BEYOND TIKTOK: 24-YEAR-OLD ARTEMAS PROVES HE COULD BE THE NEXT BIG THING ON ‘PRETTY’ TOUR FINALE

If you didn’t know Artemas a few weeks ago, chances are, you know him now. He’s the 24-year-old alt-pop star taking the world by storm.

After dropping his hotly-anticipated debut album pretty to a growing cult following, he quickly released a little-known track by the name i like the way you kiss me. Within less than 4 weeks, it had become a global smash hit. You’d be fooled into thinking this is no one-hit-wonder. It’s more like 4 years in the making. A self-taught multi-instrumentalist, Artemas began honing his craft during the pandemic and has self-released new music every 3-5 weeks for the last 12 months.

Through cultivating a ravenous online community, he generated weeks of hype through TikTok so people couldn’t wait any longer when it was released. He even found himself being brought on stage with KID LAROI for a spontaneous rendition. His pretty tour then became so in demand, that he announced a second tour later this year titled you’re so early. We headed to his sold-out finale show at Village Underground to catch a glimpse of one of the biggest artists right now.

His defiant, self-assured and succinct headline set proved that TikTok hadn’t defined this rising artist, but simply amplified his reach to an audience craving this sound already.

Entirely independent, he stepped out into the spotlight. Colourful box lights stacked towering above him. Screams hurled to the stage, complemented by whistles and applause. Hundreds had queued early, braving torrential downpours for this moment.

Wasting no time, Artemas dove into a dynamic setlist jam-packed with past, present and new. “How the f*ck are we feeling?” He asks, to an eruption of cheers.

From enemies and cross my heart to like an angel and just want u to feel something, the crowd sang back every word louder than he could’ve ever imagined.

His unique blend of genres has often left him misrepresented as a DJ, even the Official Charts slipped up, which got a humorous response on X from the young singer-songwriter. Citing various influences (Nirvana, frank and The Beatles), Artemas challenges the status quo, laughing when boxed in.

Joined by a guitarist and drummer, you’ll find he’s grungier than ever on stage. In fact, without the studio magic, every track has a more visceral feel, one we fell in love with as the set progressed.

New track babydoll is one of the biggest indications of what’s next, leaning further into a dance-orientated style found in 2010’s EDM. Letting it run free in this relatively small environment made it sound huge, with everyone begging for its release.

People catch their breath, re-aligning their indoor sunglasses. Anticipation sweeps the underground until fans hear the words they’ve been craving: “You’ve made it to the bangers”.

Starting with another monster-hit, if you think i’m pretty, the crowd couldn’t contain themselves. Until recently, this was Artemas’ biggest track, and it’s no wonder why. Ear-worm vocals, genre-less and gorgeous melodies. Before throwing himself in, there was a stripped-back introduction, giving fans the chance to sing it back. Which London did, to a different level.

Tattoos came next, a tune people had been requesting since the beginning of the night. The transitions between opposites like this demonstrate the breadth of an expanding catalogue that doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

“One more song. Can you guess what it is?” There was a palpable sense of excitement, elation and eagerness. A collective knowledge of what we were all about to hear. As the opening loop kickstarted, to arguably one of the biggest songs of 2024, euphoria never felt so good.

i like the way you kiss me does not disappoint, and in fact exceeded all expectations. It truly translates into live settings as you’d expect, and his last-minute announcement for Reading and Leeds is going to send people absolutely feral. On stage, the melodies sound punchier, the vocals feel refreshing and everything appears grittier. There’s also room for an extended guitar solo to finish the evening, before chants of ‘one more song’ bounce around the room.

However, that was the end. There’s no need for a forced encore or gimmicks. You’re just left wanting more, more of his infectious music.

Being skyrocketed through the TikTokification of the industry is becoming more common for DIY artists. Lewis Capaldi, GAYLE, Kenya Grace and to a degree Glass Animals have all benefitted from explosions on the platform. While it may disrupt the lineage of conquering a live circuit, the reality is – artists who were already onto something will survive the unfathomable success reaped from viral music.

Artemas is one of those. And with new music on the way, we’re so ready.

Catch Artemas live later this Summer or stream his debut album pretty now.

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