Top Albums of 2024 (1/12/2025)

 This year was such a fucking crazy year for music. Following up 2023s dissapointing run of music, 2024 really proved itself and it seemed like everyone wanted to drop this year. Crazy moments also happened like the beef between Kenrick and Drake. Even personally, I felt like I was much more connected to music this year. I finally went to live concerts for the first time (I'm not including Head in the Clouds as that was a festival), once for Anderson .Paak and once for Porter Robinson. That Porter Robinson concert especially was so amazing. I also went to a lot more dance events, and I'll never forget when the DJ played Not Like Us in the finals of the Red Bull Dance Your Style event in LA.

I could've easily put down a top 15 for this year, but I've decided to still do only a top 10, and then just add in a lot of random honorable mentions. Before I start, I'm also doing to note down two albums that I greatly enjoyed that I found this year, but were released before 2024, but also had a deluxe version that released in 2024.

Those albums are:

Stick Season by Noah Kahan / I've Tried Everything But Therapy by Teddy Swims

The deluxe versions are called Stick Season (Forever) and I've Tried Everything But Therapy (Part 1.5) also.

These albums are both more singer songwriter type albums. Stick Season is close to folk/indie/country/pop, and I discovered it from this TikTok live that was playing Stick Season the song. I found Teddy Swims through the song Lose Control which was of course extremely popular in 2024, and I think the rest of his album is solid as well.

I also wanted to mention Lana, which is the deluxe version of SOS by SZA. I still don't think that this album is neccesarily very listenable, but a lot of people seem to like it and SZA so I might as well mention it.

1. Charm - Clairo

I decided over the summer that Charm would be my number 1 album of the year. I was so excited for this album to come out and I think that it lived up to my hype. I love El Michels Affair's production on this album, sounding almost hip hop in a way that I loved on Immunity as well. Fuck you Jack Antonoff for changing Clairo's sound on Sling in a way that I just did not enjoy by the way.

Like it's name, Charm just sounds charming. There's little woodwind instuments in the back all the time, and I just love the vibes. I played this album so much when I was in Taiwan this year that it basically became my theme album for that whole trip.

2. Hit Me Hard and Soft - Billie Eilish

It was tough to choose number two as I love all these albums, but Billie Eilish's third album takes the spot for me. I love just the entire atmosphere on this album, the beats, the bangers Birds of a Feather and Lunch, but especially the build up of CHIHIRO. That just hits so hard.

3. Smile! :D - Porter Robinson

This album is so good. To be honest, I was not super vibing with some of the songs at first, but I think going to his concert really changed things for me. It's got the bangers, it's got the slow sad stuff, and it's even got the great lyrics. I will say that the reason why this is third on my list is because I think there are a bit too many skits that just make this album, as a whole, a little bit less listenable for me. It's hard to say if this album or Nurture is better, but I think that this album is much better consistently while Nurture has some higher peaks.

I also want to say that the Porter concert might be one of the best concerts I'll ever go to. He was funny, he played so many of his songs, and he even had the lyrics behind him so everyone could sing along better. Just so good. 

4. Why Lawd? - NxWorries

Anderson .Paak writes a divorce album, and it is surprisingly amazing. Anderson .Paak divorced his wife early this year, which is crazy considering everything that she's gone through with him. As you listen to this album, you realize that Anderson is for sure the problem, but the way that he conveys his emotions through each song is so interesting to listen to. Some songs he's flexing his bravado and charisma, but on other songs he's showing us under the surface what he's really feeling as well. Interlude HereIAm is my favorite part of his album, as he laments his life and all that has gone wrong, finally leading to a fit of rage as his friend asks him what happened between him and his ex-wife. I think listening to this album as just something chill to put on is nice, but knowing the context has really elevated this album to fourth place for me.

5. Loveseat - Still Woozy

I was not the biggest fan of Still Woozy, but to be honest this album has changed my mind. There are no skips on this album. I suspect that his music might be hit or miss for most people, but I personally love the almost winding and weirdly intricate sounds that he puts through on this album. 

6. Underdressed at the Symphony - Faye Webster

Faye Webster is a fucking good artist. Sometimes she wanders off the weird end and adds in weird shit that just makes her music sound kinda off, but when she hits she hits so hard. I enjoyed this album more than her previous one, which is weird considering that there is also a lot of weird shit on this album, with examples being her kinda weird song Lego Ring with Lil Yachty, and the weird ass auto-tuned vocals on Feeling Good Today. However, the album is still groovy in a relaxing way, and I love putting this on during a summer afternoon.

7. Private Blizzard - Dhruve

I was not expecting this from Dhruv. He's involved from the sadboy that he was on rapunzel, and he's crafting more intricate sounds with hard, and I mean hard, hitting beats on this album. When I heard the three bass notes around 50 seconds into the first song, Ode to Boredom, I knew that this album was going to be good. 

8. The Programme - PREP

It's gotta be a crazy year if the second album by PREP is only eighth on my list this year. I liked all the songs on this album, but to be honest I got a bit tired of Getaway because Spotify kept forcing it down my throat. I also think that there weren't as many standout moments from this album, and on some level I think I might be moving on a from PREP also as I get older.

9. GNX - Kendrick Lamar

It would be a crime to not put this album on my top ten. A surprise drop after absolutely destroying Drake one of the biggest rap beefs ever? This is Kendrick showing that he is the best rapper currently, and it's not even close. I do not think that this is one of Kendricks best albums, and it might even be his worst album after Section 80, but that does not mean that this album is not still great. The reason for that isn't even music quality, it's just that it's not a mind bending narrative concept album like all his other albums. On this album, Kendrick does it all: with two crazy bangers squabble up and tv off, and even the chill bops like luther and dodger blue. That's not even talking about the crazy storytelling in a song like reincarnated.

All this just goes to show that even Kendrick at his worst is still better than almost any other rapper out there currently. I doubt that I will forget the day that this album dropped. Everyone was talking about it and I did basically no work just to go listen to the album three times in a row.

10. Mahashmashana - Father John Misty

Poor Father John Misty. He had been hyping up his album for a while, only to be overshadowed by a surprise Kendrick drop. Apparently this has been happening for like his entire career as well. Just using myself as an example, I had to stop listening to this album just to listen to GNX a bunch of times. This album is still really good though, don't get me wrong. I liked Chloe and the Next 20th Century better, but I don't know if this is because I've just had more time to listen to it. Mental Health is a standout on this album, and is also one of my favorite songs of the year.

Honorable Mentions:

hella (˃̣̣̥╭╮˂̣̣̥) ✧ ♡ ‧º·˚ by 1999 WRITE THE FUTURE

A little quite project by 88rising. A lot of bangers, and my hometown was even mentioned :). Cute fun little album to just put on, even though it is a bit long.

Eternal Sunshine by Ariana Grande

If you ignore all the weird shit that Ariana Grande had going on with the ugly ass actor that was in Wicked with her, this album is pretty good. Songs like the boy is mine is pretty weird but overall this album is a bop, in more ways than one. It barely missed my top 10 this year.

SUPER REAL ME / I'LL LIKE YOU by ILLIT 

ILLIT has some damn bangers man. These are actually two separate EPs, but they both are pretty solid.

play with earth! 0.03 - wave to earth

I think this is the best wave to earth project to date. I love the remastered version of pueblo. Not really any skips in this album compared to their other projects from before. I'm excited to see where they go next.