The Magnolia Palette's 2024 Album of The Year

The year 2024 has been a triumph for many musicians and another great year for music. It was a year that sparked many movements across many genres and ripples that will continue to define the cultural landscape of the decade. For me personally, I believe that this year's music gave us so much, but I can only award one album to be this year's album of the year. Before I do that, here are some of the top contenders that did not win, but nontheless are so impressive and impactful, that I want to also recognize and recommend them as well:

9 Lives - Koe Wetzel

2024 was a year that marked the re-emergence of country music in the United States, with artists like Morgan Wallen, Shaboozey, and Luke Combs making the charts. I'm starting this list with a remarkable country album: 9 Lives by Koe Wetzel, one of many Texans featured on this year's list. In this album, Wetzel offers a dark twist on the country genre, focusing on unconventional themes such as personal loss, drug abuse, and the uncomfortable parts of life. Another unconventional part of this album that I want to point out is it's diverse influces, extending far beyond country music, including a cover of one of XXXTentacion's music and autobiographical lyrics reminicent of contemporary Texas literature. A wonderful album to listen to, I think 9 Lives is on top of my list for introductory contemporary country music. 

Chromakopia - Tyler The Creator

Some of my favourite albums overall are the ones where the artist can explore their own personal stories and aspects of their life through music, and Tyler The Creator's Chromakopia definitiely fills this year's niche for that type of album. Chromokopia is about all the lessons that Okonma has learned throughout his childhood, featuring narrations by his mother, soul melodies, and deep (and dark) themes of varying degrees. The album itself is chaotic, which best reflects the turmoil felt throughout the lyrics, and that same chaos is also a hinderance, due to how crowded the composition feels. I'd say Chromakopia is one of those albums best visited from time to time. 

Twisters: The Album - Various Artists

An amazing album, to accompany an amazing film (and a contender for tomorrow's Movie of The Year list), Twisters: The Album features a variety of country musicians ranging from Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Miranda Lambert, and so much more. This is album that truly captures both visual scenery and themes of the film, and is on par with Barbie The Album and Black Panther: The Album for being movie-based albums that have managed to create an identity of it's own. It's an amazing country album, and very immersive when driving on the Texas highway, but not the best when compared to others on this list. 

Find Joy - That Woman

As a longtime fan of the indie duo Oh Wonder, I was surprsied to learn that Josephine Vander West released a solo album, with Anthony Vander West serving as her producer. Under the name "That Woman", Vander West gave us an album that explored the highs and lows of womanhood, all encapsulated in Find Joy. I personally could not relate to much of the album, but there are universal aspects that some men might find equally as fitting, and the instrumentals are amazing to hear, and I cannot wait to hear more of what the duo has to offer, either as That Woman or Oh Wonder. 

Dark Times - Vince Staples

2024 has also been an amazing year for hip-hop music, with so many great artists releasing some of their best new works such as 21 Savage, Kid Cudi, and of course, who could forget Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" and "Euphoria". Vince Staples' Dark Times is one of the most introspective albums on this list, an album that discusses Staples' trauma, and is not afraid to shy away from dark topics. This is an album that is made to played on repeat, and it's such a pleasure to hear Vince Staples again and again, truly an artist I will never grow tired of. 

Cowboy Carter - Beyonce

The origin story of Beyonce's country album goes all the way back to 2016, where her CMA Awards performance was met with racist backlash, saying that Beyonce Knowles-Carter, a black woman from Texas, has no place in Country music. On a conceptual level, Cowboy Carter is not a country album, it is one that both highlights the contributions of black artists to American music and culture, and showcasing current and future ones. I love the delivery of this album, and the force and power that came along with it. I adored the Americana aesthetic of the tracks and the deep history behind the lyrics. There likely won't be another Beyonce album on these lists for a very long time, but for now, Cowboy Carter is truly a milestone in her career and genre, but not her place in my personal rankings. 

F-1 Trillion - Post Malone

The fourth and final country album on this list, F-1 Trillion is Post Malone's first ever country album. We first saw a glimpse of Post's country-making capabilities in Beyonce's Cowboy Carter, with the track "LEVII'S JEANS" where Post's serenade-like vocals greatly compliment Knowles-Carter's vocal melodies. He was able to prove himself again with the lead single (and in my opinion, the song of the summer), "I Had Some Help", featuring Morgan Wallen. F-1 Trillion feels like a love letter to the genre of country music, and I can't wait to see if Post Malone is going to venture deep into his skills in country, but for now, this album is just another contender on my list. 

Brat - Charli XCX

When it was finally time to choose an Album of the year, I was truly torn between Brat by Charli XCX and the actual winner. Arguably the most culturally impactful album of the year, so much that it shaped the campaign a presidential candidate and the cultural landscape of the summer (and the subsequent months). Brat is obviously Aitchison's best work (branding-wise too), and it leans super-heavily on her signiature style of electropop, which I believe should be a clue to where the genre is heading towards to. The way the beats in Brat mix so well with Aitchison's vocals is a truly magnificent combination, made even more perfect with subsequent collaborations with other artists. This will certainly be an album that will be mentioned in the coming years. 

Short n' Sweet - Sabrina Carpenter 

For artist whose main schtick is being short and horny, Sabrina Carpenter does it so well, so much so that Short n' Sweet has earned it's spot as the only fully pop album on this list. Innuendos and double entendres aside, Short n' Sweet, at it's core, is a fun and catchy album from top to bottom, with clear influences from Carpenter's musical predecessors, such as Dolly Parton, Taylor Swift, and Ariana Grande. This album may be this year's fun white girl music of the year, but not my personal album of the year. 

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The Magnolia Palette's 

2024 Album of The Year:

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Take Care - BigXthaPlug

The best album of 2024 (In my opinion, of course), both lyrically and production-wise. The first-ever recipient of this award goes to Take Care by BigXthaPlug. Take Care is an album truly inspired by the rapper's life stories, personal struggles with fame, and his North Texas roots, and gives us an inspirational album that discusses taking care of ourselves and the ones we love, either mentally, or physically. Much like some of his earlier works, the main theme resonating throughout all of Landum's works is the force of power and pride in both himself and the wider Texas identity. 

Take Care is an album that is very tight with it's thematic messaging, offering a great variety of lessons such as family over fame, reconciliations with the past, the pressures of success and the journey towards success, all are much needed lessons that Landum has conveyed with such universality. All of this, combined with a rich sampling of soul, jazz, and southern hip-hop has made this my personal top album of 2024. Notable tracks of this album include "The Largest", "Change Me", "Planting Seeds", "2AM", and "MmHmm".

Because of these reasons, Take Care by BigXthaPlug is The Magnolia Palette's 2024 Album of The Year.