2024 Rap Recap

2025 rap has been great so far. With artists such as Tyler, the Creator, Drake, Offset, J.I.D., Clipse, Travis Scott, Metro Boomin, and Playboi Carti all releasing albums, fans of the genre have been well-served. Let's examine the rap scene in 2024 to compare, contrast, and determine which year was better for rap.

We Don't Trust You - Future and Metro Boomin 

"We Don't Trust You" is an album by Future and produced by Metro Boomin, released on March 22, 2024. This album had great lyricism and production, with a late-night aesthetic. This album features The Weeknd, Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, Rick Ross, and Kendrick Lamar. This is also the album featuring the hit single “Like That,” which has garnered over 850 million streams on Spotify. This is also the single that started the beef between Drake and Kendrick, but we will get to that later. This album has over 2.5 billion streams on Spotify, making it the most-streamed rap album of the year. 

Chromokpia - Tyler, the Creator

"Chromakopia" is an album by Tyler, the Creator, where he opens up the most out of all his albums.  This album features some of his emotionally charged tracks, including "Darling I," "Take Your Mask Off," "Judge Judy," "Hey Jane," and the most-streamed song on the album, "Like Him," with 569 million streams on Spotify. This album was also the opposite of his last album, “Call Me If You Get Lost,” which had more of a happy upbeat vibe to it. This album started off with its rollout single, “Noid,” which was a great fusion of rock and rap music. Some of the album's biggest features were Doechi, Lil Wayne, Daniel Ceasar, Glorilla, and Teezo Touchdown. Overall, this is a great album to listen to, and I wouldn't be surprised if it earns the Grammy. 

Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar vs. J. Cole 

Easily the biggest highlight from last year's rap culture was the beef of the century. This was from three of the biggest names in music at the time, and deservingly so. Drake was known for making big songs that go, and both J. Cole and Kendrick were known for some of the best rhyming schemes ever seen in the culture. The beef all started with Kendrick on “Like That,” a single from Future and Metro Boomin's album. In his verse, he poked Drake and J.Cole, stating that he was the best rapper in the world at the time.

 Of course, like any sensible person, J. Cole and Drake weren’t just gonna sit there and take it. So Drake dropped the Track “Push Ups,” calling Kendrick short many times and even saying he wears a size 7 shoe. J. Cole also dropped a track titled "7 Minute Drill." In this track, he called Kendrick's 5x Grammy-winning “To Pimp a Butterfly” album mediocre and said he is long past his prime. However, a few days later, Cole proceeded to take down the single and publicly apologize to Kendrick about what he said. Many people laughed at Cole, calling him scared, but he foresaw something that we couldn't see for ourselves. A total massacre.

After a few days, Kendrick dropped the song "Euphoria," saying many things about Drake. He said he has plastic surgery on his abs, said he is the zestiest/fruitiest rapper to ever be, and said he doesn’t know how to raise his own son. This was a shocker to the community because what started as friendly fire turned into a maybe career-ending incident. Drake proceeded to drop the song “Family Matters,” which was overlooked because 5 minutes after Kendrick dropped the song “Meet the Grahms.” This song was so eerie and creepy. It sounded like stepping onto a murder scene. A few days later, Kendrick dropped his song “Not Like Us,” acting as a victory lap. The song now has over 1.7 billion streams on Spotify and is still played on the radio today.

American Dream - 21 Savage 

"American Dream" is 21 Savage's 3rd solo album in his career. This album is full of fun songs and great production, mainly done by Metro Boomin. The most popular song of this album is “redrum” with over 740 million streams on Spotify. Some of the featured artists on this album are Doja Cat, Summer Walker, Metro Boomin, Mariah the Scientist, Travis Scott, and Burna Boy.

GNX - Kendrick Lamar

"GNX" by Kendrick Lamar was released on November 22, 2024. It won an award at the MTA awards for best rap album of the year. It was released a few months after the release of the single “Not Like Us,” and many of the songs from the album were performed at the Super Bowl. The biggest song from this album is Luther feat. SZA has over a billion streams on Spotify. This album contains features from Roddy Rich, SZA, and Azckize. 

Those are all of the biggest beefs and albums from the 2024 rap season. Thanks for reading, and keep listening to music. 

Written By: Dhirenn Kumar

Edited By: John Stratton