Six emerging artists you need to hear this March

Inspired by seeing her friends on the decks at parties and wanting to join in, Tañ began learning the ropes of mixing in 2019. Within just two years, the Leeds-based DJ has already earned the respect of Rinse FM, Rhythm Sister and Sub Club for her selections. Whilst it’s garage that Tañ’s style centres around, she flits playfully across genres in her sets, blending afrobeats with footwork and electro. “I love experimenting with bringing unexpected tunes together and trying to layer different elements, especially playing around with vocals.”

Though clubbing is still on hold, Tañ usually co-runs Spin City, a UKG, speed garage and 2-step night which champions local DJs. In the meantime, she’s churning out mixes online and on the airwaves, including her monthly show on Sable Radio. “Mixing has been a great escape for me,” she says. “I just want listeners to be able to feel that same release.”

For fans of: Eliza Rose, Dr Banana, Anz 

“Our Sound is about that juicy, 140bpm-plus, in-your-face electro, breaks, ghetto house and tech, juke, jungle and everything else that is fast, rough and makes you sweat. Basically, not your typical Berlin techno sound,” one-eighth of the collective and label RAIDERS, Young Lychee, tells DJ Mag. He’s been flexing the imprint’s aesthetic on HÖR Berlin’s airwaves since last year, with a fluid style of mixing complemented by bouncy track selections, that has earned the producer and DJ a legion of fans online.

Upcoming releases this month include a debut EP on London-based label Childsplay, and after checking out a sneak preview, it’s safe to say Lychee’s signature, sugary stamp is all over it. Joining the RAIDERS family with a residency on Refuge Radio, this is just the beginning of what’s to come from Young Lychee and the collective, aka Berlin’s purest purveyors of tangy, high-speed rhythms.

For fans of: Jensen Interceptor, SHERELLE, DJ Assault

We’re all in need of some warm, uplifting tones to perk our mood at the moment, and Simple Souls are a drum & bass group who can help. What was originally a solo act featuring occasional musicians has evolved into a fully-fledged quartet, with a producer, saxophonist, guitarist and horn player. Last year, the group from Eastern Europe shot onto the radar of V Recordings label boss Bryan Gee, who signed two EPs in ‘Set It Off’ and ‘Sweet Love’ — in the process, earmarking Simple Souls as a new-school act driving the Liquid V sound forward. 

Their soulful, funk-infused liquid cuts are reminiscent of the original feel-good sound V Recordings built its foundations on. From dreamy pads to joyous live instrumentation, Simple Souls are injecting some much-needed positivity into drum & bass right now, and are looking like a ticking time bomb ready to explode in 2021.

For fans of: DJ Marky, Peshay, Dr Meaker

Since his debut ‘What’s That Noise?’ EP landed in 2017, BufoBufo’s steady string of releases has been elevating his name like his warehouse-ready tracks have ravers. His amphibious sound is as at home in a house set as it is electro or breaks, smudging the lines between genres with gossamer rave atmospherics, funky b-line patterns and propulsive kick-drums. 

2020 marked his most prolific year to date, with EPs for Further Electronix, PARTOUT and Kouncil Kuts, the latter of which rounded off the year with acid breakbeat thumper ‘Cave Network’. Back in January, BufoBufo landed on Fina White with a selection of dusty deep-but-weighty house on the ‘Endless Rhythm’ EP, and he’s already got a plethora of new music locked with previous labels and some new ones too. This month comes a joint release with Corporeal Face under their Escape Earth moniker and via their co-run Ritual Poison label. BufoBufo describes it as “ravemungous”, and after hearing the rich layers of cosmic chugging breaks, acidic warblings and in particular, brilliant dubstep-meets- hardcore closer ‘Universe Dub’, we have to agree.

For fans of: Hugo Massien, Radioactive Man, Hooverian Blur

Liverpool-based DJ G33 first took to the decks in 2019. Having been raised on a blend of genres — from dancehall to grime to UKG — back in her native South London, she honed her craft with SoundCloud mixes and bedroom blending before taking her talent out into the scene, most notably warming up for Conducta last year and popping up with guest mixes for BBC 1Xtra, No Signal, Rinse FM and Reprezent. Taking inspiration from her surroundings, she looks to put the sounds of the North on the map, in particular focusing on the underground artists and DJs from Liverpool and beyond. 

She is also a key figure in Girls On Deck, a collective of women and non-binary DJs based in the North of England, who look to tackle sexism and inequality in the industry — “We want and learn and develop in supported environments with no judgement, scrutiny or restrictions,’’ she tells DJ Mag. Looking to bring energy to everything she works on, her UKG refix of Doja Cat’s ‘Say So’, which dropped last year, has a nostalgic feel while remaining contemporary and fresh, and is a perfect sign of what she has to deliver.

For fans of: Vanessa Maria, Emerald, Jyoty