Freak show: 2022’s sexiest, silliest and most brilliantly strange musicians

In 2022, the rising stars of underground music are sexy, silly and brilliantly strange. No gloss and no media training: these artists have more in common with John Waters’ heroines than your average record label development act.

This group of 10 freaks are seductive and stupidly talented – and they’re proving that genre isn’t dead, as many would have you believe. It’s just become crazy specific: horny house, tech-jazz, fag folk and ​“if Aphex Twin had a villainous daughter”-core to name but a few freewheeling styles.

That being said, there’s no way to pin down a true musical freak. These people are shapeshifters, content to build out their own worlds and happy to just sing into a hairbrush in their rooms for an audience of none. Luckily for us, they’ve decided to share their music with the world, finding armies of fans on Instagram or Discord or in the depths of Bandcamp. In pop right now, weirdness is a virtue. That makes these artists fucking saints.

Sweden’s king of pulverising electronics

How do you overcome fear?

Hidden cameras, motion detectors, plastic bags, dirty glue, laser removal, specially developed chemical coatings, night goggles, razor wire, guard dogs.

When do you feel happiest?

When I visit my parents in the North of Sweden.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing with your life?

Flower arrangements. I love flowers.

Which of your tattoos mean the most to you?

The portrait of Bella Hadid year 2010 and the portrait of Bella Hadid year 2020.

What does it mean to be a freak?

I am normal and I feel sane.

What makes you feel good when you’re on stage?

Marlboro menthol and sugar-free Monster mixed with vodka.

Nigerian, London-based fashion darling and vaporwave vixen attacking culture from all sides with her cartoonish fashion and sexy, spaced-out brand of pop

What does it mean to be a freak?

Being yourself.

What were you like at school?

A lot of things; school felt like five different lives.

Who’s the coolest person on the planet right now?

My cat, Star, and Jesus.

How do you overcome fear?

I tell my mind to shut the fuck up.

Which music videos were you obsessed with as a kid?

I don’t think there was one in particular because MTV was my everything, but I did love Ms. Jackson by Outkast.

Name three icons who inspire you…

Yves Tumor, Odunsi (The Engine) and Frederick St Park.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing with your life?

I’m already doing everything I wanna do for now.

Why do you and regular collaborator Deto Black make such a good duo?

A lot of hours spent learning from each other.

NYC-via-Cape Town producer here to usher in your digital thot era with smutty, sordid house cuts

Who’s the coolest person on the planet right now?

Besides myself? My friend Mistervacation. She’s a DJ and medical student. She’s gonna be the first doctor-DJ I know.

What were you like at school?

I was a mix between the chatty patty who gets on the teacher’s nerves and an art geek.

Name three style icons who inspire you…

Kelis, Cam’ron and Kier from Deee-lite.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing with your life?

I’d either be a mortician or an actor. I’ve already done the mortician thing and I was a child actor, but I wanna do real acting now. I feel like I am an actor at my core.

What’s the wildest sample you’ve got that you can’t wait to use?

Estrogen by Arca.

What wins: the NYC nightlife scene, or the LA scene?

No other city’s nightlife scene compares to New York. It’s no shade to Los Angeles, but they really have no scene and everything closes at 2am.

Which city has an underrated party scene?

Johannesburg.

Pacific Northwest club fiend mixing dance with gags

What does it mean to be a freak?

Flying around freely like a bird.

What were you like at school?

In elementary and middle school I was a little asshole. In high school I chilled out.

How do you feel when you’re on stage?

It’s like meditation. Nothing going in, nothing going out. It’s a trance state where I feel like something else is in control. It’s one of the only things that brings me peace!

How do you overcome fear?

Trusting that it stems from anxiety, and oftentimes it’s your brain creating things that haven’t even happened.

If you could resurrect one dead musician, who would it be?

Speaker Knockerz.

Atlanta rabble-rouser making sweaty gay electro-punk with a cynical sneer

What does it mean to be a freak?

Freaks are fun and authentic, genuinely themselves. If you’re not a freak, you’re a sheep.

What were you like at school?

I was a burn-out. I smoked everyday before high school. When I went.

If you weren’t a musician, what do you think you would be doing with your life?

I would be doing something music-related. There isn’t anything else.

What inspires your fashion right now?

Boda Boda Madness by Jan Hoek and Bobbin Case, Evanora: Unlimited, Duality Junkie, Erl.

Manc MC mutant making beautiful grime and electronic mush

How do you overcome fear?

Scream.

Who’s the coolest person on the planet right now?

My little sister.

If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing with your life?

I’d like to be a marine biologist.

What do you love about Manchester?

I love how grey it is. Because it’s so grey, it’s created this blank canvas that all of us have been able to take advantage of and make something out of.

What does vanity mean?

It’s a method of self- defence against a society that often tries to anonymise and flatten us. I felt much better at dealing with transphobia and homophobia when I felt like I was dressed well and looking good. It became a self-defence mechanism against people who would be aggressive with me because of what I was wearing in the first place.

If you wanted to show someone a good time in Manchester/​Salford, where would you take them?

We’ll do tinnies by the canal. Fuck the club!

London-via-Lagos rapper taking over the world with her horny singles

Why do you and regular collaborator Mowalola make such a good duo?

I mean, it’s a Sagittarius and an Aries – it’s a fire combo!

Who do you want to listen to your music?

I want everyone to listen to my music but I really make it for people like me: bad bitches.

What does it mean to be a freak?

Being a freak means being unique and super HOT.

What were you like in school?

I was really shy.

Who’s the coolest person on the planet?

My mom. She’s always been that girl.

How do you overcome fear?

Through my faith. The first thing that comes to mind in any scary situation is to call God.

London-based musician proving you need brains and brawn to get the party started

What were you like at school?

I went to an all-boys sports school which was rated the worst in the county. Hated it, hated everyone there. So I was probably most like a hater. Hater boy. I think what kept me going is that God wanted me to be a pop star.

Name three style icons who inspire you…

Tom Hardy in 2008, Robbie Williams in 2001, Pauly D in 2012.

What do you love about Jockstrap, apart from them inviting you on tour?

They taught me a lot, so I love them like my parents. But I’m older than them.

What was it like growing up in Bournemouth?

I grew up in the kinda shit but of Bournemouth – Boscombe Beach – but there was this insane trance night for under-18s that changed my life. I then kept that same energy, that addiction to speedy, fat bpms, but started getting into the sceney, emo pop music. I ran a gang in Bournemouth for kids called Cyanide Scene. We used to play those big tracks out of my Nokia slide 5300’s tiny little speaker and bury the vodka in the sand because the police used to monitor the beach.

Jazz-trained oddball who plays as one half of Jockstrap and starred in Bait – that really good film about Cornwall

What do you want to be like when you’re old?

Wise and happy!

Would you rather star in a zombie movie, a slasher film or a rom- com?

Rom-com.

Name three style icons who inspire you…

FRUiTS magazine, Tyler Hyde, Bimini.

What do you love about recent Jockstrap tour support Babymorocco?

I love that his vision is totally realised. I love his music and his performances on

stage. But mostly, I love that he is the most gracious and kind person you will ever meet.

What’s the last dream or nightmare you can remember?

Last night I dreamed that I was flying from London to Canada for Jockstrap’s

upcoming US tour with my manager, Katy. I kept losing my luggage and violin. I was

also on inline skates. I was struggling with the stairs and had no footroom. I was

at breaking point, total hysteria, and it ended when Katy lost her shit with me. Read into it what you will.

What’s the strangest book you’ve ever read?

Astragal by Albertine Sarrazin comes to mind. It’s written like a mirage, or like you’re drunk.

New York’s number one shitposter-turned-DJ – a firebrand with one foot in the techno underground and the other in your local 2000s pop night

Who’s the coolest person on the planet right now?

Bella Hadid, for sure. I love how she uses her platform to speak about Palestine. She’s so beautiful and sweet. She’s my definition of a cool girl.

What makes you feel good when you’re DJing?

The screams of a crowd never get old. My fave compliment I’ve had was that my sets are like amusement parks – I take you on journeys and it’s a rollercoaster. As a coaster nerd, that makes me extremely happy.

Your internet presence is as legendary as your music career – do you feel like they each feed into one another?

Absolutely. My digital footprint has led me to the wildest opportunities and I’ve met some amazing friends from being online, like Babymorocco and River Moon. We were just babies on the internet and now we’re in magazines together. It’s beautiful to see.

Which cities have an underrated nightlife scene?

Seattle and Texas! Seattle has such an amazing techno scene. The girls in Texas love to throw ballistic on that’s what I love to see: bad bitches on a dancefloor letting loose.

TALENT Goth Jafar, River Moon, Izzy Spears and Ayegy

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Rosanna Gouldman and Marion Zaphirato PRODUCER May Powell ON-SET PRODUCER Auriel Rickard PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANT Kyle May STYLIST’S ASSISTANT Fernando Cerezo PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Myles Gouveia

TALENT IceBoy Violet, Deto Black, Baby Morocco and Georgia Ellery

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Rosanna Gouldman and Marion Zaphirato PRODUCERS May Powell and Beth Rubery PHOTOGRAPHER’S ASSISTANTS Vasilis Kalegias and India Morgan STYLIST’S ASSISTANT Nathan Fox PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Georgia Ford

TALENT Mowalola and Varg2TM

EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS Rosanna Gouldman and Marion Zaphirato PRODUCERS May Powell and Beth Rubery STYLIST’S ASSISTANTS Yeva Kouzouian and Natalie Smithson

Correction: this article initially stated that River Moon is based in LA. It was updated on 03/​01/​23.