DJ Mag and BBC Radio 1 Dance Presents announce artists to watch 2025 residency

DJ Mag will be taking over Radio 1 Dance Presents for a month-long residency showcasing our artists to watch 2025.

Each week from 28th December to 25th January, we’ll present two 30-minute mixes from the most exciting artists of the year ahead hosted by DJ Mag’s Becca Jane Grey. Tune in to Radio 1 from 2-3AM GMT every Saturday, or listen back online or via the BBC Sounds app.

In 2025, DJ Mag’s annual artists to watch highlights 10 artists: Kia, Pricila Diaz, livwutang, Tatyana Jane, MJK, Spectral, Bun Xapa, Hardt Antoine, Azzecca, and Minna-no-kimochi. Pushing the uplifting energies of new-school prog, trance and Afro-house, alongside minimalist rumblings, dub-infusions, grime-laced techno and more, these are the DJs forging the future of dance music through hybridisation and unwavering creative vision. 

The first edition will air from 2-3AM GMT this Saturday (28th December) with Kia and Pricila Diaz, and will be available via BBC Sounds shortly after. And for those who can’t wait the whole month, all the mixes will be on BBC Sounds from 7th January.

Kia is a figurehead of the Australian underground, whose entrancing, kaleidoscopic mixes, boundary-pushing Animalia label, and intimate festival un:send draw heavily from her Melbourne roots. Now touring the world and with a residency locked in at New York’s revered Nowadays club in 2025, as Kia rises she brings her community with her.

She is followed by Brazilian DJ and producer Pricila Diaz, whose chuggy grooves and impossibly deep bass define her excellent releases on labels like Techords, DRT and Toro. But add in her sets at places like D’Edge and Tomorrowland Brazil, new label D’Quebra, and previous role as co-founder of Cave Club, and there’s no denying she’ll play a vital part in the future of our scene.

The following week opens with livwutang from 2:00-2:30AM GMT on Saturday 4th January. She cut her teeth as part of Seattle’s LGBTQ TUF collective and Orphan Radio roster, and is now a leading light in the thriving New York underground. Her current radio show Furniture Without Memories documents the deep musical knowledge she’s acquired on her travels; in 2024 that included festivals in Portugal, Australia, Thailand and India, as well as club shows across Europe and the US, and 2025 will see her dub-infused sound go even more international. 

From 2:30-3:00AM GMT on Saturday 4th January is Tatyana Jane who, from making cassette mixtapes and controlling the playlist at family events as a child, to DJing events like the Paris Olympics and Berlin’s CTM Festival with Skrillex in 2024, has always been about sharing stories through music. Inspired by the Cameroonian genres of her youth, French touch, techno and energetic rhythms from across Africa, Mexico, Brazil and the United States’ East Coast, her infectious, emotive sound is taking the world by storm.

On Saturday 11th January, MJK plays from 2:00-2:30am GMT. Merging the frenetic energy of grime, dubstep’s heavyweight bass and techno’s relentless rhythms, he is at the forefront of a movement bringing fresh energy onto the dancefloors of the UK and Europe. Tracks for Obligated Records, Critical Music and Neighbourhood combine with a rare skill and focus on the decks to make him one of the nation’s most exciting artists, and now he delivers his first ever four-deck mix for DJ Mag.

MJK is followed from 2:30-3:00AM GMT on Saturday 11th January by Spectral. An alumni of the EQ50 mentorship scheme, she has become a core member of the Critical Music crew, playing as part of the Critical Soundsystem and releasing her debut EP on the label in 2024. Over last summer, she brought her earth-shaking mix of dubstep and drum & bass to Glastonbury, Let It Roll, Rampage and Hospitality On The Beach, and is set for even greater things this year.

The following week, from 2:00-2:30AM GMT on Saturday 18th January is Bun Xapa — the South African upstart trying to bridge the gap between traditional house music and EDM. Originally a trap producer, he made the switch to house in 2017 and has developed a propulsive style that merges Afro-house elements with buzzing synth textures. His breakthrough track was 2023’s ‘Kibe’ and he’s had a slew of hits since, with more promised this year.

Hardt Antoine’s artists to watch mix follows Bun Xapa, from 2:30-3:00AM on Saturday 18th January. He may have claimed an Ibiza debut, a set at Burning Man, and a cosign from the red-hot Keinemusik all in the last year, but he’s been working on his craft for over a decade. Having switched from hip-hop to dance music, his sound often features samples from his vast wall of vinyl, complex melodies made on analogue equipment and, most importantly, an unequalled dedication to groove.

Azzecca opens the final show of the residency from 2:00-2:30AM GMT on Saturday 25th January. Through appearances at the Windy City’s ARC Festival, EDC Las Vegas and San Diego’s CRSSD, plus her own Cosimea events, the Chicago-based DJ, producer and multi-instrumentalist has made her spacey, progressive sound a US favourite. Having recently dropped the acid-laced ‘Who’s That Girl?’ via Amsterdam’s DGTL, she’s now begun work on an album, and is set to put Europe under her spell in 2025.

Closing out with the final mix of the series from 2:30-3:00AM GMT on Saturday 25th January is Minna-no-kimochi. Smashing through with a viral, sweat-drenched Boiler Room in December 2023, the Japanese partystarters permanently etched their blend of frantic trance and East Asian experimental club music into the electronic music consciousness. In 2024, they continued to stand out from the pack during their European tour, and still show no signs of slowing down.

Look out for full artist profiles in the first edition of DJ Mag’s new quarterly print publication and online in January, and listen to all the mixes here.
 

28th December

2:00AM-2:30AM — Kia
2:30AM-3:00AM — Pricila Diaz

4th January

2:00AM-2:30AM — livwutang
2:30AM-3:00AM — Tatyana Jane

11th January

2:00AM-2:30AM — MJK
2:30AM-3:00AM — Spectral

18th January

2:00AM-2:30AM — Bun Xapa
2:30AM-3:00AM — Hardt Antoine

25th January

2:00AM-2:30AM — Azzecca
2:30AM-3:00AM — Minna-no-kimochi