Well, we’ve reached the end of 2024. It’s the point in the year when everyone drops their Year-End rankings, Spotify Wrapped, Apple Replay, and best-of lists. For many, MANY reasons that I will not get into here, this was a year for the history books. In the world of pop, it felt like just about everyone dropped a new project this year. From longstanding pop giants like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, to the rising generation of popstars like Dua Lipa, Billie Eilish, and Sabrina Carpenter, to newcomers like Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, and Shaboozey, we were fed extremely well this year. I don’t remember the last time this many of the big pop titans dropped new projects in the same year.

I’ll get the easy part out of the way: I think 2024 was a great year in music. I’ve seen others opine that it felt like the first year the music industry was fully out of the pandemic funk, and I agree with this sentiment. 2020 was a fantastic year in music despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns, but the roots of many of that year’s releases likely were planted in 2019 or earlier, and much of the chart-topping music that was released between 2020 and 2023 had a more downtempo and moody vibe (with a small exception for the house moment we had in summer 2022). But this year truly felt like the first year that the fun was back in pop music, and once it was back it became clear how much it was missed the previous few years.

Anyway, without further ado, let’s get into it. These are in no particular ranked order and are just listed alphabetically.

Jump to: Songs Albums

Songs

“360” - Charli xcx

It wasn’t easy picking just one song from BRAT for this list. I considered both “365” (my personal favorite from the standard album) and the “Guess” remix with Billie Eilish (the big hit and my other favorite), but those songs wouldn’t have been able to fly if “360” didn’t walk first. This song is basically front-to-back one-liners (see “bumpin’ that,” and “I’m everywhere, I’m so Julia”), and it’s the simplicity of the lyrics and production coupled with the sheer unhinged confidence Charli carries throughout the song that made “360” a success.

This was Charli’s first appearance on the Billboard Hot 100’s upper echelon since 2014, and it really should’ve peaked even higher than it did. But either way, this song and its parent album are absolutely cult classics by this point. Or should I say club classics.

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“After Hours” - Kehlani

Whoever suggested sampling Nina Sky’s 2004 hit “Move Ya Body” deserves a raise and a shot of expensive tequila on the house before hitting the dancefloor. Out of everything I’ve heard from Kehlani, this is definitely the most carefree she’s sounded yet. This song is fittingly about just getting lost in the moment with the one you’re attracted to, and the beat is so hypnotic that it’s hard not to get lost in it yourself. It’s a fantastic spring/summer vibe, and the dancehall energy from the Nina Sky sample tied the whole thing together. This one was on repeat for me all spring.

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“Agora Hills” - Doja Cat

This is such a wonderfully weird one. Doja had spent the last few years skyrocketing to the top of the pop charts with 2019’s Hot Pink and 2021’s Planet Her, unleashing a killer’s row of pop-rap megabits, but in 2023 she decided enough was enough, and she was clapping back against those who had said she had sold out or had projected their own expectations of her. She swerved back to rap and hip-hop, and she fully embraced the motif of “selling out to the Devil.”

The execution of this vision may not have been perfect, her delivery on this song all about exhibitionism and flaunting her sexual attraction to her partner in public definitely was. She deploys some major AutoTune to great effect on the chorus, and she spends the entire first verse rapping in a playful and overly on-the-nose valley girl accent. It’s fitting for a song named after the LA metro area itself (the song title references Agoura Hills, CA, where she spent some of her childhood. This was one of the more ear-wormy songs of the year.

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“Die With A Smile” - Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars

This is probably my favorite collaboration of 2024. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know exactly what to expect when I saw that photo of the two of them in matching red-and-blue 1970s showtime country fits, but good lord what a song this is. If you were a fan of the Silk Sonic sound (which I was), you’d love this one. It’s right up Bruno’s alley, and it’s a sound that was all but guaranteed to succeed both with critics and general audiences.

I would say I’m surprised by how effectively Gaga maneuvers this ‘70s country-rock sound, but I really shouldn’t be surprised by anything Gaga does at this point. She is such a chameleon and once-in-a-generation talent that it’s no surprise that she rocks this mold as well. This is an incredible collaboration that should have a real shot at finally reaching that coveted #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 once the Christmas songs make their yearly migration back to the North Pole.

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“Espresso” - Sabrina Carpenter

Sabrina Carpenter posted on Instagram on April 8 that she “just wanted to put out a little song before Coachella,” and oh did we have no idea what was coming. The first time I heard “Espresso,” I immediately knew “Oh, this is gonna be a song of the summer right here.” It would turn out to be THE song of the summer, and it’s still inescapable more than 8 months later. It’s a perfect blend of carefree, sassy, flirty, and sprinkled with just enough innuendo to trigger a few blushes here and there. It’s exactly what we needed this summer.

Sabrina has been in this game for a long time now, so she’s had plenty of time to hone her craft. That flirty sexy persona started to come into full bloom with 2022’s emails i can’t send and the hit singles “Nonsense” and “Feather,” but it wasn’t until “Espresso” that we were truly faced with the reality that the little former Disney starlet with a knack for innuendos was here to take her seat at the table as a true pop star.

Follow-up singles “Please Please Please” and “Taste” were also good contenders for this list, but “Espresso” both had us locked in this summer and was the catalyst that got this whole run started, and it was also the most-streamed song of the year worldwide. Isn’t that sweet? I guess so.

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“Euphoria” - Kendrick Lamar

Oh boy, this sure was a doozy, wasn’t it? It feels like the hip-hop world had been watching the dynamic between Drake and Kendrick slowly continue to sour over the years, and it was only a matter of time before something sparked a fire. When Drake finally directly responded with “Push Ups,” I wasn’t sure when or how Kendrick would respond, but it was like the world stopped when Kendrick dropped this six-and-a-half-minute monster of a response that fateful Tuesday morning.

I’m not sure I have the words to describe a song that spends over 6 minutes calling Drake a fraud, a culture vulture, and not Black enough to use the N-word. It starts so softly that it’s almost uncomfortable, but then the first beat switch comes in and you’re hit with a foreboding feeling of “Oh no…” There’s an aura of hate in Kendrick’s lyrics and delivery that I’d never heard before, and the lyrics are so meticulous and specific that you know the Pulitzer winner did his research.

I’ll be straight up, I think this is the best song from the feud. It’s kind of unbelievable he was still only getting started here. We’ll revisit this beef later.

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“Good Luck Babe!” - Chappell Roan

This was a slow burner of a track for me. I admittedly was not initially sold on Chappell’s campy aesthetic or sound (given her background and target audience that’s totally understandable) but as I continued to listen to “Good Luck Babe!” and The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, I came to realize that she just has a knack for really great 80’s synthpop that touches on very real lived personal experiences in a way that many people, both inside and outside of the LGBTQ+ community, can relate to in one way or another. And for me, this song is at the top of the list of her standout songs.

Chappell has a killer voice and the chorus and bridge of this song give that voice the space to really shine (the “I told you soooo” moment of the bridge that leads back into the final chorus is my favorite moment). She’s a really exciting addition to the main pop scene, and her brutal honesty both in her music and on social media is so refreshing. I’m definitely keeping an eye on what she does next.

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“Houdini” - Dua Lipa

Following up 2020’s Future Nostalgia was always going to be an impossible task. That album spearheaded the disco-pop revival of 2020-2021, and its biggest hits were absolutely inescapable world-conquering hits. “Houdini” took a slightly different path, swapping out the sticky pop composition with a more electronic, synthy, and almost psychedelic sound. Nonetheless, I was hooked. The song can be a bit repetitive, but I think this repetitive nature actually helps it get locked in your head even more. It’s a song designed less for conquering the radio waves and more for conquering the clubs, with the production largely staying the same throughout the song while Dua’s vocal patterns and melodies keep the groove from stagnating.

This was the #2 song on my Spotify Wrapped this year, and for good reason. Despite being released in November 2023, I had it on repeat basically all year. The groove never got old, and that’s the sign of a great dance-pop song. Well done, Dua.

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“JOYRIDE” - Kesha

I’m so happy that I got to put Kesha on my list of best songs in the year 2024. She’s been through more than I could imagine over the last 10 years, and her legal fight with Dr. Luke all but stopped her imperial 2010’s run right in its tracks (save for 2017’s “Praying,” no other single or album made any meaningful impact on the pop charts). So I got excited when I saw the teaser for a new song called “JOYRIDE” pop up on her Instagram and it sounded like a return to pop form.

Fun, brash Kesha has been sorely missed on the pop charts, and the fact that she gets to do it on her own terms now makes this return so much sweeter. This song is so reminiscent of her early work that made her such a force in the early 2010’s, while having enough left-field quirks that you know that this is a creation she had full creative control over. It’s such a wonderfully weird song with influences from hyperpop and even polka. And she’s just getting started; it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if she shows up on my list again next year.

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“Like That” - Future, Metro Boomin, & Kendrick Lamar

What a way to officially ignite what will undoubtedly go down as the biggest rap beef in decades. Fun fact: in case you didn’t already know, Kendrick’s feature on this track was actually initially hidden on streaming (surely to heighten the element of surprise listeners would experience when he suddenly pops out of nowhere about a minute and a half in).

Future’s part in the song is great, and Metro’s production is stellar as always, but let’s be honest, this is the Kendrick Lamar show. This would end up being the first of five tracks by Lamar that were aimed at Drake, but as the first one in the lineup, he never actually mentions Drake by name here. Instead, he brings subtle but clear-as-day references to Drake’s 2023 releases “First Person Shooter” (where J. Cole took the first jab in this saga) and For All the Dogs (see “fuck the big three, it’s just big me” and “Prince outlived Mike Jack’”, the latter referencing how Drake compared himself to Michael Jackson in “FPS” for passing MJ’s count of #1 hits).

This track was a lot of fun and a hard first clap-back. And we knew things were only getting started when this dropped.

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“MILLION DOLLAR BABY” - Tommy Richman

This was one heck of a throwback vibe. I remember seeing this one suddenly show up out of nowhere near the top of the Spotify Global Top 50 and being so curious as to what this song and who this Tommy Richman guy was. Turns out it was the single hookiest song of the year. The vocal layering here is used to great effect, and the production is straight out of the early 2000s. It’s a very vibey, carefree song that was all but guaranteed to succeed in a summer where carefree songs were running up huge numbers as the music industry shifted away from the gloom of the early 2020s and back towards fun pop.

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“Not Like Us” - Kendrick Lamar

Yes this is the third Kendrick track on this list. No I don’t care. This man seriously made a song calling Drake a pedophile, a culture vulture, and a colonizer in the hip-hop genre, and he made us DANCE to it. And this was less than 24 hours after gathering the man’s family to systematically dismantle his character straight to their faces. This was a scary weekend, and we all had our popcorn out to watch it unfold. There’s not much else to say here; we legitimately spent this summer chanting “OV-hoe,” and Drake hasn’t been the same since this fateful weekend.

And beyond being a diabolical diss track, it was also a proud reclamation of the hip-hop narrative and pointing fingers at who’s in it for the clout and who’s in it for the culture. If that’s not a win and deserving of a spot on this list then I don’t know what is. Do your victory lap, Ken.

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Albums

BRAT - Charli xcx

Where do I even begin with this album? BRAT definitely made the biggest cultural impact out of any project this year. I mean, come on, a simple “kamala is brat” was a major factor in kickstarting Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign mere hours after President Biden announced his withdrawal from the 2024 election. The marketing around this album was unlike anything I’ve seen in quite a while, and it felt organic in a way very few albums successfully pull off.

Charli’s been bending the rules of what pop music can be for years now, and it felt like the world finally caught up to her on BRAT. And despite being an incredibly brash and confrontational album, it was also surprisingly confessional and reflective. While tracks like “Club classics,” “Von dutch,” and “365” harken back to the era of mid-to-late 2000s rave and electro party bangers, songs like “So I,” “Girl so confusing,” “Apple,” and “I think about it all the time” beautifully ruminated on topics like the loss of a friend, generational trauma, and societal and industry pressures.

The deluxe version (Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not) added the smash hit “Guess” to the mix, and the remix album (Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat") flipped nearly every song on its head with resounding success (special shoutout to Charli bringing out the original 365 party girl Kesha on the remix of “Spring breakers”). Both the original and the remix album are must-listens.

“Who the fuck are you? I’m a brat, are you bumping that?” Indeed I am, Charli.

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Eternal Sunshine - Ariana Grande

This one was so good, and one that shockingly went somewhat under the radar in 2024. Lead single “yes, and?” really threw me for a loop when it was released in January; it had me convinced Ariana was about to drop a full-on house/dance record. Despite being a massive red herring, I still liked it quite a bit, and I’m happy to say much of the album is even better. eternal sunshine feels like a perfect middle ground between her last two albums. It has the vocal patterns and harmonies that were brought to center stage on 2020’s Positions, paired with the slick R&B-pop production and incredibly honest lyricism that made 2019’s thank u, next such a thrilling listen. Great combination, and easily her best work since thank u, next (which was already tied with Dangerous Woman as my favorite project of hers).

Beyond “yes, and?”, standouts for me include “bye,” “don’t wanna break up again,” “eternal sunshine,” “supernatural,” and “ordinary things” with her Nonna.

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GNX - Kendrick Lamar

This was a victory lap of an album if I’ve ever heard one. Kendrick had already won 2024 at this point with FIVE different jabs at Drake that each captured their own moment of the rap zeitgeist. So at this point, there was really nothing more that he had to do. And yet, he chose to use this moment to not only double down on the points he made earlier in the year but also raise up other West Coast acts in the process.

Somewhere along the way, a lot of people for some reason came under the impression that they could throw shots at Kendrick and just get away with it, despite Kenny having already warned us before (see 2021’s “Family Ties” with Baby Keem). The man had to remind the people that he’s the #1 and while he’s fine with people not liking him, what we’re not gonna do is question his pen.

This is a great album that celebrates the sound of southern California while serving as a final shot and send-off to anyone who dares question his craft in the year 2024. Standouts include “wacced out murals,” “squabble up,” “luther,” “hey now,” and “tv off” with that absolutely insane “MUSTAAAAAAAAAAARD” call-out.

You win, Kendrick.

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HIT ME HARD AND SOFT - Billie Eilish

Billie Eilish has never had a true miss in her discography; both of her first two albums, 2019’s WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? and 2021’s Happier Than Ever were thrilling dark pop albums. And 2023’s “What Was I Made For?” from the Barbie soundtrack might be my favorite song of hers ever. HIT ME HARD AND SOFT continues this undefeated streak. It’s a lean, mean, 10-track machine that works best as a front-to-back listen. Billie ventures out of her traditional dark-pop wheelhouse on the electro-punk “LUNCH” and the softer rock of “BIRDS OF A FEATHER,” and she even dabbles in AutoTuned electronic dance on the outro of “L’AMOUR DE MA VIE.” These three, “SKINNY,” and “WILDFLOWER” stand out for me, but this album is best served as one cohesive piece. This will undoubtedly be a Grammy favorite in early 2025.

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The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess - Chappell Roan

Like I said earlier, Chappell’s music took a bit longer to grow on me, but in due time I was sold. The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is a fantastic collection of 80’s-inspired synth-pop music. Dan Nigro produced much of this album, and as a result many of the production and writing tricks that made Olivia Rodrigo’s SOUR and GUTS successes are also present here, and just like with Olivia, those tricks make these tracks even sweeter for me. Chappell has a phenomenal voice, a singular visual palette, and a knack for a good pop hook. All of the singles from this album are standouts for me, especially “HOT TO GO!”, “Pink Pony Club,” and “My Kink is Karma.”

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The Secret of Us - Gracie Abrams

Before The Secret of Us, I knew almost nothing about Gracie Abrams other than that she had opened for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour and that she had carved out a nice little niche with a small but dedicated fanbase. The Secret of Us is not her first rodeo (nor is it her first project produced by Aaron Dessner), but it took her star to a whole new level. This was one of those albums that grew on me (and clearly the general public) over time.

After listening to his collaborations with Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, and now Gracie, it’s clear that Dessner’s bread and butter is slow-burn songs that build over time while painting a vivid story, and it’s so good. Every single song on this album is so rich and the story so descriptive. And it was a really nice touch closing the album with the fan-favorite, long-teased (since 2017!) song “Close to You” (which is also the one song not produced by Dessner).

“That’s So True” from the deluxe reissue is also a good, more upbeat track. It’s also now the biggest hit of Gracie’s young career. I’m excited to see where she goes from here.

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Short n’ Sweet - Sabrina Carpenter

Oh, she made quite an impression.

This record had a little bit of everything: slacker rock in “Taste,” tinges of country in “Please Please Please” and “Slim Pickins,” acoustic flair in “Coincidence” and “Dumb & Poetic,” and even a little tease of Miami bass in “Good Graces.” And that’s all on top of the disco and synth-pop that have become her bread and butter on tracks like “Juno,” “Bed Chem,” and, of course, the inescapable “Espresso.”

If I could summarize the vibe of this album with one emoji it would be: 🤭. There is so much sex sprinkled throughout this entire project that just about anyone will laugh, blush, or gasp at least a handful of times. Time will tell how long the formula of “flirty sexy horny girlie” works, but it hasn’t missed yet; this is a no-skip album.

It’s easy to forget that this is not her first or second rodeo (it’s her sixth). She’s been in the game for 10 years now, and that experience shows now more than ever. I’m really happy she’s finally getting her flowers as a pop heavy-hitter. Quite an impression indeed.

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Let’s Talk about TTPD…

Some of you are probably very upset that I did not include Taylor Swift’s THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT on my top albums of 2024 list. I stand by my decision, and let me tell you why.

First, let me get this out of the way: I think Tortured Poets is a good album. The Anthology portion of the album is genuinely great (thank you Aaron Dessner); if it had been a standalone album, it would be on the list.

We’re reaching a point in Taylor Swift’s discography where I’ve largely heard it all before. There’s been a sameness permeating Taylor’s output over the last few years. Jack Antonoff is a phenomenal producer, and they’ve struck gold together enough times to justify the continued collaboration. Still, I think this downtempo synthpop production has run its course, and it didn’t feel like Tortured Poets treaded any new ground for either Taylor or Jack. Much of this album explored the same sonic landscapes that Taylor demonstrated more effectively on 2022’s Midnights.

Now, there is truth to the saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and this formula is clearly not broken; Tortured Poets had a historic debut of 2.61 million units (1.914 million in album sales) and scored the biggest chart week of any album since Adele’s 25 in 2015. But despite the record-breaking sales figures, Tortured Poets didn’t have the same cultural impact and inescapability that many of Taylor’s blockbuster releases have historically had. It felt like beyond the Swifties, much of the general public gave this album a collective shrug.

Taylor Swift is one of those artists with a fanbase so fervently dedicated and a musical output so widely palatable that at this point just about every release is guaranteed to succeed commercially, but I’m hopeful that a sonic switch comes soon. 2012’s RED skillfully blended flavors of country, pop, and folk music, and 2020’s double-punch of Folklore and Evermore showed that she knows how to sonically surprise us. I’d love to see her introduce some other producers into the room and see what magic they cook up together.

Conclusion

What a fun year in music this was! I really think pop is in a good place right now, and I’m excited to see what’s in store next year. It seems like everyone dropped a project in 2024, so we’ll see what the lineup looks like for 2025. I saw that Madonna is back in the studio with the legendary Stuart Price, and Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, and Megan Thee Stallion have new projects lined up for 2025 as well, so we‘re off to a good start.

Thanks for reading my first Substack post, I hope you liked it!

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