Chappell Roan as the Sound of 2025? The BBC has shown itself to be completely irrelevant
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The BBC’s Sound Of... award used to be one of the buzziest in the industry. A list of up-and-coming stars. A judging panel that includes everybody from Dua Lipa to Sam Smith. And yet, when the winner dropped this morning, it was with less fanfare and more the sound of a wet squelch. Chappell Roan scooped the crown, a natty little trophy, and will be dropping an interview on the BBC website later this week.
![[From Charli XCX and Chappell Roan to Doechii: All hail pop's new guard]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/11/23/16/32/Chappell-Roan-26a28nso.jpeg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Reader, I nearly spat out my tea. Now, I’m a huge fan of Chappell Roan – I would literally defy anybody not to be – but, hello?! The BBC has some explaining to do. First things first: this award should really be designed to spotlight and give a platform to emerging artists who would benefit from the high profile coverage. Artists like the rather excellent Mk.gee, for instance, whose take on 80s pop and American-infused rock have seen them generate a fair amount of buzz going into 2025. Or Irish band Kneecap, whose post-punk Irish-language rap has been steadily gaining both attention and acclaim.
![[Ones to Watch 2025: the music acts set to break out this year]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/09/14/50/SEI230038116.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Both were nominated in this year’s batch of potential stars, alongside Myles Smith, whose song Stargazing went viral last year, and English Teacher, who scooped the Mercury Prize for their debut album This Could Be Texas. These are all justifiable nominations: they deserve to be massive, and over the course of the next 12 months they probably will be.
![[Ten best albums of 2024: Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX dominated]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2024/12/24/14/02/Best-Albums-of-2024.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
But neither Mk.gee or Kneecap have gone stratospheric in the way that Chappell Roan has. Roan was the industry insider’s best-kept secret at the tail end of 2023. The Evening Standard nominated her as one to watch for 2024 – and roughly two months later, the rest of the world cottoned onto the fact that this outrageous, camp artist was actually a lot of fun.
