July 28, 2025 |
With a dire economy and a news agenda where hatred tended to be the only thing trending, last year was draining for so many Brits. Thankfully, the UK music scene remains capable of providing escapism, so we’ve compiled a list of our favourite rising musicians for 2025 who all have the future in the palms of their hands and might just end up soundtracking the year ahead. From raw raps that elevate single mums to stadium-sized soul ballads about healing broken hearts, each of these promising artists is someone well worth getting familiar with.
“Came from a place where if they can’t iron it out, they put it on a T-shirt,” raps the South London-born, Jamaica-raised wavy street poet Brandon Nembhard, 26, on Keeper. It’s a telling lyric that reflects being raised in a community where young Black boys can easily lose their lives due to knife violence, ending up with their faces on ‘RIP’ T-shirts. When listening to Nembhard you get the sense that he’s someone who’s travelled so far, chosen the righteous path over self-destruction and is ultimately preoccupied with rooting his bars in empathy for those at the bottom of Starmer’s Britain.
Brandon wears EMPORIO ARMANI
This messaging, as well as his nostalgic jazz-rap sound, is a reaction to what Nembhard considers to be a UK hip hop scene that’s losing its edge musically through playing it too safe. “I understand why UK rap has taken this direction [of] safety. If you can make money and ensure security in your life from making ‘safe’ music, from a business standpoint it makes perfect sense, right?” Nembhard says. “However, the question of ‘What are we doing this for?’ has to be asked at some point, as without a sense of purpose, the saturation and vacancy begins. There aren’t any risks [right now], the passion got lost, and you’re starting to feel that in the performance of the music itself.”
Nembhard quit a corporate job to gamble on the dream of being a rapper and it’s a leap that seems to be paying off. However, he also admits a lyric on the stirring Mind Your Manners, from his latest EP, If Not Now, When?, which touches on feeling like an aeroplane that hasn’t left the hangar, reflects an underlying frustration around not being even better known. “I’ve got to get back to having fun, finding the thoughts I want to share and how I want to share them,” Nembhard says of his focus for changing this in the year ahead. “It’s all about the performance and I need that to be really felt this year. In 2025, I am going to be rapping, thinking and I’m gonna be dancing too. Watch this space.”
Taken from 10 Men Issue 61 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
THE NEW NOISE
Creative Editor PAUL TONER
Text THOMAS HOBBS
Portrait ANNA STOKLAND
Fashion assistant GEORGIA EDWARDS
Production ZAC APOSTOLOU and SONYA MAZURYK
