This year has been one of the best years for emerging male artists in recent memory. With hundreds of albums released and countless live shows, the choices were plentiful and there were many worthy of inclusion. However, with so many great choices, we could only pick five as finalists.
The 2012 nominees for Best New Male Artist: Gary Clark, Jr., Ben Howard, Michael Kiwanuka, Frank Ocean and The Weeknd. All are under 30, but that’s where the similarities end.
Blues-rock guitarist Gary Clark, Jr. hails from Austin, Tex. Ben Howard is a British singer-songwriter whose tenor is often a whisper. Michael Kiwanuka, also from England, has a haunting, soulful voice. Frank Ocean, a hard-to-characterize but immensely successful singer-songwriter is from New Orleans. The Weeknd (nee Abel Tesfaye), a Canadian with Ethiopian roots, has the sweetest voice of the bunch.
You can vote by commenting on BestNewBands.com’s Newbie Awards Facebook posts or responding to BestNewBands.com’s Newbie Awards Tweets on Twitter. BestNewBands.com will announce the 2012 winners during the week of December 17.
You can check them out below:
Gary Clark, Jr.
Ben Howard
Michael Kiwanuka
The Weeknd
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