Outstanding talent. Boundless potential. Real ambition. That’s what unites the five nominees of the Rising Star Award with Apple Music 2021. These names fended off fierce competition to make it here—and this playlist, curated by The Ivors, gives you a taste of why they’re rising to the top. Discover the spellbindingly beautiful, theatrical pop of Lancashire-based Allegra, and see why singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone’s searingly intimate sound has won comparisons to Lorde and Taylor Swift—not to mention second place on 2021’s prestigious BBC Sound of poll and the honour of becoming an Apple Music Up Next artist in 2020. Then discover the soulful, stunningly open-hearted R&B of London’s Kamal., the lush, cinematic indie-pop of South Londoner Rachel Chinouriri and, finally, Willow Kayne, the Bristol-born artist drawing from hip-hop, pop and punk to craft her own thrilling, ’90s-inflected sound.