The Retrographer, Issue 121 (1 0 0 2 0 2 4)

The top 100 songs of 2024, plus best-of lists, weird videos, and more.

Author

Charlie Kaplan
December 31, 2024

LISTEN TO THIS PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY AND YOUTUBE

At some point Cam’ron decided to start a YouTube sports talk show in the mold of SportsCenter. It’s called It Is What It Is. Like a lot of people who want to throw on shiny suits and troll Thanasis Antetokounmpo, he’s past middle age with most of his career accomplishments behind him. I’ve loved Cam since I was a teen: He’s funny, blunt, smooth yet boorish. And even as his hitmaking fizzled, he stayed jocular and frisky, bringing the same energy he had for Bill O’Reilly to random nocturnal Harlem encounters. Music isn’t something he does, and the muse isn’t something he chases. It’s his mode, his way of navigating the world.

Cam started season 3 of IIWII with a freestyle and I’m beginning this annual edition of the year’s best songs with it too. Think of it more as an overture or prelude, the real playlist comes after it. Laced with a beautiful loop from Smokey Robinson’s “Cruisin’”, he takes you on a ride with him, showing how he got to where he is now: The people he lost, his capers, the streets he lived and worked in, the 101, the 2, the M1 bus. Memories of LeBron, now 40, back when he was in high school. The people, places, and things, laced with his crooked charm and sideways grin. This bildungsroman, a passage of real life into verse and melody, is brief but leisurely. Hard times that sound easy in hindsight and struggle that is a joy to see conquered.

Is the “IIWII SEASON 3 FREESTYLE” the best song of the year? I don’t think so, but it does signify something about music I love hearing: fluidity, freedom, inspiration, ease, making creativity a lifestyle and music a language, getting it how you live it. And today, I see a little Cam in me too. He concludes: “I’m right where I need to be”, but that’s already clear.

LISTEN TO THIS PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY AND YOUTUBE

TOP TEN SONGS OF 2024

  1. “Make It Through” – Lippy

  2. “9 Lives” – Tony Vaz and Alena Spanger

  3. “Hell of a Ride”, Nourished by Time

  4. “Right Back To It” – Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman

  5. “Steady Song” – Alena Spanger

  6. “Brown Paper Bag” – DIIV

  7. “Scooter Blues” – Johnny Blue Skies

  8. “She’s Leaving You” – MJ Lenderman

  9. “My Golden Years” – The Lemon Twigs

  10. “Eye of the Storm” – Little Mystery

TOP TEN ALBUMS OF 2024

  1. Manning Fireworks – MJ Lenderman

  2. Tigers Blood – Waxahatchee

  3. Fire Escape – Alena Spanger

  4. Sam Wilkes, Craig Weinrib, and Dylan Day, Sam Wilkes, Craig Weinrib, and Dylan Day

  5. Little Mystery – Little Mystery

  6. Here in the Pitch – Jessica Pratt

  7. Diamond Jubilee – Cindy Lee

  8. Only God Was Above Us – Vampire Weekend

  9. Cascade – Floating Points

  10. brat – Charli xcx

AND NOW A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR…

TEN OLDER ALBUMS THAT MEANT SOMETHING TO ME IN 2024

  • More Stuff – Stuff

  • Clics Modernos – Charly Garcia

  • Count ‘Em 88 – Ahmad Jamal Trio

  • The Cellar Door Sessions 1970 – Miles Davis

  • Scenes From The Southside – Bruce Hornsby and the Range

  • Yellow Fields – Eberhard Weber

  • Elevation – Pharoah Sanders

  • A Storm in Heaven – The Verve

  • Bitter – Meshell Ndegeocello

  • Trick – Alex G

AMAZING AND WEIRD VIDEOS I WATCHED IN 2024

AND FINALLY: A METICULOUSLY-SEQUENCED PLAYLIST OF MY TOP SONGS OF 2023

  1. “IIWI SEASON 3 FREESTYLE”, Cam’ron

  2. “9 Lives”, Tony Vaz and Alena Spanger

  3. “Hell of a Ride”, Nourished by Time

  4. “Baddy On The Floor”, Jamie xx and Honey Dijon

  5. “Mean girls”, Charli xcx

  6. “WISHLIST”, Denzel Curry and Armani White

  7. “Mary Boone”, Vampire Weekend

  8. “Starburster”, Fontaines D.C.

  9. “Yummy - Righteous Remix”, Ayesha Erotica and Mo Beats

  10. “Magic I Want U”, Jane Remover

  11. “Brown Paper Bag”, DIIV

  12. “Snow Angel”, Horse Jumper of Love

  13. “Angel Of My Dreams”, JADE

  14. “Watching T.V.”, Magdalena Bay

  15. “i like the way you kiss me”, Artemas

  16. “RIIVERDANCE”, Beyoncé

  17. “Police Scanner”, Chanel Beads

  18. “Afflecks Place”, Floating Points

  19. “flight fm”, Joy Orbison

  20. “BYE BYE”, Kim Gordon

  21. “don’t rely on other men”, JPEGMAFIA

  22. “Get In With Me”, BossMan Dlow

  23. “BOA”, Megan Thee Stallion

  24. “NISSAN ALTIMA”, Doechii

  25. “Nasty”, Tinashe

  26. “MILLION DOLLAR BABY”, Tommy Richman

  27. “Vintage”, Moses Sumney

  28. “One Of Them Ones”, USHER

  29. “Comin’ Around Again”, Amber Mark

  30. “Unfortunate”, Tems

  31. “On and On”, Tyla

  32. “heart pt. 6”, Kendrick Lamar

  33. “Stay With Me Through The Night”, Fabiana Palladino

  34. “KeepHer”, NxWorries and Thundercat

  35. “I Want”, Mk.gee

  36. “Saturn”, SZA

  37. “oHio”, ScHoolboy Q and Freddie Gibbs

  38. “Cecil Fielder”, Boldly James, harry Fraud, Tee Grizzley

  39. “Beautiful”, Ka

  40. “MANTO”, Heems, Sid vashi, and Vijay Iyer

  41. “Hell Is Near”, St. Vincent

  42. “Apophatic Melismatic”, Church Chords and Kristin Slipp

  43. “Rudolph”, MJ Lenderman

  44. “Right Back to It”, Waxahatchee and MJ Lenderman

  45. “Scooter Blues”, Johnny Blue Skies

  46. “M-E-X-I-C-O”, Post Malone and Billy Strings

  47. “My Golden Years”, The Lemon Twigs

  48. “Shamble”, Curling

  49. “Soonish…”, Dummy

  50. “Perfect Hand”, This Is Lorelei

  51. “Make It Through”, Lippy

  52. “Defense”, Panda Bear and Cindy Lee

  53. “Alien”, Dehd

  54. “I’m So Serious”, Daryl Johns

  55. “Jean”, Hovvdy

  56. “all of my love”, Oso Oso

  57. “Glory of the Snow”, Clairo

  58. “Pluto”, Raveena

  59. “Apple”, Market

  60. “Carsick”, youbet

  61. “Wristwatch”, MJ Lenderman

  62. “Salt In Wound”, Soccer Mommy

  63. “Better Hate”, Jessica Pratt

  64. “The Architect”, Kacey Musgraves

  65. “Cradle”, Marji Shemanski

  66. “Sadness As A Gift”, Adrianne Lenker

  67. “Sleepwalking”, Camera Obscura

  68. “Ethereal Nature”, Jackie West

  69. “Whodunnit”, Adeline Hotel

  70. “Omission”, Julian Lage

  71. “Tiny Flame”, The Softies

  72. “Eye of the Storm”, Little Mystery

  73. “The Metronome Song”, The Bird Calls

  74. “She’s Leaving You”, MJ Lenderman

  75. “Rewind”, Rosali

  76. “Look Around”, Katy Pinke

  77. “Binding”, Nilüfer Yanya

  78. “slob air”, Mica Levi

  79. “Loved”, Four Tet

  80. “ordinary things”, Ariana Grande and her nonna

  81. “BIRDS OF A FEATHER”, Billie Eilish

  82. “rump punch”, Cash Cobain

  83. “Evening Mood”, Julia Holter

  84. “I Don’t Know You”, Mannequin Pussy

  85. “Steady Song”, Alena Spanger

  86. “To Be Still”, Brittany Howard

  87. “MILTON SUITE”, Sam Gendel and Sam Wilkes

  88. “Kiss Me Before I Forget”, Shabaka and Lianne La Havas

  89. “Tiptoe”, The Smile

  90. “Am I It?”, Lorin Benedict

  91. “Chestnut”, Scree

  92. “Satellite Business 2.0”, Sampha and Little Simz

  93. “Gostrumental”, Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, and Tyshawn Sorey

  94. “Floodplain”, Hannah Frances

  95. “The Sediment of Creation”, Dean McPhee

  96. “Illuminati”, Quarterly

  97. “Zameen”, Arooj Aftab and Chocolate Genius Incorporated

  98. “Rain”, Sam Wilkes, Craig Weinrib, and Dylan Day

  99. “Continuum 1”, Nala SInephro

  100. “Don’t Smile”, Sabrina Carpenter

LISTEN TO THIS PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY AND YOUTUBE

MONTHLY

#118.5.2 “In a Little Bit of Time”

#118.5 “Edie Got Away”

#117.5 “Mescarole"

#116.5 “Cloudburst”

#105.5 “Country Life in America”

#105 August, 2023 | “Rockaway”

#104 July, 2023 | “Gas Station Bathroom”

#103 June, 2023 | “Talkin’ French” 

#100 March, 2023 | The Feelies, “The Good Earth”

#99 February, 2023 | Judee Sill, “Judee Sill”

#98 January, 2023 | Pink Floyd, “Meddle”

#96 November, 2022 | RIP TOM PETTY

#95 October, 2022 | Cannonball Adderley, “Cannonball Adderley's Fiddler on the Roof”

#94 September, 2022 | Sheryl Crow, “Tuesday Night Music Club”

#93 August, 2022 | D’Angelo, “Live at the Jazz Cafe, London”

#92 July, 2022 | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Southern Accents”

#91 June, 2022 | George Harrison, “Living in the Material World”

#90 May, 2022 | The Wild Tchoupitoulas, “The Wild Tchoupitoulas”

#89 April, 2022 | Joni Mitchell, “Taming the Tiger”

#88 March, 2022 | Young Thug, “Barter 6”

#87 February, 2022 | Stephane Grappelli and Stuff Smith, “Violins No End”

#86 January, 2022 | Nas, “God’s Son”

#84 November, 2021 | Milt Jackson with the Thelonious Monk Quintet, “Wizard of the Vibes”

#83 October, 2021 | For Against, “Coalesced”

#82 September, 2021 | Pat Metheny, “Bright Size Life”

#81 August, 2021 | The Chicks, “Fly”

#80 July, 2021 | Allen Toussaint, “Southern Nights”

#79 June, 2021 | Novos Baianos, “Acabou Chorare”

#78 May, 2021 | One Direction, “Four”

#77 April, 2021 | Bob Dylan, “New Morning”

#76 March, 2021 | Ty Dolla $ign, “Free TC”

#75 February, 2021 | Ghostface Killah, “Fishscale”

#74 January, 2021 | Minnie Riperton, “Minnie”

#72 November, 2020 | Sufjan Stevens, “Seven Swans”

#71 October, 2020 | Common, “Resurrection”

#70 September, 2020 | Herbie Hancock, “Thrust”

#69 August, 2020 | Special Issue

#68 July, 2020 | Cam’ron, “Purple Haze”

#67 June, 2020 | Jorge Ben, “A Tabua de Esmeralda”

#66 May, 2020 | The Meters, “Rejuvenation”

#65 April, 2020 | Eddie Kendricks, “People… Hold On”

#64 March, 2020 | Thelonious Monk, “Solo Monk”

#63 February, 2020 | Cat Power, “Moon Pix”

#62 January, 2020 | Yusef Lateef, “Eastern Sounds”

#59 November, 2019 | Frank Sinatra, “In The Wee Small Hours”

#58 October, 2019 | Steely Dan, “Gaucho”

#57 September, 2019 | Bonnie Raitt, “Streetlights”

#56 August, 2019 | Daft Punk, “Alive 2007”

#55 July, 2019 | John Coltrane, “Interstellar Space”

#54 June, 2019 | Big Pun, “Capital Punishment”

#53 May, 2019 | Paul Simon, “Rhythm of the Saints”

#52 April, 2019 | Dirty Projectors, “Rise Above”

#51 March, 2019 | Kate Bush, “The Sensual World”

#50 February, 2019 | Sonny Rollins, “Next Album”

#49 January, 2019 | Sade, “Diamond Life”

#47 November, 2018 | Curtis Mayfield, “There’s No Place Like America Today”

#46 October, 2018 | The Blue Nile, “Hats”

#45 September, 2018 | Lucinda Williams, “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road”

#44 August, 2018 | Aretha Franklin, “Amazing Grace”

#43 July, 2018 | Teddy Pendergrass, “TP”

#42 June, 2018 | Dennis Wilson, “Pacific Ocean Blue”

#41 May, 2018 | Bobby Brown, “Don’t Be Cruel”

#40 April, 2018 | Amy Winehouse, “Back to Black”

#39 March, 2018 | Q-Tip, “Kamaal the Abstract”

#38 February, 2018 | Miles Davis, “In a Silent Way”

#37 January, 2018 | Beck, “Sea Change”

#35 November, 2017 | Slum Village, “Fan-tas-tic Vol. 1”

#34 October, 2017 | Steely Dan, “Two Against Nature”

#33 September, 2017 | Baaba Maal and Mansour Seck, “Djam Leeli”

#32 August, 2017 | Billy Joel, “The Stranger”

#31 July, 2017 | Big Daddy Kane, “Long Live the Kane”

#30 June, 2017 | Janet Jackson, “Control”

#29 May, 2017 | Steely Dan, “Aja”

#28 April, 2017 | The O’Jays, “Back Stabbers”

#27 March, 2017 | Wire, “154”

#26 February, 2017 | Professor Longhair, “New Orleans Piano”

#25 January, 2017 | Elvis Costello, “Live at the El Mocambo”

#23 November, 2016 | Erykah Badu, “Mama’s Gun”

#22 October, 2016 | Donald Fagan, “The Nightfly”

#21 September, 2016 | Aretha Franklin, “Young, Gifted, and Black”

#20 August, 2016 | The Dave Matthews Band, “Under the Table and Dreaming”

#19 July, 2016 | Clams Casino, “Instrumental Mixtape II”

#18 June, 2016 | James Brown, “Love, Power, Peace”

#17 May, 2016 | Ali Farka Toure & Ry Cooder, “Talking Timbuktu”

#16 April, 2016 | RIP PRINCE

#15 March, 2016 | Prince, “Prince”

#14 February, 2016 | Big L, “Lifestyles Ov Da Poor & Dangerous”

#13 January, 2016 | Bill Evans, “Live at the Village Vanguard”

#11 November, 2015 | Donny Hathaway, “Live”

#10 October, 2015 | Paul McCartney, “McCartney”

#9 September, 2015 | Talk Talk, “Laughing Stock”

#8 August, 2015 | B.B. King, “Live at Cook County Jail”

#7 July, 2015 | Miles Davis, “Filles de Kilimanjaro”

#6 June, 2015 | Joni Mitchell, “Hejira”

#5 May, 2015 | Kanye West, “The College Dropout”

#4 April, 2015 | MF DOOM, “Operation: Doomsday”

#3 March, 2015 | Bruce Springsteen, “The Wild, the Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle”

#2 February, 2015 | Eric B. and Rakim, “Paid in Full”

#1 January, 2015 | Johnny Thunders & the Heartbreakers, “L.A.M.F.”

 

ANNUAL

 

DECENNIAL

 

THEMED