It’s that time again, the annual Spotify wrapped!
2024 is an exciting year for me in terms of music, as I continue stepping out of my comfort zone to explore new artists and genres. It is also the year I landed a “real” full-time job, listening to music during my commute or at work has become my daily routine—and probably my main source of entertainment.
I am still a newbie when it comes to music knowledge, but I’d love to write down my thoughts and discuss with others, so I made this post as a tribute to the songs that have accompanied with me through this year. Hopefully I will revisit it from time to time to see how my music taste and personality evolve throughout the years.
Rhythm & Blues
It was February, and I was still struggling with my fourth-year computer science course at the university. Looking for something new to listen to while doing homework, I came across a ’90s R&B playlist on Spotify. I remember the cover was Mariah Carey during her Butterfly era, and it featured songs from Alicia Keys, Outcast and TLC, etc. I was quite new to R&B, and had only listened to some hits from relatively recent artists such as The Weeknd and Frank Ocean. This playlist really opened my eyes and introduced more musicians to me from this genre. For example, after discovering that Mariah Carey‘s discography is more than that one Christmas hit (sorry for my ignorance Mariah Carey fans), I fell in love with lots of her songs back in the ’90s and We Belong Together has become the most beloved one, which has been played 66 times throughout the year according to Spotify. The flowing melody, the heartfelt lyrics and her smooth voice blend together so perfectly, I just can’t get enough of it.
Apart from that, I have also listened to newer R&B albums such as SOS by SZA and Isolation by Kali Uchis on repeat. Both artists have very calm voices and bring unique melodies and lyrics to their music.
HipHop
One night my boyfriend showed me the music video of Bound 2 featuring Kanye West and his ex-wife Kim Kardashian. I have heard the song before but it was my first time watching the MV. I was very impressed by how many layers the song has. I made a comment like “I think the female’s voice in the background is the soul of the whole track, without it, the song will feel very bland”. It didn’t take long for me to realize that is exactly how Kanye makes most of his songs—he might not have the most beautiful voice himself, but his talent to sample others allows him to produce the most iconic hits in the industry.
I then started diving into his discography more systematically, from the College Dropout to ye. Songs like Ghost Town has accompanied with me through the toughest time. I feel like he has a sensitive personality beneath the surface, which, in a strange way, resonates with me deeply.
I don’t really like his later productions such as Donda and VULTURES, I feel like it’s too noisy for me and he does not put his whole heart into making music anymore. It is also a shame to learn about some of his ideology and political opinions that I don’t agree with, but I won’t get further with it since it is out of scope of today’s topic. Anyways, I do enjoy some of his works such as Graduation. I especially like the dropout bear Takashi Murakami designed for him as the mascot for his first three albums. I think it’s very cute!
Apart from Kanye, I was also listening to Tyler the Creater‘s new album CHROMAKOPIA, Kendrick Lamar‘s new release GNX, and so on. They are all excellent albums which add so much fun to my work and commute time.
brat summer
Alright, this is gonna be an interesting one. This year we’ve seen so many female pop artists dominating the charts. Which one should I start first?
How about Chali XCX who has made a remarkable comeback with brat? I guess there is no need to explain how influential this trend was among Gen-Z fans this year. I first came across it on the Roblox game Dress to Impress, which had a stage dedicating to the whole brat aesthetic, such as ugly neon-green and party clothing. I was thinking “oh her marketing team is really promoting this shit in a kid’s game!” I remember listening to her album how i’m feeling now in 2020, I would played it on repeat while cycling around the campus during COVID.
Compared to brat, how i’m feeling now is more personal and vulnerable, whereas in brat she is more confident about herself, her public image, her body, and so on.
Speaking of brat, I highly recommend this cover of 365 a fan made in Mario Paint Composer, it sounds like a background music that could appear in a final boss fight and I’m obsessed with it.
Then we have Billie Eilish. She has been one of the most-spotlighted pop singers since her first hit Bad Guy, which I find it somewhat annoying and overrated. However, I was blown away by the quality of her new album HIT ME HARD AND SOFT. The storytelling is captivating, and her voice is rich and charming as usual. Songs like BRIDS OF A FEATHER unironically hits me hard and soft at the same time that I need to hold my tears when listening to them.
The rise of Chappell Roan is the biggest surprise. I first found out about her in a Youtube shorts video, in which she is singing Hot To Go in pink pajamas in a livehouse, and the crowd is doing the little silly dance with her. I thought “oh she’s cute” and then searched her name on Spotify. Little did I know she would become one of the biggest pop stars in 2024, and I am all for that.
Her songs are quite simple but catchy, with a very strong message, so it’s no surprise she get popular, even if there are pop songs with more sophisticated production. I found it quite funny when she said Red Wine Supernova is actually inspired by Oasis‘s Champagne Supernova, and it is “a lesbian version of Champagne Supernova”. At first glance it might only be obvious to tell by their names, but after listening to her singing the original version of this song during her stream while playing an acustic guitar I realized the similarity in chord progressions as well. In fact, I later tried to cover this song on guitar and found out I only need four chords (capo 2 with G Am C G) to finish the whole song, just like how Noel Gallager writes 90% of the Oasis hits.
Finally we got Sabrina Carpenter. I only started listing to her when she released her last album emails i can’t send, which didn’t leave a deep impression on me, but her new album Short n’ Sweet really hits different. I appreciate her clever wordplay in her lyrics, she has such a playful musical personality. I’m just happy to vibe with some silly little sweet songs without worrying too much about the outside world.
Honorable Mention
Apart from the genres below, I also revisited some British rock bands such as Blur and Oasis because of the reunion news. I was surprised to see Blur made it into my top 5 artists after years of obsession with them.
That’s it, thank you for reading it. I’ll see you next year!
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