015! 2024 in Review
+ fave tracks!
Happy new year to all the subs and lurkers! Wishing you a peaceful 2025!
This year music was fully back in the zeitgeist, even in a supremely chaotic year with historic elections, The Olympics, and The Willy Wonka experience. The Drake vs Kendrick debacle lasted months on end, brat summer turned into brat autumn, and - more unfortunately - P Diddy’s comeuppance is still in progress.
Even if it felt like stepping into a different timeline, where Hawk Tuah was propelled to fame and has a cryptocoin, an assassination attempt barely made a drop in the conversation, and we’re arguing if Luigi Mangione is brat, at least it seems like music was in a good place. The music biz reportedly outpaced cinema by over 30%, and we got some of the best and memorable albums of recent years. And an annoyingly catchy viral hit by some Irish children.
For this year’s round-up, I’ve decided to try to trace some patterns from the year, before getting into some favourites.
Big artists flopping
The goldrush of Taylor Swift’s touring revenue spurred many people on to try for their own arena tours and comebacks, many of which went swiftly down the pan. J Lo’s This is Me…Now chronically underperformed and Katy Perry’s 143 got widely panned for its musical and marketing missteps. The era of Drake’s dominance seems to be over, and Dua Lipa couldn’t really get it together with her latest album either.
The mighty falling seemed to be a larger trend across culture and business: Spotify Wrapped, Nike, McDonald’s, Starbucks, have all been in their own flop eras in ‘24. The economy of tradition is out, staying relevant, and politically aligned is in.
Overnight successes
Despite seeming like they came out of nowhere, numerous acts who have been working hard for years or even longer than a decade finally got their dues this year: from Sabrina Carpenter, to Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Teddy Swims.
Words, philosophies and the album as cultural event
If music loomed large this year, it’s not simply down to the music itself. The biggest conversations this year went beyond the music, turning mantras into cultural events. It’s been some time since we were all fawning over the same music. It was fun for people to be back inside of the monocultural machine - participating in the beef, or defining what was or wasn’t brat.
Though Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” is a track that is precisely not for everyone, in its coded language, in what it represents and what it says outright, it still became the biggest track of the year. Brat was also a private club, and one that everyone wanted to join. It was a race to see which brands could hop on the trend before it ate itself. It turned out this was how you end up entering the cultural lexicon, and even the political sphere.
Still, it’s good to remember that the point here is that music is not enough to enter these conversations, or to move the needle (brat wasn’t enough for Kamala, shock horror). As Charli said in an interview earlier this year, “music is not important.” And she’s proved her own theory here, since her album has managed Grammy nominations and cultural ubiquity, without actually having topped many charts. The music is just part of the container for her artistry, not the container itself.
Returning to the source / keeping things real
Cindy Lee had one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, despite the record only being released on a GeoCities-style website, and cancelling the tour at the last minute due to pressure. Returning to a smaller, more dedicated and “authentic” fanbase seemed to be the move for many people this year. Wizkid’s latest album leaned heavily on its African roots, with no big pretensions to a pop crowd. Rema released a deliberately off-putting record for the American audience who may have found him through “Calm Down” with Selena Gomez. Instead, he went full pelt for fast-paced, local production and lyrics. Even Charli’s album felt like a rejection of her previous attempts at a full pop aesthetic, staying true to the core crowd.
Brazil was everywhere
Rap music was run amok with Brazilian samples, and not just from baile funk, but across the spectrum of the Brazilian archive. 21 Savage, JPEGMAFIA, J Cole, Tyler The Creator, Ravyn Lenae, and Kanye all used samples in their releases, as well as The Weeknd and Bruno Mars going for originals. Muito bom.
Country music was huge
If America had a soundtrack this year, though, it was country music. Thankfully, at least it included some people you might not have expected: with Shaboozey and Beyoncé forging a more accessible path for non-traditional country acts. Post Malone and Machine Gun Kelly entered their country eras, and the longest standing single of 2024 in the US was a country track. It’s hard not to think that this rise is in direct correlation to the political atmosphere in the USA, and while line-dancing may be fun, I can’t quite get down with it while we’re fighting for rights in the Trump era, again.
Independents being subsumed, and also more important than ever
This year, UMG went on a rabid run, buying up indie distro PIAS, and making moves to acquire another large indie: Downtown. If that deal goes through, UMG’s market share will run away even further. While all this happens, the majors have still been going through huge staff cuts and restructuring, and scrambling for continued growth in an industry that is increasingly difficult for frontline catalogue. That’s why these strategies I talk about above: creating cultural moments, serving the fans, and so on, are more important than ever, regardless of the label. Savvy A&R and artist development is going to have to have a big comeback (call me!).
What about 2025?
Making predictions is a fools errand, but I am one, so here are a few. Tiktok won’t be banned in the US. AI creator tools will become huge and very easily accessible. Mainstream legacy media will start shifting more to the right as they try to compete with indie streamers on YouTube Twitch. Guitar music will be in.
And now for some music!
Here’s a selection of favourites from across the year, with an accompanying Spotify playlist here. It’s music that moved me, that allowed me to feel or not feel, or let go, or dance or cry, or whatever I needed in a year that often felt like a cartoon anvil to the head.
I have to admit I listened to less albums than usual, but still enjoyed great full lengths from Rema, Beth Gibbons, JLin, Samuel Reinhard, DJ Znobia, Pa Salieu, Kendrick Lamar, Actress, Nala Sinephro, Tyla, Total Blue, Mk.gee, Floating Points, Mica Levi, Wizkid and Asake. For some reason, I got enamoured with frenetic saxophone music after being put on to Bendik Giske at experimental festival Dripping. I also enjoyed Colin Stetson’s “The Love it Took To Leave You”. Beautiful stuff!
And finally, 8 random things I enjoyed this year:
La Chimera was my top movie of the year.
My favourite NTS show of my own this year was this one-off I did of “smooth & tuff” RnB meets dancehall, with big flavours of Bristol and Manchester thrown in.
Listening to Star Eye’s Rave to the Grave podcast on the roots of baile funk as I cruised through Rio De Janeiro for the first time.
According to Soundcloud, I listened to this mix the most - it was a big hit at barbecues and house parties!
I spent a lot of time on TikTok, what’s new! I’ve posted some favourites on my IG.
Jon Ronson’s Things Fell Apart remains my favourite podcast of the year.
One of my favourite things I bought this year that brings me daily joy was this archival Roland Garros poster by Hervé di Rosa.
In case you’re also a tennis dweeb, here are Tennis TV’s top shots of the year.