Top 5 Pluggnb Artists to Watch in 2022

ByKami Geron

Meet your perfect blend of trap music, rap, and R&B–Pluggnb. It is distinct auto-tuned audio with breaks of R&B “soul”, combined with the upbeat tempo of rap. Starting roughly in 2015, Pluggnb music has integrated itself into the top of music charts and is at the forefront of the next genre of music. Our top pluggnb artists to watch this year are Yeat, KA$HDAMI, Baby Santana, Autumn!, and Kankan.

1. Yeat

21-year-old Noah Smith, better known as Yeat, is one of the top Pluggnb artists with over six million listeners on Spotify. Inspired by artists like Young Thug and Drake, Yeat started his music career in 2015. His discography has consisted of mixtapes, EPs, and singles from 2018 onwards. It wasn’t until his song “Gët Budy” blew up on TikTok in 2021 that he took over the genre. He released Up 2 Më that year, charting on Billboard’s top 200 list. So far this year he has released an album, 2 Alivë, and two singles: “Still countin” and “YEET” with Yung Kayo. 

2. KA$HDAMI

David Wallace III almost stepped away from his music career as it was getting started. After releasing a single, “Kappin Up,” in 2018 at the age of 13, he lost interest in producing music. Fast forward to TikTok in 2020, and “Kappin Up” is a trending song. Taking advantage of this new fame, KA$HDAMI produced two mixtapes and another TikTok hit “Reparations!”. His success got him a record label in early 2021 with two albums dropping that year. 

3. Baby Santana

Steven Lewis is a 15-year-old rapper that has seen great success as Baby Santana in Pluggnb. Similar to other GenZ creators, he started his career on YouTube. Inspired by artists like XXXTENTACION, he dropped “Prada”, his first single, in 2020. Its success, alongside other singles, brought on collaborations with Lil Tecca, Yung Fazo, SSGKobe, and KA$HDAMI.

4. Autumn!

Starting in producing at the age of 11, Benjamin Phillips Jr. has continued to grow in the music world. Now at 22, he has 900,000 listeners on Spotify with a loaded discography. In 2019 his song “Nina!” blew up on TikTok–and has stayed one of his most popular songs to date. So far in 2022, Autumn! has released two singles: “Bentley Bentayga!” and “Jumpin!”.

5. Kankan

Starting in 2017, Keandrian Qynzel Jones, now KanKan, has gained a lot of traction in Pluggnb. He was collaborating with big names like Famous Dex, Smokepurpp, and Lil Boom practically from the start. His success has paved the way for over 700,000 listeners on Spotify and three singles already this year. At the top of his charts is his single “Wokeup” from 2021.