80 Favorite Songs of 2024 - Part 4

Hip-Hop and Global Music get the focus for this week's installment

(clockwise from top left) Sahra Halgan, Heems, Ezra Collective, Doechii

We are now at the mid-way point in this overly-long 80 Favorite Songs project. Well, the midway, after you listen to the following 11 bangers.

I’m particularly loving this segment, this mix, this playlist.

Most of these artists were new to me in 2024, which makes me especially giddy, as it shows how much great music is out there if you care to look. I spend an inordinate amount of time listening to and researching music and I still had never heard of Ezra Collective, Sahra Halgan, Shirlette Ammons, Doechii, or Bob Vylan prior to 2024.

Next week we are getting loud, with some punk, post-punk, or whatever genre happens to describe high-energy, eardrum-rattling, addictive rock.

There is no podcast/radio-show version this week. I’ve been swamped with packing for my impending move and prepping the new house. If I can, I’ll post two radio shows next week for y’all.

As always, let me know what you think of these tunes and if you celebrate the holidays, that you and yours have a joyous, music-filled week.

1. Yannis and the Yaw (with Tony Allen) - Walk Through Fire

Chances are good that you are unfamiliar with Yannis and the Yaw. I thought I was unfamiliar with them too. But then I realized that Yannis is Yannis Barnabas Emanuel Philippakis, founder and lead singer of one of my favorite bands, The Foals. I’m not sure if this is the last recording that legendary drummer/percussionist Tony Allen played on before his death in 2020 (it might be The Last Poets & Egypt 80’s 2024 album, Africanism), but if it was, what an exciting, propulsive, body-shaking project to go out on!

The Foals already combined elements of Afrobeat in their sound, but this takes what had been a subtle influence and brings it to the forefront.

2. Ezra Collective - Shaking Body

I was new to Ezra Collective in 2024, but I was hooked once I heard their Dance, No One’s Watching album. The musicianship is off-the-charts tight. The horns, the percussion, the keys, and bass combine to capture some of the deepest grooves you’ll hear this year or any year.

This is how they describe their new album: “It musically guides you through a night out in the city. From the opening of possibilities as a new evening spans out ahead, to dawns final hours as the night draws to a close.”

3. Sahra Halgan - Somaliland ani adi

I had the legendary Sahra Halgan’s 2024 album Hiddo Dhawr in my top 10 for much of the year, but it narrowly missed. I couldn’t leave her out of my favorite song collection, though.

“Somaliland ani adi” is hypnotic and propulsive, capturing Halgan’s impassioned, urgent vocals and excellent backing band. She is a force to be reckoned with both musically and as a voice speaking to Somaliland’s struggle for independence.

4. Mdou Moctar - Imajighen

Mdou Moctar has taken the Tuareg desert-blues sound previously popularized by such artists as Bombino and Tinariwen and given it a harder edge. All his albums are essential, but considering the political climate in his native Niger, 2024’s Funeral For Justice (and his soon to be re/released Tears of Injustice) is a great place to start if you aren’t familiar with Mdou Moctar.

I could have chosen any track, but the power of “Imajighen” illustrates what a monster guitarist Mdou is, and how tight his band is.

5. Nathalie Joachim - Ki moun ou ye

I wrote about Nathalie Joachim in my top 10 albums post recently, as Ki moun ou ye was my #10 album of 2024. I’m reprising her self-titled track here, as it deserves repeating.

The title translates as “Who are You?” and it’s a question I feel bears repeated and deep exploration, for all of us.

6. Shirlette Ammons - Short (with Mavis Swan Poole)

I first learned of North Carolina hip-hop artist Shirlette Ammons on the Sound Opinions music podcast. I was taken by Ammons' old-school flow, her powerful, poetic lyrics, and her use of funk and soul samples, mixed with live musicians.

“Short,” which includes guest vocals from Mavis Swan Poole, is an unflinching look at fathers who keep “coming up short” when providing for their families. How that leads to children shorting themselves.

Like when lightning strikes upon the city
See the thunder from the untamed country peeling
Back the layers of my own mind, warped and pretty
Yeah, the field is empty, used to feed aplenty

7. The Allergies - One Time (w/Dynamite MC)

I admit I like my hip-hop old-school, with a heavy dose of funk. I struggle connecting with a lot of current rap and hip-hop, so when I hear something that brings me back to the ‘90s, such as Bristol’s The Allergies (who are essentially DJs who have a rolodex filled with top-level rappers), I latch on like my life depends on it.

This is how they describe their sound on their website:

Inspired by legendary producers such as Cut Chemist, Public Enemy's Bomb Squad, and The Avalanches, The Allergies employ a meticulous formula of past-meets-future, extracting soulful hooks from forgotten vinyl and infusing them with driving drums and hip-hop energy.

That’s a perfect description for “One Time” featuring Dynamite MC. Perhaps my favorite on The Allergies’ 2024 full-length, Freak the Speaker.

8. Heems - DAME (w/Sid Vashi)

In February, I wrote about rapper Heems’ former band, Das Racist, completely unaware that Heems’ first album in nine years had just been released that week. That album, made with producer Lapgan, is filled to the rim with clever, wise, and honest wordplay and beats.

My favorite track, DAME, never fails to crack me up. A couple of my favorite lines:

I'mma treat you like Judi Dench 
You should put him on the bench 
Everyone that meet me tell me I'm a Mensch 
You don't gotta fix me up, you don't need a wrench

9. Oddisee - World on Fire

Conscious rap and hip-hop are hard to pull off without seeming preachy or like eating peas and carrots. So when someone like Oddisee puts out a track that speaks hard truths to the global environmental crisis facing us today, it makes you stop and take notice.

For nearly fifteen years, Oddisee has been prolific, releasing ten albums, six EPs, and countless singles. His latest EP, And Yet Still, features the brilliant “World on Fire.”

10. Doechii - Denial is a River

Thanks to

Jami Smith

, who writes the must-read

Songs That Saved Your Life

newsletter, I was able to pretend to be a little less clueless about top-notch young talent, like Doechii.

Nominated for several Grammys — including Best New Artist —Doechii is about to take the world by storm (if she hasn’t already). Her appearances on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show (above) and NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series are already legendary.

There are no boxes, genres, or forms of expression that can contain Doechii. She’s been put in the rap category for Grammy purposes, but don’t let that fool you. Hopefully, the music industry machine (stay independent!) doesn’t tamp down any of Doechii’s spirit and expression on her way to taking over the world.

11. Bob Vylan - Dream Big

Another artist that defies genre and category is Bob Vylan.

Humble as the Sun, Vylan’s 3rd album, was my #4 pick on my top-10 albums of 2024.

Here’s what I wrote about it:

British rap duo Bob Vylan’s third album takes the in-your-face, everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach of their first two albums and expands it even further on their third record, Humble as the Sun. They take on England’s housing crisis, the culture of guns and violence, the music industry, racism, and other issues facing not just their home country, but the world at large.

Bob Vylan explodes the boundaries of genre. Elements of punk, hip-hop, rock, grime, trap, drum and bass, and even heavy metal imbue each track, giving them a sound all their own.

(Note: I’m working on a piece all about artists/bands that name themselves after a pun on another band or artist…stay tuned!)

• What stood out for you from this list?

• I had a ton of other great “global” artists that I wanted to include, such as Arooj Aftab, Eivor, Ibibio Sound Machine, Manu Chao and many others. Which international artists do I need to include for an alternate list?

• Regarding hip-hop, I know there are many more popular picks, like Danny Brown, JPEGMAFIA, Kendrick Lamar, Kid Cudi, and Tyler the Creator (to name a few), that I could have chosen from, but I’ve been more old-school in my rap game of late.

• See y’all next time. Happy holidaze!