5 Artists Who Started On Soundcloud

Rumors have been flying, but it’s official: Soundcloud isn’t going anywhere, and we’re thankful. Here are five artists who rose to fame on the music streaming service.

Kygo

Norwegian DJ and producer Kygo came to the world’s attention when he released a remix of Ed Sheeran’s song “I See Fire” on Soundcloud which received over 56 million plays. The release of his single “Firestone” drew the recognition of Coldplay’s Chris Martin who contacted Kygo for a remix of their track “Midnight.” Playing at major music festivals all over the globe and making history in 2016 at the Rio Olympics, Kygo became the first house music producer to perform at the Olympics Closing Ceremony.

Russ

Before signing a record deal with Columbia Records in 2016, American hip-hop recording artist Russ released 11 self-produced albums and 87 tracks on Soundcloud with one of them, “What They Want,” earning a spot at number 83 on Billboard Hot 100. Claiming to engineer 100% of his music, his minimalist producing style paired with his raw lyrics made the transition from online to mainstream radio appear to happen overnight and with ease.

Iza Lach

Known as “the princess of Polish pop” where she’s from, Polish popstar Iza Lach caught the eye of Snoop Dog when she won a Soundcloud remix competition that the rapper held back in 2012. Though her genre is nowhere near R&B and rap, her smoky voice and strange style earned her an unusual yet epic collaboration with Snoop with their track “Set It Off” which led to the duo working together on a handful of other unique projects.

Lil Uzi Vert

Rapper Lil Uzi Vert’s began his music career by simply uploading songs on Soundcloud which received mere thousands of plays. Now his most recent studio-album “Luv Is Rage 2,” a sequel to his mixtape which started it all, “Luv Is Rage” has climbed to the top on the US Billboard 200 and features big name artists The Weeknd and Pharrell Williams. Receiving a whopping 151 million streams, the album has received positive reviews from critics and praise from artists like Marilyn Manson. 

Kehlani

Singer and song-writer Kehlani’s first ever Soundcloud track “ANTISUMMERLUV” in 2013 led to her first mixtape “Cloud 19” which was featured on Complex’s list of “50 Best Albums of 2014.” Having earned millions of plays, she released a second mixtape “You Should Be Here” which received a number 5 spot on the national R&B and Hip-Hop chart in 2015 and a nomination for “Best Urban Contemporary Album Grammy Award” in 2016. Her success only grew from there with her track “Gangsta” featured on Suicide Squad’s movie soundtrack and selling out shows all over the world.

Photography via Facebook.com/Kehlanimusic

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