MY TOP 12 SONGS OF 2024
I’m very honored to be with y’all today to share my favorite songs of 2024 (link to APPLE MUSIC)— the greatest year for music since 2023, lest we forget the wonder of 2022, whose comparison of course pales to that of 2021. I’m just yanking your chain, poking your brooch, philandering your filibuster.
These are songs that released this year. The process of elimination in making this list was of the utmost excruciating ilk. Everything you hear was meandered on, researched, triple checked and sequenced. Below you’ll find the songs alongside a few write-ups because man, why the shitting cock not?? My whole life I’ve always never wanted to be a music journalist & i’m still in neverland ranch so to speak. however I do wanna give cheers to these 12 songs. I’ll write about how I found it, the first time I heard it & what it means to me. 12 songs because that was my dad’s number in basketball. LISTEN IN ORDER! It’s more fun that way.
“Wanna Quit All The Time”
Underdressed at the Symphony
by Faye Webster
The song of my year. I first heard it first while driving on Cahuenga Blvd in LA, per recommendation of .. I believe it was Daze or Lil Yachty.. they’re so alike it’s hard to remember. But the song didn’t make it to my innermost until listening after a panic attack outside of Sears on a Tuesday afternoon.
I went in there because I was waiting for my phone screen to be fixed by the man at the mall kiosk. I don’t regret anything in my life, howeverfurthermoreover&thensome, I had legiterally no business moseying about that bitch. Impenetrable to Sears is the sacred motion of the universe known as time. Nothing has changed in there since 2006. Not the music playing, not the murky LED lights, not the chipped floor tiles. It’s all the same as I remember. The dark side of nostalgia began slogging me thru the aisles. I tried on their clothes which are not ergonomically made, proportions all outta wack, feeling grief billow up from whatever calcification kept it caved. Grief for my dad, for the company that I don’t keep, for when it wasn’t so hard to smile. I leave & meet the man at the mall kiosk who presents my phone to me in shittier form than how it arrived. Much more had compounded to sling me into manic panic pixie dream mode but that midday mall excursion pushed me over the edge. Part of my spirit is still in Sears. My firstborn & I gonna get matching tattoos of that quote, right next to “I’ll think I’ll figure it out.”
“SPIKY BOiz”
hella (˃̣̣̥╭╮˂̣̣̥) ✧ ♡ ‧º·˚
by 1999 WRITE THE FUTURE
What do Ghostface Killah, Smino & Rich Brian all have in common? They’re all not capricorns & they’re all on this joint together, produced by the world class Australian band Surprise Chef. This is my Mount Rushmore of a collaboration & that’s a lie but I felt like saying it anyway plus Mount Rushmore is a lie & I’m from South Dakota & Lakota & cute as shit so chilll mama just enjoy this masterpiece. I first listened to this song on a morning hike thru Wilacre Park, the day after it dropped actually: Feb. 10. I fancy Surprise Chef’s last album (shoutout Myles for the rec bowbowbowbow) & this is the best Smino verse i’ve ever heard which is saying many lots. If you like this song, Ghostface made a whole album with BADBADNOTGOOD back in 2015 that your earholes will canoodle with. “SPIKY BOiz” is a bimbibop.
“Get It Sexyy”
by Sexyy Red
BOWBOWBOWBOW :D
GDOWBOWBOWBOW >:^)
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
it’s just so good. The bright side of nostalgia is peaking, the audio of yesteryear is clipping out my speakers. It’s those chants BUTUUKNEWWTHATTHOOOOO & that fucking rat tattling snare drum. I first listened to this from a leaked snippet on twitter & eagerly awaited its arrival. The replay value on this goes super senior & i’m mad grateful that Sexyy scratches this musical itch for the world.
“either on or off the drugs”
I LAY MY LIFE DOWN FOR YOU
by JPEGMAFIa
My ears perk when peggy drops that’s all imma say. Nothing more to say than that.
More lies ! Anyway yes, for many a reason, this song ended up on my favorites of the year, partly due to its poetic moral justice against technology. JPEG sampled a 1970s AI cover of Future’s “Turn on the Lights”. Sampling AI sampling humans is what the people need, alongside that damn string section swelling throughout the second half mwahaha. I don’t remember the exact moment I heard this song but my fondest memories of listening are whilst working the yard at my mom’s place. That sounds like I was prostituting at my mom’s house whoaaaa not since high school BOWBOWBOWBOW.
“Takaramono”
Kabutomoshi EP
by Mei Semones
When God created music they said “let there be Mei Semones.” Shoutout to Vanniel Sanchez Falls Down who put me onto Mei way back in 2022. Last summer he & I dashed thru the Lower East Side to catch a show of hers & man oh man, an exhilarating joy to memorize. She even returned the favor & attended our tour stop in NYC later that year. Sometimes I get insecure about how good of a musician she is, knowing that I’ll likely never make a song as good as anything in her discography. But that’s okay, maybe she’s insecure about her juggling skills or how to make couscous salad — two things that I’m good at. I first heard this as a local file, before Mei went global.
“Love Birds”
BLUE LIPS
by ScHoolboy Q feat. devin malik & lance skiiwalker
A funhouse of sound & time. Earlier this year I became anxious about going broke & lonely so I joined Uber Eats. Call me severely depressed, but man… it was lots of fun ngl. Just to see parts of LA that I’ve never been to, bringing people the nourishment of grilled cheese steak burritos & soggy cinnabon balls that their bodies desperately need. There’s a subconscious gambling quality to those apps & with all car maintenance you’ll need you end up losing money.. BUT !! it’s fun when ur with the boys.
I remember because of the rain on Sunset Blvd. Boys weren’t present, only I. Me was driving in the most BBL of traffic, heading north. I had this whole album on repeat & then we get to “Love Birds.” The production, time signature changes, aggression, it’s all just the best. It’s a master class in songwriting // arrangement. This whole album pairs nicely with Kendrick’s new work. As a settler once said .. I love what’s going on in the west!
“HIGHJACK”
by A$AP ROCKY feat. jessica pratt
Classic Rakim, debonair bars melting into a 90s alternative sounding woman singing about where she’s going. Like me, both halves are sticky & luxurious. Excellent workout song that lets you know when to slow your speed on the treadmill. Tons of times I’ve listened to this, but the most salient moment was in Sterlin’s garage PUTTING IN THE WORK on his Peloton. Glad he wasn’t around because I might’ve been screaming? idk who’s to say. Bummed we didn’t get an album this year from Rocky but maybe next.
“Magnolias”
by Ann Annie
Won’t spoil this one. I’m blanking on who showed me or how I found this one.
“One Wish”
bird’s eye
by Ravyn Lenae feat. childish gambino
Alriiight ALRIIIIIGGHHHHTTT it’s about time to get tubular in this thing. After they made Mei Semones, God griddied their ass to the studio where this song was being made. It’s maple syrup slowly spiraling around a stack of grandma’s pancakes that you learned to cook after she died. They don’t taste quite like hers because she’s gone now & didn’t tell you about that one dash of cinnamon but every Sunday morning the sunlight reaches through the kitchen window to touch the spice cabinet.
I first heard this by watching the beautiful music video — a bygone mode of music finding for me so it felt nice to return. Probably my most played song out of all these.
“latch”
shadowbox
by mavi
I learn something new every time I listen. Verbosity is a quality to rap that I’ve always liked because words are pliable. Density can be defense, but MAVI always keep it a buck with what he’s battling to celebrate. It’s clear when you listen that this man is an old, scholarly soul waxing poetics about love and loss. As many of us know, music hits different in the sky. That’s when I first listened to “latch,” miles up above you. At the time I was going through what MAVI speaks on so it hit extraly expeditious towards my core.
“Cry for Me”
Imaginal Disk
by Magdalena Bay
Plenty of time here to nurture consequence
If you don’t hear back then God had other plans
I leaves all my dregs to my progeny
Cry for me
Cry for me
“Tooh Nílíní (River)”
Nihimá Nahasdzáán
by Kino Benally
It’s a late June day in Swinomish Village, Washington. I’m in KP & Camas’ living room recording myself being sillygoofy. Camas joins me, holding with both hands a mug of something (what if it was empty lmao), taking a seat on the ottoman. The way you’d approach a troubled youth.
Conversations between him & I always start on 10. Like we just rush into a dense topic. This time it’s music — we’re both touring musicians so we discuss our recent gigs, etc. I blithely mention that this fellow DJ Béeso just DJ’d a set for me in Phoenix, subsequently gifting me his new vinyl record that I sadly have no use for because of the zero record players in my possession. Camas shoots up from off the ottoman & declares — standing right next to his vinyl player — that he owns a vinyl player! That he’s good friends with Kino aka Béeso & also owns that exact album on vinyl! That he plays drums throughout the whole record!!
We shut the fuck up as Camas drops the needle onto the spinning record. What a wistful journey that first listen is. Meeting Kino several times & then being introduced to this album from our mutual friend is an experience that weaves itself into the already stunning music. “Tooh Nílíní (River)” is that girl. I don’t know what the fuck the first half is about, like what is going on here? A maritime melody, the string players & one saxophonist decide to go sailing with their instruments but get stranded out at sea so they just start riffing this meditative, breathy tune that somehow leads them to a Roaring Twenties yacht rave. I’ve put this song on every playlist I’ve made this year so it’s only fitting that it ends up on this one too.
You may have noticed a trend throughout this diary entry — my music taste is shaped by who I’m around. I don’t shame those who get their music algorithmically but that isn’t really my bag & hasn’t been since all of that began about a decade ago. Playlists & algorithms feel deeply impersonal to me & forgo the sort of inquiry into sound & place & people that fuel culture. It’s not all bad or absolute, as I’ve found music that way too. I just love losing control of where influence designs impact. Personal recommendations & physical discovery are taken the heartiest (but to anyone reading this that has my number don’t start spamming me song links that you’d think i’ll like because 1. i don’t have spotify 2. let’s just nerd out in person baby i’m not on my phone like that).
Stay safe & loud <3 if any of my own music made it onto your lists please let minnow how & why
- Mato Wayuhi, 4 December 2024 10:26 AM PT