Top 10 albums of 2024

It feels like every year music connaisseurs and critics alike look back on the last 12 months in awe. Artists are evolving in front of our eyes at a rapid rate, to the point that right when we think we’ve seen it all, someone pulls out another trick from the industry’s bag. We saw Beyonce waltz her way through country music, Charli xcx turn us all into a brat and Kendrick Lamar revive his career that wasn’t even close to dead (how else do you describe the otherworldly run that he is on?) Choosing only 10 albums to deem the “Best of the Year” wasn’t easy, in fact it took four of us. We wanted to make sure we covered it all, and looking over everything our group unpacked, I think we hit the nail on the head. Enjoy our ranking of 2024’s Top 10 Albums.

1. Charli xcx – “brat”

By Tessa Balc

Neon green: chances are, you already know what that means. Not only did Charli xcx claim a color, she claimed immortal “it-girl” status through putting out a messily authentic, auditorily addicting album. As she assembled her favorite fellow “it-girls” and underground club rats to assist in producing tracks, she created an empire out of the album’s aesthetic. The energy of “brat” brought the club scene to cranked-up car radios and sold-out stadiums across the world, but sincerity secured its place as this year’s defining album.

2. Beyonce – “Cowboy Carter” 

By Tony Le Calvez 

I don’t think there’s anything MORE country than being rejected by the country industry. On “Cowboy Carter,” Beyonce reveals part two of her “Renaissance” project, reclaiming historically Black genres and recontextualizing them through her creative lens. While some people try and dish it as an insult, there is no denying that “Cowboy Carter” is above all else, a ‘Beyonce album.’ At this point in her career, her style is so refined and boundless that it defies genre and transcends the barriers of corporate pigeon-holing. In this country-inspired melting pot, her record demonstrates the variety of influences that can be rooted in, or derived from, country music, and she has firmly taken control of the musical narrative.

3. ScHoolboy Q – “Blue Lips”

By Nick Hancock

An accoladed 13-year career, six studio albums and five Grammy nominations … It’s about time ScHoolboy Q took a victory lap. “Blue Lips,” his March 2024 creation, feels like the final uppercut to the industry and now Q gets to prance around the octagon like a proud Conor McGregor. You’ve got tracks like “Cooties” and “Lost Times” that flaunt Q’s lyrical genius and long list of accomplishments. “Movie” is oozing with Los Angeles influence and “oHio” with Freddie Gibbs fits like a three-piece suit — no seriously there’s like three beat switches in the five-minute track — it’s incredible. “Blue Lips” is intimate, silly and reflective, and it’s rapped by one of my favorite voices in hip hop … What else could you want?

4. Magdalena Bay – “Imaginal Disk” 

By Steve Anderson

Mag Bay has always been sort of … weird, always in a good way though, it just takes some getting used to. Their 2024 release “Imaginal Disk,” a sci-fi concept album about some sort of extraterrestrial being inserting a disk into lead singer Mica Tenabaum’s brain, was no exception. The record pairs well sonically with the concept, with dreamy art pop arrangements behind Tenabaum’s angelic vocals. Collectively though, Mag Bay has conceived a work that sounds like it would be played at a dance party on a UFO. Even better, it also has no skips which is rare in the 2024 TikTok attention span reality we live in.

5. Kendrick Lamar- “GNX”

By Tony Le Calvez

Kendrick Lamar seemed to hit a creative second-wind this year, dominating the radio with “Not Like Us,” scoring a Super Bowl performance, and being the Enola Gay of Drake’s music career. Rather than just a cherry on top, “GNX” is a complementary five-course meal at a Michelin star restaurant. While not as head-y as his earlier albums, “GNX” demonstrates Lamar dancing with the muse through a salsa rather than a waltz, with performances that are fun, colorful and expressive, but also, precise, refined and dazzling. Lamar’s flows across the record are lyrically creative and rhythmically eccentric, illustrating how much flexibility he has as a rapper. Lamar’s creative ‘sprezzatura’ reaches a new high on “GNX,” and puts the G.O.A.T. conversation to rest; there is no ‘Big 3,’ just a big HIM.

6. MJ Lenderman – “Manning Fireworks”

By Steve Anderson

I actually ran into Lenderman in the bathroom at a Wednesday concert (Lenderman’s band). He asked me if I was in line, I said no and that was it. Little did I know, that man in the urinal next to me was going to release my personal favorite album of the year. As an indie rock connoisseur, this record was firing on all cylinders for me; the weird obscure lyrics, southern rock aesthetic and the undeniable Gen-Z touch seeping out of every corner of it. The cherry on top is Karly Hartzman, Wednesday lead vocalist and former girlfriend of Lenderman, who provides backing vocals throughout the record. So if I ever run into Lenderman again, whether it be in a bathroom or at a concert,  I’ll be sure to tell him how much “Manning Fireworks” meant to me. 

7. Vince Staples – “Dark Times”

By Nick Hancock 

In 2015, drowned out sirens wailed behind a baby-faced Vince Staples telling a thirsty b*tch to grab a Sprite. The loud mouthed Compton-kid lost the spitfire aura he carried in the early stages of his career for what sounded like he was rapping with a wet paper towel in his mouth. The change wasn’t bad — don’t get me wrong — but it feels like 2024’s “Dark Times” is Staples finally capturing the happy medium he’s been longing for since his debut. The nonchalant tone of Staples that we’ve all grown to love is ever present in “Dark Times,” but his old spark flickers on “Little Homies” and “Black&Blue.” This is a near flawless project packed with storytelling, edgy samples and the vulnerability of a rapper who’s getting close to saying he’s done it all.

8. Mk.gee – “Two Star and the Dream Police”

By Tessa Balc 

Spaced-out synths, distorted bass and ruggedly angelic wails littered throughout Michael Gordon’s “Two Star and the Dream Police,” propel the album’s air of mystique. Combining elements of ‘80s pop, RnB and rock, sprinkling in some shoegaze and wrapping it all together with lyrics that fade in and out of comprehension, Gordon constructs a dreamscape within his debut album. As his hot-knife of a guitar cuts through the tracks with a heavy hand it’s balanced with a celestial haze, clearing the way for lyrics that can question embodiment, desire and really just “why.” Altogether, creating a dim landscape that takes its shape from the grounding ring of six strings.

9. MGMT- “Loss of Life”

By Tony Le Calvez

Long gone are the technicolor days of “Oracular Spectacular” and “Congratulations,” but that doesn’t mean MGMT has lost the rich and colorful current of their halcyon days. Their 2018 record, “Little Dark Age (LTD),” saw the band continue relying on ‘80s aesthetics and fuzzy synthesizers, but with a notably darker subtext. This year’s record, “Loss of Life,” grabs that darkness by the shirt collars, brushes the dust off its lapel, and sits down with it for a cup of tea. Dealing with parenthood and an approaching midlife crisis, the band lifts the sonic aesthetic of “LTD” to create an album that is mature, reflective and simultaneously grasp-less, in an aesthetic evocative of T.S. Elliot’s “The Wasteland.” 

10. Clairo- “Charm”

By Tessa Balc 

Clairo’s signature soft sound trades in its undertones of shyness for seduction on her third album, “Charm.” The record is in every sense, charming, as she partners with Neo-Soul producer Leon Michels to compile an ode to her influences. From the laugh track on “Second Nature” nodding to The Beach Boys’ “Little Pad” to “Glory of the Snow” carrying a tune similar to “Seabird” by the Alessi Brothers; the record seeps ‘70s and spills over into the 21st century. Her lyrics paint pictures of late nights after the candles have burned down and lone walks on a pier surrounded by strangers touching everywhere. Through swirling woodwinds and warm melodies, Clairo captures the giddy and temporal feeling of being charmed.