James Blake

The UK’s underground bass-music scene has produced few superstars bigger or more unexpected than James Blake: In just a few short years, the London-born producer snuck out of the city's dankest basement clubs and refashioned himself as one of pop music’s most radiant singer-songwriters.

Blake started in the late 2000s digging through dubstep’s dusty corners, crafting stuttering beats and sizzling synth lines out of what felt like pure shadow.

His music could be strikingly minimalist: The title of his debut single, “Air & Lack Thereof,” could have doubled as the list of ingredients used to concoct it.