Every so often a song from a mainstream artist will catch you by surprise. Maybe the lyrics didn’t talk about drugs and partying, or the beat didn’t sound exactly like every other song you ever heard.

Artists like Cardi B, The Chainsmokers, and Drake, all of whom are insanely popular, have virtually no talent. They use ghost writers and premade beats to churn out hits.

It takes real talent and skill to create music. Small music collectives, like rap group BROCKHAMPTON, have multiple producers and artists working on everything from albums to music videos to concert visuals.

Most small artists don’t have access to large studios but still create unique music from a studio as simple as their laptop and earbud mic. One such artist is singer/songwriter Bea, who goes by the name beabadoobee on Soundcloud and Spotify, started producing music like this back in 2017, and recently her song “Coffee” has reached 1 million streams on Spotify.

Many artists have cruised off of past fame, like the teen feature on a now-famous September 2016 episode of Dr. Phil. Danielle Bergoli, or the “Cash Me Outside” girl, caused outrage for being extremely rude to her mother. Then on August 26, 2017 she released her debut single “These Heaux” which hit 77 on the Billboard Top 100.

My recommendation is to explore new artists and different genres. Maybe you’ll find out you really like alternative or you find an indie pop artist you enjoy. Just have an open mind and listen to stuff you wouldn’t normally listen to.