KAZI Heat: The 10 New York Hip-Hop Artists Moving Fastest Right Now

By Tariq Monroe, October 30, 2026

This week: Launch edition. All ten artists debut this week, led by JayBay, Fergie Baby and Sixbill.

KAZI Heat is our weekly ranking of the New York hip-hop artists moving fastest right now. It is not a list of the biggest names in the city. Every artist gets a Heat score out of 100, built mostly from how fast their newest official videos are pulling views and which way their Spotify audience is heading, then from press, co-signs and live sessions, new releases, and a small weight for reach. The scoring window for this edition runs from Aug 1 to Oct 30, 2026, with the last 30 days counting most. Since this is the first edition, every artist below is a debut. All view and listener counts are KAZI's own dated reads of official YouTube and Spotify pages unless another source is named. Starting next Monday, you will see who climbed and who slipped. For the longer story on where the city's drill scene stands, start with Jenn Carter Proves NYC Drill Never Left.

JayBay

No. 1 | Heat 79 | Move: Debut

JayBay tops the launch edition on pure video momentum. The official video for "Shell After Shell," posted Oct 26, went from 22,393 views on the afternoon of Oct 29 to 34,681 by early Oct 30. It caps a busy month that also brought a "Shell After Shell" visualizer on Oct 23 and the "To The Left" video on Oct 15, plus performance sessions for On The Radar on Oct 26 and BlockWork TV on Oct 19. JayBay's Spotify audience is still the smallest in the Top 10 at 6,725 monthly listeners on Oct 30, up from about 5,100 the day before.

JayBay, "Shell After Shell" (official video)

Fergie Baby

No. 2 | Heat 75 | Move: Debut

Harlem's Fergie Baby lands at No. 2 off a run of official visuals for "Uptown Shooters N' Bronx Bombers" on Oct 3, followed by a second cut on Oct 9. His biggest mover is a guest spot: he is featured with Ghostface Killah on Erick the Architect's "YERR," released Oct 23, which Music Connection named its Video of the Week on Oct 27 and which went from 62,598 to 64,187 views between the afternoon of Oct 29 and early Oct 30. On Spotify, he showed 127,607 monthly listeners on Oct 30, up from about 124,200 on Oct 28. AllHipHop's Breeding Ground talked with him in August about Cam'ron's co-sign, and we covered his rollout in Fergie Baby's Re-Release Strategy Actually Worked. That's Rare.

Fergie Baby, "Uptown Shooters N' Bronx Bombers" (official visualizer)

Sixbill

No. 3 | Heat 71 | Move: Debut

Sixbill, who was born in Colombia and grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, per The FADER, had the most complete month on the list. Sixbill released the album Pure Lust on Oct 16 alongside the "SEVRAGE" video, then followed with the "SERVE" video on Oct 23, and The FADER walked through the album's studio sessions on Oct 20. The Spotify count moved from about 311,700 monthly listeners on Oct 28 to 328,518 on Oct 30, one of the clearest upward moves in the Top 10, while "SEVRAGE" went from 47,752 to 50,794 views over the same stretch.

Sixbill, "SEVRAGE" (official video)

KillaMoe

No. 4 | Heat 63 | Move: Debut

KillaMoe's case starts with a co-sign: Juicy J jumped on "Layoo (Remix)", released Oct 15, which went from 700,200 views on the afternoon of Oct 29 to 703,886 by early Oct 30. KillaMoe has kept releasing around it, with "Hunnits & Ones" on Sep 25 and the "King Of New York" video on Oct 30, plus a BlockWork TV session in August. Spotify is the one soft spot: 219,212 monthly listeners on Oct 30 against about 220,800 on Oct 28, roughly flat with a slight dip.

KillaMoe feat. Juicy J, "Layoo (Remix)" (official video)

Judah Weston

No. 5 | Heat 56 | Move: Debut

The FADER introduced Judah Weston in August as an 18-year-old rapper from Manhattan's Lower East Side, in a documentary with his brother and producer IsoKeys, days after the pair sat down with POW. His "Ain't The Same / I'll Be Fine" video from Sep 25 is still moving, from 124,060 views on Oct 28 to 126,424 on Oct 30, and he put out "Thumb" on Oct 30. He has one of the larger audiences on the board, with 712,646 Spotify monthly listeners on Oct 30, up from about 702,900 on Oct 28.

Judah Weston, "Ain't The Same / I'll Be Fine" (official video)

Kenzo Balla

No. 6 | Heat 51 | Move: Debut

Kenzo Balla is here almost entirely on output and video pace. The "Get Flicky" video, posted Oct 28, went from 12,676 views on the afternoon of Oct 29 to 15,767 by early Oct 30. It follows "Back 2 The Basics" featuring TG Flockaa on Oct 3 and "Get Back" on Sep 11, and the Spotify page showed 112,393 monthly listeners on Oct 30.

Kenzo Balla, "Get Flicky" (official video)

ksuuvi

No. 7 | Heat 48 | Move: Debut

Pitchfork spent a day in the Bronx with ksuuvi on Oct 8, calling him "the introverted party rapper next up out of xaviersobased's 1c collective." On Oct 22 he dropped the "BIGASSBANK" video, which went from 44,151 views on Oct 28 to 47,553 on Oct 30, following "act right" in August. His Spotify audience is steady rather than surging, at 318,394 monthly listeners on Oct 30 against 316,601 on Oct 2, per the tracker Music Metrics Vault.

ksuuvi, "BIGASSBANK" (official video)

Bay Swag

No. 8 | Heat 44 | Move: Debut

Bay Swag, who grew up in Jamaica, Queens, comes in with the biggest Spotify audience in the Top 10: 751,831 monthly listeners on Oct 30, up from about 748,500 on Oct 28. His newest release is "Drain" featuring Fatt Smaxk and Young KB, out Oct 16 and listed by HotNewHipHop two days later. The "F*** Ya Opinion" video from Sep 11 is still adding views, from 249,045 on Oct 28 to 250,704 on Oct 30, and he also appeared on Chow Lee's "EW" in September.

Bay Swag, "F


Ya Opinion" (official video)

Dee Billz

No. 9 | Heat 43 | Move: Debut

Brooklyn's Dee Billz (BET) holds his spot on one record: "GULAG" with Kyle Richh, released Sep 4. The video is still adding views, from 360,785 on Oct 28 to 363,918 on Oct 30, and his Spotify audience ticked up from about 608,000 monthly listeners on Oct 28 to 613,864 on Oct 30. He has no new release in the last 30 days, which keeps his score in check.

Kyle Richh x Dee Billz, "GULAG" (official video)

Jay Critch

No. 10 | Heat 37 | Move: Debut

Jay Critch rounds out the launch edition. The "REGAL" video, released Oct 16, went from 68,455 views on the afternoon of Oct 29 to 68,998 by early Oct 30. Jay Critch's Spotify audience is up modestly over the past four weeks, from 655,879 monthly listeners on Oct 2, per Music Metrics Vault to 665,209 on Oct 30.

Jay Critch, "REGAL" (official video)