Hometown: San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago
Genre: Soca
Why We're Excited: Nailah Blackman's grandfather, the late Lord Shorty, invented the style of music known as soca as a means of reinvigorating calypso music; her mother, Abbi Blackman, is a hit-making calypso star in her own right. The younger Blackman has enjoyed her own string of Afropop-inflected reggae hits, but don't be surprised if "O'Lawd Oye" crosses all the way over into mainstream omnipresence: It is, straight up, one of the most cathartically joyful songs you'll hear this year.
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