https://beforethedata.com/blog Hand-picked emerging music, artist discovery, and A&R insight from Chad Hillard. en-us Sun, 26 Jul 2026 04:19:24 GMT https://beforethedata.com/john-robert-anna https://beforethedata.com/john-robert-anna Thu, 16 Apr 2026 18:24:34 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There is a version of a love song that does not oversell itself. John-Robert knows how to write that version. "Anna" is a warm, slow-burning confession. Twangy guitar, a voice that sounds like it grew up around people who meant what they said, and lyrics that do not flinch: "I've been craving you, Anna / You're all I… https://beforethedata.com/miya-reu-bleed https://beforethedata.com/miya-reu-bleed Thu, 09 Apr 2026 15:42:18 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There is a kind of restraint that makes a record hit harder, and "BLEED" lives in that pocket. MIYA REU never overplays the emotion. She lets the tension sit right on the surface, then pushes just enough melody through it to make the whole thing feel personal and sharp at the same time. What lands here is the control.… https://beforethedata.com/ggwendolyn-jock-my-style https://beforethedata.com/ggwendolyn-jock-my-style Mon, 06 Apr 2026 13:43:15 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There's something a little feral about this one. Sharp writing, left-field instincts, and a voice that knows exactly how to lean into the chaos. ggwendolyn is a Los Angeles singer, songwriter, and producer with real momentum building around her. “Jock My Style” feels specific, weird in the right places, and catchy eno… https://beforethedata.com/inlovewtheart-duolingo https://beforethedata.com/inlovewtheart-duolingo Sun, 29 Mar 2026 12:45:15 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) You know that feeling when a song catches you completely off guard? "Duolingo" by inlovewtheart does exactly that. Featuring SIX and Chefbkay, this track blends smooth R&B production with a groove that sticks with you long after it ends. inlovewtheart (Zeo) is a music producer with just over 1,000 monthly listeners on… https://beforethedata.com/gia-other-home https://beforethedata.com/gia-other-home Fri, 27 Mar 2026 20:41:32 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) When songs take creative risks, sometimes it falls flat. But "OTHER HOME" by gia is one of those rare moments where the risk lands exactly where it should. gia makes cinematic, ambient music that hits like a film score for your own life. With just 2 songs on Spotify and under 200 monthly listeners, this is one of the… https://beforethedata.com/jack-sanders-place-in-time https://beforethedata.com/jack-sanders-place-in-time Thu, 26 Mar 2026 15:45:24 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Some artists show up with a full production team and a marketing plan. Jack Sanders shows up with a guitar and a voice that does all the work for him. "Place in Time" is acoustic folk at its most direct. No layers to hide behind, no tricks. Just a song that lands exactly where it's supposed to. The Missouri singer and… https://beforethedata.com/marie-dresselhuis-january https://beforethedata.com/marie-dresselhuis-january Thu, 26 Mar 2026 13:23:52 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There are songs that ask you to feel something, and then there are songs that just make it happen without asking. "January" by Marie Dresselhuis is the second kind. The Vancouver singer and songwriter builds the track on piano and voice, keeping the production minimal enough that every breath in the performance carrie… https://beforethedata.com/maiorca-ouroborus https://beforethedata.com/maiorca-ouroborus Wed, 25 Mar 2026 21:23:04 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There's something about the way Maiorca builds a song that makes you feel like you've been holding your breath the whole time. "Ouroborus" doesn't just land. It circles. The production is layered but never heavy, sitting somewhere between late-night R&B and the kind of quiet intensity that made early Daniel Caesar rec… https://beforethedata.com/temper-city-self-aware https://beforethedata.com/temper-city-self-aware Wed, 25 Mar 2026 14:13:28 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Most bands do not sound like this on their first song. Temper City dropped "Self Aware" and TikTok lost its mind. 1.4 million views on one clip. 23,000 followers built off a single. 3.5 million monthly listeners, all from one track. The song sounds like it was written by a band ten years into their career. Indie rock… https://beforethedata.com/conall-cafferty-counterfeit https://beforethedata.com/conall-cafferty-counterfeit Wed, 25 Mar 2026 13:13:28 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) This sounds like it was recorded in a cabin at 2 AM. And that is exactly the point. Conall Cafferty out of Nashville strips everything back on "Counterfeit." Just a voice and a guitar. 48,000 monthly listeners. 41,000 TikTok followers. 8 songs deep and every one of them sounds like a conversation you were never suppos… https://beforethedata.com/tyler-obrien-haunted https://beforethedata.com/tyler-obrien-haunted Thu, 19 Mar 2026 19:05:55 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) tyler obrien makes the kind of music that sounds like it was written in a room where the lights have been off for days. “haunted” is raw, quiet, and completely honest. There is no production hiding anything here. Just a voice carrying the full weight of something that still hurts. At 461 monthly listeners, almost nobo… https://beforethedata.com/anoop-running-in-place https://beforethedata.com/anoop-running-in-place Wed, 18 Mar 2026 16:49:41 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Anoop D’Souza is a Los Angeles-based producer, songwriter, and artist who has spent years working behind the scenes. “RUNNING IN PLACE,” his third solo release featuring the striking vocals of OGI, is the kind of record that stops you mid-scroll. The production is warm and layered, pulling from alt R&B and indie pop w… https://beforethedata.com/alyssa-grace-dog-with-a-bone https://beforethedata.com/alyssa-grace-dog-with-a-bone Tue, 17 Mar 2026 17:12:03 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) You rarely hear a vocal this striking. Alyssa Grace is a singer and songwriter out of Los Angeles with the kind of tone that stops you mid-scroll. Her delivery is pitch perfect but never sterile. There is this effortless raw edge underneath everything she sings that makes the performance feel lived in, not manufacture… https://beforethedata.com/konstantine-horses https://beforethedata.com/konstantine-horses Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:10:07 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There are songs you hear and immediately think: how does no one know about this yet? "Horses" is one of them. Konstantine is a singer-songwriter making acoustic folk indie with a voice that is genuinely stunning. "Horses" is the kind of track that gets under your skin the first time and stays there. 2,980 streams. 173… https://beforethedata.com/faithzapata-seventeen https://beforethedata.com/faithzapata-seventeen Tue, 10 Mar 2026 23:43:00 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Faith Zapata makes the kind of music that stops you mid-scroll. The SF Bay Area singer-songwriter blends alt indie folk with a voice that feels both delicate and commanding, the kind you hear once and never forget. Her breakout track "apollo" has quietly amassed over 2.5 million streams, proving she can write songs th… https://beforethedata.com/jahson-paynter-genny-please https://beforethedata.com/jahson-paynter-genny-please Mon, 09 Mar 2026 22:48:00 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Jahson Paynter is an artist out of Ontario, Canada making the kind of music that stops you mid-scroll. "genny please!" opens with piano that immediately pulls you in, and when his vocals land on top, it all just clicks. Silky, layered, and perfectly placed. At 118,000 monthly listeners on Spotify with under 7,000 foll… https://beforethedata.com/deloyd-elze-gatorade-menthols https://beforethedata.com/deloyd-elze-gatorade-menthols Sun, 08 Mar 2026 18:00:00 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There's a lane forming between country music and modern production that most artists are afraid to touch. Deloyd Elze isn't most artists. The self-described "digital twang" artist just released his new EP Nellene , and "Gatorade & Menthols" is the track that stops you in your tracks. It's country at its core, but filt… https://beforethedata.com/ella-unruh-by-the-way https://beforethedata.com/ella-unruh-by-the-way Fri, 06 Mar 2026 23:30:59 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There's a specific kind of song that doesn't announce itself. It just starts, and somewhere in the first thirty seconds you realize you've stopped whatever you were doing and you're just listening. "by the way" is that song. Ella Unruh is a Nashville singer-songwriter with four songs out and a voice that sounds like s… https://beforethedata.com/sung-holly-simple https://beforethedata.com/sung-holly-simple Thu, 05 Mar 2026 16:31:55 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There's a softness to Sung Holly's voice that does not ask for your attention. It just takes it. "Simple" is the kind of song that sounds like it was already living somewhere in the back of your chest before you ever heard it. Unhurried. Warm. The production gives her space to breathe and she fills every second of it.… https://beforethedata.com/kate-sykes-pills https://beforethedata.com/kate-sykes-pills Wed, 04 Mar 2026 01:40:02 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There's a version of country music that doesn't show up on the radio. The kind that lives closer to Alice in Chains than Alan Jackson. Kate Sykes is building that version. New Orleans-born, Nashville-based, and shaped by a childhood split between her dad's Jane's Addiction records and her grandfather's bluegrass banjo… https://beforethedata.com/biirthplace-iddk https://beforethedata.com/biirthplace-iddk Tue, 03 Mar 2026 20:49:30 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Biirthplace has over 500,000 streams across features and collaborations. He co-produced and featured on FattMack's "Had To Do," which sits at 509K and counting. He produced tracks for H.LLS, Destin Laurel, and d4mon. London, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New York City. Five different markets, all finding him organically.… https://beforethedata.com/backyardaughter-places https://beforethedata.com/backyardaughter-places Mon, 02 Mar 2026 21:00:00 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) backyardaughter showed up in the queue with no label, no press, and a name that sounds like it was typed out in a notes app at 2am. The song is called "places" and the whole thing feels like watching someone figure out exactly who they are in real time. Quiet production, a vocal that doesn't try too hard, and a melody… https://beforethedata.com/gorillaz-the-plastic-guru https://beforethedata.com/gorillaz-the-plastic-guru Mon, 02 Mar 2026 02:56:14 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Gorillaz built The Mountain around Indian classical music, and this is the track where it hits hardest. Anoushka Shankar is playing sitar, Johnny Marr is doing his thing on guitar, and somehow the two don't just coexist. They push each other. The album has been out less than a week and this is already the one I keep c… https://beforethedata.com/red-leather-divine-intervention https://beforethedata.com/red-leather-divine-intervention Sun, 01 Mar 2026 14:56:14 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Never heard of Red Leather until now. Went through the full album cold and "DIVINE INTERVENTION" was the one that stopped everything. He's a country rock artist out of Reno, Nevada who started busking on Hollywood Boulevard, built 1.4 million TikTok followers posting covers and originals, and landed a deal with EMPIRE… https://beforethedata.com/the-square-the-end https://beforethedata.com/the-square-the-end Sun, 01 Mar 2026 14:55:14 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) "The End" arrived February 9 with no fanfare, no press cycle, nothing but the song itself. That's not a complaint. The Square is so new there's almost nothing to look up, which means the only thing doing the work here is the track, and the track is doing enough. There's a slow-building quality to it, guitar and atmosp… https://beforethedata.com/kylie-small-them-boys https://beforethedata.com/kylie-small-them-boys Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:56:14 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) The lyric opens on three houses down and a summer spent skipping rocks off a dock, and Kylie Small doesn't need more than that to pull you all the way in. "Them Boys" is a small-town coming-of-age song written with the kind of specific detail that only works when it's actually true. She's from Haughton, Louisiana, and… https://beforethedata.com/girlsweetvoiced-spearmint https://beforethedata.com/girlsweetvoiced-spearmint Sat, 28 Feb 2026 14:51:14 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) There is a specific kind of intimacy in bedroom pop when the artist actually means it, and girlsweetvoiced means it. "spearmint" is two and a half minutes of gentle, unhurried indie-folk, her voice sitting low and close in the mix like a voice note sent to someone she trusts. The production is minimal on purpose: acou… https://beforethedata.com/all-we-hold-how-i-see-it https://beforethedata.com/all-we-hold-how-i-see-it Thu, 26 Feb 2026 15:15:02 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) All We Hold is an indie folk project out of Breda, Netherlands, led by songwriter and producer Gyzen. "How I See It" is taken from their new EP "Not Built to Stay," released in January 2026, and it does exactly what this band does best: builds slowly, holds back where most artists would push, and lets the emotion arri… https://beforethedata.com/don-kai-on-my-bad-days https://beforethedata.com/don-kai-on-my-bad-days Thu, 26 Feb 2026 01:47:39 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Don Kai has been quietly building something real, and "on my bad days" is the clearest proof yet. The Atlanta-based artist rides a stripped-back, late-night R&B groove with a vocal delivery that feels lived-in, confessional without being overwrought. There's a patience to his phrasing that most artists his age haven't… https://beforethedata.com/lou-neal-whats-her-name https://beforethedata.com/lou-neal-whats-her-name Thu, 26 Feb 2026 01:27:02 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Lou Neal has been writing songs since she was 11 years old. What started as therapy for a kid from Chickamauga, Georgia working through her parents split at a piano in her dad's new place has grown into something undeniable. She is not chasing trends. She is building something rooted in the Randy Travis, George Strait… https://beforethedata.com/sloe-jack-pour-me-a-drink https://beforethedata.com/sloe-jack-pour-me-a-drink Wed, 18 Feb 2026 10:56:34 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) We've been watching SLOE JACK build toward a moment like this. "POUR ME A DRINK" is loose and confident, the kind of track that sounds like it was made at 2 AM and doesn't apologize for it. The production sits back and lets the vocal breathe, gritty at the edges, melodic where it counts. Keep an ear on this one. https://beforethedata.com/finnegan-tui-wildflower https://beforethedata.com/finnegan-tui-wildflower Fri, 13 Feb 2026 14:37:55 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Finnegan Tui brings a softness that earns its space. "Wildflower" is patient and warm, the kind of folk-adjacent writing that pulls you in without trying to. His voice carries real weight without overselling it. New Zealand-born, globally ready. https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-quik-stop https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-quik-stop Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:09:21 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Cole in lean mode. "Quik Stop" is compact and deliberate, a beat that doesn't overstay and bars that cut clean. No filler. The production gives him room and he uses every inch of it. Right up your alley if you like Cole at his most focused. https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-the-fall-off https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-the-fall-off Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:09:21 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Cole came back with something to prove and *The Fall-Off* delivers. This isn't a victory lap — it's Cole in a contemplative mode, working through what legacy actually means when the game has moved on without you. The features are surgical (Burna Boy, Future, Tems all pull their weight), and the production gives each t… https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-only-you-with-burna-boy https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-only-you-with-burna-boy Fri, 06 Feb 2026 19:05:06 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Two heavyweights, no wasted space. Burna Boy's Afrobeats cadence wraps around Cole's flow in a way that feels natural, not forced. The beat is smooth enough to float on and sturdy enough to hold both voices without crowding either. A collab that actually makes sense. https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-lonely-at-the-top-bonus https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-lonely-at-the-top-bonus Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:59:54 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Cole goes introspective and the production follows him there. "Lonely at the Top" sits in the quiet space between reflection and reckoning, low-key sonics, high-density writing. The bonus tag undersells it. https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-the-let-out https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-the-let-out Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:59:49 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) "The Let Out" is exactly what it sounds like. Cole unloads on a hard-knocking beat that gives the bars room to land. The production leans classic without being nostalgic, pure function. This is Cole in his element. https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-bunce-road-blues-with-future-tems https://beforethedata.com/j-cole-bunce-road-blues-with-future-tems Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:46:07 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Three different worlds colliding and somehow it holds together. Tems lifts the whole track the moment she enters. Future's drift pairs better with Cole than you'd expect, and the blues reference in the title isn't ironic. This one has texture. https://beforethedata.com/deloyd-elze-george-jones-ft-angela-autumn https://beforethedata.com/deloyd-elze-george-jones-ft-angela-autumn Fri, 06 Feb 2026 18:07:46 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) The name alone sets the bar, and they clear it. Deloyd Elze and Angela Autumn trade lines on a sparse, aching track that sits firmly in the classic country tradition without feeling like a museum piece. Honest production, honest writing. Feast your ears. https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-act-i https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-act-i Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:50:31 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Dame Atlas is one of the most quietly compelling young voices to emerge in a while, and *ACT I* is a proper introduction. The project sits somewhere between bedroom pop and singer-songwriter territory — sparse arrangements, emotional precision, nothing wasted. There's a rawness here that feels deliberate rather than r… https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-pack-of-ports-and-a-dream https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-pack-of-ports-and-a-dream Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:50:31 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Dame Atlas has a way of making small moments feel cinematic. "pack of ports and a dream" is lived-in indie-pop, the kind of track that sounds like it was written at the end of a long night with nothing left to lose. The detail in the title carries through the whole song. https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-save-me-from-myself https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-save-me-from-myself Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:50:26 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) The follow-up track lands with more weight. Dame Atlas strips things back further here, and the vulnerability is all the louder for it. Raw and unguarded in the best way. This is the song that earns the fanbase. https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-do-i-look-like-jesus-christ https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-do-i-look-like-jesus-christ Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:44:30 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) The title swings hard and the track backs it up. Dame Atlas brings a rawer edge here, the production a little more abrasive, the writing sharper. Feels like someone finally said the quiet part loud. https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-chrome-hearts-dont-break https://beforethedata.com/dame-atlas-chrome-hearts-dont-break Fri, 06 Feb 2026 16:41:33 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Dame Atlas closes this run with their most polished entry. "chrome hearts don't break" has a confidence the earlier tracks are still building toward. The production shines things up without losing the grit, and the hook lands like it was always supposed to. https://beforethedata.com/jerri-loop https://beforethedata.com/jerri-loop Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:16:35 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Jerri buries something in the repetition that sneaks up on you. "Loop" is understated R&B that trusts the listener enough not to oversell. The production breathes and the vocal stays cool. That restraint is the point. https://beforethedata.com/tyler-ballgame-for-the-first-time-again https://beforethedata.com/tyler-ballgame-for-the-first-time-again Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:15:01 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Tyler Ballgame leans into the nostalgia built into that title and somehow makes it feel new. The track is warm and melodic, pop songwriting with enough edge to keep it from going soft. Right up your alley if you're into artists who know what they're doing structurally. https://beforethedata.com/hardy-mcarthur https://beforethedata.com/hardy-mcarthur Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:14:48 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) When HARDY gets four of country's biggest voices in one room, he better have a song worth it. "McArthur" earns it. The production is massive without being overworked, and each voice gets room to breathe. Church alone carries enough weight to anchor this. https://beforethedata.com/noah-kahan-the-great-divide https://beforethedata.com/noah-kahan-the-great-divide Mon, 02 Feb 2026 14:14:05 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Noah Kahan has made a career out of writing songs that feel too personal to be mainstream and then watching them go mainstream anyway. "The Great Divide" fits the mold. Vermont-cold, emotionally direct, produced just enough to open it up without losing what makes it his. https://beforethedata.com/ingrid-what-kind-of-man https://beforethedata.com/ingrid-what-kind-of-man Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:12:46 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Ingrid asks the question in the title and lets the music answer it. Sparse piano, controlled tension, and a vocal that goes from measured to something close to a reckoning by the end. The kind of pop that knows when to hold back. https://beforethedata.com/nino-uptown-no-ones-perfect https://beforethedata.com/nino-uptown-no-ones-perfect Mon, 26 Jan 2026 14:04:18 GMT hello@beforethedata.com (Chad Hillard) Nino Uptown keeps it clean. "No One's Perfect" leans on classic R&B infrastructure, smooth production, a hook that sticks without being pushy. The vulnerability in the vocal feels lived-in rather than performed. Keep an ear on where this one goes.