My Best Songs of 2024

2024 was fantastic for music. I discovered Chappell Roan, which has changed my life. Kacey Musgraves, Shakira, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Charli xcx, Chappell Roan, and Sabrina Carpenter released incredible albums.  According to men, Kendrick Lamar and Tyler the Creator released good albums, too. I decided to become a chart watcher to become an honest music critic. Watching songs climb became a weekly treat. I discovered my beloved Sailor Song, looking at the charts. This year, it revitalized the music industry as political campaigns referenced Chappell Roan and Charli xcx and tours controlled popular culture. I hope you enjoy my selections!  

Sailor Song: Gigi Perez  

This song was specifically written for me, a devoted Below Deck fan who will epically shoot her shot to go out with a sailor. For those who don't know, the cast of Below Deck is primarily hot, damaged foreign dudes, which is my type. I even commissioned a sailor dress and love Moby Dick. It's been a year, and I still dream about the sailor I was with. 

Sailor Song is mesmerizing because it can be annotated like a poem, but I will do the cliff notes. She pleads that her lover loves her like a sailor; she acknowledges that she has failed relationships and sleeps to see her lover again. Despite the pronouns being female, the sentiment transcends sexuality. She is infatuated with another woman, the way I become infatuated with a guy. She wants to sleep to see her, the same motivation people wish work was. She acknowledges that she has had past relationships and is happy they ended up together. During my most devasting breakup, I drank wine and cried to Mystery of Love by Sufjan Stevens because the song described my past relationship, how he made me feel safe, and how the breakup felt like drowning. Many songs pretend that you have only dated one person when, in real life, you can have several relationships. I have always loved songs that acknowledge it.  

Call me Ishmael, and love me like a sailor.  

Best Lyric: "Love me like a sailor" 

A Bar Song (Tipsy): Shaboozey  

I first heard of Shaboozey while listening to Cowboy Carter and was excited. I remember first listening to this song and thinking that it was about 2024. He complains about inflation and wants a break from his life, an ennui that encapsulates the 2020s. He draws from traditional country motifs like drinking away your problems and facing true economic hardships.  

Best Lyric: "One, here comes the two to the three to the four." 

Good Luck, Babe! : Chappell Roan  

If I were honest and had no rules, this list would be all Chappell Roan. Casual, Pink Pony Club, Red Wine Supernova, Naked in Manhattan, Femininomeon, and HOT TO GO are my soundtrack for 2024. But only Good Luck Babe was released this year, so it is on the list. And it might be her best song besides Pink Pony Club. The song is unapologetic queer and about women in unfulfilling relationships.  

Best Lyric: "I just wanna love someone who calls me "baby" 

Not Like US: Kendrick Lamar  

It's a diss song calling someone "a colonizer." I am a substantial international affairs dork and have written many articles regarding colonization. Plus, I have always wondered why Atlanta was important. I was reading a book about the Civil War at the time that discussed why Atlanta became a mecca. Kendrick describes this in a rap verse. 

Like Good Luck, Babe and Sailor Song, I could teach this song  

I have no opinion on Drake; I was too busy crying to Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift. I like a song or two but was never into him. I have listened to Kendrick less, but I loved every verse I heard. This song brought his skills together with an incredible beat by DJ Mustard.  

Best Lyric: "What's up with these jabroni-ass n---s tryna see Compton?" 

Expresso: Sabrina Carpenter 

This song is ear candy. Every time I hear it, I feel a sugar rush. My body involuntarily starts dancing and singing when I listen to it. I heard that Sabrina Carpenter writes her songs with punchlines, and that's the key to her success.  

I am working late because I am aspiring to stand up.  

Best Lyric: "Switch it up like Nintendo."

I Can Do It with a Broken Heart: Taylor Swift  

This song should have been the lead single. While it is about being Taylor Swift in 2023, it is also about someone dealing with an upsetting life event and masking their sadness publicly. Taylor Swift's strength is writing specific details that speak to you like a horoscope. A strength of Taylor's later discography has been discussing her mental state, like Anti-Hero. My main falling out with Taylor growing up was because she did not understand sadness like Lana Del Rey or MARINA. The Tortured Poets Department was a nice departure from that (she started with Midnights). A lot of my life has been being disappointed in my life while still going to work. I love that Taylor captured that feeling in a pop-star way. Every eldest child screams the best lyric.  

Best Lyric: 'Cause I'm a real tough kid, I can handle my shit." 

Jolene: Beyonce  

Jolene by Dolly Parton is one of my favorite songs, securing a place on my baby name list. As a recently converted Beyonce fan, I was ecstatic to hear her take on Jolene. Sources said she was inspired by Whitney Houston's cover of I Will Always Love You. Unlike most cover songs, Beyonce rewrote the lyrics with a personal touch and directed a girl who wants to sleep with Jay Z. 

Best Lyric: "I'm still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisiana"

Pink Skies: Zach Bryan  

My beloved dog died in 2024, and I have been dealing with death for the last couple of years. Zach Bryan's music has become a refugee as I have been navigating my grief. I screamed his verse in Dawns when thinking about my grief over losing my cousin or my grandpa. Pink Skies continues Bryan's examination of grief. Bryan lost his mom at an early age, and he frequently examines his feelings over her death.  

Pink Skies is more hopeful, remembering the good times. As I was writing this, Brianna LaPaglia's story came out. Zach Bryan can write good music, but that does not mean that he is a perfect person. My crush on Zach has ended, but I will always admire his ability to channel his sadness into music. I believe Brianna's story because I have dated this type of wounded man before. Sometimes wounds translate into good art and being a shitty person.

Also, my parents are yuppies.  

Best Lyric: "I bet God heard you comin'" 

God heard that Keali was coming  

360- Charli xcx  

The first crop top I bought was a Charli XCX concert t-shirt. I have been an angel since Sucker in 2014. Watching Crash succeed and Brat take over the world has been excellent. I was elated that Brat got nominated for a Grammy. Several songs from Brat will appear on the honorable mentions list because it was my favorite album of the year, but this song got my interest in the Brat project. 

Girls don't get many brag tracks. We are supposed to be demure and not allowed to be proud. Charli challenges this perception by using her background in writing hit after hit.  

Also, check out Crash. It is almost as good as Brat.  

Best Lyric: "Shock you like defibrillators” 

Como, Donde y Cuando: Shakira  

I understand you all know her from Hips Don't Lie, but Shakira is at her best when she plays her guitar and lets loose. My favorite Shakira songs are "Si Te Vas," Don't Bother," and "Devoción," where she is just a rocker. I liked this song because it says "Vamos a la playa," referring to a Spanglish song I adore.  

Shakira's music has focused on her devasting breakup with soccer player Gerald Pique, revitalizing her career (I thought her last album was excellent), and cementing her as the GOAT of Latin Pop, a status she has earned.   

Best Lyric: “No importa cómo, dónde y cuándo” 

Honorable Mentions  

Guilty As Sin: Taylor Swift  

This song wins the award for being stuck in my head the most this year. Taylor discovered the pain of situationships in The Tortured Poets Department.  

Apples: Charli XCX  

My parents are getting divorced, and this year, this song has been an anthem as I navigate familial trauma. 

Please Please Please: Sabrina Carpenter   

When girls meet guys they like, they have two pleas: "I beg you don't embarrass me, mother fucker” and "Don't bring me to tears when I just did my makeup so nice." I resisted this song for so long, and I probably like it more than "Expresso." The eighties funk guitar gets me every time.  

Tough: Lana Del Rey & Quavo  

Lana Del Rey fans do not have a mainstream fandom name because we are too depressed to create one. One of my friends' moms told me to deal with my sadness by listening to sad songs, and I snapped that I was a Lana Del Rey fan. Lana and Quavo play off each other perfectly on this track. Someday, Lana will have a huge hit, and I will be happy. 

DOING IT AGAIN BABY: girl in red 

I don't understand why the girl in red isn't bigger. You all are missing out.  

That's So True- Gracie Abrams  

If this had been released earlier, it would have been on the list. Gracie did not dominate the year like Charli, Chappell, and Sabrina but made a good case that she would dominate pop in the next few years.  

Enjoy these songs on Spotify Playlist