The official Forbes 30 Under 30 list is in, and a handful of amazing Black talents made the cut in the music industry. Combined, the artists on the list are now worth more than $5.3 billion.
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While there are new faces, some familiar ones also made the Forbes 30 Under 30 list this year, including DDG and Saucy Santana. Here is the list of other Black talents that made the cut for 2023:
Saucy Santana, 29
Florida native Rashad Spain, aka Saucy Santana, is an American rapper who began his career as a makeup artist. He scored millions of streams for his first-ever song, “Walk Em Like A Dog.” His collaborations with artists, including Madonna, and his strong presence in the LGBTQIA+ community have expanded his fanbase.
DDG, 25
Halle Bailey’s boo Darryl Dwayne Granberry Jr., aka DDG, made the cut for the Forbes list this year. The “Impatient” rapper makes most of his earnings from rapping, singing, and YouTube. He also founded his record label Zooted Music.
Last year he became the first rapper to shoot a music video with NASA’s Zero Gravity Training, emulating a space mission for his single “Elon Musk” featuring Gunna.
24kGoldn, 22
Golden Landis Von Jones, aka 24kGoldn, entered hip-hop as an artist, rapper, and singer. Worldwide, his music has over 3 billion streams from his hit single “Mood,” which spent eight weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sudan Archives, 28
Brittney Parks, aka Sudan Archives, debuted in 2017 as a violinist and loop maker producing beats in her bedroom. Her first album, “Athena,” drew inspiration from divine Black feminine power. Archives,’ a one-woman band, infuses electronic beats into her instrumental sound.
Omar Jones, 28
Omar Jones is a music photographer, video producer, and director who heavily celebrates Black culture. Jones has told visual stories of Nas, Doechii, Young Thug, Kanye West, WizKid, Lil Uzi Vert, and Dapper Dan. In addition, he is also VMA-nominated for his work on Pusha T’s “Diet Coke” video.
Sarah Lorentzen, 25
Raised in a Nigerian and Danish household, Sarah Lorentzen became the senior director of international A&R at RCA Records. Lorentzen is also inspired by the rise of African music in mainstream global contexts and was behind the signing of Tems to RCA.
Layla Mustafa, 28
Layla Mustafa is the director of global brand partnerships at RCA. Mustafa oversees the label’s roster of over 200 artists, executing over 150 deals. She has led campaigns for artists Lucky Daye, Latto, Fousheé, and Khalid. The global brand director also worked with Lyft, Burberry, Sony Electronics, and Facebook’s Meta Quest and won a Clio Award for her work on Doja Cat’s Planet Her album campaign.
Denzel Baptiste & David Biral, 29
Denzel Baptiste and David Biral started in a New York City basement studio and created their duo Take a Daytrip. The duo went on to work with Lil Nas X, designing the sound for his VR album launch and Roblox performance. They have also worked with Dua Lipa, Kid Cudi, Kanye West, James Blake, and Miley Cyrus.
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Written by Kamryn Ashli
Kamryn is a Florida native and graduated from Florida A&M University with a bachelors degree in broadcast journalism. She has experience in News production and enjoys to write about the latest news in entertainment. She also likes to interview artists and would love to be a TV host some day. Her favorite artists are Beyonce, Megan Thee Stallion, Kanye West, Usher, and Lauryn Hill.
