The music scene is about to experience a new wave of rock stars starting with TheHxliday. An ace at only 18-years-old, TheHxliday mixes his melodic flow that complements thumping trap beats to create his “sad boy” sound. TheHxliday is inspired by the likes of unfiltered rap-singers from Trippie Redd to XXXTentacion. Like his contemporaries TheHxliday recorded hits in his bedroom and posted them on SoundCloud. In his biggest song yet, “Save Me” you hear a sound that will remind you of TheWeeknd if he was introduced to the sad boy teenage love.

TheHxliday is an entity of Noah Lee. Hailing from the Baltimore suburb of Perry Hall, TheHxliday, a rebel, was created as an escape where he was able to express his singular-eccentric ideas and separate himself from the norm. He grew up watching his mom play alt-rock in the basement with her band known as “ChicFlick.” Outside of his mom being a huge influence in his love for music he was inspired by artists like Justin Bieber, Linkin Park and My Chemical Romance. At 13-years-old, he recorded his first track — a cover of John Legend’s “Glory” and an audition for a school performance of the song, he got the part.

TheHxliday was never really into sports, his creative mind couldn’t focus on school, and eventually he found himself being homeschooled to record using his family’s IMac, a Rock Band microphone, and GarageBand —which he still uses to this day. As he transitioned into high school, his songs evolved from covers to rough originals to emo-tinged rap tracks that he uploaded to SoundCloud at a manic rate. “I remember it was like 170 songs up there,” he says. People at his school began to catch on, slowly but surely.

Then, in May 2018, “Enemy” happened. “I made it as soon as I broke up with my girlfriend,” he says. “It was just like making her mad. Shit I didn’t know it was a banger.” The song is emo night mixed with a tropical vacation. It’s TheHxliday in his petty bag —he doesn’t love his ex anymore and tells her so. But he also sings about a hitman who killed all his feelings (“his name is Depression”), and about how his former partner deserves more. It’s classic, conflicted emo-rap, and the song took off online, catching the ear of Lyrical lemonade which lead to director Cole Bennett, a major influence in visuals in the hip hop scene, to direct multiple videos for TheHxliday.

Since then, TheHxliday has travelled back and forth between the DMV, Chicago, and Los Angeles, signing with Motown, shooting a pair of trippy videos with Bennett, and continuing to broaden his sound. At the top of the year, he dropped a short EP called Broken Halls that showcases his dynamic palette of pop, R&B, and hip-hop. “Save Me” stands as maybe his best and most popular song he’s released, but according to TheHxliday, it’s just a “firecracker” compared to the “bombs” he has in store. Expect his debut album to drop, heavily, this Fall.