21 Under 21 2019: Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X, Mason Ramsey & More of Music's Next Generation
21 Under 21 2019: Music's Next Generation
As social media increasingly affects streaming numbers and memes morph into hits, it has never been easier for younger artists to turn viral fame into chart success -- a sensation that Mason Ramsey, the only preteen on the 2019 list, knows better than most.
METHODOLOGY: A committee of Billboard editors weighed a variety of factors in determining the 2019 21 Under 21 list, including but not limited to impact on consumer behavior, as measured by such metrics as album sales, track sales, streaming volume, social media impressions and radio/TV audiences reached; company growth; career trajectory; reputation among peers; and overall impact in the industry specifically during the past 12 months. Where required, record-label market share was consulted using Nielsen Music market share for album plus track-equivalent and stream-equivalent album consumption units. Unless otherwise noted, Billboard Boxscore and Nielsen Music are the sources for tour grosses and sales/streaming data, respectively.
Contributors: Tatiana Cirisano, Leila Cobo, Stephen Daw, Gab Ginsberg, Josh Glicksman, Bianca Gracie, Lyndsey Havens, Carl Lamarre, Jason Lipshutz, Chris Payne, Andrew Unterberger, Taylor Weatherby, Christine Werthman
21. Paloma Mami, 19
Total Streams: 41 million
After her sensual, bilingual track “Not Steady” went viral in June 2018 -- the song has since garnered 10.6 million U.S. on-demand streams, according to Nielsen Music -- Paloma Mami signed a recording contract with Sony Music Latin, making her the first Chilean artist of her generation to do so. Born Paloma Rocío Castillo Astorga in New York, Paloma Mami is still rising in the urbano scene, but she’s aiming high, citing Billie Eilish and Rosalía as dream collaborators (she has already worked with Diplo) and hoping to one day launch a clothing line. But her main goal is to have a features-free album go platinum. (“J. Cole, what’s good?” she jokes.) Until then, Paloma Mami, who says she’s still “a little kid” and is always with her mother, “can’t wait” to go on tour following her festival debut at Lollapalooza Chile in March.
20. Snail Mail, 20
Total Streams: 46 million
After signing to Matador in 2017 and releasing acclaimed debut Lush the next year, Snail Mail landed gigs at Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival and Barcelona’s Primavera Sound -- plus a slot opening for Interpol on its U.S. tour, which brought her coming-of-age indie rock to Madison Square Garden in New York. By the time singer-songwriter Lindsey Jordan turns 21, she wants to have her next album written. Until then? She says she’s looking for a more convincing fake ID.
19. Manuel Turizo, 19
Total Streams: 173 million
Last September, Turizo guested on “Vaina Loca” on Ozuna’s second album, Aura -- the track peaked at No. 4 on the Hot Latin Songs chart, on which Turizo has scored 10 entries, including collaborations with artists like Piso 21 and Mau y Ricky. This August, when the Colombian urban singer released his debut album, ADN, artists such as Nicky Jam, Anuel AA and Ozuna returned the favor with features. Turizo says becoming a successful artist was nothing more than a childhood dream, but now that reality has set in, he says he wants his own stadium tour.
Willow Smith
Total Streams: 439.1 million
Willow Smith has rebranded herself as a folksy neo-soul singer-songwriter following her 2010 breakout pop hit, “Whip My Hair,” which peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. In the five years since releasing her debut EP, 3, Smith has toured with Jhene Aiko, starred in the music video for ZHU and Tame Impala’s “My Life” and performed with brother Jaden during his Coachella set. (Their dad, Will Smith, also dropped by.) Her third album, Willow, arrived in July and hit No. 11 on the R&B Album Sales chart.
Grace VanderWaal
Total Streams: 345.9 million
In the past few months, Grace VanderWaal finished her freshman year of high school, opened for Florence + The Machine and, in August, released her latest single, “Waste My Time” -- the fifth new song since her 2017 debut LP, Just the Beginning. “I’ve learned to be myself,” says the singer-songwriter. “That’s what people are attracted to.” That attitude landed VanderWaal the lead in Stargirl, a film adaptation of the young adult novel for Disney+ due out in 2020.
16. PRETTYMUCH, 19-22
Total Streams: 327.4 million
Since this Simon Cowell-formed fivesome put out its Phases EP in May, it has released three more singles, including “Rock Witchu,” which the group wrote and produced. The act also served as musical and creative director for its recent headlining FOMO Tour, which sold out 5,000-capacity venues. “Everybody that’s older tends to doubt the youth until they see the results they need to validate us,” says member Brandon Arreaga, “and then they pay attention.”
15. King Princess, 20
Total Streams: 217.2 million
“I’m getting too cocky since everyone wants me/It’s harder to be myself,” sings King Princess on the title track to her debut album, Cheap Queen, out Oct. 25. The sentiment reflects a whirlwind (and sometimes anxiety-ridden) rise for the singer-songwriter born Mikaela Straus in Brooklyn. In February 2018, she debuted with the swooning “1950,” written as a tribute to Patricia Highsmith’s 1952 lesbian romance novel, The Price of Salt; four months later, she released her tender Make My Bed EP as the first signee to Mark Ronson’s Zelig Records label; and this summer she toured the country, performing at Coachella with a Big Comfy Couch-inspired set. “It has been the most vulnerable year of my life,” says Straus, who channeled those experiences into Cheap Queen -- an album that pairs timeless piano melodies with unflinching lyrics about modern queer love, written for a generation that “loves to feel.”
Read King Princess' exclusive interview with Billboard here.
14. Sabrina Carpenter, 20
Total Streams: 742.8 million
Since 2014, this Los Angeles native has released four albums, all of which have charted on the Billboard 200; collaborated with The Vamps, Jonas Blue and Alan Walker; and hit the top 10 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart with her and Walker’s “On My Way.” All the while, the former Disney star has explored more adult themes on-screen, landing roles in The Hate U Give, new Netflix film Tall Girl and the unreleased Alicia Keys-produced dance comedy Work It.
13. NCT Dream, 17-19
Total Streams: 75.5 million
2019 has been the most successful year yet for this South Korean six-piece, which is a subgroup of NCT, a boy band grouping that also includes NCT 127. In August, NCT Dream -- whose members age out at the Korean age of 21 (in Korea, people are considered 1 year old at birth) -- debuted on the Artist 100 chart thanks to its latest EP, We Boom: The 3rd Mini Album. Says member Haechan: “We’ll keep on working hard to meet the expectations” of the group’s devoted fan army, NCTzens.
Noah Cyrus
Total Streams: 496.8 million
Noah Cyrus, who has collaborated with Labrinth and Gallant, says being the youngest in her famous family forced her to grow up fast. Even so, she says people still “question my decision-making and ideas -- I fight every day to maintain creative control of my career.” That vision, she says, is fully realized on her latest single, “July” -- her first release since her Good Cry EP in 2018. The country-leaning track hit No. 17 on the Pop Digital Song Sales chart.
10. Why Don’t We, 17-20
Total Streams: 1 billion
Since cracking the top 10 of the Billboard 200 in 2018 with debut album 8 Letters, this Los Angeles boy band has released a steady stream of ballads geared toward Gen Z -- including its latest, “What Am I,” co-written by Ed Sheeran. Most recently, the act won Choice Music Group at the Teen Choice Awards and was nominated for best group at MTV’s Video Music Awards. Jonah Marais believes its music resonates because “we’re the same generation as our core demographic.”
Daya
Total Streams: 901.9 million
She has scored top 40 hits with “Hide Away” and the Chainsmokers collab “Don’t Let Me Down,” which won her a Grammy. Now Daya, who came out as bisexual last October, wants to increase queer representation in the music industry. Born Grace Martine Tandon in Pennsylvania, the singer-songwriter is striving to find more LGBTQ collaborators. “I have a more assured feeling of freedom with my place in the industry,” she says. “I can create my own world.”
Christian Nodal
Total Streams: 1 billion
The Mexico native, who says that his age has benefited his career, has made a name for himself in regional Mexican music with romantic ballads that deliver the long-respected traditional genre to a younger audience. Nodal’s 2017 debut, Me Dejé Llevar, hit No. 69 on the Billboard 200; this year’s Ahora peaked at No. 2 on the Latin Album Sales chart; and he has scored three No. 1 songs on the Regional Mexican Airplay chart.
6. Bhad Bhabie, 15
Total Streams: 897.1 million
The Boynton Beach, Fla., native born Danielle Bregoli has moved beyond her viral beginnings, becoming one of the country’s most unexpected teenage rap stars -- she counts former King of Teens Lil Yachty as a close friend and has collaborated with Megan Thee Stallion and Kodak Black. With her Snapchat show, Bringing Up Bhabie, and 17 million Instagram followers, she says social media is the best way to “connect with all my bitches.”
7. Mason Ramsey, 12
Total Streams: 97.4 million
A year and a half after he was videotaped singing in the aisles of Walmart, Mason Ramsey has played the Grand Ole Opry eight times, opened for Florida Georgia Line and performed at Coachella and Stagecoach. But the soon-to-be teen says his latest invitation was his craziest yet: hopping on a remix of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” Ramsey’s take on the track brought him full circle; just one year ago, the Golconda, Ill., native was a viral sensation himself.
6. Lil Tecca, 17
Total Streams: 663.2 million
Born Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe in Queens, Lil Tecca emerged this summer with the Hot 100 top five hit “Ransom,” on which the singer-rapper’s flow glides over a shimmery beat. After adding Juice WRLD on the song’s remix, Tecca released his 17-track debut mixtape, We Love You Tecca, in August. It debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 4. Despite his quick rise, he has hinted he may tap out soon, tweeting: “could care less bout sum $$ if im not happy.”
Chloe x Halle
Total Streams: 118.1 million
Since the March 2018 release of this sister duo’s Grammy-nominated debut album, The Kids Are Alright, which peaked at No. 19 on the Top R&B Albums chart, Chloe and Halle Bailey have shifted their attention to acting. The two landed roles as regulars on ABC’s Grown-ish and, more recently, it was announced that Halle (above right) has been cast as Ariel in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
4. Lil Pump, 19
Total Streams: 3.3 billion
It has been just a year since the release of this rapper’s meme-inducing Kanye West collaboration, “I Love It” -- which brought Lil Pump, born Gazzy Garcia in Miami, to Saturday Night Live as West’s guest. Since then, Lil Pump released his second album, Harverd Dropout, in February -- a nod to West’s 2004 set, The College Dropout -- scoring his second top 10 debut. “Now that I’ve been in the game for a few years,” he says, “[my age] doesn’t stop me from anything.”
Juice WRLD
Total Streams: 6.4 billion
The former SoundCloud rapper has landed four songs in the top 40 of the Hot 100, including breakout hit “Lucid Dreams”; released a No. 1 debut album, Death Race for Love; collaborated with Young Thug and BTS; and toured Europe with Nicki Minaj. But the Chicago rapper born Jarad Higgins, who recently bought his mother a house, is still adjusting to new fame: “You’re on a pedestal,” he says, “and the youth worship what you say.”
2. Lil Nas X, 20
Total Streams: 2.3 billion
Last year, the Atlanta native wasn’t on this list, or even signed to a major label. Now, thanks in part to a remix of his cowboy-themed smash “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, Lil Nas X boasts the all-time record for longest stay atop the Billboard Hot 100, at 19 weeks. During the past year, the artist born Montero Lamar Hill has enjoyed a speedy ascent from SoundCloud artist and meme-maker to global superstar. After the track (which he created with a $30 beat purchased online that interpolates Nine Inch Nails’ “34 Ghosts IV”) blew up on TikTok, he signed with Columbia Records; looped in BTS member RM, Mason Ramsey, Young Thug and Diplo for subsequent remixes; and performed at the MTV Video Music Awards, where he took home two Moon Persons. In June, he released his debut EP, 7, that included his latest hit, “Panini,” which peaked at No. 16 on the Hot 100.
Billie Eilish
Total Streams: 6.9 billion
Billie Eilish’s acclaimed 2019 album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with a first-week total that ranked among the year’s best in sales and streams -- and helped define popular music this year. In August, she scored her first chart-topper on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Bad Guy,” thanks in part to a remix co-starring Justin Bieber, and on Sept. 28 she will kick off the new season of Saturday Night Live. But Eilish isn’t overly impressed with her staggering stats, noting: “It’s so not a competition.”
This article originally appeared in the Sept. 14 issue of Billboard.