My Top 5 Pop Artists Who Need to Come to El Paso

I am currently in grad school at UTEP, and one of my assignments for this week is to write a proposal on anything regarding music, whether it's analyzing and critiquing a song or album, to the history and future of digital music.

As I'm looking for a topic to write about, it hits me that there are a lot of huge music superstars in my iTunes library that I would love to see perform here in El Paso instead of having to drive to Albuquerque all the time just to see Drake or even Phoenix to see Rihanna.

With music superstars such as Chris Brown and Ariana Grande sweeping through El Paso recently, here are five more artists that should perform in the Sun City.

5. Jess Glynne - I noticed her when she first sang on Clean Bandit's hit song "Rather Be" and her debut album I Cry When I Laugh released back in August of 2015. Her album was very personal and one of my favorites ever. "Why Me" and "Don't be so Hard on Yourself" were on repeat for months.

4. Lorde - I know we're all probably tired of "Royals," but her presence on the stage is exciting. She hasn't been on tour in a while and I'm still waiting for some new music since her last album Pure Heroine dropped in 2013. She does provide the vocals for Disclosure's latest song "Magnets" but no one performs like this 19-year-old.

3. Nicki Minaj - Her last album was her best yet, but her latest tour doesn't include El Paso. I know her concerts get extremely rowdy especially with the guests she brings and the people she invites up on stage. Being the megastar she is, who else wouldn't want to see the unpredictable Nicki Minaj perform?

2. Tori Kelly - I don't know how she didn't win American Idol when she had auditioned, but I'm glad she's here now. A good friend of mine introduced to me to her song "Dear no One" and a couple months later her debut album Unbreakable Smile released. "Should've Been Us" and "Funny" are among my favorites from her, not to mention her amazing voice and good looks and songwriting ability.

1. Sam Smith - I saw him perform "Latch" with Disclosure live on Jimmy Fallon in 2013 before Fallon took over for Jay Leno on the tonight show. Since then, I have been wanting to see this dude live in concert, but I don't think he has a tour coming up just yet. His debut album In The Lonely Hour is one of my favorite albums of all time, his voice is phenomenal and to show for it he swept the 2015 Grammys and just this year won an Oscar for the theme song he wrote for the new James Bond film. He's only 23, wow.