Rank 1
Emiway dropped his explosive single from the KOTS album titled KOIHH just a couple of days before the album release which attracted a lot of attention from the fans and media alike for the diss he served for Badshah, MC Stan, and others. The 7-odd-minute track created quite a stir however it racked up 9.5M views on YouTube and 1.3M streams on Spotify. Media deals – By the mid of June, a week after the album’s launch, Spotify-sponsored video ads featuring Emiway started surfacing on YouTube. This has taken the whole debate of adverts on Time Square Video adverts for artists to the next level. The estimated value of ads is upwards of $1M. KOTS the album features a fresh producer on every track.10+ producers worked with Emiway. The album also includes the hit song ‘Company’ that has clocked 24M streams on Spotify and 143M views on YouTube taking him to the top of our inaugural Power Playlist.
Rank 2
Seedhe Maut executed their much-awaited ‘Bhussi Tour’ which featured multiple artists and a sell-out crowd and will be remembered for selling out the indoor stadium for the final leg of the tour. The final show sold out tickets and was also one of the first Web3 utility-laden music concerts in India. Seedhe Maut was seen in the Meen album by Yungsta with Encore ABJs supposed subliminal to Badshah and the cryptic tweets that were exchanged between them. We are hoping that was just banter! SM was also a part of Bhaktaaa’s debut album ‘Kaan Ke Neeche’. The BHUSSI tour was iconic because of the artists who were a part of the tour giving them all a chance to perform their tracks to the fans. The tour featured Yungsta, Bhaktaaa, Pho, Rebel7, AB17 add more. Knorr – Endorsement deal that featured a specially branded track and branding visibility at the BHUSSI Tour. After wrapping up the BHUSSI Tour, SM didn’t waste any time and announced their 30-track mixtape with a video (Views) announcing the mixtape titled ‘Lunchbreak’. They also released their single ‘Bhussi’ with KSHMR.
Rank 3
Sikander makes it to our Power Playlist in style. Sikander dropped his 22nd project titled God is watching through birds. His latest album has 13 tracks with collaborations with producers like Harm Sandhu, Ink Heart, Dope 187, Trappy 808, Extatic Muzic, Cultxre, Stranger, and Andy Grewal. Aghor, Harjas Harjaayi, Kaka Sady, Nishant Thakur, Chitralekha Sen, and his father RS Khalon collaborated on the album. The singles and jukebox are on 790ak+ views on YouTube. Sikander also became the first Indian rapper to get featured by an English Premier League club in June when London-based Chelsea Football Club featured him on their global content strand ‘Blues in India’. This was a cool collaboration and the post by Chelsea FC on Instagram garnered 300K+ Likes and the video was viewed 700K+ times across their social media.
Rank 4
A YouTube rapper you say? Nah! Munawar is a certified rap star and he proved it with his album ‘Madari’. Munawar dropped his album on the 6th of June with a bang and got a lot of support from his friends in Indian Hip-Hop, Actors, and Influencers at the launch of his album and his album’s success has been unprecedented. In a month his album has touched 3.42M streams and his title track Madari featuring Farhan Khan and Charan has 5.8M views on YouTube.
Rank 5
Tsumyoki dropped his first album titled ‘A Message From The Moon’ in the first week of June and how can anyone forget his reaction when the album went Live? That was the moment when he cemented his place as the future star of Indian Hip-Hop. His album features 13 tracks with a wide variety of musical styles making him a versatile artist with the potential of becoming India’s first and truly Rap/pop star. His album has so far garnered close to 1M streams on Spotify. Later in the month, Tsumyoki became the first and only Indian to be featured on Rolling Stone’s global Future 25 list of artists to watch out for curated by Bad Bunny.
Rank 6
Yashraj started June with a bang with the release of his single Bombay Coast late in May. He was also featured on the cover art for Spotify’s editorial playlist ‘ Bambai Bantai’. He also is a part of the ADIDAS originals campaign, he posted a video of his image from an Adidas in-store branding towards the end of May. He also appeared in a featured video by streetwear brand Lost My Accent and was seen on stage performing at AYCS – India’s largest progressive fashion and culture event. He was also part of a cool activation on the grocery app Zepto – where shoppers could buy his playlist on checking out from the app. So cool! Yashraj ended June with a single he released titled ‘Masroor’.
Rank 7
Makes it to our list of special mentions because she dropped 2 singles garnering 3.5M views on YouTube and close to 300K streams on Spotify. She also got featured in a Dostcast Podcast which was a rollercoaster of emotions and Srushti really opened up about her childhood, courageous fightback, and her condition. It takes guts to speak up so openly about oneself and the host Vinamre Kasanaa did a brilliant job to help her keep her composure and he deserves a special shoutout to him for conducting the podcast with dignity.
Rank 8
Pho is our next artist in June’s Power Playlist with a late May collab with Bagi Munda, June collab with Sarthak Bijalwan, and an appearance in Seedhe Maut’s Bhussi Tour she was also featured in a nationwide OHH campaign for the electronic brand BOAT’s music/content IP. The branding resulted in creating a reach and brand awareness amongst Indian Hip-Hop fans.
Rank 9
Nazz dropped a single and collaborated on another in the month of June. He also announced his association with Mass Appeal India and bagged a podcast feature with us on offthedome.
Special Mention
We had to give Divine a special shoutout. We missed out on adding him to the Top 5 list because his IPL performance happened towards the end of May. Anyways, Divine can’t be ignored because he has had a smashing past few months starting with his visit to FC Barcelona’s stadium with his Bazigar playing in the stadium to his IPL Final’s half-time performance which was viewed by estimated 100M viewers in 40+ countries. He also launched a Live Session version of his hit track Sitara featuring Jonita Gandhi. The track has done 2.6M views.