BBC Sound of 2021: Longlist tips Dutchavelli, Alfie Templeman, Bree Runway and The Lathums for success

List of new artists is chosen by industry experts and Sound Of alumni

Clockwise from top left: BERWYN, Bree Runway, Alfie Templeman and Greentea Peng (Press )

The longlist for the BBC Music Sound of 2021 poll has been unveiled, with a new generation of rappers, singers and multi-instrumentalists tipped for success next year.

The 10 artists were chosen by a panel of industry experts and Sound Of alumni, including Billie Eilish Stormzy, AJ Tracey, Foals and Charli XCX.

All voting participants were asked to name their favourite three new acts, from any country or musical genre.

The chosen artists could not have been the lead artist on a UK Top 10 album, or have achieved more than one UK Top 10 single before 30 October 2020.

Among the longlisted artists is rapper Bree Runway, who recently released her mixtape 2000AND, 21-year-old Norwegian singer-songwriter girl in red, south London R&B singer Greentea Peng, and 17-year-old singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist Alfie Templeman.

Wigan-formed four-piece The Lathums are the only band to make the longlist. They released their EP, Ghosts, in November, and also appeared on Later… With Jools Holland.

Singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone was invited to join Lewis Capaldi on tour at the beginning of 2020, later releasing her debut EP Falling Asleep at the Wheel. Pa Salieu, a 22-year-old rapper from Slough, moved to Coventry aged 10 after spending his childhood in Gambia. He released his debut mixtape, Send Them to Coventry, to critical praise this year.

Rapper Dutchavelli moved to east London aged 12, after being born in Birmingham and spending his childhood in the Netherlands. In 2020, he collaborated with artists including Stormzy and Tion Wayne, and released his debut mixtape Dutch from the 5th. Singer-songwriter and producer GRIFF, 19, released her debut single shortly after finishing her A Level exams in 2019, and has since followed with a debut EP and collaborations with Hailee Steinfeld and Zedd.

Roundup off the 10 longlisted artists are rapper and singer Berwyn, a Trinidad and Tobago-born artist who moved to London aged nine. Among his releases are collaborations with Headie One and Fred; Pitchfork described him as the breakout star of Richard Russell’s Mercury Prize-nominated project Everything is Recorded.

The shortlisted 2021 artists are as follows:

Alfie Templeman

BERWYN

Bree Runway

Dutchavelli

girl in red

Greentea Peng

GRIFF

Holly Humberstone

Pa Salieu

The Lathums

The 2020 BBC Sound of Poll was won by singer Celeste, who was most recently heard performing the song used in John Lewis’s Christmas advert.

Other artists to have won over the years include Adele, Sam Smith, Stormzy, Lady Gaga, Foals, Dizzee Rascal and Lewis Capaldi.  

The countdown of the top five will begin on Sunday 3 January, with the Sound of 2021 winner announced on Thursday 7 2021.