Illustration by Bianca Bosso.
The Future Class Of 2017 is 15 acts that we believe are poised for greatness this year. Last year we tipped Sampa The Great, Kiiara, Dua Lipa and more to do big things and over the next week we’ll be rolling out individual features on each both here and on Cool Accidents. Today, we’re shining a light on SIBA.
There's a wave of popstars right now that are committed to making weird pop. It's a move that's set to push the genre forward and see it break boundaries again, something that stopped when the internet put up a clear division between Soundcloud-bound alt-pop and commercial, wide-reaching pop. At the centre of that movement is Charli XCX who is working with PC Music and SOPHIE to create mainstream music like you've never heard before but there's also a wave of newbies who share her vision.
One of those is SIBA who has worked with Charli in the past. The Danish artist is fresh from releasing his second EP My Life With Jessie, My Friends And The Rest Of The World and 2017 is looking to be a big year from him. It's an EP that combines bubbly, innovative production with melodies bound for the masses. Friends is a euphoric ode to his friends while I.D.C.B.U. is a distorted, beefy electronic no-fucks-given anthem. They're all relatable jams but the production reaches to introduce audiences to something more, extend the capabilities of a pop song.
SIBA idolises mega producer Max Martin and recently told FACT he's be up for a collab with Pitbull showing that he's not reserved when it comes to entering the pop world that chews up and spits out so many. Judging by his attitude and tunes, he may just be the one to further bridge the gap between the commercial and the weird. We desperately need some reinvention and we're calling on SIBA to deliver in 2017.
