Hoopla's Top 50 Songs of 2024
My list based on strictly cold hard facts and deep analytical research
Update: Added Apple Music and Spotify links to bottom of the post
Happy Holidays to you all! I’m putting the hoops aside for a week to talk music, in what I would consider to be one of the best years for it in quite some time.
Today, I come to you with a list I’ve done each of the past three years: my top 50 songs. This is, in fact, my list, which means it’s strictly based on my own opinion of which songs I like more. I am also limiting myself to one song per artist to add some variety and to limit what was still an extremely lengthy list of great material.
Top 50 playlist links will be at the bottom. Now without further ado, my list:
50.) Precision - Big Sean
49.) Backslide - twenty one pilots
48.) Junebug (ft. JPEGMAFIA) - Raveena
47.) APT. - ROSÉ and Bruno Mars — Yeah, I get why this one blew up. It’s just so catchy, Bruno Mars is a terrific addition, it makes for a great Dancing With The Stars option, not sure what more you could ask for.
46.) Eusexua - FKA twigs
45.) Ship To Wreck - Florence + the Machine
44.) The Emptiness Machine - LINKIN PARK — I was skeptical of what a LINKIN PARK without Chester Bennington could even look like, but Emily Armstrong’s debut for the band here really did work for me more than anticipated.
43.) Baddy On the Floor (feat. Honey Dijon) - Jamie xx
42.) BOYS - flowerovlove
41.) Beaches - beabadoobee
40.) Black&Blue - Vince Staples
39.) OMG - Suki Waterhouse
38.) Aren’t You Excited - Matt Champion
37.) Paul Rodriguez - Logic — Nine minutes of Logic may not be for everyone, but that man absolutely killed this opening track from front to back.
36.) Kobe Beef - Forest Claudette
35.) For Cryin’ Out Loud! - FINNEAS — Billie Eilish is not the only one in that family who released heaters. The title track to his latest album is fantastic, especially the chorus which has remained in my head for weeks on end.
34.) Much Ado About Nothing - Waxahatchee — My favorite Waxahatchee single of 2024 came after her incredible album. “Much Ado About Nothing” is Waxahatchee at her best in every way. It’s a smooth listen, it’s lyrics hit hard and the vocals are on point.
33.) Caught Up - FLO — Sooooo so so catchy. It’s a head-bobber the whole time thanks to both the beat and FLO’s delivery on top of it.
32.) HIGHJACK (ft. Jessica Pratt) - A$AP Rocky — I was really hoping to have that A$AP Rocky album by now, especially after how much he sold me with this single. Rocky’s flow is full of energy, but where the song surprised me was with the Jessica Pratt feature and switch-up that worked equally as well.
31.) Yearn 101 - ScHoolboy Q — Just an all-gas-no-brakes rap song that hits every single time. Q is relentless on this track and could successfully get anyone through a brick wall when necessary.
30.) Polynesian - Smino — Peak Smino can be a transcendent experience. This song, which is smooth as silk and so much fun to listen to, is a great example of that.
29.) MILLION DOLLAR BABY - Tommy Richman — This song was everywhere for a reason, and that reason is because it goes absolutely crazy. The beat rocks, Tommy’s delivery works perfectly over it, yeah I won’t overthink how much I enjoyed this one.
28.) Punish - Ethel Cain — A little bit different than the song before it. Ethel Cain does dread about as well as you could ask for on this song. It creates a bone-chilling listen with a big second half.
27.) NISSAN ALTIMA - Doechii — I have been buying up all the Doechii stock I can find over the past few months. “NISSAN ALTIMA” shows great technical ability, but above all, it shows Doechii’s massive personality that makes her such a unique presence in the rap game.
26.) Lithonia - Childish Gambino — Some of Donald Glover’s best vocal moments ever show up on this song. It’s beautifully performed and was a clear highlight in his latest album.
25.) Saturn - SZA — This list was made before the release of the rest of the deluxe album, but “Saturn” was plenty to appreciate this year. Lyrically it’s brutal, but sonically it’s the right amount of light and ethereal to make it all work.
24.) supernatural - Ariana Grande — Maybe not the most popular pick from this album, but “supernatural” was always the one that stuck with me. It’s just so damn catchy and the exact type of sound that works best for her vocals.
23.) Diet Pepsi - Addison Rae — I don’t know when this happened, but Addison Rae can make some excellent dream pop now. “Diet Pepsi” is so well done and makes me legitimately excited to see what else she can do in her music career.
22.) THE BADDEST - Joey Valence & Brae — Few musical moments brought me as much delight as JVB’s “NO HANDS” album, which is packed to the brim with bangers like this one. I’m grateful that it exists.
21.) Guilty as Sin? - Taylor Swift — “Tortured Poets” had highs and lows across its 30-plus tracks, but “Guilty as Sin?” was among the highest of highs for its solid execution of an interesting song concept.
20.) Like That - Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar — Hey this song became a little important! The beat is one of Metro Boomin’s best, and it features a Kendrick Lamar verse that was as good as it was significant.
19.) so american - Olivia Rodrigo — Even the “GUTS” bonus tracks end up near the top of a year-end list. “Obsessed” was a good option, but I lean “so american” for the upbeat tempo and Olivia’s delivery, which is packed with so much flair.
18.) Holy, Holy - Geordie Greep — Six-plus minutes of pure and utter chaos. It’s hard to have a coherent thought about a song like this, but it all manages to come together to make a frantic experience well worth your time.
17.) Soup - Remi Wolf — Very few are making better pop music than Remi Wolf right now. There’s just something about how Remi crafts a song that makes her a true standout in the genre.
16.) Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter — Every part of Sabrina Carpenter’s shot to superstardom this year felt so well deserved thanks to this song kicking it off. She’d released plenty of good material before this, but this song truly was as addictive as it was made out to be.
15.) 16 CARRIAGES - Beyoncé — The most underappreciated single to release this year if you ask me. “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” is a great song, but it was “16 CARRIAGES” that made me confident that Beyoncé was going to make a fantastic country album. It is so wonderfully performed, with an instrumental that works in its subtlety.
14.) either on or off the drugs - JPEGMAFIA — This is not the abrasive sound many know JPEG for, but it’s an extremely smooth, heartfelt song that somehow hits even harder than a lot of his best in that style.
13.) Oontz - MICHELLE — Need the MICHELLE breakout to come soon, it is so deserved. “Oontz” is an absolute blast of a track thanks to this group’s deeply infectious energy.
12.) Starburster - Fontaines D.C. — A real jaw-dropper of a song for me. Fontaines made an amazing album this year, but this song, from the instrumental to the deep breaths on the chorus to the intensity of the verses, it’s all so damn excellent.
11.) Midnight - James Blake and Lil Yachty — The production and performances here all create a spacey, out-of-this-world experience that has me floating away by the end. James Blake specifically brings it in the back half. This was the dream outcome from this duo.
10.) Girl, so confusing featuring lorde - Charli XCX and Lorde — Brat Summer was a phenomenon, and that’s because it was based off an album that was perfectly conceptualized from start to finish. Many songs there could have ended up on this list, but this remix made “BRAT” go from exciting album to something different. This Lorde addition completely shifts the vibe and message of the song to something positive, almost inspiring. It’s unlike really anything I’ve experienced in music before.
9.) Hope - Vampire Weekend — The plucky alternative duo came back in a huge way in 2024, and it’s the mega closer to their latest record that I’m ranking so highly. Lyrically, it’s simple and to the point, but it all works to drive the message home. The constant reminder of the chorus rang true for me more and more as the year went on.
8.) Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan — So much is bad in the world, but Chappell Roan’s rise to the top showed me good things can happen sometimes. Chappell has one of the best, most interesting voices I’ve ever heard, and this single showed me how much more room there is for her to grow in the next album.
7.) Ballon (ft. Doechii) - Tyler, The Creator — “CHROMAKOPIA” continued the, at this point, historically good run of Tyler albums, and despite many deeply emotional cuts that deserve credit, this silly little song is the one I could not get enough of. That wild beat, Tyler’s high-energy verse, the showstopping Doechii feature, it’s pure bliss.
6.) The Kill - Maggie Rogers — There’s something about this song man, it’s just fantastic in every way. I love the lyrics, the hook that changes perspective over the course of the song, all to a lovely instrumental behind it. Maggie’s voice glides across this track too. It may just be her best to date.
5.) BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Billie Eilish — Billie’s sound has developed in such a fantastic direction across her discography, and it makes a song as elegant and stunning as ‘BIRDS OF A FEATHER” hit even harder to think about where she’s come from. Billie continues to mold and craft music that makes her a special artist, and I’m glad this song found the acclaim it deserved.
4.) Cry for Me - Magdalena Bay — Consider this spot a placeholder for just about any song on Magdalena Bay’s magnum opus that is “Imaginal Disk.” When making this list, it was a “Cry for Me” day for the odyssey it takes the listener on. This song, like many on the record, is a special experience to listen to.
3.) Cheerleader - Porter Robinson — A masterpiece of a lead single to his latest album. “Cheerleader” has fascinating lyrics on the ideas of a parasocial relationship, it has a face-melting beat hit that is among my favorites that Porter has ever made, and his vocals have also never sounded better.
2.) Juna - Clairo — No one does it quite like Clairo right now in the soft pop realm. “Juna” is a career highlight for her though, and is just about the perfect mix of her vocals and a jazzy, soothing beat done brilliantly by Leon Michels.
1.) euphoria - Kendrick Lamar — There were numerous albums that came out this year that I believe will rank in my all-time favorites for a while. So many of my favorites in a variety of genres, and yet no one dominated 2024 like Kendrick Lamar did.
We know the beef by now. Kendrick Lamar came out victorious, then did some victory dances, then did a whole album that also completely ruled. There are so many songs from his that could go in this spot, and I could really hear an argument for any of the three major diss tracks.
To me, “euphoria” was the hit that set the tone for what was to come, and it also managed to be the song I listened to the most. “Not Like Us” was perfect for what it went for, as was “meet the grahams,” as was this one. But Kendrick completely annihilates Drake over six minutes of a wildly changing beat here, all while bringing multiple flows and making it thoroughly entertaining. It’s the perfect blend of humor and big hits in the lyrics while also being a great song that made it my favorite of the saga.
We will remember 2024 as Kendrick Lamar’s year, and “euphoria” will be the song I think of first out of the many to choose from.
Playlist Links: Apple Music | Spotify