Halsey

Halsey: a better combination of lovable pop and provocative grunge could not have been better engineered in a lab. The alter ego of 19-year-old Ashley Frangipane was conceived from the "Halsey" stop on the L train to Brooklyn (and is an anagram of her first name) -- appropriately so, having been born in New Jersey, but defined by the city of New York. Halsey seeks to combine honest, unashamed, and androgynous lyrics with the sugary feminine allure of pop music. Biracial and shaped by the discography of a black father and a white mother, she brings a sense of diversity and a realness to the pop idiom. Her sound is hook-bait-catchy, and unapologetic in nature. "Ghost," her lead single," is a perfect example: She plays no victim, instead exploiting the tragic and laughable intimacy of human relationships. Signed to Astralwerks/Capitol, Halsey has all the undeniable makings of a pop star, with a bitter aftertaste that is so tongue-in-cheek.