Will female artists take their legacy into the year 2012?

Will female artists take their legacy into the year 2012?

As we come to the end of 2011, which saw the stupendous success of the female solo artist, which bands or artists, should we be looking to welcome into the New Year?

2011 has certainly been a year for the women, with Adele being one of the most apparent successes. Recently making history she emerged as the first female singer to be number one on Billboard’s artist, album and single list in the same year. Additionally,
she was also nominated for six Grammies. Another female solo artist received similar recognition this year was Jessie J, whose album ‘Who You Are’ was recently named the biggest selling debut album of 2011. Although the two have both proven to be successes,
what distinguishes Adele’s success from that of Jessie J is that Jessie J has derived her acclaim through notably winning BBC Sound of 2011.

So can this year’s list tell us anything about the state of music in 2012? At a first glance the list appears to be mainly dominated by hip hop and grime music. The first three artists on the line-up, A$AP Rocky, Azealia Banks and Dot Rotten, seem
to suggest that these genres are still maintaining their popularity and have the potential to become even more recognised next year. That’s not to say that alternative music doesn’t still play a relevant role on the list, bands such as Dry The River, Friends,
Niki & The Dove and Spector appear to cover this base. Although, even despite the popularity of the female artist this year, the list appears to be overshadowed by male artists such as Frank Ocean Jamie N Commons, Michael Kiwanuka, Flux Pavilion and Skrillex.
Skrillex’s music is often referred to as being called ‘brostep’ however there appears to be little in the way of a female equivalent, on the list, a ‘sistastep’ if you will.

However, there is a lot to suggest that the female artists is still a strong contender for 2012, made apparent by artists such as Ren Harvieu, Lianne La Havas, Stooshe and most noticeably Azealia Banks, who was recently voted NME’s coolest person of
2011. Looking at the list of artists there is a sense of familiarity, in respect to last year’s winners. It seems possible that Azealia Banks’ single ‘212’ could have the same popularity as Jessie J’s ‘Do It Like a Dude’. ‘212? has already had a great deal
of controversy in relation to the song’s lyrics, however was recently ranked as the highest-ever rated song on the website The Singles Jukebox. Similarly, using last year’s list as a guide, connections could be made to Flux Pavillion being 2012’s answer to
James Blake. Blake, came runner up behind Jessie J in last year’s BBC Sound list and as a result has also achieved undeniable success with his self-titled album being nominated for a Mercury Prize. Or could Spector be next year’s answer to The Vaccines? Despite
coming third, on the list, The Vaccines are currently the biggest selling new band of 2011.

Although it is difficult to judge the popularity of certain artists in the upcoming months it seems that some artists, regardless, are going to make an impact. Although not making it on to the BBC Sound List (as she has had a UK top 20 single) it seems
that no Mystic Meg abilities are required to predict that Lana Del Ray will become increasingly popular. The female vocalist has already spurred debate over the authenticity of her musical career, however tickets for her show in London this year sold out within
half an hour and with the release of her debut album, ‘Born to Die’ at the end of January, I’m sure that it will give us a lot more to talk about in the New Year.

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Posted by Irfan Khokhar on Dec 15 2011. Filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry