16 artists who will make your year in 2016

Londoner Joshua Brennan is the youngest of our tips for 2016, ringing in at 17-years-old. As Oshi, he makes bulky, starlit beats that aren't too dissimilar to Kaytranada and would easily slot in at LA label Soulection, with every single one of his tunes on SoundCloud breaking the 100,000-play count. His flip of Bastille's 'Of The Night' is on the most (761k), turning the 'Rhythm Is A Dancer' cover into a three-minute, sugar-coated, bass lullaby. Justin Bieber and Fetty Wap have also been transformed into cranky yet dazzling material, with Busta Rhymes being sampled on 'Pink', the synth-sizzler recently premiered by us and coming out on his 'This Is Not The Album' EP in January. Comments on his SoundCloud suggest that this isn't the first alias he's worked under - identifying MSFT and GRVDIENT$ as previous monikers - but Oshi seems to be the one that's going to pop. Especially if this photo outside Universal Music HQ in Los Angeles is anything to do with his future. We have a strong feeling it might. DT

Watch Oshi's Boiler Room here

Australian producer Daze's first record on Lobster Theremin epitomised everything that is exciting about the label. Among a hectic release schedule, the imprint has unleashed everything from warm house to blistering techno with equal adeptness. Daze threw all this eclecticism into the mix on a single 12" for the genre-splicing 'Lips' EP in 2014, showing remarkable assuredness at weaving together a wealth of influences into a coherent whole for a debut effort. 'Untitled' underlaid spacey ambience with an acid-flecked bassline; the relentless snare of 'Drag Ball' drove forward an otherwise soothing, off-kilter cut of house; and the two mixes of the title track have all the uplifting power of a bold set-closer with euphoric pads and a deep vocal sample, while remaining intrinsically very raw with breakbeat styled percussion. Follow up release 'Neuromance' in 2015 was similarly diverse, but with the intensity taken up several notches. This fresh production style makes every Daze release a compelling event and 2016 will be his busiest year yet: he'll drop a black label via Lobster Theremin (as well as a follow up via LT sub-label Mork), an EP for Noise In My Head and a self-released twelve, too.

Listen to clips from the black label release here

London duo God Colony uploaded two impeccable tracks to SoundCloud at the tail end of 2015. The first, 'Where I Was' with Boston-raised rapper Stash Marina (pictured above), sees the vocalist trace steps in synth tones as whispy and grey as incense smoke. Lyrics are summoned from the deep ("Impossible to just blow out the stress/ and let it sit and fester/ and now I can't escape this shitty smell") and float in a haze before disappearing. It's an intense counterpoint to the rough 'n tumble of 'Steady' with London MC Flohio, which lands somewhere between kuduro, UK funky and wot-do-u-call-it bass mutations. Pitched at 130bpm it's primed for the dance but no less emotive: Flohio controls the beat like a skilled matador, "Thinking you're wavy, I'm popping your bubbles/ Think that you made it, we're popping your bottles/ When I came in I came from the troubles/ SE16 so you know it's a hustle." Though still unsigned, both tracks have been getting airplay from Mary Anne Hobbs and Toddla T and we're told more work will be uploaded in February. Eyes emoji indeed. SW

Listen to God Colony's guest mix for Toddla T here

Mind:Body:Fitness takes a blowtorch to grime, techno and footwork, melting genre boundaries in order to blend and build anew. She's quietly been honing her craft in the club spaces of her current hometown of Berlin, where she's played for CTM and Creamcake, and has been uploading parts of her metallic, flighty, borderline psychedelic live show to SoundCloud. The futuristic waist-wind of 'Body Work', fluorescent grime of 'Taken' and high speed swirl of 'Leaving You' are particular highlights and great examples of a producer moving very much in her own zone. Having been active on SoundCloud for over a year, Mind:Body:Fitness will step out into the physical realm in 2016 by releasing a record on Kuedo and Joe Shakespeare's Knives imprint as well as turning in remix work for Houndstooth and dropping a track on Wasabi Tapes. She'll also be unveiling a brand new A/V show and continue to work with collaborator Cha Cha, who she describes as her "musical soulmate". SW

Check out Mind:Body:Fitness' SoundCloud here