Dork’s Hype List is our annual spotlight on the artists who’ve started to really stand out - not because they’re destined for instant superstardom, but because there’s something in what they’re doing that feels fresh, deliberate and worth keeping close tabs on.
It isn’t about calling winners or demanding overnight breakthroughs. Consider it a guide to the acts shaping the edges of what’s next: the ones we’re excited about, curious about, and confident enough to back as they take their next steps.
With ‘I Promise No One’s Watching’ coming out in June, and a week before NXDIA’s birthday to boot, it has served as quite a milestone. Calling the mixtape “some weird Fun House mirror image of myself”, it came about when NXDIA (pronounced Nadia, FYI) was going through a period of self-reflection. “My mind was so caught up in thinking about how I felt about myself, how I felt about things that had been happening in my life,” they recall.
NXDIA, the stage persona and the mastermind, is one. Even if they wanted to part ways, they simply couldn’t. “It’s so woven together at this point,” NXDIA says. “As much as I wish I could be like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got a sick persona, and they’re super swaggy and sexy’, I think a lot of it is me actually just forcing myself to be more like myself,” they continue. “I don’t want to get swept off into people-pleasing.”
Fast forward to NXDIA playing this year’s Reading & Leeds, and meeting their musical icons; all the hard work and experience, culminated in ‘I Promise’. NXDIA is naturally reflective, something proven by the stack of journals they nod to while explaining their diaristic tendencies. “I’m deeply sentimental. Unfortunately, I keep everything, and it’s so annoying, but extremely helpful if I want to scrapbook, which I do often. I think I look back with a sense of fondness,” they laugh.
This determined understanding of themself is in part thanks to the journey they have been on since they picked up the music bug; muddying through the fog of figuring out what makes NXDIA NXDIA is part of what makes the music so alluring. “I feel very naive a lot of the time,” they admit.
In creating their debut mixtape, an evolution took place with everything it involved. With the project acting as an exorcising of their recent history, NXDIA likens it to a moment they had on a trip to the white and black deserts in Egypt. “I sound so stupid, but I was looking at the mountains, and I was like, this shit is worn down, but it’s so beautiful, and it is the test of time. So I feel like this year felt like a testament to just being able to survive a lot,” they explain. “In terms of not sleeping very much, not talking to friends very much, what dating looked like… I learned a lot through it, but it was definitely trying.”
Putting the sonics in place to bring this attitude and persona to life was equally important. This iteration of NXDIA could only be soundtracked by the braggadocious rumblings throughout ‘I Promise’, which also plays into the live-loving part of NXDIA. “I set out to make stuff that I felt would translate well live, and it is this really rocky, fun show,” they say. “It is almost like a little experiment that has gone well.”
There is hope that NXDIA can expand upon their heritage, and it will be welcome, since enthusiasm begets enthusiasm. “I think when you’re enthusiastic about stuff, people hop on board. Even with the Arabic lyrics, I’m seeing so many non-Arabic speakers in the crowd now who have learned the lyrics,” they marvel. Having had a similar experience after listening to Belgian artist Stromae since the age of twelve, “I could vaguely make the right noises in French, like from the ‘Racine carrée’ album, but I could never do word-for-word the way that they do. It is crazy.”
People have even been reaching out to tell NXDIA that they are re-learning Arabic or reconnecting with their own heritage, which has given NXDIA an even bolder confidence in their ideas. “I had some discouragement when I worked with a producer when I was eighteen because I wanted to write in Arabic and English. He said people are not gonna get that,” they remember. “But I think that is doubting people’s willingness to connect to something.” And if that does not work, NXDIA can simply get down to their level and bring the intensity straight to them. “I like looking people in the eye,” they cackle about their live approach. “There is something so real about that moment, right?”
When all is said and done, the past twelve months have proven it. NXDIA’s true-to-self, gut-spilling lyrics and pop-entrenched attitude feel honest and raw in all the best ways. “This year has shown me that I can do it,” they reflect. “And that is all I wanted from it.” ■
Taken from the December 2025 / January 2026 issue of Dork, out now.
