Showcase: Xcellence (GR)

The most innovative artists transform, evolve, shape-shift, and refuse to be confined. 23-year-old Nikolas Papadopoulos, the mind behind the project Xcellence, is a shining example of a restless, multifaceted artist on the European music scene.

Born into a musical family in Patras in 2000 and raised in Corfu, Nikolas showed an early affinity for music, beginning his journey at the age of eight. Now a classically trained percussionist with a diploma, he has collaborated with numerous ensembles and institutions as a musician, soloist, and educator. Since 2020, he has also been a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra based in Belgium. His classical compositions, along with inventive reworks of artists ranging from Hans Zimmer to Ravel, have come to life on stage performed by these very ensembles.

Nikolas began producing electronic music at the age of 14. As Xcellence, his explosive future bass tracks—often climbing to the top of SoundCloud and Audiomack charts within hours—transport him from orchestras and operas to the stages of local festivals like the Primer Music Festival. He also blends his electronic music with 15-piece percussion ensembles as a live performer. He seamlessly shifts into introspective downtempo-house with tracks like “Tell Me When,” released by one of the world’s largest electronic music platforms, Proximity, garnering hundreds of thousands of streams. This is followed by “Breathe,” a bedroom-pop collaboration with Annamarie Rosanio, which lands on editorial playlists on both Spotify and SoundCloud.

More recently, his cutting-edge experiments bridging classical and electronic music have put him on the radar of industry giants such as Ninja Tune, Because Music, Foreign Family Collective, and Axtone, among others. His hypnotic debut EP, afterHOURS, made waves among audiences and European media alike. His second EP, EP1, released independently, reached #1 on Greece’s Bandcamp Best Selling Electronic Chart and #3 on the All Genre Chart. It was later re-released by Cobalt Music / Warner Music Greece and received early radio support from stations like En Lefko 87.7, among others.