TORONTO UNDERGROUND PT. 2
BY BRENESSA ROACH | AUGUST 9, 2025
Welcome back to another edition of our “Toronto Underground” series, where we spotlight incredible talent from Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). This time, we’re featuring six artists you need to know.
Current Monthly Listeners: 77.5K
Kalisway is an Alternative R&B/Funk artist from Toronto. She made her debut on April 3, 2020, with the single “Cherry”, which was a pre-release track for her debut EP CREAM, which came out on April 10, 2020. She consistently released music since her debut and released her debut album HIT ‘EM WITH THE FUNK on March 11, 2022. We actually discovered her with this album because we found “LIKE THAT” in a playlist on Spotify.
Her sophomore album A Kid From Toronto released on April 16, 2024. So far in 2025, she released the single “When I Close My Eyes”
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Current monthly listeners: 3.3K
Jade Hilton is a Chinese-Canadian country-pop artist who debuted on March 5, 2018, with the single “This Town” featuring Cole Brandt. We first discovered Jade Hilton in 2022 through her 2020 single “I Would.” She has consistently released music over the years, leading up to her debut album Unrequited on April 8, 2022. After a break from releasing music post-2023, she made her comeback on May 16, 2025, with “Dive Bar”, which is our favourite track of hers to date.
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Current monthly listeners: 471
Ramona Vee is a Mexican-Canadian artist whose sound blends indie rock, pop, jazz, and Latin musical traditions. She made her debut on August 15, 2022, with the single “Jardin de Rosas”, followed by “Hurt,” “Blue and Misty” and “Roses and Wine ” in December 2024.
She started 2025 off with “Solo” in February, which is our favourite track of hers so far. This was a pre-release track for her debut EP *Malandrin,* which released on July 4.
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Current monthly listeners: 147
Farah Léa is a Palestinian-Canadian R&B/Neo-Soul artist raised in Brampton. She debuted on June 25, 2021, with “right by you”, which happens to be our favourite track of hers. In 2022, she released music consistently, leading up to her debut EP VIRGO’S CRESCENT on July 14, 2023.
After a quiet 2024, she returned on July 11, 2025, with the single “All My Days”.
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Current monthly listeners: 1.3K
neemz is a singer blending R&B and Pop with range of other genres. She debuted on November 16, 2022, with the single “fastlane”, and on December 25, 2023, she released her debut EP nascent which included an extended version of “fastlane”. This EP is when we first discovered neemz. She didn’t release anything in 2024, but returned on February 14, 2025, for the song “LOVEBUG”, followed by “JUST BEGUN” on April 11, “LIGHTS GO OUT” on June 20, and her latest single, “THEY DON’T CARE,” released on August 8.
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Current monthly listeners: 30.2K
AJA is a pop singer who has been singing since she was 6 years old. In 2014, she won Perez Hilton’s Can You Sing? competition with her cover of Sia’s “Chandelier.” She officially debuted on May 15, 2020, with “Nerve,” which has since surpassed 1.2 million streams.
Since her debut, AJA has released multiple songs each year. We first discovered her through her January 26, 2024 single “If I’m Honest.” In 2025 alone, she’s already dropped “hard to handle” in January, “wasted nights” in February, and “good 4 now” in May.
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Check out our “TORONTO UNDERGROUND” playlist on Spotify:
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