2024 so far has been an incredible year for music releases, concerts, festivals, and everything in between. In honor of being at the halfway point, Industry Plant is going to recount the most iconic music moments that happened.
Brat Summer
One of the most iconic album rollouts and pop culture moments occurring was Charli XCX’s brat. Leading off with lead single “Von dutch” (and the Addison Rae remix) and Sweat Tour announcement with peer Troye Sivan, the brat rollout was full of momentum. After the debut of the iconic “brat wall” in New York (Bushwick, Brooklyn in particular), San Francisco, and London coupled with a Boiler Room performance in the city of the former, the hype for brat just kept on building.
Upon the album’s release, brat became more than just an album: it became a cultural moment. From the brat generator website, to the announcement of deluxe album brat and it's the same but there's three more songs so it's not, “brat” evolved past Charli XCX’s fanbase to the internet embracing “brat summer.” From TikToks to “360” and “365” with “brat green” matcha lattes, to “let’s work it out on the remix via “The girl, so confusing version with Lorde”, brat is a music marketing masterclass and has created one of this year’s pop culture phenomenons.
This Ain’t Texas: Cowboy Carter
Everytime Beyoncé releases a project, it becomes a larger cultural moment of its own. COWBOY CARTER, the Part II of Beyoncé’s 3-part trilogy project starting with 2022’s RENAISSANCE is no exception, With Beyoncé announcing the album via Verizon Superbowl commercial coupled with singles “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” and “16 CARRIAGES”, the anticipation for the album was strong, with the former song gracing TikTok For You Pages the month leading up to the release. COWBOY CARTER is more than just a country album, but a Beyoncé album, and Beyoncé herself claims that it is not a “country album.”
This album explores Beyoncé paying homage to the history and roots of country, a genre built by Black artists and musicians, and her foray into this space which tried to reject “Daddy Lessons” off of “Lemonade” in 2016. Framed as a country radio show, COWBOY CARTER is one of this year’s most impactful and cohesive projects, and truly showcases Beyoncé celebrating her culture and identity by paying an homage to her Texas roots while not confining herself to a genre. Highlights of the album include “BODYGUARD”, “II MOST WANTED” featuring Miley Cyrus, and “BLACKBIIRD”, a cover of The Beatles song “Blackbird” with Black female country artists.
The Rise Of A Midwest Princess
One of the most talked about rising stars of 2024 is none other than Chappell Roan, “your favorite artist’s favorite artist.” As someone who discovered Chappell Roan when her monthly listeners on Spotify were in the 5 figures, seeing her meteoric rise coming off of opening for Olivia Rodrigo, her iconic Coachella performances, and smash-hit single “Good Luck, Babe” is incredible.
Chappell Roan is a phenomenon (or “Femininomenon”), with catchy and eccentric songs, her campy drag-inspired style and persona, and eye-catching branding which makes her stand out amongst pop music nowadays. From her no-skip album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, to the “HOT TO GO” dance stemming from a live performance tradition to a TikTok Trend and people doing it in public, Chappell Roan has cemented herself as an innovative pop music mainstay.
Straight From The Tortured Poets Department
If 2023 was the year of The Eras Tour, then Taylor Swift’s 2024 double album release of The Tortured Poets Department in between legs of her record-breaking tour feels like a victory lap. While this project appears to be more of her cathartic retelling of everything that happened as of recent, the album shattered Taylor’s own previous streaming records from her 2022 album Midnights, and is on pace to become her most commercially successful album of all time, let alone this year. After two months of its release, The Tortured Poets Department has already surpassed 4 billion streams on Spotify and is the most streamed album of 2024 so far. And yes, the double album, titled The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology was a surprise 2am drop of 15 additional songs after the release of The Tortured Poets Department.
I have previously covered this album on Industry Plant, and if you haven’t already listened, stream the 31 song project. Highlights include “Who’s Afraid Of Little Old Me”, “The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived”, and “So High School”, all which are on the eponymous Eras Tour setlist.
The Kendrick Lamar-Drake Feud
2024 also had a rap feud with two of the most successful rappers of this generation: Kendrick Lamar and Drake. Started by the coining of the rap “Big 3” by J-Cole consisting of himself, Kendrick, and Drake respectively, and continued with former long time collaborator of Drake’s Metro Boomin and Kendrick rebuking that claim on March 2024 track “Like That”, and followed by a series of diss tracks going back and forth between Drake and Kendrick, the feud was one for the ages.
The back and forth responses between Kendrick and Drake got personal, with accusations from both sides coming out in Kendrick’s tracks “Meet The Grahams” after Drake released “Family Matters” as a response to diss-tracks “Euphoria” and “6:16 In LA” targeted towards Drake. Yet “Not Like Us”, a Kendrick Lamar masterclass diss targeted towards Drake became the commercial success of the battle topping the Billboard Hot 100, and propelled by Kendrick’s well-written rap verses, the general public consensus declared Kendrick the winner. This rap battle was more than just a feud between two of the most successful rappers currently: this rap battle is transcendent of culture, Hip-hop, and socio-economic identity. Kendrick even took a victory lap by performing “Not Like Us” 6 times for his Juneteenth concert in LA.
Women In Music Roundup
2024 so far has truly been a standout year for women in music. Alongside previously mentioned albums, female artists are continuously releasing noteworthy projects, including Ariana Grande’s eternal sunshine, Dua Lipa’s Radical Optimism, Billie Eilish’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT, Gracie Abrams’s The Secret Of Us, and Kacey Musgraves’s Deeper Well. More female artists also have upcoming releases for the second half of 2024, including Lana Del Rey’s Lasso and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n ‘Sweet. The latter builds off of two successful lead singles from Sabrina, “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” “Espresso”, along with “Good Luck, Babe” are frontrunners for Song Of The Summer.
2024 has also given us incredible all-female collaborations: “Florida!!!” with Taylor Swift and Florence + The Machine, multiple songs off of Beyoncé’s COWBOY CARTER including with Dolly Parton, Miley Cyrus, Linda Martell, Tanner Adell, Brittney Spencer, Tiera Kennedy, and Reyna Roberts, “us.” with Gracie Abrams and Taylor Swift, “Girl, so confusing version with Lorde” with Charli XCX and Lorde, “Spin” with Megan Thee Stallion and Victoria Monet, and Ariana Grande’s “yes, and?” with Mariah Carey and “the boy is mine” with Brandy and Monica. These examples are ones among many that truly encompass the year that women in music have had so far.
Ones To Watch
2024 has become a breakthrough year for some artists, and there are some more up-and-coming acts to keep your eyes out for. Shaboozey, a Beyoncé co-writer and collaborator, made waves with his viral country hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”, a re-imagining of “Tipsy” by J-Kwon. Daniel Allan with house track “I Just Need” has been on repeat and I can see him making a breakthrough in the house music scene, especially as he opens for Louis The Child this summer. The Last Dinner Party is a British indie rock band you have to have on your radar, and are starting to develop a cult-following, so I highly recommend checking them out before they become the next big thing.
Other Highlights
So much new music has come out over these past 6 months, and I wanted to highlight the other diamonds of the 2024 music season not already covered. Here are more of my standout tracks, albums, and music moments of the first half of 2024:
Olivia Rodrigo released GUTS (spilled) in March 2024 with 5 new songs. Standouts included GUTS tour setlist favorite “obsessed” and love song “so american.”
Post Malone has been collaborating with everyone: ranging from “Fortnight” with Taylor Swift, to “LEVII’S JEANS” with Beyoncé, to “I Had Some Help” with Morgan Wallen. Not to mention, Post Malone is coming out with a new country album F-1 Trillion in August and embarking on a tour to support it.
Lana Del Rey’s Coachella set was one for the history books: starting with her motorcycle entrance, and special performances with Billie Eililsh Week 1 and Camilla Cabello Week 2.
Noah Kahan released the song “Forever” in February 2024 after teasing it for months, accompanying Stick Season (Forever), a new deluxe version of Stick Season with all of his collaborations.
John Summit has continued to build momentum off of 2023 hit “Where You Are.” He released the track “Shiver” in February 2024 with Hayla and has had a multitude of iconic sets both on the festival circuit and at venues such as MSG.
Fred again… has been doing legendary pop-up shows at iconic venues, including at the Sydney Opera House and LA Memorial Coliseum.
Zach Bryan’s new album The Great American Bar Scene comes out July 4th. This follows up his ongoing tour and lead single “Pink Skies.”
Lizzy McAlpine released her LP Older in April, and this new album is a shift to a more mature direction in her music.
Tinashe released the viral hit “Nasty” in April 2024, and "is somebody gonna match my freak” has evolved from a lyric to a full-on pop culture moment and meme.
Overall, 2024 has been an exciting year for music and I cannot wait to see what’s to come for the rest of the year! Check out all of these artists mentioned here on this playlist.
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