Round this time two years in the past at Billboard, we have been all asking: The place are the brand new hits?
By means of the primary few months of 2022, the Billboard Sizzling 100 was stocked nearly solely with holdovers from 2021 and even 2020 or earlier, with completely new music in valuable quick provide within the chart’s high tiers. Reduction ultimately got here that month within the type of Harry Types’ on the spot runaway smash “As It Was,” after which as April turned to Could, through new albums by Future, Dangerous Bunny and Kendrick Lamar. However it nonetheless felt just like the yr was enjoying catch-up, like at midyear 2022 was nonetheless solely simply correctly getting began.
Suffice to say, we can be having no such issues in 2024. Simply over 4 months into the yr, we have already got so many big-ticket releases, breakout hits of all sizes, and off-court drama from lots of pop music’s primaries, that it appears like we’d want the remainder of the calendar this yr simply to catch our breath.
Whereas in previous years this decade — 2022 was probably the most excessive instance, however ’20, ’21 and ’23 definitely had doldrums of their very own for pop followers to climate — it felt like pop’s greatest and brightest largely spent the early months biding their time, feeling out the yr earlier than becoming a member of the fray, this yr appears like everybody leaping within the pool directly. It’s an thrilling (if sometimes overwhelming) time to be a music fan, simply probably the most thrilling we’ve seen but this decade.
Let’s begin with the record of A-list artists who’ve already launched solely new albums by Could 9: Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande, Ye & Ty Dolla $ign, Future & Metro Boomin (twice!), J. Cole and Dua Lipa. (Relying in your “A-list” definition, you might additionally probably throw Usher, Justin Timberlake and Kacey Musgraves on that record as properly.) Hell, you might in all probability reduce the record after the second title and the purpose would nonetheless stand: Any yr the place you get new units by Beyoncé (Cowboy Carter) and Taylor Swift (The Tortured Poets Division) — the 2 most celebrated pop stars on the earth proper now — earlier than Memorial Day, you’re in all probability off to a reasonably quick begin. And each units have been huge, world-building, culture-conquering affairs, with enormous Sizzling 100-topping lead singles and no scarcity of important and fan discourse over their deeper implications.
However Bey and Taylor weren’t the one superstars on that record to come back right to date in 2024. In a slower yr, Grande’s Everlasting Sunshine and its Sizzling 100-topping singles “Sure, And?” and “We Can’t Be Pals” may nonetheless be dominating the tradition following its early March launch, with the set drawing a few of her strongest evaluations to this point and her greatest first-week numbers of the last decade to date. Ye re-emerged following deserved backlash to his anti-semitic feedback (amongst different controversies) with Vultures 1, his most fan-celebrated album since 2016’s The Lifetime of Pablo, and its lead single “Carnival,” which was his largest pop hit in even longer. And naturally, Future and Metro have topped the Billboard 200 and owned the weekend twice already this yr with their We Don’t Belief You and We Nonetheless Don’t Belief You associate units, additionally spawning a three-week Sizzling 100 No. 1 within the former set’s lead single “Like That.”
Talking of “Like That”: That Kendrick Lamar-assisted chart-topper primarily knocked the hip-hop world off its traditional axis, kicking off the back-and-forth with Drake that has by some means managed to overshadow every part else that’s gone on in widespread music to date this yr. J. Cole responded first to Lamar’s pot-stirring “Like That” verse, on his lukewarmly acquired May Delete Later mixtape and its closing “7 Minute Drill,” earlier than publicly bowing out of the meat and deleting “Drill” from streaming companies. However Drake was decided to get his cash’s value: He responded with each the leaked “Push Ups” and the social media-released “Taylor Made Freestyle” — which featured unlicensed, AI-generated visitor verses “from” West Coast legends Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur, and was ultimately taken down upon menace of authorized motion from the Shakur property.
The meat has naturally solely escalated from there, additionally roping in hitmakers starting from Rick Ross to The Weeknd, and ultimately being taken to the following stage by Lamar. He dropped the excoriating “Euphoria” final Tuesday (Apr. 30), after which adopted that with a trio of Drake disses over the weekend (Could 3-5): “6:16 in L.A.,” “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us,” the final of which is now on its method to not solely being the most important tune from the feud, however one of many largest songs of the yr, or of both rapper’s profession. Drake dropped two songs of his personal over that interval, within the formally launched “Household Issues” and the YouTube-only “The Coronary heart Half 6” — although with Lamar’s anthems now primarily smothering him from all sides, the battle has largely been determined for Kendrick within the courtroom of public opinion. Nonetheless, debate over the particulars of the meat (and who had taken the lead and/or fallen behind) completely dominated dialogue for the final month and a half following “Like That,” not only for hip-hop or pop followers, however throughout all of widespread tradition, whereas additionally producing a handful of instant-classic tracks.
The Kendrick-Drake feud has been the most important in music this yr, however it wasn’t the primary. The stage was set for that blockbuster beef by the January back-and-forth between Megan Thee Stallion, whose “Hiss” was thought to have subliminals geared toward rap rival Nicki Minaj (in addition to further lyrics assumed to be pictures at Drake and different rap-world figures), and which impressed a response observe (along with a number of social media discuss) from Minaj within the type of “Massive Foot.” The fallout from that beef was largely contained to the discharge week of the 2 tracks, however it helped Megan safe her first-ever solely solo Sizzling 100 No. 1 for “Hiss,” and customarily established the aggressive tone for hip-hop amongst its largest 2024 artists.
“Hiss” and “Not Like Us” are additionally examples of how widespread music’s largest artists haven’t essentially wanted full releases to make an affect to date in 2024. SZA, our employees’s No. 2 Best Pop Star of 2023, additionally poked her head again out together with her new single “Saturn” — supposedly a preview of her upcoming Lana mission, whose launch date stays TBD — which debuted within the Sizzling 100’s high 10 in March and continues to be hanging across the area months later. Olivia Rodrigo kicked off one of many yr’s most-anticipated excursions with the Guts World Tour, her first-ever enviornment trek, making information each for a few of the tour’s particular company and for the brand new (Spilled) deluxe version of her 2023 Guts album, which has already spawned one other high 20 hit for her in reside favourite “Obsessed.” Lana Del Rey, Tyler, the Creator and Doja Cat all headlined Coachella for the primary time. Luke Combs had a serious Grammy second with Tracy Chapman. Zach Bryan is bringing out everybody from Bruce Springsteen to Sexyy Crimson for his reside encores. Just about all of the artists who’ve outlined the ’20s so far have been within the combine by hook or by crook in 2024.
However the true cause 2024 has been so thrilling, even past all these recognizable names displaying up and displaying out, is the equally spectacular record of rising stars who’ve made their mark on the yr to date.
Música Mexicana phenom Xavi started the yr with two songs already climbing the highest 100, and many extra seemingly to come back. Teddy Swims and Benson Boone have compelled high 40 to make room for giant soulful vocals and even greater screaming guitar, with their crossover smashes “Lose Management” and “Lovely Issues,” respectively. Alt-rock has seen its fortunes revived on the chart via Djo’s psych-leaning “Finish of Starting” and Artemas’ darkwave-inspired “I Like It When You Kiss Me,” each shock high 20 Sizzling 100 hits. Even longtime cult favourite Hozier, a decade faraway from his breakout hit “Take Me to Church,” is now again with a somehow-even-bigger hit: “Too Candy,” lifted to No. 1 by good TikTok buzz and the at the moment rising tides of alt-folk and soul-pop.
Even within the midst of the Taylor and Drake/Kendrick takeovers, Shaboozey and Tommy Richman have seemingly come out of nowhere to attain breakthrough hits which can be genuinely competing with the superstars’ new singles, in nation anthem “A Bar Music (Tipsy)” and hip-hop/R&B singalong “Million Greenback Child,” respectively, each already high 5 Sizzling 100 hits. In the meantime, extra regional hits from the likes of Money Cobain and J.P. haven’t but crossed over sufficient to make a lot of a nationwide chart affect, however are serving to to outline the sound of the golf equipment and the tradition on the extent slightly below the mainstream.
For a couple of of those breakout artists, the success has been a very long time coming. Sexyy Redd constructed up momentum for many of 2023 with viral hits “Pound City” and “SkeeYee” — culminating in a characteristic look on Drake’s For All of the Canines No. 11 hit “Wealthy Child Daddy” — however she’s taken it to a brand new stage this yr together with her first solo high 20 hit, the dancefloor shout-along “Get It Sexyy.” Glorilla has taken an analogous path to solo success together with her personal self-referencing smash “Yeah Glo!,” whereas additionally becoming a member of forces with Megan Thee Stallion for the chart-storming “Wanna Be.” Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan have been pop favorites with important acclaim disproportionate to their precise high 40 presence — however following opening slots on Taylor Swift’s and Olivia Rodrigo’s latest excursions, they’ve each seen raised profiles and better ranges of crossover stardom with new singles “Espresso,” and “Good Luck Babe!,” respectively, each all however certain to continue to grow into the warm-weather months.
The sheer quantity of spectacular hits to date this yr might be seen within the quantity of turnover on the Sizzling 100 — significantly within the high spot, the place nobody tune has reigned for greater than three consecutive weeks (“Like That,” once more). We’ve already seen 11 totally different songs high the Sizzling 100 throughout the primary 19 chart weeks, in comparison with seven final yr and simply six in 2022. Each of these years noticed a No. 1 hit reign for 15+ weeks seemingly nearly by default: “As It Was” and Morgan Wallen’s “Final Night time” didn’t dominate as a result of they stored discovering new methods to infiltrate popular culture (a la Lil Nas X with “Previous City Highway”), however just because the competitors often simply wasn’t sturdy sufficient throughout the board to constantly threaten their supremacy. This yr, with every part that’s been occurring, it appears unlikely that both tune would even get to double-digit weeks on high.
It’s arduous to say why a lot is occurring proper now, as the explanations behind practically each breakout story are totally different. And it’d in all probability be facile to easily attribute it to pop music as soon as once more being Totally Exterior, breaking out of its post-shutdown droop and roaring again with quite a few artists who have been hesitant to rejoin a compromised music world now as soon as once more absolutely engaged. However definitely, it feels just like the 2020s are discovering their very own distinct musical identification a bit of — after a primary few yr largely stuffed with callback hits and sonic leftovers from previous eras — and 2024 is arguably the primary yr of the last decade that feels solely like its personal factor, with out being caught within the hangover of the primary main streaming growth of the 2010s, or nonetheless mired within the COVID quicksand. TikTok continues to be the best promotional accelerant in music, however more and more it feels just like the app is pouring gasoline on fires that artists have already began, merely providing well-liked songs further publicity via word-of-mouth spreading, relatively than spawning self-made hits via viral dance challenges and influencer button-pushing. For lack of a greater phrase, all of the hits really feel actual.
Whatever the causes, it’s been a transfixing begin to the yr in widespread music, with main contributions seemingly coming from all totally different corners of the music world, and from all totally different ranges of artists. And what’s extra, it doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime quickly: This Friday brings with it a brand new album from Gunna, a brand new mixtape from Future and a brand new single from Submit Malone and Morgan Wallen, the latter being arguably the most important remaining recording artist in up to date music who we haven’t heard a lot new from this yr. After which the week after, it’s time for Billie Eilish’s much-hyped Hit Me Exhausting and Delicate album, her first full-length set to reach with no advance singles. Get your relaxation days in the place you may and perhaps hope for a little bit of a summer time trip in a pair months, as a result of it doesn’t appear to be pop goes to be taking it simple on us anytime within the close to future — we’re exhausted, however elated.
