The young entertainer featured in Variety’s Young Hollywood Impact Report are all making waves in the entertainment industries—including cinema, television, music, theater, and digital—and were honored on August 8 at an event.
Below are some of the names that made it to the list young entertainers,and despite having to put in a lot of effort to achieve where they are, the individuals on this list are aware that their journey is far from over.
Maya Boyd
Maya Boyd, a twenty-one-year-old young Entertainers who can multitasker. She made her Broadway debut in the Tony-winning production of “Merrily We Roll Along” while completing her final year at the University of Michigan.
She completed her degree while juggling classes over Zoom and performances in New York.
“It was both a job and a class,” the show said. I was an apprentice.
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My lecturers doubled as my cast members. In “&,” Maya Boyd will assume the title role.
NLE Choppa
With over 8.3 billion streams and 17 RIAA-certified plaques, the achievement by this young entertainer, who is only 21 years old, is just amazing.
NLE Choppa, second album, “Cottonwood 2” (No Love Entertainment/Warner), peaked at No. 9 on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart in 2023.
In addition, this native of Memphis has actively supported his community by launching the NLE Reading Challenge, which provided incentives for at-risk elementary students to read 40 million words, and planning the peaceful “Skate for Tyre” protest following the death of Tyre Nichols.
FLO: Jorja Douglas, Stella Quaresma, Renée Downer
The 22-year-old Brit Award winners Douglas, Quaresma, and Downer, 21, recently released the single “Check,” and they are currently working on their debut album.
The singers have a wealth of touring experience, having performed at Coachella in April for the first time in the United States.
“When I was a kid, Coachella was the festival du jour. “It is undoubtedly a highlight to have been involved in it at such an early stage of our careers,” they tell Variety.
It served as excellent practice for the upcoming tour they will be doing in support of Kehlani.
Kahlil Greene
Being the first Black student body president at Yale, Greene, 24, is known as the “Gen Z Historian.”
He built a following of millions on TikTok, Instagram, and LinkedIn as an educational entertainer.
He has a deal with National Geographic for a YouTube documentary series, received a 2023 Peabody Award for his series “Hidden History of Racism in New York City,” and is writing a book for Penguin Random House in addition to working on a documentary about Gen Z politics with Mark McKinnon (“The Circus”).
“Having a solid vocabulary of historical events that you can examine and consider makes you so much more effective at solving problems, in my opinion,” said the author.
Wisdom Kaye
This 23-year-old TikTok and YouTube young entertainer has an accumulated 11 million followers.
Born in Nigeria and raised in Houston When Kaye began publishing in 2020, magazines like Vogue and IMG Models took notice right away.
He has been praised for his storytelling skills and cinematic sense and has won four straight Streamy awards in the fashion and style category between 2020–2023.
Maleah Joi Moon
Moon, 21, plays Ali in the Broadway production of “Hell’s Kitchen,” a semi-autobiographical musical starring Alicia Keys.
She began working on the project during its Off Broadway premiere at the Public Theater, and once it moved, she won a Tony for Outstanding Actress in a Musical and became the youngest to ever win.
Mekai Curtis and Hailey Kilgore
Kilgore, 25, and Curtis, 23 are young entertainers who portray Kanan and his cousin Jukebox, respectively, in the film “The Raising Kanan. The popular crime family drama “Power Book III” on Starz
Kilgore, who rose to fame in the 2017–2019 Broadway production of “Once on This Island”.
Michael Rainey Jr.
23-year-old Michael Rainey Jr. plays the son of Patrick St. James, Tariq St. Patrick on Power Book III” on Starz.
However, in addition to acting, Michael Rainey Jr. is exploring other artistic endeavors.
“I love creating music, making beats,” he says. “Also, I have a team of writers, and we’re working on scripts for movies and shows and stuff like that.”
Ayra Starr
Before the release of her sophomore album, “The Year I Turned 21,” under Mavin-Record Records, this Beninese-Nigerian young entertainer made history by going on her first global tour, amassing a billion Spotify streams, getting nominated for a Grammy, and becoming the first female Nigerian artist to chart in the Billboard 200.
She also discovered a fan in Rihanna, which may have shocked her even more and was recently invited to the famous Barbados carnival.
4Baz
4Batz is a 20-year-old young entertainer from Dallas Texas who gained popularity right away after releasing his first song in 2023, and he has maintained it.
The R&B singer racked up more than 2.5 million Spotify plays in less than six months with her remix of “Act II: Date @ 8.”.
His debut mixtape, which included a remix by yet another big name, peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top R&B Albums chart.
