Every Friday, Ones to Watch rounds up the breaking artists your sets need before everyone else catches on. This week: a Los Angeles rapper cashing in a Warner debut with Tyler, The Creator in his corner, a Delaware-raised disruptor turning a viral freestyle into a national tour, and a South Side Chicago rapper running the Midwest through Geffen Records. Three states, three sounds, three records you can play tonight.
AZ Chike — Los Angeles, California
Record to play: "Look Like My Mama"
AZ Chike just made the leap. The Los Angeles native's Warner Records debut album, No Rest for the Wicked, arrived September 18, 2026 — fourteen tracks with production from Tyler, The Creator, Pharrell Williams, Hit-Boy, Sounwave, and Terrace Martin. That's a heavyweight room for a debut, and Chike earned the seat: his standout verse on Kendrick Lamar's "peekaboo" from GNX put the industry on notice, and a 2026 BMI award sealed it.
The DJ record is "Look Like My Mama," the Tyler-produced lead single whose video cleared five million YouTube views in two weeks. The alternate play is "Packed Up," the Hit-Boy-produced single that started moves a fl the Warner run back in June. Either oneoor.
The momentum doesn't stop at the album. Chike's first solo headlining run, the Monster Energy Outbreak tour, kicks off October 5 in Houston with a sold-out Los Angeles stop already on the books. Catch the wave now — by November, everybody's booked him.
Cortisa Star — Delaware
Record to play: "FUN"
Cortisa Star is the kind of artist who makes the "breaking" label feel literal. The 19-year-old Delaware-raised, Baltimore-based trans rapper went viral off a From The Block performance, and her single "FUN" — thrown together in under an hour, by her own account — has pulled over five million global streams independently.
The co-signs read like a group chat you wish you were in: Charli xcx, Doechii, Kim Petras, Lil Nas X, Rico Nasty. Wonderland Magazine put her in their Summer 2026 issue, guest-edited by Miley Cyrus, where she talked about growing up in Sussex County, Delaware, and her debut EP E.M.O (Evil Motion Overload). A debut album is in the works, and theFor All The Dolls Tour h its the road in October with dates in San Diego, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Chicago.
Sonically she lives in the hyperpop-meets-Jersey-club lane — high energy, built for the late-night set. "FUN" is the record. Play it loud.
Glizzy Glow — Chicago, Illinois
Record to play: "Pick Em Up" (feat. FWC Big Key)
Chicago keeps producing, and Glizzy Glow is the South Side's latest export with real machinery behind her. The West Englewood rapper released her 17-track debut mixtape Trench Baddie via Geffen Records in August, then followed it with the "Pick Em Up" video featuring Detroit's FWC Big Key on September 9 — a Chicago-meets-Detroit linkup with a chant-ready hook built for rotation.
The numbers back it up: her earlier single "CUTWATER" did more than 15 million streams across platforms and three million YouTube views, earned a YKNIECE remix, and spawned the CUTWATER Tour. Before the music, she ran her own salon and worked as a hair model — the independent discipline shows in how she's managed her own releases, shows, and visuals from day one.
"Pick Em Up" is the current single, and it's the one for the crates. Hard-hitting, confident, Midwest to the core.
That's the week: California, Delaware, Illinois. Three artists, three regions, zero filler. If you're spinning this weekend, these are the records to have loaded. See you next Friday.