Bronx born emcee Intikana is an artist of unabashed resistance. Roughed up for demonstrating in the fall 2011 occupation of Zuccoti Park in Lower Manhattan (and then fined by NYPD), he’s been an educator in activism throughout the city. Artistically, Inti has recorded in Cuba with some of the country’s top hip-hop artists (see the incredibly heartfelt single/video “Amistad” from his album "Master Cleanse"), and performed the incendiary Off-Broadway hip-hop show, Penumbra (2009), about his childhood communication with an incarcerated father. “Arizona” (with fellow Bronx emcee Navegante) insists, “We will keep on marching, keep grinding, keep fighting.” “Lil’ Afrika” calls for nothing short of a new revolution, where the poor rise up to overthrow the U.S. government, renaming it, well, you get the point. Fearless shit. – Brian Chidester

Active since 2011, Brooklyn band Double King got some attention in 2014 with the release of the ‘Premonition EP,’ mostly thanks to vintage sounding ballad ‘Battle Cry,’ a song we’ll add right away to our Best mellow songs by emerging NYC artists. The trio will be celebrating the release of their debut full length ‘Night Fades’ at Union Pool on May 20th, and you can already preview the record’s first single ‘Bare Essential’ (streaming below), which develops their preference for slower tempos and mellow atmoshperes in a more soulful and groovy direction.

With their unpretentious indie pop-rock, Miniboone has been one of the most fun band in the NYC scene for quite some time (they formed in 2008). The quartet just released a new album entitled "Bad Sports," and today unveiled this video (directed by ex Deli contributor Bryan Bruchman) for single "Wake Up Factory Bouquet," which brings to mind Elvis Costello’s elegant vintage melodies. The band today inaugurates what looks like a "Mid East US tour" spanning from Illinois to North Carolina and a few states in between – no NYC dates announced.

To describe their music, Brooklyn based quintet Imaginary People coined the term "Dance Americana," but their noteworthy new single "Summerstock" (from their upcoming debut album ‘Dead Letterbox’) blends a variety of other sonic ingredients in its very well produced three and a half minutes: for example, we hear garage rock influences in the guitars and heavy rockabilly overtones throughout the song. But it’s lead singer Dylan Von Wagner who steals the scene, with a vocal delivery full of character and confidence that would make Elvis Presley proud. The guy’s presence, already rock solid in the audio realm, gets an exponential boost from the song’s video (streaming below), entirely centered around his antics. If all this translates as well on a live stage, these guys should have some fun times ahead. We can all find out at Rockwood Music Hall on May 11.

Atlanta born, Brooklyn-based producer Time Wharp announced today the release, scheduled for June 9, of an 8 track debut album on buzzy local electronic label Astro Nautico, home to notable acts like The Range (Domino) and RAJA (Ghostly), as well as up-and-comers like Dreams, Dane Chadwick, and Photay. For this occasion it unveiled this groovy FaltyLD remix of single "Cole Dub." Expect a record that "melds New York house, ambient meditations, celestial synergies and smooth synth waves."

Hailed by many as "The New Strokes," the guys in NYC’s Public Access TV look so young, they were probably toddlers when ‘Is This It’ came out. However, the only really important thing here is that they can write catchy pop and deliver it with flair. The quartet, after losing home and gear to the recent fire in the East Village, is releasing today this new, vaguely Jesus & Mary Chain-ish single "All We Want" (streaming) from their upcoming, self titled EP on Terrible records, days before leaving for a US tour with Palma Violets. The NYC stop will be at Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 20.

In their Facebook timeline, Brooklyn’s dream rockers Whitewash wonder: "…not even quite sure how we started getting all these ridiculously large gigs but hey I’m not complaining." As a matter of fact the band has a rather busy May with shows at Brooklyn Bazar on the 8th, Aviv on the 14th, and Baby’s All Right on the 16th (a Saturday). On their bandcamp profile we find a very mellow acoustic single dated 2013, and 2014 EP "Fraud in Lisbon," which, although lacking a little in the production department (it sounds self-produced), showcases a band with promising songwriting chops. Recent singles "Tentacle" – streaming below – and "Member" show us a more solid sounding band with a sound that can appeal to lovers of Real Estate’s chilled pop and Pavement’s slacker aesthetics.

Brooklyn’s Icewater writes songs that are spaced-out, anthemic, and optimistic. Not that the band hasn’t seen its share of tragedy. During the recording of their cheekily titled 2013 LP, "Collectors Edition," guitarist and founding member Grant Martin unexpectedly passed away, giving both its buoyant and small moments of sadness an extra layer of depth. The band released a more upbeat, but not necessarily sunnier, self titled EP at the end of 2014. Check out single "Wisecrack" below and don’t miss the band live at Baby;s All Right on May 13. – Emilio Herce

Even though synthpop trio Prinze George pretends to be still based in Brooklyn, they actually went back to their native Prince George County a few years ago. The guys played at our SXSW show this past March and they just unveiled this video for their single "Upswing."

Awkwafina, fresh and clean queen of hipster tRap, boasts about watching “A League of Their Own on Laser Disc” and shopping for things she can’t afford “like a millenial.” She produces her own tracks, was featured in a documentary about Asian rappers, and even just had her first book published. Her brand of crass feminism isn’t uncommon among the hipster rap pack (See Handjob Academy and Nova Rockefeller), but her swagger indicates a brass set of ovaries. Come celebrate her book release at Baby’s All Right this Thursday May 7th, it will be quite “ratchet.” – BrokeMc

Is blues the music of the Devil? The minor third note interval that’s the basic ingredient of anything bluesy is famous for conveying a sad feeling, not evil, but – at least according to Wikipedia – "the word [blues] may have come from the term blue devils," and "depending on the religious community a musician belonged to, it was more or less considered as a sin to play this low-down music." W guess that simple fact made the genre very attractive to young rebels… who ended up moving to the more liberal US coasts…
Brooklyn’s Junk Boys, an obscure band we stumbled upon almost randomly, seems to accept and even promote this notion. Their debut single "Call On Me" (streaming) features a devilish cover art, and an apocaliptic sound at least in part reminiscent of a hammondless and heavier version of The Doors, another band that enjoyed blue references to Beelzebub. You can participate in their pagan live ritual at the Gutter on May 14.

P.S. We found some more info about Junk Boys on The Men’s website: "ex-members of Organs, Russ from Dream Police."

For some songwriters, writing good songs is simply not satisfying enough – and besides, that’s not how their creative process works. These musicians feels compelled to wrap those songs in complex arrangements and original sounds, and sometimes those are actually the starting point of what then becomes a song, in a beautifully bizarre reversed music production process. In their tracks, sound design has as much importance as lyrics, chords and structure. 21 years old Elliot Moss belongs to this category, so we thought he might have something interesting to say about his creative process and the gear he loves – read the interview on our sister blog Delicious Audio. Elliot Moss will perform live at Rough Trade on May 15.

We added this song to The Deli’s playlist of Best songs by emerging NYC artists – check it out!