Hotlist
The starters of 2020
The Giant Rooks are the new star in the indie pop sky.
© Universal Music / Joseph Kadow
The music industry was hit hard by the Corona crisis, but some newcomers took off anyway. The whiz kid of the year.
Whether it's a top or a flop is a quick decision in the music industry. Newcomers struggled particularly hard this year because of the Corona crisis. These seven made it anyway and achieved their breakthrough in 2020.
24k gold
On an international level, the year 2020 was one of the big starters 24kGoldn. The 20-year-old rapper has had one success after another. With his song "Mood", published together with Iann Dior (21), he conquered the top of the charts in Germany, Austria and Switzerland as well as in Great Britain.
He was number one on the Billboard charts for five weeks – his big break. He also performed at the American Music Awards 2020 and was a guest in the shows of Ellen DeGeneres (62) and Jimmy Kimmel (53). His debut album "El Dorado" will be released in 2021. An artist who should definitely be on your screen.
Jack Harlow
Jack Harlow is one of the absolute high-flyers of the year. The 22-year-old American had his breakthrough at the beginning of the year with the single "Whats Poppin", which entered the international charts. With over a billion streams, the single is one of the most streamed songs in 2020.
The rapper also made his TV debut earlier this year on "The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon". He was also nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Rap Performance" category. Whether or not he can win the award will be revealed at the ceremony on January 31, 2021.
Mathea
The Austrian Mathea is only 22 years young, but already the most popular artist in her home country: She can claim over 86 million streams on Spotify. Her urban pop goes straight to the ear and gets along without kitsch or metaphors.
In Austria, her debut single "2x" secured the top of the chart in 2019, and later she even received gold for it in Germany. Mathea's debut album "M" (2020) made it into the top five in Austria and also made it into the German charts. Shortly before Christmas, she gave her fans a present and on December 18th, she released "M – AKUSTIK", the acoustic version of "M".
Alicia Awa
Alicia Awa also inspires with German pop. The 23-year-old may be known to some from the fifth season of "The Voice of Germany" (2015), but then she was eliminated in the knockouts. In 2019 she tried her luck with "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" and came fourth.
In 2020 she landed a contract with Gold League Sony Music and released her first single, which took off straight away. Even the audio sample for her new song "Façade" on Instagram garnered more than a million views within a few days. She was also the only woman featured on Kontra K's album "Vollmond" (2020). In her Instagram stories, she let her fans know how much she was looking forward to 2021.
Giant rooks
This German indie pop band is also one of the biggest newcomers of 2020: the Giant Rooks were already considered promising musicians in 2019, from whom a lot could be expected in 2020. Her debut album "Rookery" was released in August and went straight to number three in the German charts.
They had to postpone their big tour to 2021, but then the five artists want to really take off: In April, concerts are planned across Europe, in May the Giant Rooks will return to Germany – including in large halls such as the Columbiahalle in Berlin or the Palladium in Cologne.
Ramon Roselly
The current "DSDS" winner could become the new star in the hit sky. Ramon Roselly (27) leaves many winners of "Deutschland sucht den Superstar" behind, because his debut album "Herzenssache" was awarded gold just two months after its release. With that he achieved a small record: It is the first album by a "DSDS" winner that stayed in the top ten for at least ten weeks. His winning title "Eine Nacht" also reached number one in the German charts.
He was also a guest in the biggest hit shows in 2020, including Florian Silbereisen's (39) "Welcome to SchlagerXirkus – Stars & Hits in Leipzig" and "Schlagerlovestory.2020 – The great reunion". Is Roselly a future hit icon, as Dieter Bohlen (66) predicted?
Julian rhyme
He also conquered the hit world in 2020: Julian Reim (24). The name says it all for him, because his father is none other than singer Matthias Reim (63). "Of course, the name 'rhyme' therefore brings with it a certain expectation, but I go my own way and have my own vision," the 24-year-old told the news agency spot on news in August.
He has also appeared in major hit shows, such as Florian Silbereisen's "Schlagerlagerfeuer – The Beach Party 2020". Reim is currently working on his debut album – we will probably find out in 2021 whether it will take off as well as his songs "Grau" (2019) and "Euphorie" (2020).