As 2024 draws to a close it’s the perfect time to reflect on the year. While we unveiled our Top 50 Songs Of 2024 a few weeks back, we wanted to sneak in one more reflective feature before the year is through. Our Breakout Producers Of 2024 list sees our team selecting five artists who truly made their mark in 2024. The artists that moved from ones to watch to those that arrived. The list features a Canadian producer dominating the dark UKG and 140 sound, dance music’s new villain, a producer and vocalist whose creativity knows no bounds, a rising Duth star we’ve been keeping our eyes on, and an artist designing some of the raunchiest drum and bass around. Enjoy our picks below and be sure to let us know your favourites!
borne
Montreal-based borne has quickly become a standout amongst the new wave of producers mixing dark UKG and 140. Alluring samples, pristine drum programming, and mastery of soul-rattling bass combine for a signature sound that’s been popping up everywhere in 2024. The producer capped off 2023 with his statement-making Deep End EP arriving in December and he hasn’t let off the gas since. He set the stage for the year with his FUXWITHIT Guest Mix and followed it up in short order with the massive ID showcasing ‘OFF-THE-RECORD // BORNE 2024 SHOWCASE‘ mix. A steady slew of impressive singles has kept the producer atop everyone’s minds and playlists with standouts like ‘My Mind,’ ‘Silence’ and ‘Hush’ alongside Alexis B all doing numbers on Spotify and ringing off in live sets. This time last year we said borne had officially put us on notice, and a year later his star continues to ascend as we expected.
-C
KILLMATTER
The stellar efforts and constant wave of perseverance from KILLMATTER have inspired many this year. From releasing his bonkers debut EP, DON’T EAT THE FRUIT,’ having his very own guest mix with us, to just releasing an insane live performance showcasing a ton of IDs, there’s no telling what he’ll deliver next! He even dropped arguably the best ‘Push’ remix by Skrillex, Hamdi, Taichu, and Offaiah. The skies are the limit for this madman as he continues to descend into madness, working day and night to give us the best quality of tunes! If you haven’t dove into his discography, then now is the time! We highly recommend keeping a close, sharp eye on him. We have a great feeling 2025 will be an even bigger year for this artist.
-JD
Nikita, The Wicked
Something wicked this way comes… Despite branding himself as the villain of the electronic music scene, Nikita, The Wicked, is hard not to love. The rising star had an absolutely incredible 2024 that began with a house-leaning offering ‘The Auction,’ before exploding with his genre-defying ‘iloveitwhentheyrun’ EP. He then continued to skyrocket with the release of masterful singles like ‘Back Once Again,’ ‘Ya Body’ and ‘Like Me.’ His creativity is unmatched, blending off-kilter and experimental flourishes without ever sacrificing the groove, finding the difficult balance between innovative and approachable. Sprinkle in some of the best sampling in recent times (which range from film dialogue to rap bars) and it’s easy to see why we’ve fallen in love with the artist. But we’re not the only ones – the producer’s achievements speak for themselves: from impressive play counts across Spotify to sets with iconic tastemaking event brands like Brownies and Lemonade, and DEF. He’s also become a favorite among DJs and fans alike landing a spot as one of Beatport’s Top-Selling Trap/Future Bass artists (ahead of RL Grime) and releasing two of the Top 10 Trap/Future Bass Songs of 2024 on the platform with ‘Like Me’ and ‘Ya Body’. If Nikita, The Wicked is dance music’s villain, heroes beware, he’s coming for your spot with a vengeance.
-C
Sorza
Despite launching his solo project a few years back, and even appearing on our Focus Five segment in April 2023, there is no denying that 2024 was a breakout year for Sorza. When we first featured the Dutch artist early last year, he had a mere 600 SoundCloud followers, and probably a similar number of monthly listeners on Spotify. Since then, the Sorza project has taken off into full flight, largely aided by the stellar ten-track Pillars project released via VISION. In addition to the album, Sorza recently released an audiovisual accompaniment to Pillars, further demonstrating his boundary-pushing creativity. Boasting a sound that resonates perfectly with the FUXWITHIT audience, we had the extreme pleasure of hosting Sorza for a guest mix and interview back in August, where the artist verbally and sonically showcased his wide range of influences, while also touching on topics such as the origin of Sorza and where he sees himself in five years. All in all, it’s been a huge year for Sorza, and we can’t wait to keep following him on his journey.
-SC
Simula
Simula has been at the forefront of designing some of the raunchiest drum and bass around for all of 2024. If we had done this piece for 2023, he would’ve been a contender for this spot last year too. His remix of Hamdi’s ‘Counting,’ released on Deadbeats in February, helped to catapult his name into the ears of mainstream audiences everywhere as the track made its rounds on festival stages and in DJ sets worldwide. April saw the drop of the Salvo EP with four absolutely mind-bending tunes that hit like a good kind of sonic whiplash. September blessed us with the release of the third installment of his self-titled mix series on SoundCloud, stuffed to the brim with IDs that I’m certain people will be begging for in the comments for many more months to come (myself included). While his output this year hasn’t quite hit last year’s level in terms of number of tracks, Simula seems to be taking the approach of quality over quantity here and it shows. His latest track, ‘Maw,’ released only five days ago, might be the last we hear from him before the year is over. It’s a proper “fuck off” sound that demands a stank face with middle fingers in the air. I have no doubt that 2025 is going to be huge for Simula, and I hope to hear the man himself on those festival stages instead of just his tracks being played out.
-BG
Words by Braden, Colin, John & Steph.
