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Just before 2022 came to a close, Phony Ppl ended the year on a hard-earned high. One month after releasing its third album, Euphonyus, in November, the act celebrated with a pair of nearly sold-out shows at Sounds of Brazil in Manhattan’s Hudson Square neighborhood. The five-piece band opened the sets with “Nowhere But Up,” an uptempo, feel-good track that was beginning to take off at radio.
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“It’s one of those songs that’s just as easy to digest for a newcomer as a fan that’s been there for 25 shows in a row,” says drummer Matt “Maffyuu” Byas. “It invokes a lot of energy and optimism” — two things the band has in spades. Last year, Phony Ppl embarked on an 18-date Nowhere But Up tour, testing the song live long before it arrived.
Clockwise from top left: Matt “Maffyuu” Byas, Elijah Rawk, Aja Grant, Elbee Thrie and Bari Bass of Phony Ppl photographed on December 28, 2022 at S.O.B.’s in New York, NY.
Krista Schlueter
Formed as a nine-piece collective in Brooklyn in 2010, Phony Ppl’s members all met in high school, and the current lineup is a tight roster of classically trained musicians, including Byas, vocalist Elbee Thrie, guitarist Elijah Rawk and brothers Aja Grant (keyboard) and Bari Bass (bass). Phony Ppl’s debut, Yesterday’s Tomorrow, arrived in 2015 as a blend of soul, R&B, jazz and rock. Its second album, 2018’s mō’zā-ik, was the first official release on 300 Entertainment following a distribution deal in 2014, development deal in 2017 and a record deal at the start of 2020.
“The way they treat one another and the democratic style in which they operate is a very unique situation,” says the band’s manager Jon Kaslow, who worked as Kid Cudi’s tour DJ and musical director before getting into management (he first met Phony Ppl through former member Dyme-A-Duzin). “Transparently, sometimes you want someone to just say, ‘It’s my way or the highway,’ because then a decision gets made. But that’s not who they are and that’s not what our team is.”
“The thing about Phony Ppl is we have different angles of thinking about everything,” adds Grant. “We’ve put trust in each other.”
Clockwise from top left: Aja Grant, Matt “Maffyuu” Byas, Elijah Rawk, Elbee Thrie and Bari Bass of Phony Ppl photographed on December 28, 2022 at S.O.B.’s in New York, NY.
Krista Schlueter
The sunny outlook of “Nowhere But Up” not only taps into Phony Ppl at its core, but signals the return of its mainstream momentum. The band hit a stride at the top of 2020 thanks to a collaboration with 300 Entertainment labelmate Megan Thee Stallion titled “Fkn Around.” The hand-clapping groove, which they live debuted during Meg’s NPR Tiny Desk concert in 2019, reached No. 7 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart and put Phony Ppl on radio’s radar.
Then, the pandemic hit. “Especially since we couldn’t tour, they were great about doing call-ins and Instagram Lives with program directors and DJs at stations that were supporting the record,” says Kaslow. “The band learned that radio is important and our very strong performance on ‘Fkn Around’ gave us that initial momentum.”
And though the pandemic also delayed Euphonyus longer than the band would have liked, they now see the extra time as something that improved the album. “It allowed us time to really zero in,” says Byas. “And a lot of tracks that in 2019 were considered done, we got to open those back up — and make new songs.”
Grant recalls the night that producer Ivan Barias (who the band worked with on “Fkn Around”) hit him up with the idea for “Nowhere But Up” back in 2020. “At like, two in the morning, he was like, ‘Yo, Aja, listen to this song.’ I was thinking he was trying to put me on to something and I was like, ‘Ivan, I know this song.’ I’m not that young.”
Barias had sent him “I Didn’t Mean To Turn You On,” the synth-funk debut hit from mid-80’s rhythmic pop star Cherrelle. The producer then instructed him to open Ableton and play the chords, part of what Grant now calls “an experiment” during which the two jammed over Zoom. Weeks later, the band met in Philadelphia to finish recording the album and decided to add the new track. “When the music was presented, I just felt fireworks,” recalls Thrie.
But when he learned the song was built on a sample (unlike his bandmate, he was initially unfamiliar with the Cherrelle hit, written by songwriting duo Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis) he had hesitations. “My emotions changed about the idea. ‘How can I still feel excited writing this music knowing it’s not something we created from scratch?’ ” he questioned. “But at a certain point I was like, ‘Let’s just do what we can do.’ If we were to sample something, let’s make it the best we can.”
“It keeps songs and artists’ memories alive and sends it down another generation,” says Bass of sampling. “And I think that’s a lesson that we were learning.” Adds Rawk: “It’s important that whatever we’re trying to do, our intention matches our execution.”
From left: Bari Bass, Matt “Maffyuu” Byas, Elbee Thrie, Elijah Rawk and Aja Grant of Phony Ppl photographed on December 28, 2022 at S.O.B.’s in New York, NY.
Krista Schlueter
The end result was exactly what the band and its team had hoped for: a growing radio smash. Kaslow credits 300’s Shadow Stokes, executive vp of promotions, for getting Phony Ppl right back on the airwaves — and the airplay charts — today, as if no time had passed. “He went back and did the rounds with a lot of people. Like, ‘Hey, remember these guys that had that record with Meg? This is their new song.’ ” As a result, “Nowhere But Up” currently sits at No. 30 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay and could soon enter the top 10 on Adult R&B Airplay.
And though Kaslow admits he sent “Nowhere But Up” to some A&Rs to see about a potential feature, he believes it was important for the band to have a hit without another name attached. Still, Thrie views the song as a collaboration of sorts, citing Jam and Lewis as unofficial features. “They cleared it, but I hope that they really enjoy the song,” he says. “And they’re not like, ‘These young motherf–kers just ran with our s–t!’ ”
Soon, it will become a sprint. Kaslow is preparing to get Phony Ppl back to “a full-time touring act, both domestically and internationally.” “Phony Ppl’s superpower is their live show,” says Lallie Jones, vp of marketing for 300 Entertainment, while teasing a global tour and upcoming festival appearances.
Meanwhile, the band is brainstorming just how far its hit can go — from a 50-piece orchestral rendition to a FIFA placement to becoming an airline’s official song. Grant’s wish is a bit more simple: “I just really hope this song goes nowhere but up — and that’s the corniest thing I could say.”
From left: Matt “Maffyuu” Byas, Aja Grant, Elbee Thrie, Bari Bass and Elijah Rawk of Phony Ppl and Jonathan Kaslow photographed on December 28, 2022 at S.O.B.’s in New York, NY.
Krista Schlueter
Three years ago, Rosa Linn was writing songs in her free time and dreaming of a career in music. But she never expected a performance at a local village festival in her native Armenia would be her ticket to stardom.
Her standout delivery of an original rock song, backed by her band of friends, floored talent scouts in the crowd from record label Nvak Collective. Soon after, the team invited her to attend the company’s upcoming songwriting camp for women. “We really recognize the fact that talent is equally distributed — but opportunity isn’t,” says Tamar Kaprelian, Nvak Collective co-founder and Rosa Linn’s manager since last July, when the rising singer-songwriter also signed to the label.
Kaprelian says that while Rosa Linn was more introverted than the other songwriters at the camp, her personality beamed through the lyrics she wrote independently after songwriting lessons. When Rosa Linn returned to class one day, she presented the first verse of a folksy pop song about hopelessly ruminating over a romantic interest. That early draft became “Snap,” the global crossover hit that has catapulted her career and led to her first Billboard No. 1.
Inspired by her “first real love” in 2017 during her time as an exchange student in the United States, Rosa Linn returned home to Armenia feeling hung up. “I wrote about my readjustment process and mental state,” the 22-year-old says. “It was a very hard period for me. It’s just about life, and I think that’s why people relate to it.” Adds Kaprelian: “She came in with those deep lyrics, and I was like, ‘There’s something special here.’ ”
Over the next two-and-a-half years Rosa Linn fleshed out the rest of the song ahead of its official release this March. She says that the final product is “very close” to the original demo, and includes vocals she cut in a hotel room, as well as her own guitar playing, “even though I’m not the greatest guitar player. That’s why the song has a vulnerable feeling. It’s honest and not perfect.”
Kaprelian sent the track to local radio stations, but was determined to get the song noticed on a larger level, eventually submitting it as an applicant to represent Armenia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2022. Rosa Linn was ultimately chosen for the televised music competition this May (besting a finalist entry submitted by one of her friends), where she performed “Snap” to 161 million people across Europe. She placed 20th.
“We really saw it as a steppingstone,” Kaprelian reflects. “When she didn’t rank well, we could have been like, ‘We tried. Let’s move on to another song.’ Instead, we decided to double down on ‘Snap’ and I know that it might not have seemed smart, but we really went hard in the TikTok strategy.”
Rosa Linn (left) and Tamar Kaprelian photographed on November 11, 2022 in Malibu, Calif.
Martha Galvan
Turns out it was the smartest thing they could have done. Rosa Linn began “experimenting” with different videos on the platform, including acoustic performances, remixes and POV-style clips showing the behind-the-scenes action at Eurovision. And after a fan-made, sped-up version of the track was uploaded to TikTok, “Snap” began to go viral.
More than one million videos were uploaded to the platform using the quicker, pitched-up version of “Snap,” with users showing everything from favorite recipes to sweet moments with their pets, as well as participating in a wholesome trend in which people highlighted the “color palette” of their hair, skin and eyes. Its popularity on TikTok pushed “Snap” up the Billboard charts, leading to its Billboard Hot 100 debut at No. 97 on the Sept. 3-dated chart. It has since reached a No. 82 high and spent seven weeks at No. 1 on Adult Alternative Airplay. “After [seeing the song do well], that’s when I knew it was real,” Rosa Linn says. “‘Snap’ gave me the best and most productive year of my life.”
It also led to a major-label deal with Columbia Records, which Rosa Linn signed in August. The label has already set the artist up with top songwriters and producers, including a recent session in Los Angeles with Diane Warren and Dan Wilson. In late October, she released her follow-up single “WDIA (Would Do It Again)” with fellow Eurovision star Duncan Laurence — and then capped the month with her late-night television debut on The Late Late Show with James Corden. Rosa Linn is now in the process of curating her sound to represent her artistry, with hopes of releasing a debut studio album. “I’m very picky,” she says, noting she has no timeline in mind for her full-length. “I wrote a lot of songs in the past three years, but none of them got released because [then] I would write another and it was better. This period is me growing as a songwriter and trying to improve.”
“I’m always going to stay personal and honest,” she continues. “My music is a representation of what I’ve gone through. Coming from Armenia and now living my dream is unbelievable.”
Rosa Linn photographed on November 11, 2022 in Malibu, Calif.
Martha Galvan
A version of this story will appear in the Dec. 10, 2022, issue of Billboard.
In May, regional Mexican act Grupo Frontera performed at Houston nightclub El Rodeo Disco to approximately 300 people. Three months later, in August, the act returned, and this time, much to the surprise of 19-year-old vocalist and bajo quinto player Adelaido “Payo” Solis III, the crowd had increased to 3,000. “I had to take off my in-ear to listen to everyone sing with us,” he remembers. “This was a dream come true.”
The experience would have been unfathomable a year ago, when Grupo Frontera was a local band from the Texas border town McAllen, creating music merely as a hobby. After recruiting Solis, fresh out of high school, into its now six-man ensemble — also comprised of Juan Javier Cantú, 29 (vocalist and accordionist), Julian Peña Jr., 26 (percussionist and animator), Alberto “Beto” Acosta, 30 (bajo quinto), Carlos Guerrero, 28 (drums), and Carlos Zamora, 32 (bass) — the group officially launched this March with an independently released debut EP that contained four cover songs, including Diego Verdaguer’s “La Ladrona.” “When choosing our covers, we decided to focus on timeless pop songs,” says Peña.
But it was a one-off released just one month later — their norteño rendition of “No Se Va,” a 2019 single by Colombian folk-pop group Morat — that catapulted them to fame. “We practiced that song just 16 hours before recording it,” says Peña. “Payo began singing it, then I added rhythms with the congas, and then Beto followed with the bajo quinto, and we all stared at each other thinking, ‘Wow, this sounds cool.’ We practiced it three times on a Wednesday, and the next day we recorded it live in one take.”
Following its release on April 28, its music video gained steam on YouTube on the heels of the EP, though at first the band still “didn’t understand why” it was performing so well, says Peña. “Then we went on TikTok.” Its engagement has sustained momentum on the platform, ultimately exploding due to a video from September that shows a suave man named Elmer and his dance partner, Erika, moving in rhythm to the song in Chihuahua, Mexico. The clip, which has now amassed more than 12 million views, “gave the song the push it needed to get to another level,” says Peña.
“No Se Va” debuted on Billboard‘s Hot Latin Songs chart in September and has since climbed to No. 4. Meanwhile, the track became only the fifth regional Mexican song in Hot 100 history, reaching a No. 57 high after entering the all-genre songs chart in early October. “Honestly, I think it was the seasoning that we put with the congas,” Cantú says of its runaway success. “It doesn’t sound like your typical norteño song; in fact, it sounds like something fresh with that reggaetón vibe.”
Despite Grupo Frontera’s success with its cover version, Morat’s original “No Se Va” has yet to appear on any Billboard charts (though the band did reach the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. chart in June with “Paris,” a collaboration with Argentine rapper Duki). While Grupo Frontera has not had any communication yet with Morat, Cantú insists the act deserves all the credit. “We wanted to pay tribute to a group that many of us admire,” he continues.
Amid all of its recent success, Grupo Frontera has added indie record label VHR Music founder Victor Ruiz as its manager. Ruiz — also the vocalist of Grupo Zaaz and manager of a handful of other Texas-based groups — additionally serves as the band’s booking agent and has already secured various performances in Texas, Arizona, North Carolina, New York, California, Florida and Mexico. Plus, he’s worked with the group to help boost its visibility, insisting on the importance of vlogging for each member. “I want them to get to the point that everyone can identify who’s who in the group,” he says. “People love seeing the intimacy of an artist, how they prepare for their shows and how they are behind the scenes.”
But beyond touring and vlogging, Grupo Frontera wants to keep testing its success as an independent act — even after multiple record labels have made generous offers, according to Ruiz. Adds Cantú: “I’m not saying that we won’t ever sign with a label but for now, we’re very happy this way. We want to see how far we can get as indie artists.”
Todd Spoth
The band plans to flood the space with new material, starting with a recent song titled “Vete.” Grupo Frontera aims to release at least five more original tracks before the end of 2022, with some help from reigning Latin Grammy producer of the year winner — and fellow McAllen native — Edgar Barrera. “I’m worried that they’ll become a one-hit wonder, and that’s why I tell them they need to release music constantly because if not, the momentum fades away,” Ruiz says.
“You’d think we’ve been playing together for 10 years, but we’ve only been out for eight months,” Cantú adds. “I still can’t believe everything that’s happening to us.”
A version of this story will appear in the Nov. 5, 2022, issue of Billboard.