Artists exciting us in 2025 / August

Asia's underground scene continues to flourish, a testament to its boundless creativity and ever-expanding influence.

With a treasure trove of talent scattered across the region and its diaspora, we’re thrilled to keep discovering fresh faces that might not be on your radar...yet.

In the spirit of sharing, Mixmag Asia will be featuring a number of arguably under-the-radar artists who are currently making exciting noise in—and freshly out of—their respective scenes.

Get ready to mark those calendars and upgrade those playlists; you’ll thank us later.

CLAIR is a Chinese-Mongolian artist based in Melbourne, transforming her classical training into hypnotic, hardware-driven dance music. Her sound drifts between trance-pop and hard dance, fusing shimmering synths, soaring vocals, and basslines built for the dancefloor. Since debuting in 2021 with ‘Moonlight Fantasy’, she’s released collaborations with djg2g for Eastern Margins, Thrilliam Angels, and International Chrome, while exploring fresh directions in electronic pop. Earlier this year, she unveiled her first album ‘Movie’; a trance-pop odyssey rich with dreamy vocals and lush atmospheres. On stage, CLAIR channels it all into euphoric DJ sets, weaving trance, hard dance, and her own ethereal songwriting into a spellbinding flow that keeps the floor in ecstatic motion.

c+ is the audiovisual project of LA-based Casper Go who brings together images, sounds, and textures in ways that feel both immersive and deeply tied to memory. Be that as it may, her work knows no bounds. A member of the underground label chaogardem, she's collaborated the likes of B E N N, FITNESSS, s280f, 011668, Alice Glass, and Snow Strippers, across both music and visuals. In the meantime she runs an Internet Public Radio show titled Neutral Air, and is currently developing experimental hologram technology, all while gearing up for her 2026 tour. When it comes to sound, c+ thrives at the intersection of multiple creative worlds, where bold experimentation feels natural. Just listen to her latest original production, ‘when day breaks’; front-and-centre euphoric synths and vocals are juxtaposed with such a menacing, urgent production style. It’s unrelenting, and unapologetic in its vision; something we hope to hear (and see) more of.

Surfing the sound of the mid-2020s, Perth-based KE-YEN is making a name for himself as a producer in the spaces between speed garage, house, and trance. With support from big names such as X-Coast, Interplanetary Criminal and Salute, and with his tracks being heard on stages from Coachella and Tomorrowland to Boiler Room, KE-YEN's sound is going global. The artist made his Asia debut in Tokyo last year and he’s just come off a European tour this summer—but even more exciting things are still yet to come. Among them are a Keep Hush set next month in Melbourne and an Asia tour in the Fall. And, on the production side, a plethora of drops are bubbling including two tracks on his own imprint, Westend Export (which will soon expand into doing events), 10 tracks across two yet-to-be-signed trance and house EPs, and a collaboration with DJ Fuckoff that’s in the works. There’s no doubt: KE-YEN’s kitchen is cooking.

Mahi G, an engineer-turned-rapper from Maharashtra’s Mahadev Koli tribe, has carved out a space with rap that speaks sharp and straight to the point. Her track ‘Heatwave’, made in collaboration with Greenpeace India, shines a light on outdoor workers battling rising temperatures—an issue relatable to most countries nowadays. Since 2019, she’s dropped a dozen songs, from ‘Jungle Cha Raja’, which explores the bond between tribal communities and nature, to ‘Vikasacha Khul’, calling out how roads, malls and towers often come at the cost of forests and clean air. Along the way, she’s tackled everything from climate justice and farmers’ protests to challenging caste hierarchies and LGBTQIA+ struggles. For anyone who cares where rap is headed, Mahi G is someone you’ll want to keep on your radar.

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