Today Spotify is excited to announce that South African rapper Willy Cardiac is the second artist to join RADAR – Spotify’s global emerging artists program featuring artists from over 50 markets worldwide. RADAR is Spotify’s commitment to emerging artists across all stages of their career development.
This announcement comes with the release of his latest single “Fan of Me” that is now available for streaming on Spotify. ‘Fan of Me’ serves a high energy iteration of Trap&B, with equal parts thump and rhythm, the track marries both worlds perfectly. Flexing on production by KindlyNxsh, the irresistible melodic trap that Willy Cardiac delivers features a suave verse by Los Angeles crooner Eric Bellinger. Bellinger is renowned for working with artists including Justin Bieber, Usher and Chris Brown. ‘Fan of Me’ is bound to gain Willy Cardiac even more fans.
Back in 2017 Willy Cardiac dropped his debut track “Sippy Dippy”, which saw him go viral and earn a league of fans dubbed the Willy Gang and it is this growing fan base that fuels Willy Cardiac’s performances. The 19-year-old rising star, who has been described as ‘authentic’ and ‘forward thinking’, has a raw energy that captured the eye of popular rapper Riky Rick and earned him an invitation to perform at the inaugural Cotton Fest.
After years of online success, Willy Cardiac has finally broken into the mainstream and bagged himself a spot on MTVs ‘Hottest MC List 2020 New Wave.’ Now, his inclusion in Spotify’s RADAR program will further accelerate his career by helping him deepen his connection to his existing audience as well as extend his reach globally.
Phiona Okumu, Spotify’s Artist and Label Partnerships Manager for South Africa, said: “Now more than ever, emerging artists need as much platform support as possible to showcase their music to local and international audiences. Spotify has always been committed to artist development, and to connecting fans with the music they will love. We believe that RADAR will help set up Willy Cardiac for long term success with a worldwide Hip-hop listenership.”
Together with the RADAR program, Spotify also recently introduced the On Our RADAR: Africa playlist, which will highlight music from new African artists and their latest releases. The playlist will also serve as a content hub for all the must-know tracks and hot new artists across a full spectrum of genres from the continent and the African diaspora. The playlist will continue to solidify Spotify as the ultimate destination for artist discovery and a powerful partner for rising artists.
Under the RADAR program, Willy Cardiac will be supported across different verticals. From first-hand editorial and on-platform support, to bespoke Spotify social media content to broaden his fan base and more.
“I am thrilled to be chosen by Spotify to be a part of their RADAR program,” says Willy Cardiac. All the hard work I have put into my music continues to be recognised and having Spotify support me on my journey will make my music accessible to millions of users around the world, from South Africa all the way to America. There’s no limit to where your music can go.”
Willy Cardiac joins Spotify’s emerging artist program, following the footsteps of international superstars such as Lil Baby, Rex Orange County, and Lauv who not so long ago were just starting out. Each one was assisted in this journey by Spotify’s dedication to bringing up-and-coming artists to music fans’ radar.
Earlier in March, Spotify announced Elaine as their first South African RADAR artist and continue to support Elaine’s music to date with forthcoming fan-driven events and editorial support from all around the world.
This weekend Willy Cardiac will kick off an IG Live series where he will be joined by some of his popular industry friends to trade ‘fan encounter’ stories. The IG Live series will start on Monday 1 June from 8pm (SAST) and run as per below –
- 1 June – DJ Speedsta (8pm – 8:20pm) and Kea (8:30pm – 8:50pm)
- 2 June – AudioMarc (8pm – 8:20pm) and Uncle Vinny (8:30pm – 8:50pm)
- 3 June – Riky Rick (8pm – 8:20pm)
- 4 June Eric Bellinger (8pm – 8:20pm)
Download the Spotify app via the Android or iOS app store or by heading to www.spotify.com – to embed Spotify into a website – right click on any playlist, go to ‘share’ and copy embed code.
#SpotifySouthAfrica – Facebook: @Spotify |Twitter: @SpotifySA | Instagram: @spotify
