There’s never a year quite like another. Same can be said for 2024, as we steer closer towards consumption headaches in the search for the best music of the year. In hip hop, we witnessed the greatest rap beef of the century since Nas vs Jay-Z with Drake vs Kendrick Lamar—easily the biggest cultural music event of 2024 (yes, we’re biased). TDE dominated the calendar with albums dropping throughout the twelve months. Future and Metro Boomin got to heavy work, while Young Thug was finally freed from prison. In the pop realm, Sabrina Carpenter, Billie Eilish and Charli XCX shepherded the flock, and UK rap underwent a transitional phase on the path to something greater to come.
Amongst it all came plnety of outstanding releases. These are Mic Cheque’s thirty best albums of 2024, alongside honourable mentions.
From left to right: 070 Shake — Petrichor; Beabadoobee — This Is How Tomorrow Moves; Boldy James & Conductor Williams — Across the Tracks; Gunna — One of Wun; Clairo — Charm; Tyler, The Creator — Chromakopia; Boldy James & Nicholas Craven — Penalty of Leadership; Kaytranada — Timeless; LL Cool J — THE FORCE; Leon Thomas — MUTT; Lupe Fiasco — Samurai; MAVI — Shadowbox; Rapsody — Please Don’t Cry; NewDad — MADRA; Roc Marciano — Marciology; SZA — Lana; Tyla — TYLA
The most tender record of the year goes to Canadian singer Charlotte Day Wilson. Her knack for blending R&B with gospel and alternative is like a warm spring hug, and shines just as much as her last album, 2021’s Alpha. It’s vulnerably poetic in its songwriting and nimble with the production, wrapped tightly by her bass-laced vocals.
Best tracks: “Kiss & Tell”, “Forever”, “I Don’t Love You”, “Canopy”
An endless stream of West Coast rappers could make this list with the year they’ve had. One newcomer that stood out the most was Inglewood’s 310babii. At just the age of 17, he had hits like “Soak City” going viral. Nights & Weekends is equally infectious from start to finish, packed with two-minute hedonistic bangers. “Walk” brings age-mate Luh Tyler to the shared stage, while “Rush” and “No Matter What” showcase the advantage of bare-boned production.
Best tracks: “Soak City”, “Walk”, “No Matter What”, “Rush”
Boldy James remained routinely busy this year. Of his four projects, it was the one dropped at the final hour that reigned supreme. Hidden in Plain Sight is a seven-track spectacle in beatmaking and concept rapping. Bo’s collab’ed with names like Harry Fraud, Nicholas Craven and Conductor Williams, but it’s local Detroiter Whothehelliscarlo who brought the best out of him in 2024. “Dirty Dancing” compares moving around while cooking dope in the kitchen to its namesake. The title track recruits Conway the Machine and Styles P for a potential classic Boldy track. The only piece missing is a Benny the Butcher feature. Hidden in Plain Sight is all killer, no filler.
Best tracks: “Hidden in Plain Sight”, “Dirty Dancing”, “1st & 15th”, “Big Wigs”, “Brick James”
The long-awaited debut by British singer Rachel Chinouriri takes indie rock head-on while keeping the writing poignant. What a Devastating Turn of Events addresses reality, whether that’s anxiety, depression, romantic pitfalls, working class life, and losing relatives. It’s all achieved while laying down infectious hooks on highlights such as “The Hills” and “All I Ever Asked”. With her debut album, Rachel Chinouriri advanced the stylistic possibilities for female Black British singers while maintaining a sense of identity throughout.
Best tracks: “All I Ever Asked”, “The Hills”, “Never Need Me”, “Garden of Eden”
Roc Marciano keeps is absurdly witty with his second full-length collaboration with The Alchemist. “Her body thick like Tems, she might let me hit with the Timbs,” he says on album highlight “Chopstick”, a track of many that’s filled with one-liners galore. Al’s production is consistently ghastly, who knows exactly how to bring the best out of Marci’s tortured genius.
Best tracks: “Cryotherapy”, “Chopstick”, “Mystery God”, “Street Magic”
2024 seemed fed up of typical pop. Enter Charli XCX, who’s been offering her futuristic version of hyperpop for virtually a decade at this point. Experiment after experiment had her trickling behind early fame capitalised by tracks like “Fancy” and “Boom Clap”. BRAT is the product of the British singer finally earning her flowers to be heard worldwide. Sure, the herd that flocked over to its cultural shift became slightly annoying, but that didn’t take away from an album that’s chock-full of creative pop hits that dared to be different.
Best tracks: “365”, “Sympathy Is a Knife”, “Von Dutch”, “Talk Talk”, “Girl, So Confusing”
On the other side of 2024 pop was Billie Eilish, who opted to strip it back for her most touching offering to date. Backed by sweet strings, a trimmed tracklist and little desire to chase big hits, Hit Me Hard and Soft puts Billie’s vocal abilities on full show, as well as working on song structure where the five-minute cuts crescendo to powerful pay-offs. It’s another brave pop album that offered risk beyond chart gratification.
Best tracks: “CHIIHIRO”, “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”, “WILDFLOWER”
Westside Gunn makes an improvement from his last full-length project by heading back to basics. Still Praying is a compact offering with Westside’s signature glittery production, wrestling references, and show-stopping features backed by elite hosting from DJ Drama. Highlights such as “Beef Bar” and “LeSalle Station” fit right in that refulgent pocket, while cuts like “Duran Duran” offer a darker contrast. A must-mention is deserved for Conway the Machine, Stove God Cooks and Rome Streetz, all whom deliver stellar verses with standout one-liners. It’s no question that Westside Gunn comfortably remains the king of classy boom-bap.
Best tracks: “Still Praying”, “Beef Bar”, “Max Caster”, “Underground King”
Erika de Casier keeps millennial R&B alive on Still. Channelling the spirit of Aaliyah and Janet Jackson is no easy feat, but Still earns those influences rather than taking them. It gets sultry on cuts like “Home Alone” and “Test It”, while incorporating jungle on “Lucky”, and quiet storm, trip-hop and ballads elsewhere. In the new era of ‘fuck my ex’ R&B, Erika de Casier keeps the romance element alive with her confident writing and subject matter.
Best tracks: “Home Alone”, “Test It”, “Lucky”, “Toxic”, “My Day Off”
Lenae’s second album accelerates her genre experiments. If it wasn’t clear on HYPNOS, she’s more than an R&B singer. This time round, Bird’s Eye feels slightly more pop-leaning, balancing sticky hooks with vulnerable writing. At the helm of production is Dahi, a name who clearly can’t be boxed into merely “hip hop producer” no longer. These genre fusions coupled with Lenae’s honeycombed vocals ensures Bird’s Eye isn’t an album to sleep on.
Best tracks: “Genius”, “Love Is Blind”, “Pilot”, “From Scratch”
If you’re tapped into the niche side of Hip Hop Twitter, you may have seen an image of Action Bronson paired with a speech bubble quoting personal yet absurd anecdotal tweets. If you hear Johann Sebastien, or practically any of his albums, you’ll realise just how accurate those tweets were. Bronson keeps you entertained with humorous bars over drumless Daringer and Alchemist loops. He makes it sound incredibly low-effort to the point where you nearly miss the genius of it all. Not listening to Johann Sebastien‘s like going to the amusement park and skipping over the low-budget rides. The queue’s small and you’ll have a very good time.
Best tracks: “NBA LEATHER ON NBC”, “SHADOW REALM”, “HOGAN”, “HIDEO NOMO”, “KOMPRESSOR”
It’s been a largely forgettable year for mainstream UK rap. But emerging rapidly from the nation is the breakthrough of hyper-rap. It’s a style Lancey Foux’s been cultivating for years, albeit with influence from the American trap world. He joins forces with up-and-comers Len and Fimiguerrero on Conglomerate, the trio exchanging duties across the album like a fast-paced game of pong. Busy beats meet humour on album highlight “Spanish Guitar”, a dizzying track that defies logic yet works all the same. “After Life” is an addictive blend of trap and afrobeats, while “Silhouette” takes a famous Sade sample tackled by the likes of Mobb Deep and Freddie Gibbs. In what was a lacklustre year for UK rap, Conglomerate kept the spirit alive.
Best tracks: “Spanish Guitar”, “After Life”, “Osbatt”, “Midas Touch”, “All My Cards”, “Silhouette”
In Kofi Stone’s own words, his second studio album captures “love, faith, and family“. He couldn’t be more accurate, and thanks to those three elements grants a true diamond in the rough for UK rap in 2024. A traditional hip hop album, A Man After God’s Own Heart cooks up pure boom bap moments loaded with soul samples (“Made for This”. “Black Joy”), soothing lo-fi rap (“You Deserve Love”), while throwing in some Biggie-styled tracks for the cherry on top (“King David Flow”, “Colors in My Mind”). It’s a grown-man effort that can stand tall as one of the best UK rap albums of the year.
Best tracks: “Black Joy”, “Made for This”, “Closer”, “May Sound Crazy”, “People”
Divorce albums often end up with a fabled reputation. Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear, Nas’s Life Is Good, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours; all come with newfound inspiration, and things to get off the artist’s chest. That inspiration’s channelled into Anderson .Paak’s and Knxlwedge’s comeback record, the first NxWorries album in eight years. Aptly titled Why Lawd?, it channels a very different spirit animal to Yes Lawd!, resulting in a richer, denser album — and perhaps the best breakup album of the decade so far.
Best tracks: “MoveOn”, “KeepHer”, “Distractions”, “Daydreaming”, “FromHere”, “WalkOnBy”, “Lookin”
This is one hell of a sonic journey. If you thought Jean Dawson’s previous work was ambitious, take all of it, put it in a blender along with Prince, Frank Ocean and The 1975, add a dash of crack, and out comes Glimmer of God. Really, Glimmer of God aims to be everything at once, and succeeds at it. Over 42 minutes, Dawson navigates synth-pop, rock, baroque, emo and alternative hip hop in jack-of-all-trades fashion. There’s sudden switch-ups, magical outros, varied vocals and clear effort in sequencing. It treads the line of futurism and 80s nostalgia in a way that remains fresh and not parody. I’d go as far as saying it’s the sound Teezo Touchdown’s been attempting since his breakthrough. But it’s Jean Dawson who makes it possible.
Best tracks: “Houston”, “Black Sugar”, “200 Cigarattes”, “You’re Bleeding Everywhere”, “Bubba”, “The Boy and the Swan”
Joe James has all the fundamentals needed for an elite rapper. Great flow, wordplay and beat selection. He drops projects like they’re throwaways, when in actuality they’re consistently the best efforts out the country year by year. The ten-track BEAST LIVING mixtape immerses you in London, namely through vivid tracks like “Same Place” and “Too Long”. His references, whether football-related or inner-city, are easily understood if you’re from the same world as he is. Largely drumless on the production side, Joe can pull off that style just as well as his American counterparts. He’s already a top 3 UK rapper at the moment; he’s just one Alchemist placement away from worldwide stardom.
Best tracks: “Same Place”, “Psalms”, “Bury What”, “Silence Speaks”, “Too Long”
The post-Kendrick Top Dawg era looked like it was in for a rough time. The label quickly put that to bed in 2024, getting straight to work with crafting their latest superstar—Doechii. Alligator Bites Never Heal is an appropriate embodiment of the term ‘commercial mixtape’. It’s all original material, well-marketed, trialling various genres to see what resonates with fans the most. Her 2023 hit “What It Is” is nowhere to be seen, which shows the intent of her direction going forward. She’s no boxed viral TikTok wonder, but rather a rapper who will be taken seriously by the hip hop community. With Grammy nominations already under her belt, the debut Doechii album is in pole position as one of the most anticipated debuts to come.
Best tracks: “BULLFROG”, “NISSAN ALTIMA”, “BOILED PEANUTS”, “DENIAL IS A RIVER”, “CATFISH”, “DEATH ROLL”
The Haiti huncho is beyond iconic at this point. His legacy as the underground’s top export needs no extension. Yet #RICHAXXHAITIAN may just be a top five album in his immeasurable catalogue. From a mere production standpoint, #RICHAXXHAITIAN is captivating. To put it into perspective, “SONJE” is driven by a meandering Middle Eastern piano loop and the sound of a kettle boiling. The accordion on “THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW” is another oddly satisfying choice. Perhaps most questioning is the album’s title track with Kaytranada and 03 Greedo, easily Mach-Hommy’s most accessible song to date. It’s brash, it’s brazen, and masterfully underground.
Best tracks: “POLITickle”, “PADON”, “EMPTY SPACES”, “COPY COLD”, “ANTONOMASIA”, “GORGON ZOE LAN”, “#RICHAXXHAITIAN”
Released months before his untimely passing, Ka’s final album is a poetic observation of religion, the state of hip hop, death and African-American identity. They’re all topics that Ka has explored in previous work, but this time it’s conceptualised through gospel samples and Biblical metaphors. Lines such as “I plan my death before I plan submission” and “I hope it’s borrowed time when my time come” are spine-chilling in context, putting questions of existentialism on wax in a way that’s both morbid but hopeful. It’s a skill few rappers possess, especially in the capacity of a full-length album where every song is accented with Christianism. The Thief Next to Jesus shows we don’t have all the answers, we’re just trying to survive.
Best tracks: “Tested Testimony”, “Lord Have Mercy”, “Bread Wine Body Blood”, “Cross You Bear”, “Hymn and I”, “Beautiful”
Bedroom pop’s still alive on the evasive British singer’s debut album. Bolstered by her viral hit “In This Darkness”, Clara La San’s momentum gained second wind after wiping her music from platforms and starting over after a hiatus. Made Mistakes keeps the hit off the ten-song tracklist. It’s a producer’s sampling heaven, assisted by the sweetest voice you’ll hear all year. Made Mistakes quietly gets about its business, constantly understated yet never failing to grant an inescapable hook. It’s the closest we’ll get to that Weeknd Trilogy energy, namely in cuts like “All I Wanna Do” or the Echoes of Silence essence in album closer “Made Me Feel”. While little’s still known about the Manchester-born singer, it’s clear she’ll let the music do the talking for now.
Best tracks: “Another Night”, “Upset With Ya”, “Don’t Worry About It”, “Made Me Feel”, “Runnin”
It’s a testament to Vince Staples’ talent where he can make such short albums feel double the runtime, all through the power of substance. Dark Times is Vince Staples at his most bleak, kept alive by the faintest light at the end of the tunnel. It’s got storytelling and upbeat bops that’s been attempted on previous albums, but it’s refined to the bare necessities here. Just when you think Vince is getting into the thick of it, he holds back the full picture, as if he’s afraid to share too much of his life to the listener. It’s a relatable aspect to the album, and although can seem frustrating, is what makes Vince sound human in his own, masculine way.
Best tracks: “Ètoufée”, “Little Homies”, “Black&Blue”, “Government Cheese”
In what was easily the most unexpected artistic pivot of the year, Yeat’s musical ambitions went from “This song was already turnt, but here’s a bell” to “Take me seriously.” On his fourth studio effort, Yeat immerses the listener in a digital dystopian universe, which makes it in part conceptual. From a man that has come a long way since his viral breakthrough, Yeat shows growth to offer the listener a futuristic, dystopian listening experience led by some of the best production you’ll hear in rap this year. His drawbacks still exist, but still manages to maintain his niche as an idiosyncratic vocalist.
The kicker is the production — heavy synth leads combine with rage rap and electronica to create a new sound unique to 2093. It’s Blade Runner meets TRON in the sci-fi aesthetic the producers create. Raging bangers are in place with songs like “Psycho CEO”, the two-part “Mr. Inbetweenit”, the epic “As We Speak” and “Lyfestyle”. 2093 can also be minimal & calm, adding range in the tracklist through songs like “Tell Me”, “Bought the Earth” and “If We Being Real”.
2093 is the album to show that rage rap can be conceptual and fulfilling.
Best tracks: “Breathe”, “As We Speak”, “Mr. Inbetweenit”, “If We Being Real”, “Lyfestylë”
Your average JPEGMAFIA album is like a Duracell bunny on drugs. This time round, the self-producing rapper’s knack for experimenting shines further on I Lay Down My Life for You, his most varied album to date. The metal elements are turned up a notch here, adding to the sheer chaos of cuts like “SIN MIEDO” and “Vulgar Display of Power”. The disarraying “JIHAD JOE” is the ‘Mayday’ distress signal of the album, a routinely signature track from the rapper. However, the best part of I Lay Down My Life for You is how it sheds the faux-edge of Peggy’s music. It can no longer be interpreted as a gimmick. The last leg of the album helps make this case—a serious, downtempo look into a new chapter of his artistry. In 41 minutes, we’re provided with the Peggy we know and the Peggy we’re meeting. Altogether, it’s the most exciting offering of experimental hip hop all year.
Best tracks: “SIN MIEDO”, “Either On or Off the Drugs”, “Exmilitary”, “JIHAD JOE”, “Don’t Put Anything On the Bible”
A 28-year old from New Jersey is DIY Artist of the Year. Mk.gee’s lo-fi palette offers a warmth that convinces you that everything’s going to be alright. With his guitar at the helm of the mission, Two Star & the Dream Police expertly evokes emotion with its minimal grooves and distant vocals, granting infectious melodies that got ‘classic’ written all over them. “I Want” grants goosebumps before the first verse has even ended, while “How Many Miles” puts a caps-lock on the poeticism of Mk.gee’s songwriting. Two Star & the Dream Police carries a unique allure, and a safe space for male vulnerability.
Best tracks: “I Want”, “How Many Miles”, “Are You Looking Up”, “Candy”, “DNM”, “You Got It”
We Don’t Trust You was the Franz Ferdinand of 2024; a catalyst for opening Pandora’s Box. In what was meant to be a long-awaited collaboration between one of trap’s greatest rapper-producer duos managed to kicked off the greatest hip hop war of the century. But “Like That” aside, We Don’t Trust You stands tall as a complete exhibition of the genre the two practically own at this point. We Don’t Trust You unloads nocturnal bangers, feeding into Metro Boomin’s signature minimal, nocturnal production style. To match the production intentions, Future’s performances are also subdued, sometimes reduced to mere murmurs (“GTA”). It’s these lifeless vocals that are an acquired taste, but serve to display the void Future feels emotionally while he brags about his riches.
Tracks like “Claustrophic” and “Cinderella” boast some of the album’s best hooks, while the first verse of “Young Metro” is one of the best verses of the year. The beat switches on “Magic Don Juan” and “Ice Attack” take the album into overdrive. The Prodigy monologues and Mobb Deep sample on “Seen It All” add the hip hop element that oldheads would’ve critiqued the album for lacking. We even get Future on a soul sample with “Everyday Hustle”. It’s a diverse trap album that satisfies every itch you have.
Best tracks: “Like That”, “Magic Don Juan (Princess Diana)”, “Claustrophobic”, “Young Metro”, “Fried (She a Vibe)”
Future and Metro put in a good shift, but it’s Sosa who has the trap album of the year. Almighty So 2 could not be more in-your-face if it tried—a relentless, 65-minute AK spraying with no remorse for who stands in its way. And it’s all self-produced. Yes, Chief Keef produces nearly all of this blustering project. Almighty So 2 takes you back to the 2010s trap days. Think Lex Luger, Waka Flocka Flame, or even early Chief Keef himself, who’s stayed comfortably in his lane since the age of 16. It’s another career highlight for the Chicago martian, splitting speakers with tracks like “Jesus” and “Neph Nem”. His delivery gets downright ridiculous on “Tony Montana Flow”. Cuts like “1,2,3” and “Prince Charming Flow” prove Keef can maintain your attention for longer than 5 minutes.
It’s a raw yet magisterial exhibition of vintage trap rap. It doesn’t get much better than Almighty So 2.
Best tracks: “Neph Nem”, “Jesus”, “Prince Charming”, “Drifting Away”, “Tony Montana Flow”
ScHoolboy Q makes the five-year absence all worth it. Blue Lips is an abrasive, all-in-your-face experience designed for the best of speakers. With no skips in sight, Q achieves the unlikely feat of a chaotic album with an orderly attitude. He outdoes himself in the production department, granting lush moments in “Nunu” and “Blueslides” but also aggressive speaker-splitters in “Yeern 101” and “Pig Feet”. Nearly every track has a dichotomy going on where it balances the calm with the chaos, portraying two sides to Q from start to finish. It introduces AzChike to the stage, who’s ending the year as hot rap property. There’s further appearances from Ab-Soul, Rico Nasty and Freddie Gibbs. It’s feverishly frantic, daring to put the heart back into mainstream hip hop.
Best tracks: “Blueslides”, “Thank God 4 Me”, “Yeern 101”, “Back n Love”, “Lost Times”, “Pig Feet”
Ab-Soul wasn’t expected to drop this year, but we’re glad he did. Soul Burger offers a warm and fresh version of Ab-Soul, and a capable post-Kendrick TDE. Dedicated to his late friend DoeBurger, Soul sounds charged up in ways we haven’t seen in years, equipped with sharp witty bars, stellar production, attention to hooks and some sweet features. As the name suggests, it’s a fusion of Soulo’s finest strengths. There’s patties, lettuce and cheese as the songs, and buns to bring it all together for that cohesion. Every bite’s savoured with no skips over its 15-song tracklist, equipped with some of the finest lyricism of recent times.
On “9 Mile” he pays ode to the opening of Belly and the climax of 8 Mile, depicting both the flashy and painful side of his life. “All That” is a West Coast bop delivered in time for its 2024 renaissance. “Paiday” is a glitchy trap banger that shows Soul can do the lyrical, sampled tracks and the simplified, catchy ones too. Production highs turn up on ”Squeeze 1st 2” and “Saudi Sweats”, while ”B.U.C.K.O. Jr” exhibits peak Soulo lyricism. Lupe Fiasco drops Verse of the Year on the moving “Peace”, while Vince Staples and JID also drop pivotal verses.
Soulo hasn’t had it easy, both in his personal life and garnering widespread attention for his albums. But Soul Burger feels like the album he’s been trying to make for years. It’s his best work since Control System, and one of the best rap albums of 2024.
Best tracks: “All That”, “Peace”, “9 Mile”, “Paiday”, “Squeeze 1st 2nd”, “Saudi Sweats”, “California Dream”, “Crazier”
It was a double-whammy from Future and Metro Boomin this year. A few weeks after We Don’t Trust You came their second joint album, switching up the vibe entirely to tap into their R&B and pop bag—and it’s better. There’s a craft going on here, an intention to create something beyond hip hop. Equipped with Metro Boomin’s venturing production, Future grants career highs that can go head to head with his best work. We Still Don’t Trust You is, in spirit, the sequel to 2017’s HNDRXX. Consistently, it’s even better, dropping out the filler for sweet serenades from start to finish. Future’s vocals are emotive over here, adding the heartful pain he’s exerted on career highlights like “Codeine Crazy” and the Save Me EP.
What really takes We Still Don’t Trust You to the next level is its second disc. Disc 2 is a seven-track curbstomper, bringing the 2010s throwback style of Future & Metro Boomin — loud, aggressive trap thumpers. It sounds like a sequel to 2014’s Monster, and seemingly includes tracks recorded from that era. Future & Metro create a clear creative distinction between this disc and the other two albums. “Crossed Out”, “Crazy Clientele” and “Streets Made Me a King” can all compete with the best of Future songs, ridiculously addictive in their hooks and production. The song tags, beat styles, vocals and reverse effects all give prime mixtape energy – they knew what they were doing when crafting these six songs.
Combine it all and you get Future and Metro putting their best foot forward. It’s loaded with plenty of Future’s best songs of his career, consistent with the visions of its two discs, and a reminder that the Atlantan legends still don’t trust you.
Best tracks: “Streets Made Me a King”, “One Big Family”, “Crazy Clientele”, “Crossed Out”, “Mile High Memories”, “Jealous”
Every move by Kendrick Lamar in 2024 was unpredictable. You knew something was going to happen, you just didn’t know when, or how. So it was more than fitting for the Compton czar to drop Album of the Year towards the end of the UK working day with the mere delivery of a tweet and Instagram clip. Before you even get to the music, there’s that less-is-more approach in place, which is a Kendrick staple at this point.
Some might say it’s easy to give Kendrick Album of the Year. And in some regards that’s understandable. What makes GNX deserving of the title is its makeup; its ability to bestow peak levels of catchiness, range and confidence. It’s more than winning the Drake beef. It’s the risk of finally granting a concept-free album without the big-brained whiteboard theories. And above all, it’s simply great hip hop music.
GNX is a 12-track rescue mission to take back regional dominance, resulting in Lamar’s best album since 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly. It’s a victory lap for not just Kendrick in his beef with Drake, but for Los Angeles at large. The spirit of the beef lives within GNX, however it refocuses the mission to cultural substance. We’re granted Lamar’s most replayable album, jam-packed with addictive production, tattooed hooks, humorous delivery, niche LAisms, features from rising LA rappers and conceptual storytelling, all assisted by A/B album sequencing that goes from personal to regional track to track. Being Kendrick’s shortest album to date works heavily in its favour, achieving the impossible feat of all twelve songs serving as highlights.
With GNX, the West Coast renaissance is complete, erasing the outsider’s party and starting his own one. 2024 goes down in hip hop history. Enemies were made. Records were etched. “Mustard” was screamed. Kendrick Lamar was tripping in 2024 and we loved it.
Best tracks: “TV Off”, “Reincarnated”, “Hey Now”, “Man at the Garden”, “Squabble Up”, “Peekaboo”
