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.
I discovered Tec from a TikTok titled “Music you’ve never heard of.” His music contains a slower tempo, and he sings slower as opposed to being as fast or aggressive as rap. In almost all of his songs, he features another lowkey artist—mostly collaborating with smaller or unknown singers. Artists who specialize in beats and instrumentals, like Chasay Matt Swain, work with Tec to collaborate on smaller background vocals. My favorite song of Tec’s, “Hit the Spliff,” has strong vocals and a slow tempo. It’s a very calming and relaxing song. He’s really underrated because he talks about his problems in life through his music, he doesn’t lie and he uses music to express himself. He sounds the most similar to The Alchemist. If people like R&B or like a slower tempo and style of rap, then I would recommend Tec.
John Wells is another underrated artist with a small following on Spotify. He’s super chill and creates great music. He doesn’t collaborate with other artists, and he tends to stick to himself by creating music independently. His music is smooth, slow, relaxing and easy to understand. My favorite song of his is “Grape” because I can relate to it. He talks about his childhood and experiences of his struggles in his life and career. I would recommend this song to someone who wants to listen to someone new and who enjoys smoothly produced and calming music. I can’t compare him to anyone else because he’s different in his music. More people should listen to him because of the one-of-a-kind beats in each of his songs and the lyrics in his music.
Jay Worthy is underrated because of his small fan base and his unique voice. He reminds me of Childish Gambino but is not as outgoing as him. Worthy is more relaxed in his songs and albums. He features a lot of under-the-radar artists like himself, people who sing with slow tempos are who he works best with over anything else. His best song is “Hotel-bel-air” as it’s the kind of song to play when you are just driving around and trying to enjoy the moment. I really like how it’s a mellow kind of song and not very loud or upbeat. It’s truly a masterpiece in my mind, everybody deserves a moment to listen to this song. People who like R&B or Childish Gambino are going to love Jay Worthy.
Neromun is a French rapper who sounds fantastic. I don’t know French, but I love the way Neromun sounds, and the rhythms he makes suits him so well. Many of the artists featured in his songs are well-known beatmakers throughout Europe. Additionally, he collaborates with other singers who are also non-English speaking like Neromun. My favorite song of his is “From Uwe with Love” because I’m a fan of jazz, and he plays multiple instruments while he is rapping. He doesn’t have that many songs out at the moment, as he is an up-and-coming artist, but I recommend Neromun to people who enjoy jazz and want to break out and listen to something different while still exploring jazz-inspired music.