2024’s been an unbelievable year for hip hop, and there’s a good chance you already know this. Of course, it’s a colossal one for the culture, with Kendrick Lamar finally dragging rap out of the “Drake era,” but there’s been an endless outpouring of phenomenal records from every other corner of the genre too.
Chief Keef – Almighty So 2
Sosa’s back. 11 years after Almighty So ushered in a new age of hip hop, its sequel sounds like a rightful victory lap in its honor. The rap legend’s firing on all cylinders here; his production is hectic as hell, with juicy drum patterns drowning in soulful embellishments that almost move beyond the genre of drill entirely. Crucially, the new record sounds polished, with the rough edges of his early hits all rubbed off—a sacrifice, to be sure, but a fitting one given its cutting extravagance.
Recognizing the size of his influence, Chief Keef’s presence on the record is towering. As if imparting his well–built wisdom to the new generation, he packs every juncture with grand affirmations and flexes—the intro alone might be the only antidote you need for a slow morning. And he’s serious about his unseriousness. There’s a boastful looseness to all his rhymes, abetted by comically imaginative bars and rich stories from his childhood. “I'm a wolf, so I walk around and growl at the moon,” he declares on a cut with Sexyy Red, and you know what? Hell yeah.
Mach–Hommy – #RICHAXXHAITIAN
Mach–Hommy comes off as a cryptic legend in the underground abstract scene: he always covers his face with a bandana, he’s locked his releases behind thousand–dollar price tags on Bandcamp, and he’ll strike down any attempt to transcribe his lyrics on the internet. But the man’s staunch mystique is an essential element to his music—if Kendrick Lamar’s been a champion of West Coast culture this last year, then Mach–Hommy’s been a protector of the Haitian social fabric for the last ten, with an overtly political discography including masterworks like HBO (Haitian Body Odor), Wap Konn Jòj!, and Pray for Haiti. On May’s #RICHAXXHAITIAN, he continues to evoke the painful ripples of the Haitian revolution in English, French, and Creole, with all the dense lyricism and entrancing sound design it deserves.
Alongside boom bap and jazz rap grooves, Mach spits incisively about institutional racism, his time in Port au Prince, white phosphorus in Gaza, and other interrogations of neocolonialism while neck–deep in cultural references and humor (a taste from “ANTONOMASIA”: “I’m Howard Thurman, you Martin Luther King”), all while dismantling conventional narratives about Haiti at every corner. In the most cheeseless way possible, Mach–Hommy gets at the soul of hip hop, providing a powerful and illustrative voice to the voiceless, shaped not only by Haiti’s present instability, but also its rich cultural and political history.
Polo Perks <3 <3 <3, AyooLii & Feardorian – A Dog's Chance
It’s been a standout year for offshoots of the Surf Gang collective—we got the exquisite new Moh Baretta tape Show Your Work and some broody releases from Harto Falión and Evilgiane. But I have to shout out the latest Polo Perks album, a collaboration with Milwaukee star AyooLii and NYC producer prodigy Feardorian (whose solo debut and collaboration with Injury Reserve’s RiTchie this year were also remarkable). Unconventional sampling is nothing new for Polo—since 2021, he’s been rapping over reskinned classics from the likes of Snow Patrol, The Killers, and Daft Punk—but A Dog’s Chance takes the formula to new heights.
Nothing’s off the table here—Polo Perks’ beats integrate the ukuleles of “Over The Rainbow,” emo guitars from Teen Suicide and Texas is the Reason, ethereal synthesizers from Bladee and Oklou, pop bangers from M.I.A. and Alicia Keys, and a few other indiehead classics you might recognize instantly. But while Polo Perks’ older stuff had an air of depressive apathy, A Dog’s Chance is unabashedly fun, perfectly pairing his gruffness with AyooLii’s animated, shouty deliveries and Feardorian’s bouncy nu–jerk freneticism. It’s a level up by every metric, and one of the most eccentric and free–wheeling records of the year.
Bladee – Cold Visions
After ten years in the game, Swedish drain gang legend Bladee seems almost ready to call it quits. The last leg of his career’s been a slow evolution into ethereal pop and deeply religious ruminations, but his newest project is a sudden pivot away from enlightenment. Recorded in just two weeks, Cold Visions is a manic 30–track flow–state odyssey through some of the darkest and most distorted rage Bladee’s ever found himself on—it's reminiscent of his Working On Dying–era trap, but in a new context.
Sonically, Cold Visions is nuts—with help from legendary producer F1lthy, the beats feel like they’re literally melting down, anxiously booming with splashes of screams, a whispery “COLD VISIONS” tag that might jump scare you on more than one occasion, and 808s that can only be described as villainous. And piercing through this chaos is Bladee, as carelessly soft–spoken as ever but spitting crushingly candid word vomit—the sound of nirvana folding inwards and squeezing out a damaged ego. You can hear the frustration in his voice, born of the emptiness left from all the stardom, evolutions, and truth–seeking of the last decade. “KING NOTHINGGG” sums it up pretty well: “I've been looking 'round for something, but I'm coming up with nothing / dirty boys they love it, on the track, I'm trauma–dumping / I've been playing out a way that's so disgusting, I've been going back to cussing.” A raw denouncement of the past, Cold Visions might not be pretty, but it is absolutely breathtaking.
Jackzebra – Young Powerful Run Mixtape
Following in the footsteps of pioneering rapper Bloodz Boi is a burgeoning Chinese cloud rap underground, and out of his crop of acolytes, one stands above by a mile. If you’re a drain gang fan like me, you might’ve heard his name floating around—Jackzebra, so–called “Chinese Bladee,” the Chengdu prince of plugg—and for good reason. With unmatched vocal color and otherworldly beat selections, his run this year has been generational, spanning the majestic 弓长张 EP, the addicting 拾 with User116 (whose January effort SB116 deserves a shoutout too), and the monolithic bearer of cold air that is his latest tape, 王中王. But only one of his releases has me awestruck every time I spin it: the pluggnb masterpiece Young Powerful Run Mixtape.
It doesn’t just breathe life into a subgenre that’s lived a lifetime—it proves to be its platonic ideal. You don’t have to understand Mandarin to bliss out to the landscapes here, with its earthy 808s, starry pianos, warbling synths, and Jackzebra’s serpentine croons and moans over it all. Digging a little deeper reveals an existential poeticism in his lyrics too, one that matches the atmosphere perfectly, full of flowery chengyu and intense self–reflection. This next statement should not be taken lightly—Young Powerful is probably the most beautiful record of the year.
Vince Staples – Dark Times
Vince Staples is known for his quick wit—the kind of sharp humor that doesn’t take any bullshit. It’s obvious in interviews and shows he’s appeared on, and it reflects lucidly in his music, with a catalog ranging from the fun–as–hell FM! to the more melodic Ramona Park Broke My Heart. But Dark Times is smart in a different way: its storytelling. It feels intimately tied to his 2024 comedy program “The Vince Staples Show”—every track feels like a well–written episode, casual and laid–back but rich with imagery.
Staples is the furthest you can get from an abstract wordsmith—every portrait he paints is sharp and direct, imbued with a kind of west coast intelligence that turns its conclusions into universal mantras: “Life’s hard, but I go harder” and “Go play with your kids, bitch,” among others. It’s a record really directed at his roots, for the youth growing up on the same streets he came from, but it’s inlaid with a mid–tempo confidence in every beat and delivery that’ll appeal to everyone who listens. Vince Staples’ Dark Times is outstanding, offering something the genre’s been sorely lacking as of late: soul.
Smokingskul – Free Agent
The underground “dark plugg” scene might be jarring for those unfamiliar—its feral vocals and disgusting 808s push the limits of what trap can be. For years, Smokingskul’s been a trailblazer in this genre, alongside rappers like Glokk40Spaz and Wildkarduno and producers like TDF and perc40. Though he’d already been on a roll this year with the comically raw TDF collaboration Mr. M, Smokingskul’s May effort Free Agent is something else entirely: a pivot into pure, grinding moshpit rage.
Backed by producer Azureisdead, who can only describe as a visionary after this project, the record’s a feast of skull–splitting basslines, breakneck tempos, and scattered electronic debris that immaculately complement Smokingskul’s vocals as he spews cheekily boastful bars at a mile a minute. On one occasion, the album even veers off into punk: “Tracker Jam”’s a delightful car crash of genres in a gnashing fit of rage. Free Agent went more or less unnoticed upon release, but it remains a solid entry in Smokingskul’s prolific discography.
JPEGMAFIA – I Lay Down My Life for You
Barrington DeVaughn Hendricks, known professionally as JPEGMAFIA, formerly as Devon Hendryx, and colloquially as just Peggy, exists in a strange middle space of hip hop, alongside such artists as Danny Brown and Death Grips—it’s neither underground nor overground, but known for bearing a mid–sized fanbase of online nerds. Hell, at his New York show this last September, the crowd started chanting “Fantano!” when the infamous YouTuber appeared in the VIP section. But don’t let the audience turn you off: JPEGMAFIA’s been an exhilarating artist to watch evolve for over a decade, and I Lay Down My Life For You is only further proof of it.
Here, we have Hendricks at his grimiest: a feverish collision of punk and rap and noise, with a freneticism nodding to Dariacore tapes, Brazilian funk, and the Wu–Tang Clan. Gone are the woozy vaporwave stylings of his earlier work, and in are electrifying non–electronic compositions of crashing cymbals, stately horns, and industrial distortion. The switch–up offers stunning respite in the back half too, with cuts like “either on or off the drugs” seeing Hendricks spilling his heart out over stripped–back bass and soul chops. The record isn’t necessarily his best (a crown I’d sooner give to Veteran or All My Heroes Are Cornballs), but it’s a damn good outing regardless.
10 More Highlights
There’s always a lot of talk each year about music going downhill, but shit, if we’re talking about hip hop, it’s really as invigorating as it’s ever been. What's been gone over so far is just a handful of fantastic stuff, so here’s a few more 2024 standouts to take before you go.
Moh Baretta – Show Your Work
DORIS – Ultimate Love Songs Collection
Doechii – Alligator Bites Never Heal
Jackzebra – 王中王
Ksuuvi – Not What It Seems + Not What It Seems Extended
