The many challenges of 2017 didn't magically disappear when the year ended, but one bright spot in 2018 is the wealth of emerging Bay Area musicians poised for big breaks. This mix showcases 14 local artists to watch in the coming months, highlighting a variety of genres including hip-hop, electronic pop, folk, and punk.

OK, look: We love YBN Cordae. The North Carolina rapper possesses a bonafide pen — he fired legit shots to all the old heads in J. Cole's "1985" diss and is a lyrical beacon among what some may call a misguided, if not misunderstood, rap generation. To have YBN Cordae hit the Bay so soon after his Chance the Rapper-assisted song, "Bad Idea" drop is a treat, and we swear it.

Ahead of that, we're being treated to "Alpines", an enriching and soulful rap track aided by Oakland rappers Ricky Lake and Young Ocean. It's long been known by Mikos Da Gawd fans that he excels when working with singers and rappers alike and the few names we've already seen attached to the project suggest we're going to see the best examples of that yet.

The track has energy and life and is engaging from the drop. The vocal mix is intriguing throughout , and this is a song that defy’s you not to pop into the groove and sway along to the rhythm.

When you're quarantining in one of San Francisco's historic studios, I guess the only thing you can do is make music. Following the release of his last album, Last Summer Sucked, Text Me Records rapper Ricky Lake is back with a new EP called Wobbles crafted in the label's home at Different Fur Studios.

For a little while, Ricky Lake had a fear about working with a music label. Up until this year, the Los Angeles-born, Nashville-bred, Oakland-residing artist was making music solely from his bedroom, cold-emailing YouTube producers for beats and releasing impromptu projects on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. There's a rigidity associated with labels — contracts, royalties, processes, money.