HOWEVER YOU LISTENED TO MUSIC THIS YEAR, STREAMING, ON AN APP, OR THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY, 2024 WAS A YEAR THAT SAW BREAKTHROUGH ARTISTS, CHART TOPPING HITS, AND A RETURN OF SOME TOP-TIER LEGACY PERFORMERS.

STEPHANIE SY TAKES A LOOK AT THE MUSIC THAT HAD US HITTING REPEAT THIS YEAR.

STEPHANIE: 2024 SAW PEOPLE FLOCK TO MUSIC FESTIVALS IN GROWING NUMBERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO SEE THEIR FAVORITE PERFORMERS.

AND FEMALE ARTISTS TOOK OVER THE AIRWAVES, AS WELL AS OUR PLAYLISTS, BOOSTED BY CHART TOPPING HITS FROM THE LILIS OF BEYONCE, SABRINA CARPENTER, BILLIE EILISH, CHAPPELL ROAN, AND TAYLOR SWIFT.

WHILE BRITISH POP ARTIST CHARLI XCX HAD A BREAKOUT YEAR THANKS TO HER MASSIVE ALBUM, BRAT, THAT TOOK SOCIAL MEDIA BY STORM.

AT THE SAME TIME, THE IMPACT OF AI TECH THIS YEAR TOOK SOME BY SURPRISE, PRESENTING A NEW THREAT TO THE INCOME AND LIVELIHOOD OF MUSIC CREATORS.

TO UNPACK THE YEAR IN MUSIC, WE HAVE A FREELANCE MUSIC WRITER AND CRITIC, AND CANDACE MCDUFFIE, A SENIOR WRITER AT THE ROOT.

MAURA AND CANDICE, IT'S GREAT TO SEE YOU.

I HOPE YOU'VE HAD A GOOD YEAR.

BEFORE WE DRILL DOWN INTO THE BIG MUSIC NEWS THIS YEAR, I WANT TO GET BOTH OF YOU TO GIVE YOUR QUICK TAKES ON THE BEST MUSIC WE SAW IN 2024.

CANDICE: I THINK IN 2024, TWO ALBUMS REALLY STOOD OUT TO ME.

ONE OF THEM WAS BEYONCE'S COWBOY CARTER.

IT WAS RELEASED, I BELIEVE, IN MARCH, AND WITH IT SHE BECAME THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO TOP BILLBOARD'S TOP COUNTRY ALBUMS CHART SINCE THE CHART DEBUTED IN 1964.

CANDICE: THERE WERE GREAT COLLABORATIONS.

SHE REALLY PUT A SPOTLIGHT ON BLACK WOMEN IN COUNTRY, AND SHE REALLY BROKE DOWN SOME BARRIERS WHILE HAVING REALLY GOOD CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A BLACK COUNTRY ARTIST.

ANOTHER ALBUM THAT'S OUT TO ME WAS KENDRICK LAMAR'S GNX.

ON IT, HE NOT ONLY REAFFIRMED HIS POSITION AS A GREAT, TALENTED AND JUST REALLY AMAZING EMCEE.

HE ALSO WROTE A LOVE LETTER TO THE WEST COAST AND THAT HIP HOP SCENE AS WELL.

STEPHANIE: MAURA, WHAT ABOUT YOU?

MAURA: [00:03:00]WELL, BOTH OF CANDACE'S PICKS ARE GREAT.

I REALLY LOVED THE DEBUT FULL LENGTH BY THE BRITISH BAND ENGLISH TEACHER, WHO ARE DOING A SORT OF POST-PUNK THING.

♪ MAURA: IT'S A LOT OF REALLY TENSE, STRIVING, SORT OF LIKE DESPERATE MUSIC WITH GROOVES AND JAGGED GUITARS THERE.

THEIR RECORD WAS CALLED "THIS COULD BE TEXAS."

I LOVE BILLIE EILISH'S "HIT ME HARD AND SOFT."

THIS RECORD WAS REALLY COMPACT, WHICH KIND OF FLIES IN THE FACE OF STREAMING ERA LONG ALBUMS.

IT HAD SOME OF THE BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCES OF HER CAREER.

STEPHANIE: IN THAT POP GENRE, YOU ALSO HAD CHAPPELL ROAN AND ALSO SABRINA CARPENTER WITH A LOT OF HITS AS WELL.

I MEAN, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THAT GENRE?

SOME OF IT FEELS VERY THROWBACK TO ME, AND YET THESE ARTISTS ARE TOPPING THE CHARTS.

MAURA: I THINK THERE WAS DEFINITELY A LOT OF MOVEMENT ON THE CHART EARLIER THIS YEAR WITH A LOT OF NEW ARTISTS AND A LOT OF EXCITING SONGS BREAKING THROUGH.

CHAPPELL ROAN, HER RECORD LAST YEAR, THE RISE AND FALL OF MIDWEST PRINCESS.

THAT WAS LIKE TOP OF MY LIST LAST YEAR.

I THINK SHE AND SABRINA CARPENTER REPRESENTED A NEW ERA WHERE POP STARS COULD HAVE FUN AGAIN BECAUSE THERE WAS A LOT OF PO FACENESS GOING ON.

I THINK IN POP THE PAST, CERTAINLY THE 2010S WERE LIKE VERY, VERY DEPRESSING.

I FEEL LIKE THERE IS A NEW SPIRIT IN POP MUSIC THAT A LOT OF THESE ARTISTS AND SONGS THAT BROKE THROUGH THIS YEAR ARE REPRESENTING.

STEPHANIE: CANDACE, IN YOUR REALM AND YOU COVER A LOT OF BLACK MUSICIANS AND BLACK MUSIC.

WHERE DID YOU SEE GENRES EVOLVE, THE SYNTHESIS OF THE OLD AND THE NEW?

CANDICE: I THINK SHABOOZEY ALSO HAD A FANTASTIC YEAR.

FOR HIM TO MAKE HISTORY BY TYING LITTLE NAS X FOR THE LONGEST RUNNING NUMBER ONE SINGLE IN THE HISTORY OF THE BILLBOARD HOT 100 WAS A REALLY BIG DEAL.

AND THAT SONG, A BAR SONG, TIPSY CANDICE: IT WAS HIP HOP INSPIRED.

IT WAS AN INTERPRETATION OF JAY KWAN'S 2004 SINGLE, TIPSY, WHICH WAS A BIG COLLEGE ANTHEM.

IT IS ON THE OLDER SIDE.

♪ HIS ALBUM, THERE IS A LOT OF HIP HOP AND FUSION ON THAT PROJECT, AND IT WAS JUST SO BRILLIANTLY DONE.

I FEEL LIKE BLACK ARTISTS AND COUNTRY HAD A LOT OF VISIBILITY THIS YEAR, AND IT FELT LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR.

I THINK THE PERSONAS AND THEIR LOOKS AND, YOU KNOW, MIXING ALL THESE BEATS WAS JUST SO UNPREDICTABLE AND SO EXCITING IN THAT GENRE.

STEPHANIE: I WANT TO TALK ABOUT LIVE PERFORMANCE.

APPARENTLY LOLLAPALOOZA IS STILL A THING.

AND, OF COURSE, TAYLOR SWIFT ENDING HER ERAS TOUR.

FOR BOTH OF YOU, WHAT WERE STANDOUT LIVE PERFORMANCES?

MAURA: I SAW KACEY MUSGRAVES, WHO HAD A REALLY GREAT RECORD COME OUT THIS YEAR CALLED KEEPER WELL -- DEEPER WELL WHICH I LIKED QUITE A BIT.

AND BILLIE EILISH, SHE WAS, YOU KNOW, SHE HAD A SORT OF IN THE ROUND SET WHERE SHE WAS JUST THIS KIND OF BALL OF ENERGY CONSTANTLY.

IT WAS THIS RUSH OF ENERGY IN THE ROOM.

IT WAS REALLY SPECIAL.

STEPHANIE: THAT IS COOL.

CANDACE, WHAT ABOUT YOU?

ANY LIVE PERFORMANCES THAT STOOD OUT TO YOU THIS YEAR?

CANDICE: I THINK DOECHII HAD SEVERAL LIVE PERFORMANCES THAT WERE NOT ONLY JUST GROUNDBREAKING IN THEIR PRESENTATION, BUT JUST WENT VIRAL ONLINE.

HER PERFORMANCE AT CAMP FLOG GNAW, WHICH IS A MUSIC FESTIVAL IN CALIFORNIA, HELD BY TYLER THE CREATOR.

SHE WRAPPED THE ENTIRE SET, NO BACKING TRACK.

SHE TOOK HER SHOES OFF.

SHE WAS JUST SO MAGNETIC ON STAGE.

WE ALSO SAW HER PERFORM ON THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT.

♪ CANDICE: AND THEN THERE WAS THE NPR TINY DESK CONCERT PERFORMANCE.

♪ CANDICE: IT REALLY CELEBRATED NOT JUST BLACKNESS, BUT WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A DARK SKINNED BLACK WOMAN IN THIS INDUSTRY.

STEPHANIE: MY FINAL QUESTION, AND I KNOW IT WOULD NOT BE EASY FOR ME TO ANSWER, BUT FAVORITE SONG OF THE YEAR, MAURA.

YOU GO FIRST.

MAURA: MY FAVORITE SONG WAS BY THIS WOMAN NAMED JADE.

SHE WAS A MEMBER OF THE BRITISH GIRL GROUP LITTLE MIX, AND SHE PUT OUT HER SOLO SINGLE EARLIER THIS YEAR CALLED ANGEL OF MY DREAMS.

♪ AND IT'S JUST KIND OF THIS FEVER DREAM OF POP MUSIC AND HOUSE MUSIC.

AND HER VOICE IS FANTASTIC.

BUT IT'S ALSO KIND OF A VERY POINTED CRITIQUE OF THE STAR MAKING SYSTEM THAT SHE CAME OUT OF BECAUSE LITTLE MIX WAS A PRODUCT OF THE X FACTOR, THE BRITISH TV SHOW THAT ALSO PRODUCED ONE DIRECTION.

IT IS ONE OF THOSE SONGS THAT WHEN YOU LISTEN TO IT CLOSER, SHE'S TALKING ABOUT SOME THING KIND OF IMPORTANT, ALMOST HEROIN.

IT IS A WAY SINGLE.

CANDICE: MEGAN THEE STALLION'S BIGGER IN TEXAS.

♪ IT'S ONE OF THE BEST SONGS SHE'S EVER MADE.

I THINK THE VIDEO WAS A BEAUTIFUL ODE TO HOUSTON.

SHE LOOKS AMAZING.

CELEBRATING EVERYTHING SHE HAS ACCOMPLISHED DESPITE EVERYTHING SHE HAS BEEN THROUGH.

I THOUGHT IT WAS JUST REALLY A GREAT WAY FOR HER TO END THE YEAR.

STEPHANIE: CANDICE MCDUFFIE AND MAURA JOHNSTON.

WHAT A PLEASURE.

CANDICE: THANK YOU.