The underground has always been a staple of the rap genre but because of its unique sound compared to most mainstream rap, it is rejected by many. However, if you enjoy this type of music there are many artists with many different sounds gaining traction and veterans who have been making music for years and it has gone unheard by the masses. These are the top artists of the underground in 2024
Nettspend
Nettspend is a young upcoming rapper out of Richmond Virginia making huge waves in the underground scene at the age of 17 with songs like ”We Not Like You,” “drankdrankdrank” and “Ca$h cow.”
On top of gaining popularity at such a young age, he has also only been rapping for 2 years and dropped out of high school as a freshman and started pursuing his career in rap. Showing his success Nettspend performed at Rolling Loud California 2024 shortly after this performance he announced that he was working on his first album to the excitement of many fans
Osamason
Osamason is a young rapper out of South Carolina who has generated a new wave of music inspired by artists like Ken Carson. Although Osamason is mostly known for his rapping he also self-produces many of his songs.
As he rose in popularity in late 2023 he released his debut album titled “Osamaseason” and in early 2024 he released another album called “Flex Music” and the deluxe for album titled “Flxtra” Some notable tracks include “Need It,” “for da Flex,” and “pop.”
Osamason is currently pioneering the rage side of rap with the help of production like no one else making music. Fans of this artist are very excited to see where his career goes and see him enter the mainstream.
yhapojj
Yhapojj is famous for his work in the pluggnb genre with calm melodies and heavy 808s. He grew up in Dayton Ohio and his career started taking off when he joined the rap group known as slayworld with rappers Summrs and Kankan and many other notable names, some of his best hits are “Hurt My Feelings” and “1o” which is often considered one of the best pluggnb songs ever made. He has shown his dominance in the underground and his ability to make hits constantly.
Cabbage742
Cabbage is a rapper out of New York who in late 2023 released his first album titled “Auto Bahn” with a unique abstract sound with autotuned vocals and synths along with heavy base and catchy lyrics. Cabbage has also secured features from notable artists such as fourfive. Some of his best tracks include “RN!,” “G5,” and “2047.”
Hardrock
This 19-year-old rapper from Atlanta has taken over the underground scene with unique production and unique vocal inflections and released his first album in 2023 titled “1of1” This project has very notable features including bnyx and f1lthy who are known for their amazing production working with large names like Yeat and Play Boi Carti. His best songs include “Kingtut,” “FR55,” and “Feel Alive.”
Ian
This artist gained popularity in early 2024 through his song “Figure It Out” which blew up on tik tok and as of March 25 2024 he has yet to be signed to a label. After the success of the song he released another single titled “Grandslam” showing his fans that he can keep producing hits. At first glance, most people would assume that he wasn’t a rapper and this helped him gain traction on the internet as it got people to talk about him
Desire
Desire is a pluggnb artist but also experiments with other sounds. He was also a member of the group slayworld. He has a similar sound to other artists such as Summrs and has collaborated with him many times one example is the song “2 Lit” on the album “Rookie of the Year 2.” Desire is a veteran of the underground and continues to make hits such as “Cherry Lollipop.”
Izaya tiji
Izaya tiji is known for his work as a pluggnb artist and has been releasing music since 2016 some of his most well-known songs are “10 Toes,” “Just Came Down,” and “I Eat Humans.” In the start of his career, he was a member of slayworld before the group disbanded. Now he works mostly on his own because he has built a name for himself in the underground scene
Lazar Dim 700
Lazar Dim 700 started gaining popularity in early 2024 for his vocals being unedited and his unique flow and sound with the song “Asian rock” He followed up this success with an album titled “injoy” Some of the best songs off this project are “injoyable” and “awsum.” Lazar Dim seems like a very promising artist with lots of potential for the future.
The underground is constantly shifting and changing with new experimental sounds. For some of these artists being able to maintain their popularity is a very impressive feat. The artists gaining popularity on this list, all show promise to continue to pioneer new styles of music and continue to gain popularity.