New Music in 2026: Asian Artists to Watch

Tired of the same names cycling through your playlists? Men’s Folio Malaysia curates a new wave of artists across the region worth paying attention to this year.

By Asha Farisha

January 30, 2026

Discovering music used to be an organic process. Before the world lived inside our phones, taste was shaped slowly and often by accident — through MTV’s Top 30 playing on television screens, a friend pressing play on a CD their older sibling or parent swore by, or a song buried in a film soundtrack you had to seek out after the credits rolled. Music travelled by proximity then. It arrived through people, places, and moments.

Today, discovery is instant and constant. Algorithms learn our habits faster than we do, Spotify refreshes curated playlists daily, Shazam identifies any song heard in passing, and a friend’s Instagram Note or TikTok scroll can surface a new track every week. Access has never been easier, but abundance comes with a trade-off: genuinely good music can disappear just as quickly, drowned out by repetition and short-lived trends.

To cut through the noise, Men’s Folio Malaysia presents a curated playlist spotlighting emerging Asian artists, offering a slower, more intentional way to discover new music in 2026. Here’s a selection designed to extend your taste beyond algorithmic recommendations and towards the next generation of voices worth paying attention to.