Incredible songs can go unnoticed by the masses for various reasons. Often such records belong to artists who have not yet attained mainstream audiences substantial enough to ensure a song realizes its potential. Sometimes these songs are released by established mainstream artists but don’t receive the promotional push required for the song to stand out. Other times, a song might simply be ahead of its time.

As social media continues to provide growing direct access between fans and artists, there is a palpable desire amongst music audiences to learn of these musical gems that have been slept on by the masses. These songs often indicate the direction of entire genres, and for that reason we are providing you with 2016’s Top 8 hip-hop sleeper hits.

 
6LACK - "PRBLMS"

6LACK (pronounced "black") is an artist to watch. The press predicting 6LACK’s forthcoming stardom range from small rap blogs up to Rolling Stone, which named him one of the Top 10 artists to watch in November. Interscope has also taken notice, signing him to the label.

While his track "PRBLMS" has amassed substantial plays on Soundcloud since its May release, his success has been regional — as is often the case with new Atlanta artists — and is still relatively underground. Similarly, the buzz 6LACK garnered following the release of his debut album FREE 6LACK in late September hasn’t yet crossed over from underground music lovers who frequent Soundcloud to more mainstream audiences. With sing-along-bars like “While you catch these feels Imma sip on this drank” the song has viral potential, and similar to the artist, may not be slept on for much longer.