Ranking the Best Albums of 2024
Hello, hello! Happy December - how crazy is that!? I’m so excited to be back with my regularly scheduled programming this week, he says with this post being a day late…almost regularly scheduled…sorry!
I had a last-minute event opportunity last night to attend Heather Gay’s ‘Good Time Girl’ book event with the 92NY, so I obviously had to go. We got a two-for-one housewive special with RHONY’s good-time girl, Brynn Whitfield, moderating the event. We even got to recite the iconic S4 finale line heard around the world: “receipts, proof, timeline, screenshots”. Needless to say, it was a fabulous night on the Upper East Side.
That being said, let’s get into this week’s podcast episode because it was one of my most personally anticipated episodes of the year: Ranking My Top 10 Favorite Albums of 2024.
It’s the most wonderful time of the year - Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay season. There are few things I enjoy more than seeing what artists dominated my friends’ year, and I will never skip through someone’s story when they share it to their Instagram story, promise. That being said when I got my Apple Music Replay (yes, I’m an Apple Music user, and no, I’m not ashamed of it), I found that my most listened-to albums didn’t match my favorite albums of the year.
I broke down my entire Apple Music Replay on this week’s podcast episode, which you can listen to below. If you’re interested in my personal top ten ranking of 2024, you’ve come to the right place (you’ll also find it on the podcast episode!)
Without further adieu, my Best Albums of 2024 list
10: The Tortured Poets Department - Taylor Swift
When it comes to pop culture moments of 2024, Taylor Swift announcing her 12th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, while accepting her Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Album was definitely one for the books. The reason this album falls 10th on this list isn’t because it’s a bad album, because I do think it’s great body of work, but when I see a project with 31 tracks I get incredibly overwhelmed. I almost wish she split the release a month or two apart so we could have time to digest the first 17 tracks before giving us a whole second album.
Length aside, I do think this album has so many layers to it musically; the writing, the production, and everything in between makes for another killer album from the HPIC (head poet in charge), Taylor Swift
9: Deeper Well - Kacey Musgraves
There’s something about Kacey Musgraves songwriting and voice that scratches an itch in my brain. It’s been such a treat to see her teeter the line between country and pop through the years and I think the sound she landed on with Deeper Well perfectly melts all the sounds she’s played around with into one album.
8: Radical Optimism - Dua Lipa
Dua Lipa has never made a bad song in her life, and I will die on that hill. Another hill I’ll die on? Radical Optimism is going to have a renaissance with the general public in 4-5 years just like they did with Lady Gaga’s ‘Artpop’. Originally being painted as a psychedelic era and then shifting to a beach-vibe paired with having a 6 month gap between lead single release and album release date, there were definitely some holes in the roll out which I think lead to the GP’s lack of enthusiasm behind the album. That being said, I love this album and think if it came out in a year that wasn’t so stacked with music releases it would have gotten the appreciation it deserved.
7: What a Devastating Turn of Events - Rachel Chinouriri
If you’re looking for a new artist to add to your playlist, Rachel Chinouriri is the one. I discovered her earlier this year after my friend Liz (hi sister!) sent me a viral tweet of her music video for ‘Never Need Me’. I was instantly hooked and began counting down to the release this album. There’s a little bit of something for everyone on this album - some upbeat pop songs like ‘Never Need Me’, some slowed down acoustic tracks such as ‘My Blood’, and she even manages to squeeze in a bit of angst on ‘The Hills’. All in all, this is a flawless album and I can’t wait to see what’s next for Rachel’s career.
6: Alligator Bites Never Heal - Doechii
Kendrick Lamar said it best: Doechii is the “hardest out” right now. I was familiar with her last year but once I saw her perform at Jingle Ball last December, I was completely sold. Fast forward to August, she drops ‘Alligator Bites Never Heal’ and it was a wrap. She has such a unique flow and production value on this album that makes it impossible to not want to listen to it over and over and over. Doechii had an amazing 2024 and 2025 is going to be even better for her.
5: Hit Me Hard and Soft - Billie Eilish
TIme and time again we’re reminded just how talented Billie Eilish truly is. There’s something really refreshing about every project she puts out because it’s always so uniquely Billie. You never know where a song’s going to go - it might start slowed down and then end up doing a complete 180 and then turn into an electronic ending like she does with ‘L’AMOUR DE MA VIE’. She’s constantly reminding us that every single thing we hear on her albums is intentionally placed in the perfect place to really deliver whatever emotion she wants us to feel while listening to it. On top of that, she’s never trying to hard. Her vocals always seem so effortless, whether it’s a softer approach like in the opening track ‘SKINNY’ or when she’s exclaiming that she’s the greatest on ‘THE GREATEST’, it’s always done with such ease and emotion that adds to the depth of each track.
4: Cowboy Carter - Beyoncé
One thing about Beyoncé? No genre is safe from her artistry. When she announced that she’d be releasing a country album during the Super Bowl, I knew we were in for a treat. My first thought, like many, was ‘Daddy Lessons’ and all the drama that came from her CMA performance with The Chicks. Beyoncé doesn’t do anything without an intention behind it and we all knew what she was doing with this release.
Cowboy Carter fully encapsules Beyoncé’s artistry and ability to master any genre she chooses. She perfectly reminded us that not only did people of color originate country music, she also reminded us that as a Houston native, she’s always been country. By paying homage to the country greats that came before her like Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, and Linda Martell, cementing herself as not-so-ordinary country artist with other not-so-country country artists like Miley Cyrus and Post Malone, and presenting us with the future of country music by collabing with artists like Shaboozey, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, and more, she took us on a journey of country music past, present, and future in the most sonically beautiful way possible. This is a history lesson and flawless album all tied into one.
We are so lucky to be alive at the same time as Beyoncé.
3: Short n’ Sweet - Sabrina Carpenter
There’s a new main pop girl in town and she’s only 4’11! If we were to make a 2024 pop music Mt. Rushmore, Sabrina Carpenter would be dead center. Short n’ Sweet proved to the world that she’s not just a blip in the pop music space, she’s here to stay and is more than the punchline in a love triangle. The writing on this album is so perfectly Sabrina - it’s fun, it’s flirty, and it’s fresh. She’s not afraid to make a sexual innuendo behind her Polly Pocket appearance and that’s what I love about her.
Innuendo’s aside, this album showed us so many different sides of Sabrina’s talents - she gave us more of her vocal range, showed us some new genres, and really made it clear that she’s officially on track to entering her main pop girl era.
2: Brat - Charli xcx
If Brat has 1 fan, it’s me. If Brat has 0 fans, I’m dead. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing Charli xcx FINALLY receive the praise that she’s deserved for so long. Seeing the cultural phenomenon that she’s cultivated this year with a simple green album cover has been nothing short of mindblowing. What I love most about this album (And Charli’s writing in general) is that we don’t need to do mental gymnastics to get it. She’s not writing multi-layered lyrics that have us wondering what it could be about or what message she’s getting across - it’s straight to the point and she makes it work so flawlessly. From political campaigns, to a bright green wall in Brooklyn, to a fully reimagined remix album, Charli has breathed so many lives into this album without making it feel overdone. She’s reinvented it in ways that make it feel fresh and exciting every single time.
Needless to say, I’ve had 999 on speed dial all year long because I cannot get enough of this album.
1: Eternal Sunshine - Ariana Grande
If you were to tell me that Ariana Grande would be releasing a pop album in the year 2024 and we’d be getting it before the Wicked Movie came out, I would have looked at you like you had 10 heads…and I think Ariana would have the same look. This album was born out of Ariana feeling the need to use her voice to respond to all of the things that were being said about her in the press and she did it in the most perfect way possible. She didn’t come at the press or the general public in an aggressive way, rather telling them to believe what they want because she knows the truth and has found peace in that.
I constantly find myself revisiting this album and finding new nuances in her vocal techniques, production decisions, and lyrics that make it all that more personal and impressive to me. All that aside, the ‘Dancing on My Own’ sample in ‘we can’t be friends (wait for your love)’ is one of my favorite samples in the last 10 years. I’m still not over it.
We also yapped about…
Charli xcx “BRAT ARENA TOUR” kicks off in London with four sold out nights at the O2. She was joined by extra-special bratty guests including Caroline Polachek, Robyn and Yung Lean and on to top it all off: George did the Apple dance. I know, major.
Kendrick and SZA announce co-headlining ‘Grand National Tour’, kicking off next April and hitting stadiums nationwide through June. The two of them put on such insane shows separately and all of their collabs are certified bangers, so I am incredibly seated for whatever they stir up together (and yes, I secured my tickets).
Taylor Swift’s ‘The Official Eras Tour Book’ is here and it will not be making her a New York Times Best Seller. Not because of lack of sales or anything shady, it’s as simple as it only being available at Target that disqualifies it. My favorite part about the book (well, the synopsis of the book I read online because I’m trying to be better about buying things I don’t need) was how she said she was falling back in love with her catalog while re-recording her albums which lead her to doing a tour that spans her entire career, better known as The Eras Tour.
Billboard names Beyoncé as the number one greatest pop star of the 21st century and I could not agree more. When you stay at the top of your game for 25 years and continue to adapt and grow within your art, there’s nobody who can touch your legacy. I’ll leave you all with this quote
There are no flop eras for Bey, …There are only varying degrees of winning for over two decades. In this sense, her closest peers this century are not other pop stars, they’re LeBron James and Serena Williams.
*mic drop*
I hope you all have a fabulous rest of your week! Chat with you soon 💖
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