Of course it was remarkable how singer Taylor Swift underlined her hegemony in pop music worldwide this year. Just when you thought the numbers couldn’t get any more extraordinary, Swift finally blew everyone away; she was the highest earning artist, most listened to and most sold. And there were Adele’s megalomaniacal, full-fat Vegas-style shows. Another established name also caused a stir: Beyoncé kicked the glass roof off the country loft with her all-encompassing black country soul record Cowboy Carter. But the conservative country world continued to exclude her.
Yet pop year 2024 is mainly about brat and queer, about the rise of a range of self-confident young pop women who gently but decisively push aside the established order. Alternative trailblazers such as the idiosyncratic Charli And sweeter: no one can ignore Sabrina Carpenter – with her cheeky ‘Espresso’ the most streamed song of the year – and Gracie Abrams. Both thanks to the support of La Swift.
It was noisy in hip-hop. It was a year of American rap wars (Kendrick Lamar and Drake) – a ‘Hip-hop’s civil war’, according to the American Billboard. Which gave Lamar the win with his sharp record. Meanwhile, the power of rap moguls P. Diddy, Kanye West and now Jay-Z is collapsing under a flood of accusations.
Hip-hop is also a leading trend in the Netherlands, as proven by Afro-pop influences PinkSummer from Frenna as the most streamed album, and the strong records from Sticks and Fresku. But here too we saw pop women such as Eefje de Visser, Froukje, S10, Bente and certainly Roxy Dekker strengthen their positions this year. Good records, good performances and much, much streaming success.
And then there are the comebacks. In the Netherlands there was the return of the bands Kane, JOHAN, Daryll-Ann and Zwart Licht. Internationally, artists such as The Cure, Oasis, Linkin Park, Janet Jackson, Manu Chao, Kylie Minogue, Usher, and yes, Jennifer Lopez made themselves heard again. Although nostalgia is a pervasive trend among music fans worldwide, not all reunions turned out to be a success.
10. Left Right (Snollebollekes)
High in the playlists on Spotify in several countries. Rob Kemps and his bouncing, cartoonish alter ego Snollebollekes didn’t see that coming either. Seven years after the song came out, the track suddenly went viral again. The new swing came from the European Football Championship in Germany and the cheering crowd. The images of the Orange Madness during the fan walks to the stadium: priceless. Even the The New York Times noted: “An iconic part.”
9. Mas Que Nada (Sergio Mendes)
“Oooooaaaariiiiiá raiô. Oba! Oba! Oba!” The bossa nova of Sérgio Mendes, who died this year, found a wide audience with the world hit ‘Mas Que Nada’. Originally written by Jorge Ben Jor in 1963, Sérgio Mendes & Brasil ’66’s version became a sunny Brazilian classic in 1966, with English-Portuguese vocals and a jazzy piano note. The song made a comeback in 2006, when it was given a second summer hit life by the popular hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas. In memory of Mendes: don’t forget his sultry ‘Magalenha’.
8. Not Like Us (Kendrick Lamar)
Boiling point in the great rapper war between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. The feud between the two rappers became world news as ‘Hiphop’s Civil War’, the biggest feud in hip hop since Tupac and Biggie. In terms of content, the diss tracks that were passed back and forth became increasingly personal. In Lamar’s layered, all-stream record-breaking ‘Not Like Us’, his roots (Los Angeles and especially the Comptom slum) were celebrated and great black unease was identified. At the same time, rival Drake was verbally trashed for pointing out his alleged sexual misconduct.
7. A Bar Song (Shaboozey)
It won’t be long before ‘A Bar Song’ will reach a billion streams. The country pop honky-tonk hit by crossover artist Shaboozey (Collins Obinna Chibueze), for which he borrowed the hip-hop track ‘Tipsy’ by J-Kwon (2003), gained star status. He has been at number one in the American Billboard Hot 100 for more than eighteen weeks. Not only is a record in sight, but also a Grammy.
6. Beautiful Things (Benson Boone)
Eye-catching performer with the right portions showy poses, intense looks and athletic jumps broke through with this intense, intense sing-along. American singer Benson Boone (21) became known through TikTok and his participation in American Idol. ‘Beautiful Things’ became his pop rocket with a burst of cunning melodrama on the piano, only to be shot off with a rocky climax.
5. Europapa (Joost Klein)
Joyful Eurodance song that gradually turned into happy hardcore from the nineties was this year’s striking entry from the Netherlands for the Eurovision Song Contest. Artist Joost Klein combined retro love and personal suffering as a playful party act. The Frisian rebel was a top favorite in Europe – until an indictment allowed him to leave Sweden through the back door and everything became one big Eurodeception.
4. Freedom (Beyonce & Kendrick Lamar)
‘Freedom’ by Beyoncé and rapper Kendrick Lamar, released in 2016, became the official one campaign issue of presidential candidate Kamala Harris. The powerful soul anthem became a steamy, bona fide anthem against oppression, discrimination and racism. Based on Beyoncé’s exclamation “Freedom! Freedom!” Harris made her promises. With the combative bouncer: “Hey! I’ma keep running. ‘Cause a winner don’t quit on themselves.”
3. Apple (Charli XCX)
Thanks to Charli XCX and her bright green album Brat it became a ‘Brat summer’. Which means something like: nice and unruly, quite brutal, in both messy looks as a ‘brat’ way of life – the term even briefly appeared in politics. Charli XCX discovers in the upbeat that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in her family on a personal note ‘Apple’. It became a huge viral TikTok hit – including juicy Apple-dance for the whole family.
2. Good Luck, Babe! (Chappell Roan)
It was also definitely the year of edgy and extravagant Midwestern princess Chappell Roan from Missouri. With her poppy sing-along songs about queer love, she has quickly been catapulted towards mainstream stardom. With ‘Good Luck, Babe!’ she delicately and viciously waved at an ex. But also her ‘Hot To Go!’ was not to be missed this year with its funny cheerleader choreographie.
1. Espresso (Sabrina Carpenter)
Home run after home run, Bardot-style singer Sabrina Carpenter hit the ready-to-wear pop hit arena this year. Her polished ‘Espresso’ set the tone (now played one and a half billion times on Spotify): the tightly conceived, cheeky and catchy earworm became the soundtrack of the summer. A person lying awake on a scorching hot night („Say you can’t sleep, baby, I know. That’s that me espresso”). Irresistible too, that sentence: “I can’t relate to despair. My give-a-fucks are on vacation.”