Has music flat-lined?

Magazine covers, awards show stages and live lounges have been parading the same lukewarm acts for too long.

We’re all a bit tired of Ed Sheeran’s ‘Sing’ being the last song played by the hack DJ at 2am, Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ on the car radio and Hozier’s strained-with-emotion voice permeating the gym reception. But what’s new?

XCity+ spoke to music industry insiders, critics and acts, such as Tim Jonze, Kanya King and Paul Stokes, with the freshest acts that you can star on Spotify.

George the Poet

A north west Londoner born and raised, George Mpanga, aka George the Poet, has been turning heads with his politically grinding spoken word.

As a Cambridge graduate, George infuses his knack for rap and head for political and social issues to provide intricate, charismatic performances.

He’s not afraid to touch anything in his songs, whether it’s teenage pregnancy, estate gang welfare or inequality in academia.

Nominated for the BRITS critic’s choice, BBC Sound of 2015 and MTV’s Brand New award, George has been gaining a silent, awe-filled fan base across the UK. It’s hard not to see why.

See George the Poet at Village Underground and Scala, London in April.

Stormzy

The 21-year-old is at the forefront of grime right now. His debut, ‘Dreamers Disease’ EP, took the No.1 spot on the iTunes Hip Hop/Rap charts by force and he’s continuing to storm the scene.

Stormzy took home the MOBO’s Best Grime Act 2014, where he was barely able to speak he was so shocked, beating off grime giants Wiley, Skepta, JME and Meridian Dan.

You’ll rarely see the Thornton Heath rapper without his equally talented friends, such as Chip, Jammer and ‘the godfather of grime’ Wiley.

His track ‘Know Me From‘- with a fantastically home made video featuring cut out models and some ‘dickhead’ cars- is out now.

See Stormzy at O2 academy Islington on 31 March.

Ibeyi

These French Cuban twins harmonise beautifully, mixing Yoruba chants with modern, electronic production to produce tracks like ‘Mama Says‘ and the slickly synchronised ‘River’.

Lisa-Kaindé Diaz and Naomi Diaz sing in both English and Yoruba, a Nigerian language. The duo’s name in Yoruba literally translates as twins- nice!

Though the sister act share vocals, Lisa takes the lead and piano, while Naomi plays traditional Cuban percussion instruments cajón and Batá drum.

The spiritual feel to their music and dulcet tone makes your arm hair not just stand up, but sway to the ambient beat.

Catch Ibeyi at Islington Assembly Hall in London on May 13.

Juce

This London-based girl group comprises of trio Georgia, Chalin and Cherish; bringing TLC and Gabrielle-style sassy vocals and 90s R&B beats.

Before the band, Chalin worked for music platform Boiler Room and Cherish performed in gothic, psychedelic act Ipso Facto. The trio’s plethora of musical influences really shows, with everything from DJ act Todd Terje, the Sugababes and Girls Aloud cited as idols.

Referring to themselves as ‘the girl band ting’, they’ve now got three singles and one video for ‘Call You Out’.

ILoveMakonnen

Makonnen Sheran, aka ILoveMakonnen, is the Drake-approved rapper from Atlanta, Georgia.

The 25-year-old hip-hop artist has seen a recent popularity boost when Drake remixed his track ‘Tuesday’. He’s also pretty in with fellow Atlanta man Mike Will Made it, producer for the likes of Miley Cyrus and Mariah Carey.

Makonnen mixes the vocals of smooth R&B act The Weeknd and the bass beats of Gucci Mane, with a recent collaboration with Ezra Koenig of Vampire Weekend and ‘I Like Tuh‘ with DJ Carnage.