[Saturday Spotlight] Dibiasi + Smokey The Ghost

Welcome back to another edition of Saturday Spotlight. Each week we review submissions from all over the globe, picking the best out of the batch to highlight at the end of the week. If you’re an aspiring rapper, a producer wanting to create a buzz, or a singer looking to expose their talent, the Saturday Spotlight series is dedicated to discovering the next star.

Whether it’s your latest single or a new beat you made, all upcoming artists can submit music to us for Saturday Spotlight on this link.

Dibiasi

The sample for “Phone Jumping” by Dibiasi features a female singing, chopped, and looped. The track sounds like it’s weeping, with the onslaught of bars that follows the opening seconds. Dibiasi is a student of the old school, prioritizing bars over style. His punchlines hit like a blunt force to the chest, or like heavy-handed haymakers. Dibiasi is joined by Ransom on the track, making this a defining track in the 90s boom-bap revival. Check out his single below:

Smokey The Ghost

Smokey The Ghost is putting Hip-Hop on the map in India. Smokey is from the city of Bangalore where he became one of the OGs of the genre. On his track “Come In Mi Way” listed from his latest album The Human Nation, Smokey and guest Mo Boucher sport a traditional Hip-Hop cadence, rapping between English and Hindi seamlessly. He has a knack for catchy hooks filled with rhythms and bounce. For international audiences, the fun production and the bouncy melodic vocals are enough to rope in new listeners. Check out the track below:

– by Anthony Malone and Navjosh

Through our artist discovery platform Saturday Spotlight, we have discovered some amazing talent in the past including Russ, Ty Dolla Sign, Mez, IDK, Victoria Monét and Trap Beckham to name just a few. In most cases, coverage on HHNM was their first look among media outlets. Find the submission guidelines here.