(From left to right) Top Row: “Eternal Sunshine” by Ariana Grande (vinyl & signed CD), “The Tortured Poets Department” by Taylor Swift, “Brat” by Charli XCX, “Am I Okay?” by Megan Moroney (signed); Bottom Row: “Short ‘n Sweet” by Sabrina Carpenter, “Harlequin” by Lady Gaga, and “Wicked: the Soundtrack” by Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, and the “Wicked” Movie Cast; all released in 2024. The Xavierite
2024 was something of a pop renaissance. I have no doubt that this will be a year that will stand out among others as a massively successful year for pop music.
For decades, pop was the center of the music world, especially in the United States; however, I’ve noticed around the most recent turn of the decade, the music industry began to see a shift in which genres were generating the most attention from listeners.
For a couple years, I saw pop music be widely criticized as “shallow” and “basic” by many, as pop songs were the mainstream songs for so long. At the same time, rap and indie, from my observation, became more-so the front runners of the music industry, whereas pop was put on the backburner.
As of recent, thankfully, pop has made its way back into the mainstream world, and is a genre that people have grown to love and appreciate again. Out of all the many new hits that made it to my Apple Music library this year, these ten are for sure ones that will bring back fond memories of 2024:
- “Diet Pepsi” – Addison Rae
This track was number one on my Apple Music Replay this year, which comes at no shock to me as it was definitely one of my main go-tos.
This single, Rae’s first in three years, took the world by storm back in August, solidifying the former social media influencer’s status as a legit pop star.
Diet Pepsi was Rae’s first song as a solo artist to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at 54.
- “Espresso” – Sabrina Carpenter
I think this one was stuck in all our heads at one point or another, whether we liked it or not. This song was absolutely everywhere, inescapable from our ears this past summer. It is one that also, undoubtedly, propelled Carpenter into mainstream stardom.
The first single from Carpenter’s “Short ‘n Sweet,” “Espresso” proved to be positively sensational, its presence captivating audiences and bombarding radio stations worldwide.
“Espresso” didn’t win “Song of the Summer” at the VMAs this year; however, it was nominated for the category, and it did win “Song of the Year” nonetheless.
- “Supernatural” – Ariana Grande
The night “Eternal Sunshine” came out, I predicted “Supernatural” would more than likely become my favorite track off the album. Surely enough, it still is one of my go-tos on the album, and was one of the first off the record that I found myself listening to by itself after my first few listen-throughs.
This is one of the songs off the album that I think would have performed well as a single (possibly could have even replaced “Yes, And?” as the lead single, but I digress). Though it was never released as one, there is a remix of the song featuring Troye Sivan that was released with the “slightly deluxe” version of “Eternal Sunshine.”
- “Aquamarine” – Addison Rae
Coming just two months after “Diet Pepsi,” Rae put the few doubts that were left regarding her musical abilities to rest with “Aquamarine.”
Though the song stands perfectly well on its own, the music video and the choreography in it really brought the song together for me.
Rae, too, released a remix of “Aquamarine,” featuring Venezuelan musician Arca, called “Arcamarine.”
- “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” – Ariana Grande
Released as a single the same day as Grande’s seventh album “Eternal Sunshine,” “We Can’t Be Friends” is definitely my favorite single from the album.
The song tells a story that, in some respects, parallels that of the film “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” hence the album title. The music video shows Grande going to what looks like some sort of neuroscientist to get her memories of a past lover wiped from her brain, quite similar to the plot of the 2004 film.
- “The Boy is Mine” – Ariana Grande
Heavily inspired by the 1998 R&B hit by Brandy and Monica with the same title, Grande, too, made a remix of this track with the former musical duo as an ode to the 90s classic.
“The Boy is Mine,” according to what Grande stated in an interview with Zach Sang, is also loosely inspired by a leaked song of Grande’s, a jingle which Grande herself said she hates, entitled “Fantasize.” Fans really loved it, and the track somewhat resembled a 90s R&B song, so Grande made a song that was somewhat similar to it.
I, personally, agree with Grande’s stance on “Fantasize,” and much prefer “The Boy is Mine.”
- “Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)” – Taylor Swift
The debut single off Swift’s newest project, “The Tortured Poets Department,” this was a song I was greatly looking forward to, and one that I was not disappointed by.
This somber, somewhat eerie track was one I greatly anticipated before its release, and I think it was a perfect choice on Swift’s end to be the first single from “The Tortured Poets Department.”
- “So High School” – Taylor Swift
Despite that one cringey line in which she rhymes “ball” with “Aristotle,” this was one “Anthology” track from “The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology” that I found myself listening to on repeat.
- “Von Dutch A.G. Cook Remix featuring Addison Rae” – Charli xcx
The “Von Dutch” remix is another one I absolutely could not scrap from my queue list for months. It was big on TikTok at the time of its release, which is how I discovered it.
This track was the first I’d ever heard of Addison Rae’s music as well.
- “Make You Mine” – Madison Beer
The last track on my list is one I found months after its initial success. “Make You Mine” released all the way back in February, and though I vaguely knew of it, I hadn’t really given it much attention until this fall, when I had stumbled upon it on TikTok.
I have known who Madison Beer is since middle school, but have never seen a song of hers skyrocket quite like this one did. It is nice to see someone achieve such success who has been in the industry for a while, and finally get recognized widely as a talented artist.
“Make You Mine” is even nominated under “Best Dance Pop Recording” at this coming Grammy Awards,
Overall, this year was absolutely insane in terms of pop music. I feel that we as a society are learning to appreciate the simple, bubbly “pop girl anthem” again, which greatly warms my heart and gives me hope for the music industry.