Music
PAPER Goes Inside Spotify's Best New Artist Grammys Party
Photography by Andrew Tess
04 February 2023
The Grammys Best New Artist category is small but mighty, signaling who’s most likely to top the charts next in music.
This year’s nominees — DOMi and JD Beck, Muni Long, Samara Joy, Latto, Måneskin, Tobe Nwigwe, Molly Tuttle, Wet Leg, Anitta and Omar Apollo — join an impressive ranking of breakout stars from recent year’s past: Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Dua Lipa and more. An even deeper dive through category winners reveals industry icons like Amy Winehouse and Mariah Carey, so it’s safe to say the 2023 nominees are destined for something big.
Related | Omar Apollo Has Nothing Left to Fear
This year, Spotify threw a massive event in Los Angeles ahead of the Grammy Awards this Sunday night, featuring a rotating stage where all the Best New Artists performed the songs live that landed them this recognition. In-between sets, performers mixed and mingled backstage, hugging and congratulating each other on their shared successes. There were even some premonitions of who’s up next in 2024, with Latto and rising rapper Doechii gushing over each other’s work.
Below, PAPER captures polaroids of all the special guests, including Wiz Khalifa smoking a blunt and a cameo from Director Baz Luhrmann.
Photography: Andrew Tess