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Destin Conrad Wins Billboard R&B Rising Star Award

Destin Conrad has been named Billboard's R&B Rising Star for 2026. The Florida-born singer picked up the honour alongside Hip-Hop Rising Star Samara Cyn and Caribbean Rising Star Skippa.

In his acceptance speech, Conrad said: "It's an incredible honour to receive the 2026 R&B Rising Star Award. R&B music has played such a foundational role in my life. There's something about the honesty in R&B that I feel like I gravitate towards, and there's something very free about the genre that's always encouraging me to trust my own ear."

Conrad first found an audience on Vine in 2014, where he built a following of over a million people. Before releasing his own music, he wrote songs for major acts such as Kehlani and Ambré. His debut studio album, Love on Digital, arrived last April to critical praise and brought him a Grammy nomination for Best Progressive R&B Album.

This year the Colourway singer has put out two records in two different genres: the jazz project Whimsy! in April and the reggae album Roadrunner in August.

Conrad wrapped up his speech by thanking his team. "Thank you to Billboard and thank you to my team Above Ground," he said. "Make some noise for David Ali. I don't know where he is, but I'm also really spoiled to have such an amazing team. Shout-out to Kehlani for introducing me to him."

Photo: Cover Media
Source: Muzland
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