2016 was a great year for Belgium’s urban scene as a couple of artists managed to get a record deal and hip hop from Belgian soil was more present than ever this festival summer. We are convinced that 2017 will be an even more memorable year as there are a lot of young artists working hard and putting in work daily to put out high quality music. We selected a couple of acts that we think are about to blow in 2017 on a national and maybe international level. Make sure to check them out below.

Darrell Cole

2016 was a great year for Barcelona-based, Antwerp-raised rapper Darrell Cole. He decided to drop a whole lot of new music out of nowhere, performed at festivals such as Laundry Day & Crammerock and signed a deal with Sony Music Belgium. It’s been a long way coming for him, as he was one of the first rappers in Belgium to rap in English and get his videos to be played on national television. Mind you, this was before the big labels showed any interest at all in Belgian hip hop. Fast forward about ten years, a record deal later and an album on the way & it looks like things have finally come full circle for the Linkeroever native.

K1D

A lot of people will know K1D as Woodie Smalls‘ sidekick but those familiar with the Belgian hip hop scene know better than that. The young Sint-Niklaas native is without a doubt an incredibly talented emcee with a flow that’ll get you bopping your head in no time. In 2016 he dropped two videos he made while he was in New York as a preview of his EP dubbed High Hopes which will see its release in 2017.

Malik

From making beats for the likes of Lil Yachty and Dutch rapper Cho, putting out his first mixtape to signing a deal with Universal Music France one could say that 2016 was a pretty good year for Antwerp-based rapper/singer/producer Malik. Needless to say, we’re expecting a lot of new music from the 16-year old triple threat in 2017. Check out his mixtape here.

Blackwave.

The duo Blackwave. consists out of Antwerp-based producer Willem Ardui & Ghent-based rapper Jaywalker. and first made waves (no pun intented) when they dropped their remix Method Man & Triggerfinger’s track The One back in March.  Near the end of the year they started a series of #caravansessions where they jam and freestyle with their band. If you love soulful hiphop, Blackwave. is an act that should definitely be on your radar in 2017.

Accent Soul

Accent Soul dropped his first video Back To You near the ending of 2016 and gained some traction in the local scene pretty quick. A few weeks later he released his debut project College Romance which he made in his student dorm. Since then he’s made several radio appearances. If you’re into classic r&b with a touch of that trap soul, you should definitely keep an eye on this dude.

CJ Calvin

2016 looked like a pretty calm year for CJ Calvin on the surface. Except for dropping a few singles in the beginning of the year, it was pretty quiet around him but that whole time he was working on a new project which is expected to drop in 2017. The Ghent-based singer/producer made such a big impression on us when he dropped his first EP First Kind that we are definitely looking forward to this new project.

DVTCH NORRIS

Last year was pretty good for the lovely people at Beatville Records. Coely signed a deal with Universal Music and they succesfully launched a new artist. DVTCH NORRIS dropped his first single Caught Up back in January and followed it up with a soulful second offering featuring label mate Yann Gaudeuille which received a lot of airplay on national radio. Back in October he also got the chance perform at Lefto‘s annual Made In Belgium event. With only two songs out, his debut project is highly anticipated and we are excited to see what DVTCH has to offer in 2017.