At the end of this year, we have to realize how many great albums we got. With rappers like Kendrick Lamar surprise dropping in the middle of the day, or singers like Ariana Grande releasing her best album to date. 2024 has been a great year for music, but who had the best album this year?

 

Chromakopia - Tyler, The Creator, 

St. Chroma (Ft. Daniel Caesar), Rah Tah Tah, Noid, Darling, I (Ft. Teezo Touchdown), Hey Jane, I Killed You, Judge Judy, Sticky (Ft. GloRilla, Lil Wayne & Sexyy Red), Take Your Mask Off (Ft. Daniel Caesar & LaToiya Williams), Tomorrow, Thought I Was Dead (Ft. Santigold, ScHoolboy Q, and Playboi Carti), Like Him (Ft. Lola Young), Balloon (Ft. Doechii), I Hope You Find Your Way Home.

 

Chromakopia was released on October 28, 2024, at 6 o'clock on a Monday. It is 8th studio and it came as a surprise when it was announced because 5 days before the announcement, Tyler hinted that no album would be released this year, breaking from the 2-year schedule of releases he’s had since 2009. The album was first announced with a snippet of the song ‘St. Chroma”, and then two weeks later with the release of “Noid” on streaming services, and when he posted it on social media he captioned it with the words, “No Features🔥 🔥 “, much to the dismay of many of his fans. He released the music video of the song  “Thought I Was Dead”, without the ScHoolboy Q, and Santigold features.  When it was released, the song's features were hidden from view, for it to be a surprise as fans were not expecting them. All tracks include a voice clip from Tyler’s mother, as this album is supposed to be very personal. Tracks like “Hey Jane, Judge Judy, Like Him, and I Hope You Find Your Way Home”, explore Tyler’s life with his father, exes, and his mother. The album instrumentally is incredible, however, the album as a whole isn't his best work. The features feel cut short and he isn't matching up lyrically to how he sounded in his last 2 albums. Overall I’ll give it a 6/10

 

Submarine - The Marías

Ride, Hamptons, Echo, Run Your Mouth, Real Life, Blur, Paranoia, Lejos de Ti, Love You Anyway, Ay No Puedo, No One Noticed, Vicious Sensitive Robot, If Only, Sienna.

 

After the ending of the tour for their album Cinema, lead singer Maria Zardoya and bass player Josh Conway had broken up, and the entire group was on a 6-month hiatus. After the 6-month hiatus, the band collectively went to therapy and used that as the basis of their new album Submarine. Submarine was released on May 23, 2024, with the lead-up being 4 new singles, with the first one “Run Your Mouth” releasing with a music video as well. The album as a whole is extremely good. The way Maria uses her voice on the track along with the instruments in the back plays an extremely clear video in your mind and gives you a more in-depth look into how the band is, especially between Maria and Josh, who both add their part of the story in different songs. Overall I would easily give this a 9/10