The Beatport Group has released their Next Class of 2023, comprised of eight up-and-coming artists: ANNĒ, Closet Yi, Coco & Breezy, Confidential Recipe, HoneyLuv, Junior Simba, Lens and Mala Ika.
Beatport, the world’s largest music store for DJs, launched their accelerator program for emerging EDM artists in 2021. The program provides marketing assistance to these artists to help amplify their presence and music. This group will receive homepage features, banners and priority placement for new releases throughout Beatport’s store. They’ll also get featured playlists, editorial coverage on Beatportal, live streams and social media support all year.
Beatport 2022’s Next Class was comprised of 8Kays, AMÉMÉ, Emily Nash, Jaden Thompson, Marina Trench, Nia Archives, Nikki Nair and Risa Taniguchi. Beatport pushed these acts to their global DJ and fan community through various features and, according to Beatport, the artists “saw a 353% increase in Beatport store revenue and a 213% increase in Beatport followers.”
The company has an extensive selection process to ensure they choose a group with diversity in both sound and hometowns. Learn more about each artist below:
ANNĒ: Born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece, ANNĒ is a promising talent dedicated to techno and developing her career as a DJ and producer. She began raving at a young age, which inspired her to eventually create music of her own. Now, ANNĒ creates powerful crowd-engaging sound with heart-pumping beats.
Closet Yi: Closet Yi is a DJ and producer based in Seoul, South Korea. She was the resident DJ and librarian at the Hyundai Card Music Library for two years, which encouraged her to go beyond dance music and to play with traditional and modern Korean sounds, otherworldly music and rare archived samples. Closet Yi could be found spinning in a quaint record bar in Seoul or playing to a thousand people on a Funktion-one sound system.
Coco & Breezy: Coco & Breezy are producers and DJs made up of fashion-forward twins. The siblings want to change what it means to be Afro-Latina women DJs in the industry by paying homage to the classic but pushing boundaries for the new. Their music is influenced by their family and their deep passion for dance and dance music culture. Fun fact: They also own an eyewear company.
Confidential Recipe: Carlos, previously known as DJ Cuyi, started as an ambassador of rave culture in Maracaibo, Venezuela where he landed at the forefront of the hard techno scene for more than a decade. Now, he is now based in Bogota, Colombia with a new sound, aesthetic and name—a reference to his influences as a young raver. Confidential Recipe is the outcome of a lifetime of explorations in the raw sounds of techno, jacking, house and electro.
HoneyLuv: Originally from Cleveland, Ohio and now in Los Angeles, California, HoneyLuv has created a name for herself in the DJ world. She made her debut on Dash Radio, on Issa Lifestyle Radio, with celebrity trainer Corey Calliet. After her successful start, HoneyLuv landed her own radio show on iLL Donuts Radio, House of Honey, which caters to house and techno music. With a heavy concentration in house and techno, she brings hip-hop, R&B, afrobeats and more together to create a vibrating dance floor.
Junior Simba: Junior Simba is a breakout DJ and producer whose influences comes from the elements of his rich musical background. Originally from Zimbabwe, Junior was brought up by the sounds of Rhumba, Kwaito and Afro-house. He moved to Leeds in his late teens, where he was exposed to the UK electronic scene, and his passion for producing kicked off. These distinct sounds create music hovering between heavy Amapiano and airy Afrobeat, wrapped with levels of futuristic soul. Junior Simba is making moves as a leader in the new wave of house and dance fusionists.
Lens: A self-proclaimed music nerd and raver, Lens exploded onto the drum & bass scene in 2018. The young Brighton artist merges subgenres from hip-hop to grime to dubstep and has caught the attention of major league D&B brands like Hospitality and Spearhead Records. Lens is a DJ who can read a dance floor and know exactly what they need to hear to keep the party going.
Mala Ika: French DJ and producer, Mala Ika, was born and raised in Guadeloupe. Her passion for EDM led to her become a founder of the Media be weird and the label Weirdos Records. She is influenced by her love of South African Afro House and Detroit techno, creating a spicy and original sound. After honing her style over the last few years, Mala Ika is back with a vision.
“Since launching Beatport Next two years ago we’ve been able to work with and support a great selection of emerging artists from around the globe. TSHA, VNSSA, Nia Archives and AMÉMÉ are among the Beatport Next alumni whose careers have taken off both on Beatport and beyond,” states Heiko Hoffmann, Beatport’s VP of Global Artist Services. “Beatport Next is committed to help grow a new class of great up-and-coming artists and we believe that the power of our platform as a promotional tool will help them all exceed their goals for 2023.”
Find more information on Beatport Next, and their Next Class of 2023 playlist, at their site.
