2024 Let's Lyric Wrapped
2024 in review: favorite songs, albums, videos, and of course, lyrics + predictions for 2025
Last year, I casually posted my 2023 Spotify Wrapped on my personal Substack. In that piece, I shared some of my top songs as well as my subjective favorites. I also made predictions about the rise in fame of certain artists. While these artists were already pretty mainstream, some of my predictions did come true. This year, I thought I ought to do the same casual post for Let’s Lyric, so lo and behold here is your 2024 Let’s Lyric Wrapped:
Favorite lyrics of the year
“Old friends like, ‘Dude, man, it’s been a minute.’ Same old excuse that I’m always giving: Life’s just been lifin’, ah,” LIFE BEEN LIFIN’ - Destin Conrad
If there’s a song that summarizes 2024 for me, LIFE BEEN LIFIN’ is that song. Last year was rough for me. I don’t know what karmic and/or cosmic energies wanted me to struggle, but they surely accomplished their goal. I missed several parties, outings, and celebrations to be alone with myself after feeling defeated and depressed for the vast majority of the year. I’m looking to start fresh this year and let the past be the past.
“Connected. I’m in-a-net with my heart. Caught in your web, and I tried to kick, keep it, secrets. Thoughts of you when you roam my mind. I’m falling in deep. Curious, just hope you cc me.” Algorithm - Lucky Daye
Lucky Daye deserves so much more praise. He’s so fucking talented that it actually makes me sick with envy. His voice is gorgeous. His body is gorgeous. And his wordplay is—you guessed it—gorgeous. Playing on a huge theme of 2024 with the ubiquity of Artificial Intelligence, Lucky masterfully crafts an extended metaphor of being entrapped in someone’s “algorithm” of love/romance. The album, also titled Algorithm, plays on this theme further throughout the tracklist, but this song is a peak demonstration of what happens when Lucky puts his pen to paper.
“Called me on my birthday. I thought you’d be on your way. Candles burned down to the cake. Still not seeing your face. I can’t spend this one wish on you, ooh-ooh-ooh.” One Wish - Ravyn Lenae
After seeing Ravyn in concert, the intimate space that was curated in the venue allowed her to open up and share the backstory that birthed this song. I believe at her tenth birthday (give or take some years), Ravyn’s absent father promised to come to her party. Thrilled with anticipation, Ravyn waited and waited until nobody came. The raw imagery of birthday candles burned all the way down to the cake as a young girl waits in naivety for her father is a tear-jerking scene that tugs at my heart everytime I play this record.
There is no question that SZA can write. That’s why CTRL is thee standard for alternative R&B. Other than Frank Ocean, there aren’t really any other artists who can compete with her in this lane. LANA — the deluxe version of SOS — continues on this trend. Coming on this song hot, SZA comes for all of us. There’s a common sentiment that the dating pool today is terrible. But if everyone thinks it’s terrible because of everyone else, then maybe some of us are the problem. Now that isn’t to negate anyone’s experience (or lack thereof) with the current dating scene, but it just asks us to pause a bit to reflect on the things we do do to self-sabotage amid an already difficult dating environment.
“Feast my eyes on lower things while beauty is a symptom of life. Gotta decide if I’m gonna see it, why?” symptom of life - WILLOW
Again in the vein of pessimism, Miss WILLOW got me through 2024 with her empathogen album. This song in particular is one of my favorites of the year. I’ve discussed this before in my previous Line-By-Line, and everything I said then still holds true: In a world that’s burning, are we going to remain perennially pessimistic or opt to see the beauty in life sometimes as well?
“I call it the make no money disease, and buddy got every symptom.” Grand Slam - ian
A rather simple bar yet so creative. I love unique phrasing, especially when the rationality behind the word choice is less obvious to me. I literally have no idea why he called haters broke in this manner, but it is such a strong way to do so. How sickeningly broke do you have to be to warrant this description?
“If money was Cocoa Puffs, huh, I’d go coo-coo. She say she feel the same way ‘bout me. She delulu. I caught her like a Pokemon; my bitch built like mewtwo.” Mewtwo - Ken Carson
Ken delivers another playful bar in this lineup. These lyrics in particular are some that my friends were tired of me repeating all year, but I just think they’re fun, funky, fresh, and youthful. They speak for a new generation of rappers — generation that grew up on Cocoa Puffs commercials in between episodes of Pokémon playing on Cartoon Network. I love the future of rap that these lyrics signal and the imagery evoked. It’s actually hilarious that everyone just knows that Mewtwo's body is tea. And if my girl was shaped like Mewtwo, I’d be boasting about it too!
“Say it's real and it's rap. And it boom and it bap. And it bounce and it clap. And it's house and it's trap. It's everything. I'm everything, mh.” BOOM BAP - Doechii
People did not understand BOOM BAP when it first dropped. Hell, they still don’t get it now. And this is no shade (meaning this is actually just full shade), I can’t really expect too much when literacy rates are at an all-time low. But for the girlies who get Doechii’s purpose with this song — which I’ve also explained in my review of her mixtape — when you are a jack of all trades, there is no need to box yourself in. In this post-industrial, neoliberal world, we as a society dehumanize ourselves when we push for specialization in every industry. But when you are talented, you contain multitudes. And as Doechii has shown us, if anybody is multidimensional, she is. This lyric is a mantra for anyone who doesn’t want to limit themselves to take narrow and singular paths, who wants to have a plethora of interests, and who wants to live their lives to the fullest. Claim your identities — all of them. Be everything!
“And I’ll be damned if I cannot dance with you. Baby, pour that sugar and liquor on me too (spurs, spurs, boots). Sologenic, photogenic, shoot.” TEXAS HOLD ‘EM - Beyoncé
This entry is less so about the lyrical performance itself, but the delivery. These are some of my favorite twenty seconds on a song. Beyoncé’s voice just sounds sooooo pretty here. I don’t know why I hyperfixate on this part, but it’s fantastic. So fantastic that this made my top five songs of the year because of this part alone. I listened to the song too many times, just to hear the final 23 seconds.
“Sexy to somebody, it would help me out. Oh, I need a reason to get out of the house.” Sexy to Someone - Clairo
Brief and concise. That’s usually what the best prose is. Clairo said it best: “I need a reason to get out of the house.” The neoliberal world of 2024 is lonelier than ever, and I think part of the reason is the rise of the doom scroll. More and more, people are opting to stay home and online rather than go out and live. Nobody has hobbies anymore. It’s just waking up, working, going home, doom scrolling, sleeping, repeat. Of course, there’s so much more nuance to this, and much of our current conditions are not the faults of any individual or the working class as a whole but the reality still stands. People are pining for relationships of all forms, especially romantic ones.
Favorite videos of the year
Jacob Collier & Tori Kelly recording Bridge Over Troubled Water
I’m not formally trained nor academically knowledgeable about music. I’ve never studied it, but I like to think my ears are pretty well trained to hear beauty and spot talent. The way in which Tori Kelly is able to listen to the runs once and then perfectly execute them in rapid succession is bizarre, nuts, INSANE. There is no other way to describe it. The hairs of my body perk up as the sound waves kiss my eardrums. Brava, Ms. Kelly. Brava!
In the first ever NFL game streamed exclusively on Netflix, Beyoncé delivers a big “FUCK YOU!” on the biggest of stages to the naysayers who want to discredit her revolutionary country movement. Despite not being acknowledged by the Country Music Awards (CMAs), Ms. Knowles delivered a flawless, star-studded performance that reminds us that she is the last — and first — of her kind. There has never been a greater performer.
Doechii had a helluva year — this was actually my most correct prediction of last year. In terms of vision and pure artistry, I can’t say I know too many people who are this well-curated. She really is everything. From being a fashionista (often sporting fabulous Thom Browne silhouettes), to singing live in the park, to lyricism, to choreographing her own performances on late night television, Doechii is always pushing the envelope. This music video is no different. Doechii draws inspiration from grainy classic sitcoms like Family Matters and the telenovela genre. Then, she breaks the fourth wall, by revealing the set of the show and the live audience in 4K quality. All for the set to be blown right at the climax of her story when her ex crashes her home and destroys her belongings. A flawless execution from the best female rapper of the year.
With Victoria Monét on the vocals, Sean Bankhead as the choreographer, and Dave Meyers as the director, this video had no choice but to be perfect. There’s just so much to unpack here. Victoria is giving us face, body, and performance. The allusions to Janet Jackson’s Alright and So Excited are thoughtful easter eggs for us music lovers, especially those who love true performers. And the voguing is just the cherry on top for me. Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me who’s the cuntiest of them all? “Ms. V Monét,” the mirror responds.
I’ve pretty much said all I need to say about Doechii in the entry above, but to echo all of that again, she is a visionary. This jazzy arrangement of her debut mixtape riddled with hidden mixes and interpolations of core (often Southern) rap references is so meticulous and pristine. Promoting her album like it just came out, Doechii refused to let up off of the gas pedal.
Witchy - KAYTRANADA (feat. Childish Gambino)
This music video is extremely enthralling; each time I rewatch it, my eyes are glued to the screen. Part of it might be Childish Gambino’s gorgeous chest, but most of it is his dance moves and the choreo of the other dancers. Sure, the video is witchy, but not in a horror way. It’s more uncanny than anything. The song and visuals together stimulate the perfect places in the brain to make for an amazingly satisfying experience.
EN ROUTE :: A VISUAL EP By Durand Bernarr
I’ve talked a lot about artists with vision: Lucky Daye, Doechii, Beyoncé. Durand Bernarr comfortably fits into this category. We don’t get enough visual EPs, but I’m sure that’s because we don’t appreciate them enough. Tierra Whack’s Whack World is one of the greatest videos to grace our internet. And EN ROUTE buttresses the claim that visual EPs are underrated. When Durand dropped this EP, I was a bit confused personally. The music was good, but I couldn’t place it in his discography. Truthfully, I expected something of a different flavor, but the video brings the story to life. Not only are the vocals, videography, transitions, storytelling, and costumes stunning, but the project overall was timely. 2024 truly was a journey, and I don’t know about you all, but I feel as if I en route to somewhere. That somewhere is unclear, but the EP itself is also open-ended, closing with the final song “ETA?”
Bending My Rules | Live From Vevo Studios - FLO
Bring back girl groups! Like seriously. Fifth harmony was cute, and Little Mix was a quick moment, but FLO is serious business. The vocals are vocal-ing. This live performance was easily one of my favorites of the year. It gave me so much more appreciation for FLO as singers. I’d always appreciated their songs, but their technical vocal capabilities are on full display here, and they’re truly sickening. Please get into FLO.
skaiwater was one of my top three artists of 2024. I streamed them far too much, so when I heard this snippet from Bktherula, I instantly knew they produced it because I couldn’t get the song out of my head. This dynamic duo manages to take a dead TikTok trend and bring it back to life without sacrificing any sort of redundancy. The beat is fun, Bk’s delivery is riveting, and the visuals are keenly reminiscent of the commercials between shows on Adult Swim. It reminds me of the nights I would stay up and secretly watch Adult Swim after hours while my parents were fast asleep. The channel was always so uncanny to me, but I never wanted to look away.
Beyoncé is truly the last of a dying breed of stellar performers. The only potential modern successor I can see for her is Victoria Monét, and this Coachella set shows exactly why. For forty-five minutes straight, Ms. Monét sings LIVE with her microphone in hand while giving us FULL-OUT choreography all in the same breaths. Her stage presence is cozy, her dance breaks are groovy, and her voice is silky. She uses every bit of stage she was given, and despite a more mellow discography, she brings great energy. I implore everyone to watch this four or five times to catch every detail.
Honorable Mentions: “2024” - Playboi Carti, “PUSH 2 START” - Tyla, Doja Cat - Wireless Festival 2024 Full Performance, WILLOW: Tiny Desk Concert, WILDFLOWER (Live Performance from Amazon Music’s Songline) - Billie Eilish
Favorite albums of the year
I find it quite challenging to write album reviews that are only a brief paragraph, so I charge you to explore these on your own. I promise you won’t regret listening:
Honorable mentions: Timeless - KAYTRANADA, Cowboy Carter - Beyoncé, Valedictorian - ian, Charm - Clairo, It’s Us Vol. 1 - Concrete Boys
Favorite songs of the year
Scarlet 2 really didn’t get talked about enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah, demonic this, devilish that. But, the music, though. The music is fantastic. “Shutcho” was already a sick track before the feature she added from South African group The Joy, but they still managed to take the song to a new high. The Joy’s gleeful harmonies brighten the Doja’s vocals and verses, creating a sunny song that has endless replay value.
Sabrina Carpenter was definitely a stand out artist in 2024, and above all records this song outranked her others for several reasons. Barry Keoghan controversy aside, the lyrics are witty, cutesy, and just relatable enough. But beyond everything, the melody of that chorus is timeless. You just can’t help but to sing along, every single time. Even Omar Apollo had to put his spin on this record.
The song starts with the words, “Come to me slowly…” And that is exactly what I feel like I am doing when I hear Clairo’s voice. An enticing track, “Juna,” really is a perfect song. I can’t think of any time where I wouldn’t want to hear it. That isn’t to say that it fits every situation, but I don’t think I will ever ask someone to turn this song off.
The second verse of this song is my favorite verse of 2024. I studied it. I memorized it. I practiced it, and now it’s second nature to me. Doechii, Doechii, Doechii, the woman you are. The rapper you are! This is an anthem for all my LGBTQ Queens out there. I can’t help but to gun salute, shake my tits, and walk off when I hear this song. Tens across the board!
I know this song from beginning to end. My friends can attest because they have expressed several times that they were tired of hearing me rap this song aloud—and in many cases acapella. Latto did something with this one. It might be the clever response to Ice Spice’s diss. Or, it could be the nostalgic visual of twenty Black suburbans pulling up to a Southern baptist Sunday church service. Either way, Latto delivers bar after bar without letting the listener catch their breath.
Viking - SahBabii
Saheem Odinson might be SahBabii’s birth name because he took rap lovers by storm with this thunderous, thor-like record. This song might feature my favorite hook of the year. It is a challenge: Learning the chorus word-for-word is a difficult feat, and to be truthful, I have yet to master it 100%—I would say I am 80% of the way there. SahBabii really stepped into his bag with this track. I’m glad to see the world appreciate someone I grew up listening to heavily.
During trying times, we all need a spritz of sunshine. grentperez has been that for myself. His music feels like a Pixar movie—brief, touching, and universal. With a cloying feature from the talented Lyn Lapid, this acoustic-sounding song is the calm amid the storm, and the message emphasizes a motif of love that is necessary.
rain - skaiwater
Nothing is better than a gradual build-up to reveal an unforgiving blast of 808s: Int’l Player’s Anthem by UGK & Outkast, Let The Beat Build by Lil Wayne, or Baby Pluto by Lil Uzi Vert, to name a few. Like the cohesion that collects raindrops sliding down the car window into one mega raindrop, the energy of this track collects with each second, piling up into a ball of anticipation until it is all released as an assault on your ears. skaiwater successfully took the baton from old heads who have delivered us some of the best delayed beat drops of all time and modernized it.
Mk.gee’s words on the first listen were undecipherable. Today, I still only can understand half of the words, but the vibe of his delivery paints a clear enough picture. This was my introduction to Mk.gee, and what an insane way to reel me in. I simply could not put this song down. No wonder it was in my top-30 most-listened-to songs. So funky yet so angsty and rocker-like. Get into Mk.gee while his stock is swiftly rising, and if you need an entry point, start with this song. I don’t think anyone could in good faith say they don’t like this record.
Die With A Smile - Lady Gage, Bruno Mars
The timing of this song was perfect. Although a rather grim topic, it was a necessary thought experiment. What if the world ended today? Would you be satisfied? I don’t think I would, and the more I think about the state of affairs, the more my mind wants to convince me to take precautions to experience all that I can before my time is up. A masterclass in vocalism performed as a ballad with succinct, simple, yet evocative lyrics of a time that has yet to be realized, Gaga and Bruno leave no room to question the reverence they have always deserved.
Honorable Mentions: don’t wanna break up again (live version) - Ariana Grande, luther (with SZA) - Kendrick Lamar, Akira - MICHELLE, Heavy on My Heart - LUCKI, Form of You (feat. Destin Conrad & Childofnines) - Kehlani
The rest of my top 100 songs of the year are in the playlist below. The criteria to be eligible for this playlist is holistic. I considered some dynamic combination of nostalgia, cultural impact, musicality, lyricism, and personal preference. Check it out:
Predictions for 2025
Some people have said SAILORR the Asian SZA. I will admit that I was a part of that group, but I only did it jokingly. In all seriousness, with each release, I am less inclined to call her that because she is a talented artist all on her own. There is no need for the comparison. As I continue to put respect on SAILORR’s name, I predict that she will blow up next year with whatever project(s) she releases.
Doechii is nominated for three Grammys, I believe. Looking at the competition I personally think she should win all three. Knowing how out of touch and tasteless the committee that chooses winners tends to be, I think Doechii will win one Grammy.
Country seemed to take the country by storm this year. I think next year will be a year of rage, revolution, and angst. Naturally, I think rock will be the genre of the year in a similar fashion to country this year. If Beyoncé drops her alleged rock album, this will only solidify my prediction. With the highly anticipated Playboi Carti album looming on the horizon and the rise of artists like Mk.gee, I can’t fathom any other genre more well-suited for 2025.
With domestic violence allegations made about him and two underwhelming releases following his perfect album NOSTYLIST, the hate that Destroy Lonely gets continues to surge. However, based on recent leaks, he intends to drop a mixtape that sounds somewhat reminiscent of the NOSTYLIST era. If this is true, I think Lone will reclaim his title as the successor of Playboi Carti (as opposed to Ken Carson).
Albeit already trending, especially in the UK, I think Jerk rap will take shape as a distinct and mainstream subgenre of rap. With records like “Black & Tan,” and artists like fakemink receiving critical acclaim, I foresee a rise in popularity within this realm of music.
Alessia Cara silently dropped one of my favorite songs of 2024. As it stands, it’s actually my favorite in her entire discography. She has an album set to release on Valentine’s Day. I haven’t seen too much promotion of it, and it isn’t as if Alessia Cara fell off. But, I think she will return to the mainstream spotlight after this album. Based on this one song, I have really high hopes and expectations for her upcoming album.
I think Ice Spice will be stepping away from music — at least temporarily. She might still perform live, but I don’t think she’ll be giving us new music anytime soon. This probably won’t hold true if she’s in any restricting contract, which based on the way they’re forcing her down our throat, it seems like she is. But, I think she wants to step away and rebrand. After befriending Kim K, slimming down, and treating her instagram like her finsta, it seems like Ice Spice isn’t interested in making music anymore.
Given the current economic and political state of the world, we need good radically Black, revolutionary music. After seeing them post some unreleased music a few months ago, I am confidently saying (more so in hopes to manifest it) that Ghetto Sage will release music in 2025.
With his first album set to release this year, grentperez is up next. I was first exposed to him in 2022 on TikTok via his hit single “Cherry Wine.” Not many songs have matched the silky, seductive, sensual energy this song radiates. Then just last year, I was actively re-exposed to grent’s music via Spotify reccomendations, and he has been my current obsession ever since. Each month, I see his listener count rising, especially after opening for Laufey’s Australia leg of her tour. I pray this year will be his breakout year.
Whether you know it or not, your favorite rappers have their eyes on skaiwater. skaiwater has collaborated with and/or been co-signed by the likes of Lil Uzi Vert, Bktherula, Lil Nas X, tana, KARRAHBOO, Playboi Carti, Ken Carson, and more. A multi-talented engineer, producer, videographer, singer/songwriter/rapper, and overall artist, skai has all the keys to be successful either in front or behind the scenes. Be on the lookout for their upcoming project manic in america.