The musical trajectory of 2024 was a sonic rollercoaster. Here were some highlights.
2024 Grammy Awards
The 2024 Grammy Awards may now seem an infinitesimal moment in the past year, but they represented the first major milestones in this whirlwind year in music. At the ceremony, Taylor Swift announced her eleventh album The Tortured Poets Department, Miley Cyrus won her first Grammy and Jay-Z went viral for his onstage rant about his wife Beyoncé’s lack of Grammy wins in the coveted Album of the Year category.
Cowboy Carter
Just a week after the Grammy Awards, Beyoncé announced her eighth studio album, Cowboy Carter, the sequel in her three-act series that began with her chart-topping Renaissance. In a Verizon ad for the Super Bowl, she announced an album that went on to break barriers and galvanize conversations about the country music canon. “Texas Hold ‘Em,” her standout single released that day, topped the Billboard Country chart, cementing Beyoncé as the first Black woman to achieve the feat.
TTPD
Less than a month after the explosive success of "Texas Hold 'Em", Swift stopped the world in its tracks with The Tortured Poet’s Department. In an album that is perhaps her most polarizing – generating high praise from some Swifties and carping headlines in various reviews – Swift entered her emo era, pathologizing her inner self and the people around her. Landing number one hits like “Fortnight” and social media earworms like “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart,” Swift nonetheless reaffirmed her untouchable status in pop culture.
Rap Beef
Right around when TTPD was released, the simmering rivalry between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar crescendoed into a raging war. The debate ensued when Drake and J. Cole co-released “First Person Shooter,” where Cole reverently referred to himself, Drake and Lamar as the “big three” of the rap game. Lamar was not having it. Already embroiled in a long-standing rivalry with Drake, Lamar protested this title in his featured verse on “Like That” by Metro Boomin and Future, rapping “It’s just big me.” In response, both artists exchanged a litany of polemical diss tracks, which culminated in Lamar’s obliterating “Not Like Us,” where he condemned Drake for alleged pedophilia. This debacle had fans in a collective chokehold for months and remains one of the most prominent events in the musical millieu of 2024.
Brat Summer:
That leaves us squarely in the summer, where a once niche trend became a global sensation. ‘Brat Summer’ is, of course, what I’m referring to. From June onward, the world was painted lime green, or #8ACE00 in scientific terms. When Charli XCX’s Brat album was released, it was more than a drop – it was a cultural meteor impact. Songs like “Apple” and “360” went viral, but the main trend was the proliferation of the lime green album cover and the ensuing deluge of memes. Charli XCX also made headlines when she endorsed then-presidential nominee Kamala Harris, tweeting “Kamala IS brat.”
Short N’ Sweet
As the summer faded away, we were gifted with Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth studio album. After pre-releasing the chart-topping “Espresso” and “Please Please Please,” Carpenter released Short N’ Sweet. Before its release, Carpenter established herself as a defining artist of 2024, chronologically releasing the above tracks, two synth-pop songs that topped billboard charts and dominated streaming records. Short N’ Sweet is, by all means, an impressive feat. Carpenter has been a shapeshifter in our collective imaginations with each foray into our zeitgeist, constantly adopting new musical styles and personas. Now, she has proven herself to be an artist to watch, capable of writing both lighthearted hits and blistering ballads. However she chooses to appear in her next era, she will be certain to make a splash.
The Rise of a Chappell Roan
Chappell Roan had an unparalleled year. In a few short months, she transitioned from a marginal, niche pop artist to a global sensation to a household name. With power hits like “Good Luck, Babe!” and “HOT TO GO!,” Roan’s music has morphed its way into every dominant medium of pop culture: Instagram Reels, TikToks, memes and word of mouth speculation about her lifestyle and beliefs. She also has courted controversy for some critical views on parasocial relationships with celebrities that have alienated some of her diehard fans. She also garnered criticism in the fall when she refused to endorse a candidate for president and mispronounced Kamala Harris’ first name.
2024 has gifted us a broad plethora of new music obsessions, legendary feuds and breakout stars. As we ring in the new year, it remains to be seen whether 2025 will measure up.