Month: June 2024

People seem to be having fun with all the beef that’s been hanging over our heads lately, but isn’t all this hate exhausting? It would do us good to focus on positivity, so let’s embrace the occasion that is the midpoint of 2024 and do just that, by reflecting on some of the year’s best albums so far.

Icons like Ariana Grande and Beyoncé put out fresh work that stands among their finest. Newcomers like Tyla and MK.Gee successfully started carving out their own lanes with debut releases. Folks between those two extremes also came through with projects that will ultimately end up defining a packed year of music.

Do you feel like you’ve missed a lot this year? Or like you just want to see what your friends at Uproxx have liked most over the past few months? Either way, check out our alphabetized list of 2024’s best albums to date below.

21 Savage — American Dream

21 Savage’s first solo album in over three years arrived at the top of the year to end a brief run of collaborative albums that included Savage Mode II with Metro Boomin and Her Loss with Drake. American Dream, his third solo album, presents all the sides of 21 Savage that we’ve come to love over the years. His menacing demeanor lives on tracks like “Redrum” and “Dangerous” and his charm is captured on “Prove It” and “Should’ve Wore A Bonnet” while honesty prevails with “Just Like Me” and “Dark Days.” 21 Savage’s long-awaited solo return checks all the expected boxes and elevates the rapper to a higher status, making an American Dream turn global and reach his birthplace of London where he performed for the first time at the end of 2023. — Wongo Okon

Adrianne Lenker — Bright Future

In 20 years we’re all going to look back at Adrianne Lenker’s songwriting run in the late 2010s and early 2020s as one of the great creative outbursts of this era. Lenker writes so many songs — and so many great songs — that she’s had to work outside of her otherwise prolific band Big Thief to accommodate them all. Bright Future is an undeniably impressive achievement by an artist who is increasingly willing to work without a net (or much refinement, for better or worse). There are some fantastic tunes here (“No Machine,” “Already Lost”) as well as plenty of fascinating experiments. — Steven Hyden

Ariana Grande — Eternal Sunshine

Ariana Grande internalized Glinda The Good Witch to concoct Eternal Sunshine, which could accurately be called Eternal Dopamine. Grande cleverly captured a complicated relationship arc (or two) — alluding to her recent divorce and new love without exploiting either. Eternal is bookended by Grande’s uncertainty (“How can I tell if I’m in the right relationship?”) and Grande’s beloved Nonna’s wisdom (“Never go to bed without kissing goodnight”). The Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” and its video recreating Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind solidify that Grande (and Max Martin) executed a magical concept album. — Megan Armstrong

Ayra Starr — The Year I Turned 21

On her second album The Year I Turned 21, Nigerian singer Ayra Starr is as much of the same singer as she is a different one compared to debut 19 & Dangerous. Her youth and free-spirit are still ever-present on the songs that make up The Year I Turned 21, which also introduces a new level of self-awareness. Her sophomore album is a coming of age story that captures the young singer embracing adulthood as much as she welcomes stardom. True to her name, Ayra Starr was made for this moment and she takes it on fully while letting go of the things holding her back. She discards an inadequate relationship on “Goodbye (Warm Up)” with Asake and expels bad energy from nearby on “Commas” and “Bad Vibes” with Seyi Vibes. “Woman Commando” with Coco Jones and Anitta puts women in the lead position while “Last Heartbreak Song” with Giveon puts an end to the tears brought forth by a one-sided relationship. With The Year I Turned 21, Ayra begins a new era that will surely be one to remember. — W.O.

Benny The Butcher — Everybody Can’t Go

Benny The Butcher’s Def Jam debut didn’t usher a change in style or approach for the Buffalo rapper. If anything, his new home allowed him to more comfortably do what we’ve seen him excel at for much of the last decade. On Everybody Can’t Go, Benny puts up a fine display of rapper alongside Lil Wayne on the haunting “Big Dog” all to deliver a riveting and championing tale of a double life on “One Foot In” with Stove God Cooks. “Pillow Talk & Slander” with Jadakiss and Babyface Ray unites different generations of rap for a moment of introspection and celebration. Everybody Can’t Go opens a new era for Benny and promises many more bright moments to accompany the ones he put forth years prior. — W.O.

Beyoncé — Cowboy Carter

Cowboy Carter became Beyoncé’s eighth No. 1 album and produced 23 Billboard Hot 100 charters — including “Texas Hold ‘Em,” “II Most Wanted” with Miley Cyrus, and “Jolene” in the top 10. More significantly, Cowboy Carter serves as Beyoncé’s magnificent declaration that she should never have been the first-ever Black woman to lead Billboard‘s Top Country Albums chart. The 27-track masterpiece is an ode to Black artists excluded from a genre built on their backs, like Linda Martell, and an invitation for young Black country artists (Brittney Spencer, Shaboozey, Tanner Adell, Tiera Kennedy) to join her in standing boldly — unshakably — in their artistry. — M.A.

Billie Eilish — Hit Me Hard And Soft

Hit Me Hard And Soft feels like Billie Eilish’s awakening from a five-year-long slog since debuting with When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?. With mature clarity, she needed just 10 songs. And maybe the highest compliment to Eilish and Finneas’ artistic genius? Depth wasn’t sacrificed for brevity. Yeah, all 10 charted on the Billboard Hot 100, led by the control-hungry, lustful “Lunch” at No. 5. But the album’s brilliance is best illustrated by “Blue,” a career-long-gestating song that cleverly references every Hit Me track to close out a cohesive statement of an album in a time defined by excessive hodgepodge. — M.A.

Bryson Tiller — Bryson Tiller

Bryson Tiller told Complex that his self-titled album would “probably be my last one for a minute.” Enduring another Tiller hiatus? Bummer. But Bryson Tiller‘s entrancing 19 songs eased the melancholy — reinforcing Tiller as a reliable rap/R&B reservoir. “Whatever She Wants” led the charge — peaking at No. 5 and No. 19 on Billboard‘s Hot Rap Songs and Hot 100, respectively. Save for excellent Clara La San (“Random Access Memory [RAM]”) and Victoria Monét (“Persuasion”) features, Tiller allows fans precious alone time with his perspective. “Hope you don’t get bored with me over time,” he sings on the ballad “Undertow.” We won’t. — M.A.

Buddy — Don’t Forget To Breathe

In an era of so many rappers employing therapy and its associated lingo as a stylistic shortcut to being truly vulnerable, honest, and confessional on records, Buddy’s Don’t Forget To Breathe is, fittingly, a breath of fresh air. The Compton rapper not only takes the time to get to know himself after his decade or so in the game — letting listeners in on the process — but displays his expansive taste with a lush musical palette incorporating groovy R&B instrumentation over head-nodding hip-hop rhythms. “Buddy A Fool” is a self-aware self send-up, “Got Me Started” is a confident slick talk session, and “You 2 Thank” bridges the gap between post-G-funk and diasporic excellence. — Aaron Williams

Chief Keef — Almighty So 2

There’s no denying Chief Keef’s impact on modern-day hip-hop. All of what exists today, for better or for worse, would be different or absent without Chief Keef. At 28 years old, he’s a rap veteran when many at that age are just a few years into their careers, and many who checked into the game at 17 years old, like Keef did, fizzled out shortly after they could legally drink. So Keef’s continued relevance for more than a decade is impressive, as is his fifth album, Almighty So 2. Originally announced back in 2019, the album’s arrival five years later is a great gift to fans. What makes it better are splashy features from Tierra Whack, Sexyy Red, Quavo, and others, as well as sharp bass-rattling production supplied by Keef himself. — W.O.

Conan Gray — Found Heaven

Pulling inspiration from the ’80s isn’t novel, but what’s less common is for a mainstream pop artist to lean into it as heavily as Conan Gray does on Found Heaven. What’s even rarer in that subset is for it to actually be done well. Gray expertly captures the synth-forward sounds of the era but the songwriting is there, too; “Never Ending Song” would be expertly crafted and catchy even without its throwback aesthetic. Found Heaven could have easily been a shallow and gimmicky release in lesser hands, but Gray has tapped into something compelling here. — Derrick Rossignol

DIIV — Frog In Boiling Water

DIIV’s excellent fourth LP melds the band’s cavernous, widescreen guitar atmospherics with lyrics that ponder a world in a permanent state of decline. But while the words are frequently downbeat, they are paired with the most flat-out beautiful music of DIIV’s career. (The band is also funnier than they get credit for, as evidenced by the Fred Durst-starring SNL parody in the “Brown Paper Bag” music video.) After the more muscular and aggressive Deceiver, Frog In Boiling Water marks a return to the gauzy tranquility of their droned-out 2012 debut Oshin, which established DIIV as one of the finest bands to be associated with shoegaze in the 2010s. — S.H.

Dua Lipa — Radical Optimism

Radical Optimism debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the highest-charting album of Dua Lipa’s career. Ironically, outside of “Houdini,” the album lacks hit singles, which sounds like an insult, but it’s a compliment because Lipa accomplished what she set out to do. Radical Optimism‘s cohesive, shimmering, psychedelic-pop palette is meant to be danced to — not dissected. “This could be the end of an era / Who knows, baby? / This could be forever,” Lipa sings on “End Of An Era.” This album could age as a timeless staple in Lipa’s minted discography, or it could be a blip in time. Who cares? Enjoy. — M.A.

Empress Of — For Your Consideration

After a four-year hibernation between full-length projects, Empress Of has returned as a creatively crystallized version of herself. The alt-pop music darling, heard on 2020’s I’m Your Empress Of and 2022’s Save Me EP, has returned with vengeance. Rather than abandoning her signature bilingual dance floor bangers, Empress Of’s latest album, For Your Consideration, is filled with meaningful bops. Similar to tucking medicine into a sweet treat, throughout the project, Empress Of ensures that her deep dives into gender performance and romance’s roots penetrate in both English and Spanish. Outsiders see pop music as a way to dull the senses: For Your Consideration does the exact opposite. — Flisadam Pointer

Faye Webster — Underdressed At The Symphony

Faye Webster has long been a master of doing her own thing. Just look at her new album, Underdressed At The Symphony: It opens with the near-7-minute “Thinking About You,” not long after that goes into a Lil Yachty collaboration, and has a song titled “eBay Purchase History.” Whatever playbook she’s following is a good one, as Webster has carved out an idiosyncratic but accessible lane over the past handful of years that now sounds anything but underdressed. — D.R.

Future and Metro Boomin — We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You

In 2017, Future did something no other artist had ever done before: He released Future (a trap-heavy, bass-knocking rap album) and Hndrxx (a softer, more confessional, and R&B-inspired effort) in consecutive weeks, becoming the first artist to release a pair of Billboard 200 chart-topping albums in the same week. Fast-forward seven years, and Future and Metro Boomin’s We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You are modeled the same way, respectively. Future’s ability to channel both sides of his artistry and deliver the very best of them multiple times in his career is a feat accomplished by few and dreamed of by many. But for now, we can remember these albums as two of music’s best releases in 2024 and one being the catalyst for hip-hop’s biggest war in decades. — W.O.

Gunna — One Of Wun

The current era of Gunna’s career is one nobody could have predicted five years ago. Once-guaranteed collaborations with Young Thug, Future, Lil Baby, and others are now a thing of yesterday. Today, as Gunna’s fifth album One Of Wun displays, the Atlanta rapper makes the most of his inner circle as the variety and availability of past resources have run dry. One Of Wun is as flashy, slick, and smooth as we’ve known Gunna to be. It’s confirmation that he can present that persona when he pleases. “On One Tonight” is one of Gunna’s best outputs in years while “Hakuna Matata” glides with ease and hits corners with impressive finesse. “Today I Did Good” is a surprisingly bright track that showcases the change in Gunna’s life. One Of Wun escapes the dark of yesterday and runs toward the light at the end of the tunnel, which remains bright for Gunna. — W.O.

Hovvdy — Hovvdy

Austin duo Hovvdy have never followed the rules. On their self-titled fifth album, Charlie Martin and Will Taylor deliver on the classic Hovvdy sounds — glimmering percussion loops and breezy synths — but songs like “Bubba” and “Make Ya Proud” feature the guys tapping into heavier emotions. Though 19 tracks may be a lot for an indie-pop record in 2024, the stories of Hovvdy are ones worth hearing, with the friendship between Martin and Taylor being the through line connecting them all. — Alex Gonzalez

Jessica Pratt — Here In The Pitch

“Timeless” is the adjective most often applied to Jessica Pratt’s music, but it’s not really accurate. Like all of Pratt’s records, Here In The Pitch is very much rooted in a specific era, which is the opposite of “timeless.” A better descriptor of her sound is “dated but in a good way.” On Pitch, understated orchestrations commingle with featherlight bossa-nova rhythms and Pratt’s own expressive croon, which hints at a well of emotion held in check by a stoic, enigmatic chilliness. It is the best album of 1966 released in 2024. — S.H.

Justice — Hyperdrama

Through light and darkness, Justice has created heaven for dance fans. Hyperdrama — the French dance duo’s first album in seven years — signals a gorgeous return to form by way of pulsating beats and hypnotic grooves. Guests appearances from Tame Impala, Thundercat, and Miguel may pull new listeners in, but equally exciting are the instrumental tracks, like “Generator” and “Muscle Memory,” which sonically make for a euphoric catharsis. With Hyperdrama, Justice invites us to the dance floor, on which we’re encouraged to simply feel. — A.G.

Kali Uchis — Orquideas

Equal parts sexy, magical, and mysterious, Kali Uchis‘ fourth studio album Orquídeas celebrates her Colombian roots as she takes her artistry to the next level. Uchis gets more raw than ever before, sharing Spanish-language anecdotes on sex, heartache, and love. She has found solace in her muse, Don Toliver, and arrives to a point where she’s no longer avoiding falling in love — like on her 2017 breakthrough single “Tyrant” — but rather, inviting all of those feelings in. Delivering these poetic ruminations in her native language makes it all the more personal. — A.G.

Khruangbin — A LA SALA

Khruangbin doesn’t make ambient music, but their output does often fit Brian Eno’s oft-cited description of the genre: “It must be as ignorable as it is interesting.” To be clear, that’s a compliment: A LA SALA does an exemplary job of setting a warm and comfortable vibe that could score any cozy environment, but if you pay attention and peel back the layers, there’s fascinating depth, too. — D.R.

Knocked Loose — You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To

Want to run the fastest mile of your life? Want to feel like you can crack a brick with your teeth? Want to listen to an album that even on the lowest volume will give you a jump scare when the first scream on opener “Thrist” hits? Listen to Knocked Loose’s You Won’t Go Before You’re Supposed To. The brilliantly brutal fourth album from the metalcore favorites will take your breath away — because it sounds just like a punch in the stomach feels. — Josh Kurp

Kyle — Smyle Again

The recent resurgence of jungle and drum & bass is making me feel young again, and a large part of the reason for that renaissance is Southern California native Kyle. Last year, his album It’s Not So Bad evoked the sounds of the Y2K British rave scene with a palette of 2-step and garage, and Smyle Again (named after his breakout 2015 mixtape Smyle) continued to mine that fertile era from a more hardcore angle. Like its predecessor, it borrows the skittering forceful riddims of 2000s UK EDM and pairs them with the sunny, beach-bred cheeriness Kyle is known for. The result is one of the year’s more innovative projects. — A.W.

LaRussell & Hit-Boy — Rent Due

How exactly does one settle on just one LaRussell project when he’s so prone to releasing multiple in a year’s span? It certainly helps when he brings one of the West Coast’s premiere beatmakers, Hit-Boy, along for the ride. Although Rent Due is only seven songs and 18 minutes long, both collaborators bring their A-games, going in like… well… the rent’s due. What truly impresses is the versatility of the album, from the airy uplift of “Lead Me To The Water” to the boisterous street stomp on “Another One.” The two California natives have unsurprisingly great chemistry and if HB wants to drop another four projects with LaRussell, I don’t think anyone will complain. — A.W.

Maggie Rogers — Don’t Forget Me

A private person, Maggie Rogers isn’t one to seek the spotlight, nor does she put her personal business on display for the world to see. Outside of the music, we know very little about Rogers, but her music tells all too familiar stories. Her latest effort, Don’t Forget Me, faces us with truths we must reckon with. We’re all getting older. And maybe we’re not cut out for that traditional, picket-fence fantasy. But we can all certainly have fun and hold onto those joyous moments while we figure it all out. — A.G.

Mannequin Pussy — I Got Heaven

Mannequin Pussy lead singer Marisa Dabice described I Got Heaven as being about “the longing for something new and exciting.” The fourth album from the Philly-based punk group is new and exciting — and one of the best albums of the year. I Got Heaven catches a fired-up Mannequin Pussy taking the same confident leap as Hole did with Pretty On The Inside to Live Through This, or Turnstile from Time & Space to Glow On: it’s a softer sound than the 80-second rippers on their earlier albums, though no less furious. There’s catharsis in singing instead of screaming, too. — J.K.

Matt Champion — Mika’s Laundry

Brockhampton went out with a bang, dropping two final albums in 2022. But now it’s time to move on and Matt Champion has done just that with his first solo album, Mika’s Laundry. The project shows off Champion’s range and dynamism as a creator. Look at “Slow Motion,” a collaboration with Blackpink’s Jennie: The song starts off as a tender piano ballad before shifting into a rapid, PinkPantheress-like beat. That’s not as jarring as it may sound and it’s an example of Champion’s confidence and ability to execute on creative ideas. — D.R.

MK.Gee — Two Star & The Dream Police

MK.gee has spent the past handful of years building a name for himself in the industry: He has collaborations with The Kid Laroi and Omar Apollo under his belt, and he even landed a credit on Drake’s Certified Lover Boy (via a sample). After all of this, he finally has a debut album out in the world, Two Star & The Dream Police, an intriguing effort that offers tight production, thought-providing lyrics, and clear evidence of MK.gee’s growth as an artist. — D.R.

PartyNextDoor — PartyNextDoor 4

The PartyNextDoor of old — that is, the one from the mid-2010s — re-emerged thanks to his fourth album, PartyNextDoor 4. The signs for a return to classic days were there thanks to singles like the scornful “Her Old Friends” and the praising “Real Woman.” With PartyNextDoor 4, though the feel is reminiscent of the past, we’re presented with a story of the singer who wants to grow from the man behind the mic on past projects. Genuine strides for authentic love are made on PND’s fourth album, more so than we heard on past bodies of work. Though he slips into a shell of his past on a couple of occasions, the desire and effort to be better makes PartyNextDoor 4 an excellent listen, especially when it houses one of PND’s best-composed songs to date with “No Chill.” — W.O.

Rapsody — Please Don’t Cry

In my interview with Rapsody about her new album, Please Don’t Cry, I called it her best and THEE best hip-hop album of the year so far. I may end up revising that opinion by December, but the bar is going to be really hard to clear. Combining lessons she’s learned from therapy, endless reiteration of ideas, and some of her production teams’ finest work to date, Rapsody has crafted a masterclass in vulnerability, honesty, and lyrical dexterity. “Stand Tall,” “Diary Of A Mad B*tch,” “A Ballad For Homegirls,” and “Forget Me Not” are the sorts of honest, “real” rap writing that fans have been begging for for years. — A.W.

Schoolboy Q — Blue Lips

At this point, few of us, if any, should be complaining about the long wait between Top Dawg Entertainment projects. The last few years have brought projects such as Ab-Soul’s Herbert, Isaiah Rashad’s The House Is Burning, and of course, SZA’s SOS after five-year gaps — an approach that seems to be the recipe for producing some of those artists’ most heartfelt, innovative works to date. Schoolboy Q turns out to be no exception. His latest also arrives five years after its predecessor, Crash Talk, bringing with it the very soul of Los Angeles’ experimental jazz history. An eccentric compilation that never stays in one vibe too long, Blue Lips presents a portrait of a matured, sophisticated gangster. — A.W.

Shaboozey — Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going

There’s a moment where staying true to yourself finally pays off. That moment arrived this year for Virginia country singer Shaboozey. Whether the spotlight was his own or one to share with an undeniable superstar, Shaboozey made it so that you remembered his name by the time the curtain closed. He shined on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter through a pair of features on “Spaghettii” and “Sweet ★ Honey ★ Buckiin” and earned his first top-3 entry on the Billboard Hot 100 with “A Bar Song (Tipsy).” The full Shaboozey experience lives on his third album Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going where he’s equal parts gunslinging, party rocker, and heartbroken romantic. In all scenarios, Shaboozey is at full speed, saddled up on his horse moving as fast as he can away from the pains of yesterday and toward the hoepful joys of tomorrow. Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going is a magnificent tale spotlighted by “Horses & Hellcats,” “Anabelle,” “Highway,” and Shaboozey who’s doing everything right. — W.O.

Tierra Whack — World Wide Whack

World Wide Whack is perhaps one of the most anticipated hip-hop debuts of the last five years, and it doesn’t disappoint. Tierra Whack had the world in the palm of her hand after her EP Whack World introduced the public to the colorful inner universe of the Philadelphia creative, but then reality stepped in. Tierra’s experiences since then inspired World Wide Whack, which despite its whimsical stylings contains some of her most heartrending music yet. “Two Night” and “27 Club” deliver a one-two punch of empathetic pleas for a more measured reception for the sort of creative personalities that have suddenly become a quite endangered species. — A.W.

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Boys Noize — Challengers [MIXED] By Boys Noize

The duality of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: They’re Nine Inch Nails, but more often lately, they’re award-winning film score composers. There’s not necessarily a ton of functional overlap between those two types of output either: Scores aren’t created with the album format in mind, so they don’t usually work well that way. Reznor and Ross had a great idea with their Challengers score, though: Hand it off to Boys Noize to remix it into something that feels more like a traditional album. The result is the best bridge we’ve had yet between both of Reznor and Ross’ worlds: an album that’s as cinematic as it is cohesive. — D.R.

Tyla — Tyla

Tyla’s self-titled debut album validated every award and accolade and every chart position she sat in before its release. Hindsight is truly 20/20, but the South Africa singer exhibited all the signs of a star in the making thanks to her breakout hit “Water.” The infectious record took over the world with a pulsating amapiano beat that turned all settings into a dance floor, and impressive songwriting upheld by lyrics with an NSFW double-meaning that only drew people closer to the song. With Tyla, this fun continues. “No. 1” removes men from the dance floor for a woman-empowering anthem with Tems while their invitation to return allows Gunna and Skillibeng to contribute to the album’s best moment with “Jump.” In Tyla’s world, your most free self exists on the dance floor, and in her case, so does a masterpiece of an album. — W.O.

Vampire Weekend — Only God Was Above Us

The application of distortion immediately sets Only God Was Above Us apart from the other VW albums. In 10 years, there will be no question from which record “Hope” or “Capricorn” or “Mary Boone” derives. (Whereas the tracks from Vampire Weekend and Contra, in Strokes-like fashion, kind of blend together.) OGWAU is definitely different. At the same time, the lyrics immediately ground the LP in an East Coast milieu that was seemingly abandoned after the beloved third-album masterpiece. It sounds like the disaffected narrator of Modern Vampires Of The City with 11 more years of wisdom. OGWAU is definitely similar to other Vampire Weekend albums. HIPPIE/GOTH-ness has been achieved. The album-catalog-as-book, once again, evolves. — S.H.

Virginia — Black Yacht Rock, Vol. 1: City Of Limitless Access

There’s so much to unpack when it comes to Pharrell’s new album. There’s the audacity of calling it Black Yacht Rock, a winking nod to that genre’s genealogy. There’s the way it was released, on Pharrell’s own website, an unspoken commentary on the brokenness of the modern music distribution apparatus. There’s the way the album was overlooked in the midst of the chaos between Drake and Kendrick Lamar (and between Pharrell and his former production partner). But, of course, the most compelling thing about this album is watching a master at work, with a focused goal, crafting some of the best music of a long and storied career in service of shedding light on an oft-maligned musical mode. Put it in the Louvre. — A.W.

Waxahatchee — Tigers Blood

Katie Crutchfield reckons her fanbase doubled following the acclaimed success of 2020’s Saint Cloud. What would she do for a follow-up? Make the breeziest record of her career. Waxahatchee’s Tigers Blood tackles thorny issues (“I make a living crying, it ain’t fair” is the third line on the album), but it’s delivered in a rootsy, country-tinged way that calls to mind Lucinda Williams or Wildflowers-era Tom Petty. Crutchfield belonged among the wildflowers all this time. — J.K.

Willow — Empathogen

When it comes to Willow, the public is having the wrong “nepo baby” conversation. Instead of wondering how she was ushered into the industry, we should be asking from which of her parents (Will Smith or Jada Pinkett Smith) did she inherit her musical sensibility? In a landscape filled with reboots, adaptations, and sampling fatigue, Willow’s latest album Empathogen is a fresh breath of original and boundless exploration. No genre goes left unexplored. No topic is too delicate to pen into a record. Willow is in pure artistic bliss, and her audience is on the receiving of this freedom. — F.P.

Young Jonn — Jiggy Forever

The first six months of 2024 have been rather quiet on the afrobeats front. Heavyweights like Burna Boy, Davido, Wizkid, Rema, and Asake have yet to begin putting their 2024 campaigns in full swing, leaving room for rising artists to jump into the spotlight. Still, even in a more active year, Young Jonn’s debut album Jiggy Forever would surely stand out amongst the crowd. According to Jonn, “jiggy” is a “lifestyle” that means “staying fly and trying to stay above the waters.” Through the 15 songs on Jiggy Forever, Jonn excels greatly at that whether it be through preparing to overcome potential heartbreak on “Aquafina,” or the ambitious “Big Big Things” with Seyi Vibez and Kizz Daniels, or the romantic “Sharpally.” Simply put, with Jiggy Forever, Young Jonn proves that he’s here to stay. — W.O.

May was a month jam-packed with new hip-hop releases, so let’s jump past the preamble and get into it. Not only did we get a pack of early “best hip-hop album of the year” contenders, but we also saw some of our favorite artists release some of their best work so far. From OGs to contemporary hitmakers, there was something for just about everyone; here are the best hip-hop albums of May 2024.

Chief Keef — Almighty So 2

Delayed for nearly five years, Chief Keef’s fifth studio album finally arrived with all the fanfare it deserved, released via Keef’s own 43B imprint. Featuring appearances from G Herbo, Lil Gnar, Tierra Whack, Sexyy Red and Quavo, and with production handled largely by Keef himself, Almighty So 2 delivers a portrait of an artist who’s completely mastered his unique approach to his craft. Here, Keef demonstrates a hard-won sense of maturity and self-assurance that might surprise a rap fan waking up from a ten-year coma to find that the anarchist little kid from Chicago is now a grown man with a clear-eyed understanding of his platform and its impact.

Ghostface Killah — Set The Tone (Guns & Roses)

30-plus years into his career, Ghostface’s pen remains as razor-sharp as ever. That, combined with a willingness to play with his formula that many of his peers either lost or refused to develop, results in a contemporary release that evolves with the times but never loses the feel of a classic Ghostface production. Plenty of newer artists spend a lot of time trying to ape the sound of the boom-bap golden era, but here, Ghost and his contemporaries, ranging from AZ and Nas to fellow Wu members Method Man and Raekwon, continue to set the standard and show why what they did just can’t be duplicated.

Gunna — One Of Wun

There was a point a few years ago when hip-hop heads actually debated which rapper between Lil Baby and his Drip Harder collaborator Gunna was the better wordsmith. I try not to participate in debates like this because they’re so reductive and borderline disrespectful to the artists themselves, but at this point, I think it’s safe to say that while Baby had the higher heights, Gunna’s longevity puts a lot of points on the board in his favor. In the case of his latest, it also makes the case for his eventual re-acceptance into the fold with regard to rap fans who decided he’d violated some irrefutable law of rap.

Rapsody — Please Don’t Cry

As I wrote in my interview with Rapsody about her fourth studio album, Please Don’t Cry constitutes not only Rapsody’s best career album, but also one of the best rap albums of the year to date. It offers all of the things hip-hop fans say they want from a modern rap release: emotive storytelling, fearless vulnerability, earnest treatment of mature topics, and ironclad wordplay. If/when they complain about a dearth of these things in modern rap, the only response should be a link to this project.

Slum Village — F.U.N.

Slum Village hasn’t released a full-blown body of work as a group in nearly a decade. F.U.N. is one hell of a comeback. Throughout all of the band’s various lineups, the one consistent presence has been T3, who doubles as producer alongside Young RJ, whose lyrics often provide the counterweight to T3’s blunt rhymes. Employing a fleet of guest stars who keep the formula fresh, and trying on new stylistic cloaks throughout, they turn in one of their best projects since their 2005 self-titled album, when the duo consisted of T3 and Elzhi. If nothing else, the RJ and T3 share a similar yin-yang chemistry that anchors a project that lives up to its name.

Vince Staples — Dark Times

If Rapsody’s Please Don’t Cry was my early pick for rap album of the year, the only thing that gave me pause to reconsider was Vince’s out-of-nowhere announcement of his final project for Def Jam, which he delivered only days before the album itself. As the Long Beach native has grown as an artist, so has his worldview, and so has his ability to relay that worldview with concision, wit, and astonishing incisiveness. He’s not a “conscious” rapper in the respect that the term is often used as a pejorative against MCs who detail social and political issues in their raps, but neither is he the gangsta rapper he’s so often reduced to by chuckling nitwits who want to garner hood cred on social media by imitating the lingo of cities they’d never visit. Dark Times might be Vince’s magnum opus, but the most promising aspect of it is: he’s only getting better.

For practically every meme that trolls Drake for an unusual behavior or a strange facial expression, he’s usually been able to judo flip his detractors’ criticisms into an advantage for himself. However, his recent battle with Kendrick Lamar found him unable to do so, resulting in his waving the white flag and going on vacation.

His first song back, though, was an unusual one. Riffing on the Plain White Ts’ “Hey There Delilah,” Drake and fellow Torontonian Snowd4y dropped “Wah Gwan Delilah,” leaving fans confused whether Drake was in on the joke or if the relatively unknown collaborator was pulling a fast one with AI.

Part of the problem is that Snowd4y isn’t really a well-known name outside his hometown, and if Drake really is pulling his usual trick of twisting the joke by playing up his status as a punchline (Kendrick’s attack focused on his Canadian-ness), he’s badly misread the room this time around. So…

Who Is Snowd4y?

According to fans on the r/Drizzy subreddit, Snowd4y is a comic performer whose premises often revolve around a satirical parody of the typical Torontonian rudeboy. His social accounts are mostly collections of skits involving his “Toronto man” character, playing up stereotypes unique to this Canadian trope.

Because of Toronto’s melting pot culture, which finds several different parts of the African diaspora coming together, the city’s inner-city culture is a blend of attributes from its composite parts, with elements of Jamaican and East African slang, language, music, and fashion.

For Americans, this often results in a bit of cognitive dissonance because of the way our cities are more segregated and cultural exchange is usually one way (Black folks make stuff up, white folks steal, etc.). Snowd4y’s comedy plays on the tropes of Toronto culture in a way that’d be familiar to a native, but that would probably throw off a resident of the US.

Hence, the Jamaican patois-accented “Wah Gwan Delilah,” which takes from Toronto’s large Caribbean population, and Americans’ confused reactions to it as a parody. You can listen to it and form your own reactions below:

In a Violent Nature has Stephen King‘s seal of approval.

The author reviewed the “ambient slasher” from director Chris Nash, which is told nearly entirely from the perspective of the killer. “IN A VIOLENT NATURE: If you need a slasher movie, this one will do the job,” King wrote on X. “It’s leisurely, almost languorous, but when the blood flows, it flows in buckets. The killer in his mask looks like the world’s most terrifying Minion.”

OK, but which Minion? Not all Minions look the same, Stephen.

See? Kevin is built very differently than Bob.

But I’m getting big Stuart energy from the In a Violent Nature killer.

“I think it falls right into the path that every other slasher has already burned through the cinematic landscape,” Nash told Time about his film. “We’re not doing anything new. We just moved the camera to a different spot. We didn’t want to make this a mockery or a satire of what a slasher traditionally is. We wanted to pay homage to those films.”

In a Violent Nature — which reportedly made people shriek and puke during a screening — is out in theaters now and will be released on Shudder later this year. Make it a double feature with Despicable Me 4.

With a lawsuit alleging mistreatment at Donda Academy already in motion, Kanye West just received another lawsuit, making it his second in three months. The musician and fashion designer was sued for sexual harassment by his former assistant according to TMZ. Lauren Pisciotta also accuses West of breach of contract, wrongful termination, and hostile work environment.

Pisciotta, a former OnlyFans model, was hired by West in July 2021 after they met when West was putting together a fashion line. She also says she collaborated with him and worked on three songs on West’s Donda album.

Pisciotta says that West approached her after these collaborations and asked her to delete her OnlyFans account, citing his desire for her to be “God like.” West promised to pay her a $1 million per year if she did, so Pisciotta agreed. However, according to Pisciotta, things went left shortly after. She claims that she received a series of vulgar texts from West, like this one:

“See my problem is I be wanting to f*ck but then after I f*ck I want a girl to tell me how hard they been f*cked while I’m f*cking them. Then I want her to cheat on me …”

And this one:

“Is my d*** racist? It is. This f*cking racist d*** of mine. I going to beat this f*cking racist d*** for being f*cking racist. I’m going to stare at pictures of white woman with black asses and beat the sh*t out of my racist d*** … Beating the sh*t out of his big black c***.”

Pisciotta also accusses West of masturbating while on the phone with her and asking her if she could guess what he was doing. She claims West was also fixated on the size of her boyfriend’s penis. The lawsuit states that Pisciotta received a slew of text messages, sexual videos, and sexual photos from West, including two videos of him having sex with a model. After all of this, Pisciotta was promoted to Chief Staff for West’s companies with a salary of $4 million. It was short-lived, however, as Pisciotta was fired in October 2022. She claims she was offered a $3 million severance that she accepted by never received.

TMZ reached out to West’s representatives for comments, but as of press time, they have yet to receive a response.

As far as Donald Trump‘s comically blatant lies go, him claiming that he never said “lock her up” about Hillary Clinton isn’t going to make the “false or misleading statements” Wikipedia. But it’s still not great.

In an interview with Fox News that aired over the weekend, the former president and convicted felon said, “I beat her. It’s easier when you win. And they always said ‘lock her up,’ and I felt — and I could have done it, but I felt it would have been a terrible thing. And then this happened to me.” Trump continued, “I didn’t say ‘lock her up,’ but the people said ‘lock her up, lock her up.’ Then, we won. And I say — and I said pretty openly, I said, all right, come on, just relax, let’s go, we’ve got to make our country great.”

[Arrested Development narrator voice] He said “lock her up.” A lot.

So many times, in fact, that when the clip from Trump’s interview was played on The Daily Show during Monday’s episode, host Jon Stewart was left speechless. After slamming his desk with his palms and looking like he was in the middle of a Pepe Silvia-style psychotic break, Stewart finally snapped out of it and scolded the Fox News hosts for not correcting Trump.

You can watch The Daily Show clip above.

This AI stuff has gotten out of hand lately. There’s no telling if any song is real or if someone typed a prompt. And, as if to drive home the point, no less an authority on the subject than Drake (of course) has put in an appearance to either troll fans or prove just how unfazed he is by his recent battle with Kendrick Lamar.

A few minutes ago, someone called Snowd4y dropped a new song called “Wah Gwan Delilah” on SoundCloud, purporting to feature Drake himself. The song is a clear riff on the 2006 Plain White T’s hit “Hey There Delilah,” employing Caribbean patois to replace the standard greeting in from the original’s title.

Either the mixing on Drake’s vocals is weird, or fans just can’t believe that he’d really do something this corny, so X.com (formerly Twitter.com) has lit up with fan responses wondering if the track is authentic or AI-generated. (For what it’s worth, according to the Drake subreddit, Snowd4y’s whole thing is doing a cheeky satire of a Toronto rudeboy, so perhaps the whole thing is meant to be a joke that fans are, of course, taking way too seriously.)

Complicating matters is the fact that Drake himself has posted a screenshot of the song from SoundCloud on his Instagram Story, writing “@snowd4y wake up the city ” Whether this means that he’s amused by the audacious stunt by Snowd4y or that he really does support the track remains unclear.

You can check out the track from SoundCloud below.

The WNBA is in the spotlight right now, as the league’s years-long increase in popularity is heading to a new level due to a rookie class that features former Iowa standout Caitlin Clark. Unfortunately, this has led to an uptick in the league — and especially Clark — getting caught up in the 24-hour news and take cycle that can lead to pundits saying some absolutely insane things on live television.

For example, on Monday morning, we had a tense back-and-forth between Stephen A. Smith and Monica McNutt on First Take regarding Smith’s lack of WNBA coverage over the last few years, and several hours later, we got … whatever Pat McAfee was going for here. It’s been a lot, especially as Clark and the Indiana Fever have struggled to pick up wins early on in the year and Clark has gotten a few “Welcome to the WNBA” moments.

With all this going on, Kendrick Perkins decided to address the way Clark (and the league as a whole) gets discussed by “powerful men” who are doing more WNBA coverage than ever before.

“Now, we’re starting to see a lot of powerful men start to cover the WNBA,” Perkins said. “And there’s gotta be some fairness in that — they should be able to voice their opinions. But they also have to be responsible to do their homework when covering the WNBA.”

Perkins specifically pointed out the need to be “careful” with the language that guys like Charles Barkley, LeBron James, Smith, and Shannon Sharpe have used recently while discussing the league, then turned his attention to McAfee and his remarks from earlier in the day.

“Pat McAfee, I think he owes everyone an apology, especially Caitlin Clark,” he said. “You cannot call her out of her name like that. No one can come to his defense and it’s unacceptable. At the end of the day, you have to respect the WNBA, respect the women that are playing, respect the women that are covering the game, and you have to make sure you do it in great fashion, if you’re a man that’s jumping into that atmosphere.”

Public discourse about minimum wage and living wages has been ongoing for years, with people debating whether the government should mandate a minimum hourly pay for workers.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the first federal minimum wage law in 1938, setting the lowest wage a worker could be paid at 25 cents per hour. Nearly a century later, the federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr, holding steady since 2009, with people lobbying to raise it to at least $15/hr for over a decade. However, in addition to federal law, each state has its own laws, a handful of which establish a state minimum wage higher than $15, a handful of which don’t have a set minimum wage at all and everything in between.

Cost of living has also been a hot topic as inflation has squeezed everyone’s wallets and certain cities and states have become utterly unaffordable, especially for people in low-wage jobs or who who are just starting out in their careers. So how do minimum wage and cost of living correlate state-by-state? Are there any sweet spots with a high(er) minimum wage and low(er) cost of living?

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While there’s no perfect storm of super low cost of living and super high minimum wage—for instance, Washington, D.C. has the highest state minimum wage at $17/hr, but housing costs 140% more than the national average—there are some states where the ratio is far more favorable than others. According to Insider Monkey, here are the top six states where you can get the most bang for your minimum wage buck.

6. New Mexico

The Land of Enchantment offers a relatively decent living for its $12/hr minimum wage thanks to the state’s below average cost of living. According to Rent Cafe, housing in New Mexico is 8% lower than the national average, monthly utilities are 9% lower, food is 4% lower, transportation is 3% lower and healthcare, goods and services are 2% lower.

According to Smart Asset, Albuquerque, New Mexico ranks as No. 10 in U.S. cities where minimum wage goes the furthest.

5. New Jersey

The Garden State’s relatively higher-than-average cost of living is counteracted by relatively solid minimum wage of $14.13/hr. Most of the cost of living in New Jersey is wrapped up in housing, which is 30% higher than the national average, according to Rent Cafe, and utilities, which are 12% higher. Goods and services are 5% higher, but healthcare is 2% lower than the national average. Food and transportation are 1% and 2% higher, respectively.

4. Connecticut

With both a cost of living and minimum wage slightly higher than New Jersey, Connecticut rolls in at No. 4 with a $15/hr minimum wage. Where the Constitution State hits hardest is in utilities, which Rent Cafe places at 30% higher than the national average, and housing, which is 24% higher. Healthcare and goods and services are both 9% higher, while transportation and food are just 1% and 2% above average.

3. Missouri

The Show-Me State says, “Show me the money!” with its somewhat respectable $12/hr minimum wage, which goes pretty far with its relatively low cost of living. Housing is the biggest cost benefit Missouri offers at 18% lower than the national average. But utilities, food, healthcare, and goods and services are also all below average, with only transportation landing right at the national average.

Additionally, St. Louis clocked in at No. 5 for a minimum wage real-world value of $13.68 when adjusting for the city’s lower-than-average cost of living.

2. Washington

With the highest state minimum wage in the nation (unless you count Washington, D.C.), Washington’s $16.48/hr puts it in second place when accounting for cost of living. Make no mistake, Washington isn’t cheap overall, with a cost of living 15% higher than the national average. Housing and transportation hit hard at 29% and 27% higher than the national average, respectively. Healthcare is pricey as well at 20% higher than average. Food costs 12% more, but utilities clock in at 7% less than the national average.

Two cities in Washington hit the top 15 for highest real minimum wage value, though, with Seattle at No. 13 and Spokane at No. 2.

1. Illinois

If you want the best bang for your minimum wage buck, head to the Prairie State with its $13/hr minimum wage and 8% lower than average cost of living. Housing in Illinois is 22% lower than average and utilities are 10% lower. The only expense that comes in higher than average for Illinois is transportation at 3% above average, which isn’t enough to keep it out of the top spot.

However, there are some minimum wage sweet spots in certain U.S. cities that aren’t reflected in these state rankings. According to Smart Asset, Denver, CO, is the city where minimum wage goes the farthest in the nation. Colorado comes in at a respectable 7th place in state minimum-wage-to-cost-of-living ratio, but Denver has its own mandatory minimum wage of $18.29/hr.

A citywide minimum wage is part of what puts Seattle at the No. 13 spot on that same list. Seattle is one of the most expensive cities in the U.S., but its $19.97 minimum wage for most workers changes the ratio in its favor.

Other cities in the top 10 include Buffalo, NY; Minneapolis, MN; Tucson, AZ; St. Paul, MN; Phoenix, AZ and Stockton, CA.

The minimum wage conversation may vary widely across the U.S., with different costs of living and different state laws on the books. But if you’re looking to move someplace where your wage will go the furthest, these six states will likely be your best bet to check out first.

Magnet fishing is one of the more unique hobbies that people got into during the pandemic and it has remained popular even in its aftermath. The idea is simple: anglers drop a heavy magnet into a waterway and see what they can pull up.

It’s pretty common for people to find guns, knives, fishing tackle, scrap metal and even the occasional bicycle. The hobby is popular on YouTube, where there are hundreds of thousands of videos related to the topic.

The hobby is fun for those who get a kick out of finding buried treasure, but it’s also great for the environment. Anglers with magnets that can pull anywhere from 400 to 2,000 pounds have done a great job of removing dangerous waterway debris.

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A couple who got into magnet fishing during the pandemic made an incredible catch in the Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens on Friday, May 31, that earned them a spot on the New York 1 News. James Kane and Barbie Agostini threw a rope with a magnet into a river and pulled up a safe with an estimated $100,000 inside.

An American couple has managed to hook a safe filled with nearly AU$150,000 while magnet fishing in a New York lake.

James Kane & Barbie Agostini join us to tell us about the valuable find. pic.twitter.com/VqJTKa0qnM

— The Project (@theprojecttv) June 3, 2024

“We pulled it out and it was big stacks of freaking hundreds,” Kane told New York 1. “These are thick stacks—they’re soaking wet, they’re pretty much destroyed.”

Agostini thought Kane was joking when he said there were stacks of money in the safe. “He showed me and once I saw the actual dollars and the security ribbons I lost it,” she said.

To avoid legal trouble, the couple contacted the police to ensure that the safe wasn’t connected to any crimes. “There were no IDs, no way to find the original person, in the safe. [The police] were like: ‘Well, congratulations!'” Agostini said.

The police said they had never seen a discovery like it before.

Kane told New York 1 that they got into the hobby during lockdown. “We were bored during COVID lockdown and I’ve always had this itch to become a treasure hunter … so we discovered something called magnet fishing,” Kane said. He calls the hobby “the poor man’s treasure hunting.”

A couple in Queens were stunned to find $100,000 in cash inside an old safe they dredged up while magnet fishing in a NYC lake.

The two anglers, James Kane and Barbie Agostini, used a strong magnet to fish in the water on Friday afternoon. They felt something bulky on the end… pic.twitter.com/JczNL2ngq6

— Evoclique (@Evoclique_) June 2, 2024

Even though the money was soaked and covered in mud, the couple may be able to spend it. They sent it to Washington, D.C., to be cleaned and inspected. “To clean it up takes 6 months to 3 years,” Kane told The Project. But we believe this one’s not gonna be that long.”

One wonders why a safe with so much money wound up in a river. Was it stolen by thieves who ditched it because it couldn’t be opened? Did a jilted lover steal the safe from someone and throw it into the lake so it would be lost forever? Unfortunately, no one knows.

The couple also recently found 6 or 7 vintage guns in Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn and a few grenades from World War II.

Do you have a treasure hunter deep inside you who wants to try magnet fishing? Clay Copeland, founder and president of Brute Magnetics, a magnet fishing equipment company in North Georgia, says it’s a relatively affordable hobby.

“Even our highest [priced] Brute Box is $200. There are not many hobbies you can get into and get top-of-the-line equipment for a couple of hundred bucks,” he told Mapquest. “That was intentional on our part to open this up to a wide variety of people because it is such an interesting and fun hobby that you just never know what you’re going to find.”

Copeland says magnet fishing is a lot of fun for families with kids. He magnet fishes with his 5 and 7-year-olds regularly.

“When we throw the magnet out and bring it back … just seeing that joy in their face when something is coming up, it’s the greatest thing ever,” he said.