69 bangers from 2024
Nasty. Nasty.
Sometimes I am stuck in the past, only replaying albums and songs of yesteryear. Sometimes I only want to hear what the future sounds like. This year fell into the latter category, as modern music continues to develop and evolve into whatever social media platform suits it’s needs. There’s been a lot of talk about short form, snippets, and album culture dying, but 2024 showed us long form music still dominates the conversation. From DMV crank to Danish shoegeaze, here’s 69 bangers that kept me alive this year.
Kanye x Ty $ - Burn/King
MK.gee - DNM
Paco Panama - Soul Food
Kim Gordon - BYE BYE
BKtherula - INSANE
Four Tet - Skater
KP SKYWALKA - SKINO FLOW PT. 2 / DC’s (Baltimore’s?) reigning ROTY continued to blaze a path of singularity through freak anthems and post-Free Car sample based crank. SKINO FLOW PT. 2 flips Hov’s Bring It On and elevates it with a modern DMV twist. Produced by TrapmoneyBiggie, the Netherlands finest import.
Joony - Tired
SIR E.U - NAVY BLUE COUPE
Mount Kimbie - A Figure In The Surf
Doja Cat - Disrespectful
Mach Hommy - LON LON / Mach’s latest opus admittedly took a few listens for me to digest, but once it clicked it was stuck. LON LON is one of many standouts, as a showcase for Mach’s multisyllabic bar parade amidst psychedelic flutes and crowd-pleasing lore.
glass beach - motions
Loukeman - Snoopy
Saya Gray - DIPADEE/W.I.D.F.U
Chanel Beads - Unifying Thought / Dime’s Square celebs Chanel Beads impressed with their woozy genderless take on indie pop. Their music has a sense of timelessness to it, existing somewhere between a dream sequence and sleaze charm. Unifying Thought tied it together with a tight backbeat, shimmering guitars and lyrics that sound like notes to self.
Hardrock - St. Patricks Day
Lunchbox - Lost
Sherifflazone - WHITE
Lil Gray x KP Skywalka - Chrome Chanel
Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us / Sometimes you gotta pop out and show niggas. Drake has been begging for a reason and Kendrick made an anthem out of it.
Roc Marciano - True Love
MIKE x Tony Selzter - R&B
Chief Keef - Runner / Almighty So 2 was a landmark release for an already solid discography, highlighting his incredibly intricate production techniques and ear for samples. Runner exeplemifies this, pairing Nancy Wilson’s original ‘Street Runner’ with schizo 808s and tinkling keys.
Gunna - On One Tonight
Homixide Gang - FA5EBUSTER
Oolong - Tofurkey Tough
Xaviersobased - Pediatrician
Tems - Ready
HavinMotion - In That Car / Maryland’s own HavinMotion has my most played song of the year with this one. The evolution of DMV music is an exciting thing to see in real time, with the creepy piano-laced Free Car style being replaced with a more dreamy, uptempo, cloud-based take. HavinMotion floats on this, propelled by that signature area-stomp and rampaging flow.
Jace! - Goose Creek
Lucki x Rylo x 42 Dugg - 3 SMRS STR8
Lil Gotit - OMG
El Costeau - Prostitution
Chance The Rapper - Stars Out
Veeze x Rylo Rodriguez - Fucked A Fan / There was minimal output from both of these two pure hoopers this year, but F.A.F more than made up for it. Brent Rambo x Kyuro created the perfect backdrop for the onslaught of instagram caption esque-bars Veeze and Rylo made a living out of. Rylo plays the perfect foil to Veeze’s nonchalant trick posturing, balancing the machismo scales. Only collab album I’m waiting for.
Remi Wolf - Cherries and Cream
Summrs - Marble Floors
Lil Dude - No Diddy / ‘Diddy’ has a completely different context in the DMV. With that said, Lil Dude absolutely slides on this woozy banger and leaves no bar to waste. His ‘Sayso the last lean bender’ EP found him flirting with Carti-esque textures and classic Free Car production, but No Diddy is the perfect pocket for the ageless DMV vet.
Nino Paid - Meezy
JPEGMAFIA - loop it and leave it
Mel V - Mystikal
Smashing Pumpkins - Sighommi
Jaeychino - P4IN / I personally hate when I have to learn about DMV rappers from Pitchfork but after a flattering review for his Watch The Throne I had to see what the hype was about and Jaeychino does not disappoint. His distinctive run-on cadence never loses it’s stride on P4IN, amongst production that could fit on a TLC-album. Beat selection is so important.
DestroyLonely - Pimp Talk
XanMan - Drake
Carti - All Red
Future - South of France
EBK Yung Joc x EBK BckDoe - No Safety’s - October’s 007 EP was a low profile release from the Stockton firestarter, but he made sure to sneak a banger on it. A long overdue pairing from two group mates whose camaraderie was a surprise to me. Them EBK boys have a lot going on.
Q Da Fool - We Goin Make It
Uzi - Chips and Dip
Autumn x Summers - Louis V Everything Remix
Wishy - Game / After 2 EPs, this Indiana shoegaze band struck for the stars with their first debut album. Game is exactly what I want from a shoegaze song, to pummeling beautiful guitars, to dual vocalists, even a guitar solo here and there wouldn’t hurt.
Westside Gunn - Speedy 40
Noid4L - Dracs In The Whip
Slimegetem x Jaeychino - Me Vs Me / First listens of SlimeGetEm struck me for his tumbling flow and menacing demeanor, while Jaeychino exists in a more reflective measured realm. So I didn’t know what to expect from this collab, but SJR continues to be a beacon of light for the new DMV scene, bringing Clams Casino vibes to a region plagued by darkness and rote production. Both rappers get immediately in their bag, recapping a year of success with a brief optimistic look into next year.
Slimegetem - Red White Blue
Len x Fimiguerro - Excuse My French
Kendrick Lamar - Hey Now
Rico Ace x EsDeeKid - Bally / UK undergroud rap hit new heights this year going viral on all platforms, and bringing a steady stream of new faces to your TL. Bally is a slinky grime inspired banger, with synths firmly trapped in 2033. If this is what the future of UK sounds like, keep it coming.
Rrocket - See Um Sayin
Doechii - Hide N Seek
Fine - Coasting
Norah Jones - All This Time / On a random Norah Jones deep dive, I decided to see how her modern music stacked up to her Grammy sweeping debut. Surprisingly enough I was blown away with the grace and almost affirmative nature of All This Time. It’s a song that’s almost begging to be sampled, while also existing in its own garage-soul modern timelessness.
Astrid Sonne - Do you wanna
Molina x ML Buch - Organs
Fountaines DC - Here’s The Thing
ST6 Jodyboof - Jammers