From its earliest days, you could count on a Hangout Music Festival lineup to provoke cries of “who are all these people?” and that’s as true in 2023 as ever before. Maybe more so.

The festival itself has changed somewhat over the years, relying less on legacy mainstream rock and pop acts to anchor its lineup. There are still exceptions, such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but there seem to be fewer of them since a big shift to younger acts (and younger audiences) in 2022.

The world has changed too. Once upon a time, it was easy to know who was big even if you didn’t make much of an effort. They topped the Billboard charts, they were all over mainstream radio, they were on all the magazine covers. But social media and the streaming economy have created alternate paths. You can be a Really Big Deal without any of the old signifiers.

Here’s a look at a few 2023 acts that might be a little more of a big deal than many people realize.

Flume

Electronic Dance Music is a world unto itself, and you can be a big name in it without attracting much attention outside it. EDM-oriented publications may have been more excited than anyone else when this Hangout lineup dropped: edmmaniac.com said it was “absolutely stacked” and www.youredm.com called it “one of the best lineups of 2023.” Both singled out Flume as being prominent.

So who’s Flume? Harley Edward Streten, an Australian DJ and producer who actually has a Grammy to his credit – Best Dance/Electronic Album, which he received back in 2017. In a 2022 interview, Billboard.com described him as “Australia’s leading electronic experimentalist and alt-pop crusader” and his new album “Palaces” as “a singular sonic statement that blends aggressive synth edges with lovable hooks.”

The Kid LAROI

The top two rows of the Hangout Poster include the Chili Peppers, SZA, Calvin Harris, Paramore and Lil Nas X, all of whom have made big waves in the mainstream pop world. And there’s Skrillex, who’s been big enough for long enough in the EDM world to have significant name recognition outside it. (Eight Grammys don’t hurt.) Besides Flume, there’s one other name that might be new to a lot of people: The Kid LAROI.

So who’s The Kid LAROI? Charlton Kenneth Jeffrey Howard, another Australian, and part of the reason he might seem new is because the pop-rap artist is so young, He’ll turn 20 this August. However, he’s been quite busy since 2021, when he broke out thanks to “Stay,” a collaboration with Justin Bieber. Billboard.com included him in its freshly released 21 Under 21 standings, its “annual celebration of the most innovative and influential young artists in the music industry.” The site credits him with 3.1 billion streams. “The First Time,” his debut studio album, is one of the most hotly anticipated releases of 2023.

GloRilla

GloRilla continues the theme of making a big splash in a hurry. In the last year she’s had a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Performance for “F.N.F. (Let’s Go)” with Hitkidd, as well as a hit collaboration with Cardi B (”Tomorrow 2″). This spring she’s been one of the stars of a marketing campaign for Tommy Jeans. Unfortunately there’s also been some negative attention: Three fans died in a stampede that took place after a concert in March.

So who’s GloRilla? Gloria Hallelujah Woods, a 23-year-old rapper from Memphis, Tenn., who signed with Yo Gotti’s Collective Music Group. What does she bring to the party? In an extensive profile, Complex described “Tomorrow 2″ as “a modern day motivational anthem that encourages listeners to find the rainbow even on the cloudiest of days” in which GloRilla and Cardi B “dish out braggadocious and punchy bars that work well as an Instagram caption or fun one-liners to yell in the club.”

Ashnikko

TikTok breakthrough? Check, with “Stupid.” Wild stylistic mash-ups? Check: As Billboard put it, “Blending genres like rap, alternative, and pop, Ashnikko is on a different trajectory that most. As she reminds us with her songs, she’s a bit of a freak and she always has been.” That’s certainly the case with her recent video for “Weedkiller,” which presents her as a warrior in a bloody battle with a foe from a video-game nightmare. Billboard picked it as a “Queer Jam of the Week” in early April.

So who’s Ashnikko? Ashton Nicole Casey, whose multicultural upbringing (with time spent in North Carolina, Estonia, Latvia and England) and a taste for edgy imagery make for a distinctive sensibility. “I think the world is burning and humor is the only thing we have,” she told Billboard in a 2019 interview. “I’d say the future seems really bleak for Gen Z and millennials and I find it interesting to see how humor evolves with that. Everyone needs an escape, whether that is through music or humor. My personal escape is through both of those things so I thought why not combine them? But not in a cringe way, I don’t want to make parody songs. I just want my music to have a humorous edge to it.”

Aluna

Since the release of her solo debut “Renaissance” in 2020, Aluna has been forcefully bringing the Black roots of dance music back to light. An NME writer described the album as being “packed from top to bottom with euphoric dancefloor moments … and it’s all too easy to get lost in the hypnotic basslines and entrancing synths spilling from every corner of the record. Underneath all of that, however, is a collection of songs that blur the boundaries between culture, race, gender and genre to represent the cultural heritage and identity of its creator.”

So who’s Aluna? Singer-songwriter Aluna Francis, whose heritage is Jamaican and Indian and whose upbringing is mostly British. Her first impact came as one half the award-winning EDM duo AlunaGeorge with producer George Reid, and she branched into a solo career in 2020.

The 2023 Hangout Music Fest takes place May 19-21 in Gulf Shores. Tickets are available through www.hangoutmusicfest.com. Prices (not counting fees) are $349 for General Admission, $569 for GA Plus, $1,299 for VIP and $2,399 for Super VIP. For continuing festival coverage, visit www.al.com/hangout.

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