Artists exciting us in 2026 / February

Since starting this as a monthly series in 2024, Mixmag Asia has consistently focused on spotlighting fresh and forward-thinking names from across Asia and its far-reaching diaspora. Now in 2026, that approach remains the same.

From those dedicated to cutting-edge electronic and dance music to the occasional left-field pick from another genre, each edition brings together a selection of artists who are making noise in their local scenes or just starting to reach beyond them.

We’re not rigid about sound; if they move us, they belong here. Some names may already be familiar, others less so, but all are surely worth your time and attention.

Keep a look out for these ones.

Monica Lim is an experimental composer and sound artist who moves with ease between classical piano, code, circuitry and club-ready electronics with works that feel equal parts ritual and rave. Her recent EP ‘Chanting Machine’, made with Morgan May and dropped on Lunar New Year, came from hacking Buddhist mantra machines and turning their distorted, looped chants into glitchy, beat-driven tracks (undoubtedly catching our interest!). Alongside her studio releases, she’s the creator of the cyber-opera Opera For The Dead with Mindy Meng Wang, which is planned to go on an international tour later this year. In June, she opens ArtJog in Yogyakarta with a new large-scale work for spatialised choir, electronics, live processing and interactive lighting, collaborating with other artists and students from The Indonesia Institute of the Arts. A Theatre NOW Award winner with Green Room and Music Victoria nominations, and a doctorate in Interactive Composition, Monica’s practice is driven by curiosity, technical precision and a genuine love of pushing sound into unexpected places.

Born and raised in Saigon, NotYuTing (real name Stephanie Han) is a Vietnamese–Taiwanese DJ, producer and multidisciplinary artist that has firm footing in the club, the studio and the visual world. When it comes to music sets are high-energy and genre-fluid, cutting through trance, techno, ghettotech, house, Miami bass, baile funk and breakbeats. That same instinct feeds into her latest release ‘MO TROI’. Complete with a music video, the project marks 50 years of Vietnam’s independence by weaving modern trance with traditional Vietnamese folk sounds. Rather than nostalgia, the project plays like an emotional current, stitching together old Saigon apartment blocks, street markets and the city’s new metro as one continuous pulse of past, present and future. Add to that releases on PIUPIU Records, a notable appearance on Let Him Cook flying the flag for Vinahouse and Vinatech, plus the fact she has her own tattoo label Moth Juiice, and you’ve got an artist building culture on multiple fronts.

Filipino-American producer WILHELMINA is carving out a percussive lane that feels both deeply rooted and future-facing. His tracks punch with East Coast pressure (jersey kicks, hard drum propulsion, techno tension) threaded with Southeast Asian textures, from kulintang (South Filipino indigenous music) gong patterns and budots swing to Bisaya vocals, Indobounce and Thaibeat elements. These traditional elements aren’t decorative flourishes but structural, embedded in the core of his sound. The result is club music that deliberately creates decolonial space on the dancefloor. His latest EP ‘Book of Spells’ lands February 26, inspired by “the hum of the earth, mysticism, ritual and [his] Filipino heritage.” Beyond production, he’s a key contributor to collectives championing Asian diasporic club sounds across the US, including Barrio Bounce, PORTAL and BootlegKTV, with the latter set to release a major compilation spotlighting working-class Asian genres. With Southeast Asia tour dates expected later this year, WILHELMINA is clearly one of the most exciting lining the intersection of sounds and cultures.

YNZN has been racking up air miles. Last summer, the Nepalese producer toured the UK and Germany, adding more high-profile appearances to a rapidly-growing resume that now includes a Room 3 set at fabric, a Boiler Room London slot, and a B2B with Jensen Interceptor. All this, of course, is alongside participating in the debuts of Boiler Room and Keep Hush in his hometown Kathmandu, where he’s just touched down after two shows in Pakistan. So, yeah, he’s been busy. YNZN first came to our attention in 2022 with ‘Better Check Yourself’, a stellar breaks-meets-broken EP via Krunk Kulture. Since then, 2024’s ‘Body Rock’ EP and a 2025 remix of ‘Amaari’ for fellow Kathmandu-based Angie have seen the producer venture further into experimental club sonics while remaining rooted in bass and broken techno. YNZN is now in the process of finalising his next EP, which he’s been working on since last year, and which we can expect once he’s found the right home for it.

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