mISTER_b: What a man did to you that made you write such a song like this, it's touching and beautiful but really sad! and you look so sweet to be sad, I hope it's just the song ;)

Edited by user 13 November 2013 03:13:20(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Erich: ah,I remember this girl. She is back with a vengeance and is looking to mount heads above her mantel.....and the top pic makes me feel like I should be driving a white van.

After a Merry Christmas and a week of crazy releases, UnBecomings is excited to tell you exactly what to do with those new ITunes gift-cards and Amazon credits or whatever the hell your mom bought you for Christmas.





The first release from new label Permanent Reminder (from one of the label’s few non-rap artists) is currently still uploading. After a stellar debut with the triple-platinum Pet Grant’s first album is only streaming three songs currently, and unless the next eight songs are blank I can call this a definite purchase.

The main highlight of the current tracks available is the somber love tale, ‘Not Going to Lie’, and boy is it a doozy.

Check her out if you like: Brandon Caulfield, Jack Frost.



After three albums, and a highly publicized as well as idolized marriage Brandon Caulfield could be thought of as the king of rock n’ roll right now. Sorry for anyone looking to dethrone him, because his newest album further cements his throne atop the genre. With Brandon’s storied career, he returns to his roots after 2012’s Hurricane Sandy destroyed much of his childhood community. Armed with new emotion, Caulfield rolled out one of the best albums of 2013 by far.

The album came out December 22nd, but was streaming before that. Get to listening eh?






Rarely do artists come out with debut singles that are as hypnotic as Traci Heart’s Castles. A beautiful siren song with lyrics that are multi-layered? Sign this lit nerd up for more. Also, this is a pretty hilarious song to play in front of the in-laws while everyone’s unwrapping Christmas presents.

As for Traci herself, she’s got one of the most interesting tales of the year and should be topping the charts for unsigned hype. You’ve got to think her former label is feeling pretty terrible about dropping her though.



PicturePerfect knows you’re tired of Christmas singles, but give this one a spin. Other than Bath Salts insane Christmas mosh-fest, this is probably a good one you can put on for you and your folks at any time of the year. Might even be the a Christmas classic for years to come.

There’s been a bit of a media push for Austin Nimmo, and Layla is just starting to come back out with newer releases but this is a very solid duet for two musicians that a lot of people are still half and half on. This is what we need really, more co-efforts by musicians to get more of a fanbase made for each.

The more active member of UK Metal band Blood of Wecz, socially and previously in terms of musical output, was easily Scott Rose-Hilton. But now that he’s making a more conservative move to family life and label running, Mark Talley has hit the ground running. A Soundcloud account later (not to mention Culture Uncut’s Song of the Year according to Readers) and he’s on the mouth of every musician from Stephanie Fierce to Traci Heart. Brandon Caulfield should watch out, there’s a new acoustic dynamo in town, and he’s going for the throat. After getting seven votes for the top spot by the panel, Talley takes it. Where is he heading? Up from here in my opinion. He’s got time and he’s got the talent, and he’s not even started yet.



Though her latest single, ‘Treasure’ ran up and down the Airplay Charts (and didn’t fair too well on the Download chart either), FREEDOM has given her chart superiority. She’s come back from her debut harder than ever, and is working hard. She received four votes for the number one spot by the panel. The question is, how well will touring treat her? What direction will she head towards however? That depends on how well she tours. Hard to tell.




Perhaps the biggest news story coming out of 2013 is Neveah Martinez’s break from Studio60 and the formation of her own record label FREEDOM. Many scoffed and thought that she’d be signing a few D-listers and making due. Though her label has 12 acts currently, the core six of Yasmine, Sonyae, Alicia Lena, Katie Coyle, Cassie Valentine and Tisha Jackson should cause the rest of the Big 3 (Chaos, Studio60 and North Hill) to take notice. Hard to say what direction FREEDOM will go in because though they have the acts they have little to no releases to show for it and no momentum. Prediction? Completely unknown, could tank, could soar. Will be fun to watch.



Riot! had 1 vote for the top of the chart of the Gold Standard’s panel. Though they pick up the fourth spot, that has to be a tad disappointing considering all the great things going for them. Riot! is making a big push into 2014 with a new world tour announced, as well a new album, the big things to take away from their current showings are that they’ve been getting bullied/pushed around by other artists on the charts. Add that with the break-up rumors that are hovering around the band, and this might be the first year since the band’s inception that they’re headed on a downward trend. They need this World Tour desperately, and it will tell if there’s still a love for Riot! Projection for 2014? Down.



Matt Young is a real special dude around the music industry. After lighting it up with his prestigious and envied rap career, Young took the reins of Monk on Fire Music which also lit up the music industry for a short time. Now, he’s running the new indie label Permanent Reminder, and man is it a doozy. It holds the potential to revive the careers of old chart runners like Pretty Little Freaks and Foxxxy, but it has its fair share of potential heavy hitters like Kidd Amaze and Liyah. Watch out, THE rap label is here, and it can only go up.









Sophia is usually quoted as the second most notable face of international superstars GirlSpice. After her duet album with Suzie, the latter seems to have rubbed off on her and her new single ‘Handle It’ is proof. She’ll be sticking around in 2014, and you should watch out for it.



PicturePerfect is the site that broke Bath Salts, so you know that we have a bit invested in this band. After a stellar debut that tasted of pure MDMA (maybe a bit of ether as well), Bath Salts are back in the studio and to give the world proof they released a faux-Christmas single engineered to tell you to fuck off. You’ll be hearing more about them.



The most unknown of unknown of unknown singers sorta slid onto the charts with lackluster initial showings of her latest single, ‘A Secret My Heart Can’t Keep’. This week however, it made the most unprecedented jump on the year into the Top 5 for the Weekly Airplay charts. People should take notice.



After a few weeks of hardship for her latest single on the Airplay chart, she’s got a year lined up for her to prove the detractors wrong. We’ll find out if she’s right.



Last is Ugenia, who had been largely forgotten prior to her newest release ‘Forever Young’. With four years between her debut and her sophomore release comes a change in style as she heads towards an RnB direction. Its created a bit of buzz for her and a ton of questions to be answered when her sophomore effort: ‘Human Nature’, is released in January.

Edited by user 30 December 2013 16:33:56(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

OOC: Thanks for doing these, great addition to the forum. Very good job!

OOC: I hadn't seen these last two posts until just now! Really awesome work! Glad to see that people still think of Matt Young as an influential figure ;). Keep it going man!

OOC: Awesome stuff! This is a really great addition and it helps keep people up to date with the characters which is difficult to do at time. Great work with it so far! :)

OOC: This IS an amazing edition to the forums and almost feels like a necessity.

1.) Andrea (LW: NE)


Well here’s a name I’ll bet you haven’t heard in a while. From forgotten to no. 1 is a story that doesn’t get told much, but when you pick up a Double Crown (part album, part download chart single) without any prior hype? People take notice. 2014 is off to a wondrous start for Andrea, but the lack of tour announcements worries most of the Standard’s panel. If she doesn’t take advantage of the social media, and sales chart’s new-found adoration of her quick enough, she might not be able to sustain this success.

2.) Nadia Berry (LW: 5)

The continued Pitchfork Advance streaming of Berry’s newest album is getting great reception, and the longevity of the album will be told by reviews, and the eagerly awaited Chart Heat reports, but we’ll have to wait until the week after February 3rd. But the keyword in that past sentence is ‘eagerly’.

3.) Lotus (LW: 6)

A split reception and two weeks later, Lotus’ name lit up not only social media, but just about every blog and music site known to man when everyone raced to break the story of Lotus’ paparazzi beatdown. With certain pundits around the internet arguing about the immature response that she gave to her label boss, Matt Young, others are hailing her as one of the most honest acts to come out of 2013. She’s on an upward trend.

4.) Isabel (LW: NE)

After a period of minor silence, Isabel took out all the stops with this past two weeks with her MTV Takeover garnering a ton of positive buzz. Her new music video also returned her to the limelight, and that’s a great thing.

5.) Sonaye (LW: 2):

After the two week war between Sonyae and other female rappers, she toned it down a bit and and announced a new vlogging project, as well as released a well-received freestyle, ‘Merkin’, but the real cap to the last two weeks for her was the “#SonyaesHair” hashtag which multiple celebrities and many Twitter-goers chose to exploit. But hey, there’s more than one way to the top, right?



6.) Evangeline Wolfe (LW: NE)

7.) Rum & Coke (LW: NE)

8.) Austin Nimmo (LW: 3)

9.) Jason Smith (LW: NE)

10.) Mandy Williams (LW: NE)



1.) My Girl Friday

Maybe we could call it a lack of true competition, or maybe we could call it a New Year’s hangover, but an indie label darling won out and topped the Airplay Charts. Though ‘Songs to Live and Die By’ have My Girl Friday signed to their label currently, I would not be surprised if that changed in a haste once that contracts end. Or even if a little bit of money was thrown their way.

2.) Ashley Grimmie -

Ashley Grimmie is most widely known for being the odd one out on cult reality show, Starfactory due to being the only contestant mentored by Alicia Lena and the end result was her leaving the show without a recording deal in hand. Now without Lena’s tutelage, Grimmie has cultivated her image under the aptly titled ‘Underdog E.P.’, and its release saw artists such as Bianca Moretti and Michelle Greene give their support.

3.) Dylan Shaw -

Every day hundreds of videos by music hopefuls and wannabe musicians are uploaded and promptly ignored, but Dylan Shaw’s story is a little different. Her cover of Deneil Khan’s ‘Waiting for the Weekend’ has turned her view count from the lower end of 1,000 to something even bigger after the Khan himself gave it a veritable stamp of approval.

4.) Michael Mann -

In a monthly fashion, popular blog ‘Unsigned Hype’ reveals an artist who deserves a look by a label. This month’s viewing was English songwright Michael Mann and his release ‘Threats’. With established talents like Amy-Jayne and Kourtney Steele backing him with encouraging words, he’s been lighting up search engines.

Edited by user 29 January 2014 12:19:24(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Nadia: I'M FANGIRLING SO HARD RN. I'm so, so thrilled to see my favourite band back with yet another incredible single to add to their discography, it's familiar enough to please their old fans, but mixes in some new elements to draw a new crowd in, a very wise move and one that I'm sure will pay off. Wishing you guys all the best and gimme that album already, I'm tired of waiting. ;(