli with D.R.A.M, modelled in Alexander Wang’s December campaign, featured in a Sprite commercial in America and worked with Nautica to release a capsule collection within Urban Outfitters. 2016 was certainly a busy year for Lil Yachty both musically and in fashion and here at PAUSE, we can’t wait to see what projects he is involved in 2017.
Vic Mensa
Although he has been making music since 2009, Vic Mensa’s career was kick-started when he signed to Jay Z’s label Roc Nation in 2015. Since then he dropped his debut solo album ‘There’s Alot Going On’ in 2016 as well as multiple different features including Kaytranada’s Drive Me Crazy, KAMI’s Right Now and Flume’s song Lose It and also featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
Fashion wise, Mensa fronted French Connection’s 2017 Spring/Summer Campaign giving off a Rock ‘n Roll glam rock vibe with distressed denim and coloured prints. Whilst on set for GQ Style, he wore a Roberto Cavalli shirt, looking like a modern day Jimi Hendrix. Mensa has also been announced as the face of Ugg’s fall Ugg For Men campaign, to give the brand an edgier, urban look.
Lil Uzi Vert
Lil Uzi Vert released three mixtapes in 2016 – Luv Is Rage, Lil Uzi Vert Vs. The World, named Hypebeast’s 13th Best Album Of 2016 and The Perfect LUV Tape including hit songs such as Money Longer and You Was Right. These songs and tapes created a vast amount of hype around Vert named ‘the future of hip hop’. He also recently signed to Wiz Khalifa’s Taylor Gang label, which features artists such as Ty Dollar Sign and Juicy J and featured on Migos’ Bad and Boujee.
Lil Uzi Vert is known for his rockstar attitude and style; wearing only brands he loves and supports such as VLONE, Gucci, GUESS Jeans x A$AP Rocky, Off White and his infamous blue, gold and pink chain. Although his involvement in fashion projects currently in minimal, with his love for clothes and style it will be exciting to see what 2017 brings for him in fashion.
Roy Woods
Roy Woods is none other than Drake’s protege, signed to OVO Sound and constantly shared on Drake’s social media, as well as having 6God feature on one of his most popular songs Drama which featured on his 2015 EP Exis. Sharing Drake’s same passion for churning out more than one release a year, the 20-year-old rapper released an album Waking At Dawn and EP Nocturnal in 2016.
Woods has dipped his toe in fashion, modelling OVO’s full Spring/Summer 2o16 collection, as well as appearing at Drake’s Summer Sixteen merch pop-up store. Here’s to hoping Roy Woods escapes from Drake’s shadow and begins to work on various other fashion related projects in 2016.
AJ Tracey
Fresh on the scene, AJ Tracey won multiple awards in 2016 tipping him as the one to watch in Grime, such as Best Breakthrough Act and the Radar Awards and the BBC Sound Of 2017 Longlist. With a handful of releases under his belt, 2016 saw the release of his Lil Tracey EP featuring the likes of Chip and Bonkaz, which has lead to an almost sold out UK tour.
Tracey has made his love of streetwear known through sharing photos of Supreme, BAPE, Palace, VLONE and more on his Instagram as well as brands such as Gucci and Nike; showing an effortless, on point style. After teasing ‘modelling pt 2’ below on Instagram, it will be interesting to see what brands the rapper will work with in 2017.
