Welcome to “Underrated Artists,” an entertainment column from the St. Louis Park Echo covering unpopular and unknown artists. Every week, a different Echo staffer takes on the role of a writer, reviewing single releases and albums from four underrated artists.
My first underrated artist is Jalen Ngonda. Ngonda, who has 3.8 million monthly listeners on Spotify, first caught my attention with his song “Come Around And Love Me.” What attracted me to Ngonda’s sound was how unique it was. While soul music may be popular, it’s a dying genre. Despite this, Ngonda manages to bring the soul back into the genre. Ngonda’s most recent album, “Come Around And Love Me,” was the first project of Ngonda’s that I listened to. From start to finish, I knew this album would instantly become one of my favorites. Throughout Ngonda’s music, there’s a clear theme of love being the main focus for his songs. There’s a verse in the song, “That’s All I Wanted From You” that reads “When the dark brings the cloud to the daytime, and that cloud-only sits above my head. Your smile is the only smile that can drive that cloud away.” The verse is genuinely one of my favorite verses from Ngonda’s discography. My favorite Ngonda song has to be “Here To Stay” because of how nostalgic the music is and how flowy Ngonda’s vocals make me feel. Ngonda easily became one of my favorite artists because of how positive and free his music makes me feel.
My second underrated artist is Khamari, who has 873.4 thousand monthly listeners. Khamari first caught my attention with his song “Doctor, My Eyes.” What stuck out to me about Khamari’s sound at first was how similar he sounded to Frank Ocean. Once I listened to Khamari’s first and only album, “A Brief Nirvana,” I knew his voice was the only thing he had that was similar to Ocean. During my first listen to Khamari’s music, I immediately fell in love with the produced music. In “A Brief Nirvana,” there’s a perfect mixture of studio-produced beats and key instruments like the acoustic guitar and piano. But once I listened to Khamari more and more, I also started to fall in love with his lyricism. In the chorus of his song “These Four Walls,” Khamari sings, “But, these four walls keep me company, they don’t ask for much, don’t just up and leave.” These lyrics talk about how even though people come and go, Khamari still finds comfort and reliance with his home because he knows that “these four walls” won’t leave him. My favorite Khamari song has to be “A Sacred Place” because not only are Khamari’s vocals so emotional and raw, the piano notes give the song a more intimate feel. Khamari is the type of artist that you only find once and I’m so glad to have found him.
My third underrated artist is MOIO, who has 386 thousand monthly listeners, first caught my attention with his song “Moments.” What stuck out to me about MOIO’s sound at first was how similar he sounded to Daniel Caesar. Not only does he write and sing his own music, he also produces it too. The type of music that MOIO creates is good-energy music. While he may only have four singles released, he has easily maneuvered his way into being one of my favorite artists. I discovered MOIO through a TikTok he had posted on his account of him singing his song “Moments.” I knew at that moment that I needed to find more of his music. My favorite MOIO song has to be “Open Your Eyes” because of the beautiful vocal layering MOIO in the song’s chorus and the way that the beats remind of the song “Summertime In Paris” by Jaden and WILLOW. I can’t wait to listen to more of MOIO’s projects.
My fourth underrated artist is Amie Blu, who has 250.1 thousand monthly listeners and first caught my attention with her song “no spine.” What attracted me to Blu’s sound was how distinctive her voice and music is. I was in search of new and unique artists, and Blu was exactly who I was looking for. Listening to Blu’s EP, “crumbs in my bed,” I fell in love with her vibe. Blu makes music for people who are hopeless romantics that love every detail that being in love has to offer. Her unique voice, mixed with the personal and light instrumental music, makes Blu’s sound her own. My favorite Blu song has to be “powder” because of the gentle tone the guitar strums add to the song and the soft singing Blu does in this song. With every song Blu creates, I fall more and more in love with her music.