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Some songs have the rare ability to define eras, celebrated for their infectious beats, groundbreaking production, vivid storytelling, and timeless appeal, earning them the status of true classics. In partnership with Tres Generaciones Tequila, a brand that champions the journey and not just the destination, we continue our exploration to round up the top Get Up Anthems over this next year from six iconic cities: Houston, Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami. Guided by curated panels, we dive deep into each city’s vibrant sonic history, highlighting tracks that embody resilience, authenticity, and innovation while celebrating the power of music to inspire listeners to rise and chase their passions.
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Los Angeles’ music scene is the heartbeat of West Coast hip-hop, defined by G-funk grooves, cinematic storytelling, and a celebration of street culture, freedom, and pride. From the smooth funk-infused beats of “It Was a Good Day” and “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” to the anthemic energy of “California Love” and “Still D.R.E.,” these songs capture the soul of LA—a city where ambition meets artistry, and struggle gives rise to triumph. LA’s playlist reflects a rich legacy of innovation and influence, blending the grit of South Central with the sunny vibes of the West Coast.
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The Top 10 Get Up Anthems from Los Angeles were crafted through a blend of editorial expertise, data-driven analytics, social impact, and personal sentiment to create a ranked list of songs that have inspired, captivated, and energized the City of Angels. Spanning decades from 1992 to the present day, LA’s playlist [click HERE to play] features tracks that represent the city’s vibrant cultural history and unmistakable sound, hand-selected by local icons The Game and D Smoke, Billboard editors Carl Lamarre, and moderated by Rocsi Diaz.
Did they get it right? Or were they off the mark?
Check out the Top 10 Get Up Anthems from Los Angeles:
10. “BPT” – YG (2014)
“BPT” from YG’s debut album My Krazy Life is a raw, unapologetic tribute to his roots in Bompton (a nickname for Compton). Produced by DJ Mustard, the track features a minimalist, hard-hitting beat driven by claps and menacing synths. YG’s aggressive delivery and vivid storytelling capture the reality of gang life and his rise in the rap game. The song’s unfiltered depiction of LA street culture resonated deeply within Compton and other parts of Los Angeles, while commercially, it helped establish YG as one of the leading voices of West Coast hip-hop’s new generation.
9. “Regulate” – Warren G feat. Nate Dogg (1994)
“Regulate” is a storytelling masterpiece that combines Warren G’s vivid narrative with Nate Dogg’s melodic hooks. Produced by Warren G, the track samples Michael McDonald’s “I Keep Forgettin’ (Every Time You’re Near),” giving it a smooth, soulful feel. The lyrics recount a night of danger and triumph on the streets of Long Beach, showcasing the duo’s chemistry. Released on the Above the Rim soundtrack, the song became a massive commercial hit and a defining moment for G-funk. Locally, it solidified Warren G and Nate Dogg as pillars of the West Coast sound, while globally, it introduced a broader audience to the genre’s laid-back yet gritty appeal.
8. “We Can Freak It” – Kurupt (1998)
Kurupt’s “We Can Freak It” is a smooth West Coast anthem that blends G-funk with soulful production by Battlecat. The track features atmospheric synths, a hypnotic bassline, and Kurupt’s laid-back delivery, creating a vibe-perfect for cruising through LA. Lyrically, it explores themes of nightlife, relationships, and escapism, capturing the essence of West Coast living. Though not as commercially successful as other G-funk hits, it resonated deeply within LA, becoming a staple in local hip-hop circles. Its mellow yet infectious sound remains a favorite among fans of ’90s West Coast rap.
7. “Nuthin’ But a G Thang” – Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg (1992)
“Nuthin’ But a G Thang” is a definitive G-funk anthem that introduced the world to the chemistry between Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. Built around a sample of Leon Haywood’s “I Want’a Do Something Freaky to You,” the production features lush synths, a funky bassline, and a laid-back groove. Snoop’s effortless flow and Dre’s polished delivery made the track an instant classic. Released as the lead single from The Chronic, it became a commercial juggernaut, bringing West Coast hip-hop to mainstream audiences. Locally, it encapsulated the essence of LA’s party culture and street life, while globally, it redefined the sound of hip-hop in the early ’90s.
6. “Last Time That I Checc’d” – Nipsey Hussle feat. YG (2018)
“Last Time That I Checc’d,” from Nipsey Hussle’s Grammy-nominated album Victory Lap, is a celebration of independence and success. Produced by Mike & Keys, the track features an infectious, hard-hitting beat that complements Nipsey’s assertive delivery and YG’s fiery guest verse. The lyrics emphasize self-made success and maintaining authenticity, a recurring theme in Nipsey’s music. The song resonated deeply within Los Angeles, highlighting the city’s entrepreneurial spirit and gang unity, as Nipsey and YG represented rival factions coming together. Commercially, it solidified Nipsey’s rise as a major force in hip-hop, while locally, it became an anthem of empowerment and pride for the streets of LA.
5. “Not Like Us” – Nipsey Hussle feat. YG (2018)
“Not Like Us,” one of Nipsey Hussle’s reflective tracks, exemplifies his dedication to empowerment and authenticity. Produced by Mike & Keys, the beat features soulful undertones and crisp percussion, allowing Nipsey’s motivational lyrics to take center stage. Released during a pivotal moment in his career, the track underscores his focus on self-reliance, entrepreneurship, and community upliftment. While it didn’t achieve widespread commercial acclaim, its message resonated deeply within Los Angeles, particularly in South Central, where Nipsey was a hometown hero. The song’s themes reflect Nipsey’s broader cultural impact, inspiring a generation of artists and entrepreneurs to prioritize legacy over fame.
4. “Still D.R.E.” – Dr. Dre feat. Snoop Dogg (1999)
“Still D.R.E.” marked Dr. Dre’s triumphant return to the forefront of hip-hop after a brief hiatus. Produced by Dre and Scott Storch, the track’s minimalist piano riff and crisp drum pattern became instantly recognizable. Snoop Dogg’s laid-back hook complements Dre’s confident verses, reasserting his dominance in the rap game. Released as the lead single from 2001, the song was both a critical and commercial success, signaling the resurgence of West Coast hip-hop at the turn of the millennium. Locally, it reinforced Dre’s status as an LA legend and pioneer of G-funk, while its sleek production and enduring appeal cemented it as a global hip-hop classic.
3. “California Love” – 2Pac feat. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman (1995)
“California Love” is an iconic West Coast anthem that captured the grandeur and diversity of California’s culture. Produced by Dr. Dre, the track samples Joe Cocker’s “Woman to Woman” and features Zapp frontman Roger Troutman on the talkbox, adding a funk-driven, futuristic flair. Lyrically, the song celebrates the vibrant lifestyle of California, from the streets of LA to the Bay Area, with 2Pac’s fiery verses contrasting Dre’s cool, confident delivery. Released as 2Pac’s comeback single after his release from prison, it became an instant commercial hit and an enduring cultural staple. Locally, it was a rallying cry for West Coast pride during the height of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry, while globally, it solidified California’s place as a central hub for hip-hop culture.
2. “Gin and Juice” – Snoop Dogg (1993)
Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice,” produced by Dr. Dre, is a cornerstone of West Coast G-funk. Its funky bassline, lush synths, and signature high-pitched whines, combined with Snoop’s smooth, laid-back delivery, create a quintessential party anthem. The lyrics reflect a carefree lifestyle centered around drinking, smoking, and enjoying life with friends—a sharp contrast to the gangsta rap narratives dominating the scene at the time. Released as the second single from Doggystyle, the track was both a commercial success and a cultural phenomenon. Locally, it represented the quintessential LA party vibe, from house parties in Compton to BBQs in Long Beach, while nationally, it introduced mainstream audiences to G-funk’s irresistible groove and Snoop’s effortless charisma, marking a new chapter in hip-hop.
1. “It Was a Good Day” – Ice Cube (1992)
“It Was a Good Day” is a quintessential track that perfectly encapsulates the relaxed yet gritty essence of Los Angeles in the early ’90s. Produced by DJ Pooh, the smooth, soulful sample of The Isley Brothers’ “Footsteps in the Dark” provides a mellow, nostalgic backdrop for Ice Cube’s reflective lyrics. The track’s narrative vividly describes a rare, violence-free day in South Central LA, showcasing the stark contrast between everyday struggles and moments of peace. Its debut on the The Predator album resonated deeply with audiences, both commercially and culturally, offering a rare positive perspective amidst the turmoil of the post-Rodney King riots era. Locally, it became an anthem for LA residents, a celebration of fleeting joys in a city plagued by systemic challenges, while nationally, it solidified Ice Cube’s status as a master storyteller.
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To close out 2024, which Skechers has dubbed the “Year of the Dogg,” legendary rapper turned style icon Snoop Dogg dropped it like it’s hot with a new sneaker collaboration, Skechers x Snoop Dogg: Sizzle.
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Starting at $90, the Skechers x Snoop Dogg: Sizzle collection is ideal for the basketball court, as well as casual wear throughout the day.
Styles vary from mid-top with the Buckets OG to low-top with the Toke Slip-ins court sneakers, while pairs are made with premium leather uppers with Skechers’ signature “Air-Cooled Memory Foam” insole for cushioning and bounce on the court.
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The Skechers x Snoop Sizzle Toke Slip-ins offer a lace-up and low-top look that’s sleek and easy to put on, thanks to the sneaker company’s “Heel Pillow” design for comfort and stability. The sneakers come in five colorways, including blue and yellow, black, navy, white and purple.
Meanwhile, the Snoop Dogg: Sizzle – Buckets OG features buttery smooth and perforated sections throughout the toebox for airflow and speed, as heel trims are stylish with paisley prints on the collar for a bit of flair. There are five colorways available for these pairs, such as purple, rust, black and white
The Snoop Dogg: Sizzle collection also has shoes that come in the rapper’s Bored Ape NFT character “Dr. Bombay” Buckets styles, which come in two colorways, white and multi-camo and leopard, as well as black and multi-camo and leopard.Ahead, you’ll find the Skechers x Snoop Dogg: Sizzle collection in various colorways.
Skechers
Skechers Slip-ins: Sizzle, Snoop Sizzle Toke Slip-ins
In blue/yellow
Skechers
Snoop Dogg: Sizzle, Buckets OG
In purple
Skechers
Snoop Dogg: Sizzle, Buckets Bombay
In white/multi-camo and leopard
Additionally, the Snoop Dogg and Skechers collaboration has sneakers and slides available in Snoop One — also available in new limited-edition Skechers x Snoop Dogg: Snoop One, Gold Medal Snoop sneakers, which celebrate the rapper’s epic experience with Team U.S.A. during the 2024 Summer Olympic in Paris, France — and Arch Fit Footsteps styles with prices starting at $49.99 at Skechers.com. Shop the Snoop x Skechers collection, below:
Snoop Dogg: Snoop One, Gold Medal Snoop
In gold
Skechers
Skechers Slip-ins: Snoop One, Next Episode
In off-white
Skechers
Snoop Dogg: Arch Fit Footsteps, Rolling N Gold
In pink
Skechers
Skechers Slip-ins: Snoop One, Rhine-Stoned
In pink
Skechers
Snoop Dogg: Uno, Dr. Bombay
In hot pink
$49.99
$90
44% off
Skechers
Skechers Slip-ins: Snoop One, Rhine-Stoned
In black
Skechers
Snoop Dogg: Arch Fit Footsteps, Rolling Glitz
In black
Skechers
Premium Leather Slip-ins Snoop One, OG
In white
Skechers
Premium Leather Slip-ins Snoop One, Double G
In black/white
Skechers
Skechers Slip-ins: Snoop One, OG Tela
In gray/lime
$62.99
$90
30% off
Want more? Skechers has more sneakers in various styles and colorways available from the Snoop Dogg collection, below:
For more product recommendations, check out our roundups of the best Xbox deals, studio headphones and Nintendo Switch accessories.
The board of directors of Farm Aid — including Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and Margo Price — have appointed Shorlette Ammons and Jennifer Fahy to lead the non-profit effective Jan. 1.
Farm Aid’s annual festival, the music industry’s longest-running concert for a cause, began in 1985 and has raised more than $80 million to support programs that help family farmers thrive. Across the decades, it has taken action to change the nation’s dominant system of industrial agriculture and promote food from family farms.
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Ammons and Fahy succeed Carolyn Mugar, Farm Aid’s first and only executive director, who was tapped for the role by Nelson when he launched the organization. She will continue to work as an advisor to Farm Aid. In addition, Farm Aid associate director Glenda Yoder is leaving the organization at the end of 2024 after 34 years. Yoder has been responsible for the launch of Farm Aid’s Homegrown Concessions, demonstrating that family-farm-sourced food could feed concertgoers on a huge scale.
Fahy joined Farm Aid in 2002 and has served as communications director since 2008, while Ammons has served as the organization’s program director since 2022. Together, they will share leadership responsibilities in the ongoing mission to cultivate a family farm-centered system of agriculture in America.
“There would not be 40 years of Farm Aid without Carolyn Mugar — and for all those years she’s made me look good!,” said Nelson in a statement. “ I am deeply grateful for her passion and commitment leading Farm Aid’s work, listening to farmers and always being a champion of grassroots organizations. Carolyn and Glenda rallied the Good Food Movement to bring people together in support of farmers.”
Mugar was recognized by Billboard on its 2020 Women in Music list. At that time, she noted that in the years since Farm Aid’s first concert in 1985, “what has changed is people’s consciousness.” Farm Aid supporters have recognized the links between its mission and “the good-food movement, the environmental movement, the whole issue of structural racism,” she said. “Farm Aid has been working with Black farmers and Black farm organizations since day one.”
From barnyards to backstage trailers, Mugar has networked nonstop on behalf of family farmers, herding artists and activists “like a collie dog,” she joked then. But inevitably, she has deflected and given credit for Farm Aid’s enduring impact to its leading artists: Nelson, Young, Mellencamp, Matthews and Price. “For all practical purposes, they lead Farm Aid — and they do not take prisoners. They really never give up,” she said then.
In a statement announcing her succession, Mugar said, “All of us at Farm Aid confidently trust that Shorlette and Jennifer are poised to lead Farm Aid’s next chapter to benefit farmers, eaters and our soil and water. We face urgent issues with the health of our planet, and I’m are thankful Farm Aid has a strong foundation for the next leaders to build upon.”
In addition to her deep experience managing communications for Farm Aid and co-producing its annual festival, Fahy holds a certificate in nonprofit management from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. Ammons, who comes from a farm family in North Carolina, spent her career prior to Farm Aid addressing the systemic barriers that BIPOC, low-income and rural food and farming communities face. She has 20 years of experience in community leadership, training, education and engagement.
“My two-decade career at Farm Aid has offered me incredible opportunities to dig into a broad spectrum of the work and operations of the organization, for which I am grateful and proud,” says Fahy. “Farm Aid’s people are its greatest strength, and I am thrilled to deepen my work with all of the folks — from farmers and artists to our supporters, advocates, policymakers and everyone who eats — who make up this organization and this movement for thriving family farmers.”
“As a Black Southern woman who grew up in the family farm tradition, I have a deep understanding of the struggles of family farmers and rural communities,” says Ammons. “I know the ways that food and music bring folks together. So, for me, this transition has been taking place over the course of my lifetime of work and service. I’m excited to step into this role to live up to the legacy of Farm Aid’s leadership and the resistance that marginalized communities have demonstrated since the farm crisis of the 80s and throughout our shared history.”
Farm Aid will stage its 40th-anniversary festival in 2025. The venue and date of next year’s concert has not yet been announced.
Well, 2024 is quickly drawing to a close. And what an eventful year it was in R&B/hip-hop and African music.
No doubt still uppermost in the minds of many is the epic feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar that exploded in March. Captivating the music industry and fans alike, the beef laid bare a rocky relationship dating back to 2013. However, it simultaneously injected a needed jolt of creative energy into a genre whose mainstream success had rendered it formulaic and uninspiring in the minds of fans and cultural pundits alike. With Lamar set to headline the global stage, which is the 2025 Super Bowl halftime show, hip-hop’s impactful presence can’t be denied.
Also in March, Beyoncé sparked a different debate with the release of the No. 1-debuting Cowboy Carter. Her full-length foray into country drew critical praise — and also its share of negative dismissals. But the album shined a deserving spotlight on Black country pioneers like Linda Martell (the first Black woman to play the Grand Ole Opry) and newcomers working to wedge their boots in the door, such as Shaboozey. The latter is up for a best new artist Grammy after a historic 19-week run at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with “A Bar Song (Tipsy),” tying Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. Not to mention, Cowboy Carter scored 11 Grammy nominations for Queen Bey herself.
On both the chart and touring fronts, the women of hip-hop — Nicki Minaj, Megan Thee Stallion, GloRilla and Doechii, among them — made major breakthroughs this year. As did female African music artists like Tyla and Tems. And in the R&B realm, current three-time Grammy nominee Chris Brown added several more career milestones to his account, including tying with Lil Wayne for the second-most No. 1 on the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart and first RIAA diamond certification for “No Guidance” featuring Drake. Meanwhile, Muni Long notched back-to-back No. 1s on the Adult R&B Airplay chart with “Make Me Forget” and “Ruined Me” from her Grammy-nominated album, Revenge.
It’s also been a year marked by several high-profile legal cases involving hip-hop artists. Those include Young Thug’s recently settled YSL RICO trial, Drake’s surprise legal petition filed against Universal Music Group and Spotify, Sean “Diddy” Combs set to go on trial for sex trafficking and racketeering and, most recently, Lil Durk’s indictment — along with several members of his Only the Family crew — on a federal murder-for-hire charge for allegedly trying to kill rapper Quando Rondo.
All the while, the music industry continued to shrink — kicking off the year with Universal Music Group’s restructuring into East Coast and West Coast operations and Warner Music Group’s reorganization of Atlantic Music Group. The ensuing layoffs included the departures of 300 Entertainment chairman/CEO Kevin Liles and Atlantic Records’ president of Black music Michael Kyser; layoffs at iHeartMedia and other radio chains plus SiriusXM and other companies further stoked talk about the industry’s growing lack of diversity and equity in the wake of George Floyd and #TheShowMustBePaused.
And speaking of losses, R&B/hip-hop paid homage to the legacies of Quincy Jones, Frankie Beverly and other revered members of the Black music community who passed away this year. Now, before R&B/hip-hop and African music close the door on 2024, here’s a look at this year’s top 10 stories.
Kendrick Lamar: Man of the Hour
Nogizaka46’s “Hodoukyo” tops the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart released Dec. 18 tallying the week from Dec. 9 to 15.
The popular girl group’s 37th single dropped on Dec. 11 and launched with 609,776 CDs to hit No. 1 for sales, while also coming in at No. 11 for downloads and No. 6 for radio airplay.
Rosé & Bruno Mars’ “APT.” holds at No. 2. The pop-punk hit continues to rule streaming and video views with slight gains in both metrics, while radio is up to 114% compared to last week (moving 6-4) and karaoke to 125% (67-60). Rosé’s first solo album rosie, which includes this track, debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 this week.
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LE SSERAFIM’s “CRAZY” follows at No. 3. The title track off the group’s fourth mini-album was released in August and debuted at No. 67 on the chart released Sept. 4 and shot to No. 8 the following week. The CD version sold 142,223 copies to power the single to No. 3 this week.
Mrs. GREEN APPLE’s “Bitter Vacances” drops to No. 5 after topping the tally last week. The track is down in downloads (64% week-over-week), streaming (82%), radio (42%), and video (66%).
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back number’s “Christmas Song” (released Nov. 18, 2015) climbs eight notches to hit No. 7 this week. The seasonal favorite by the three-man band has returned to the top 10 every year since 2021 near Christmas, but the only time it’s been in the top 10 outside of the week including Dec. 24th was in Jan. 2016. Looking at the number of streams for the track from Dec. 1 to 14 since 2021, using Luminate’s analysis tool CONNECT, streams have been increasing every year, indicating that this yearning love song has taken hold as a holiday season staple in Japan. Streams for the track during the Christmas period have also increased in other Asian countries, with South Korea at 103% compared to last year and Taiwan at 108%.
The Billboard Japan Hot 100 combines physical and digital sales, audio streams, radio airplay, video views and karaoke data.
See the full Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart, tallying the week from Dec. 9 to 15, here. For more on Japanese music and charts, visit Billboard Japan’s English X account.
They say time heals all wounds. Once upon a time, Snoop Dogg wasn’t messing with Eazy-E’s “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” diss track against him and Dr. Dre, but now it’s part of his weekly routine.
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Snoop hopped on The Bootleg Kev Podcast earlier this week, where he admitted that “Real Muthaphuckkin G’s” gets plenty of spins over at his Cadillacc Music radio station studio.
“We was busting them upside the head, but when they dropped that motherf–ker, we felt that one,” Snoop said. “Like, the other s–t, we didn’t — but that motherf–ker right there — Eazy was going in on a n—a.”
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He continued to hearing it today: “And that s–t be knocking and you hear me singing it. Motherf–k Dre, motherf–k Snoop, motherf–k Death Row.”
Alongside B.G. Knocc Out and Dresta, Eazy unleashed “Real Muthaphucckin G’s” in 1993, attacking Dre and Snoop for the repeated disses throughout The Chronic and mainly the explosive “F–k Wit Dre Day.”
Snoop admitted “that s–t is so hard,” but he was initially in denial of the record’s status. “F–k them n—-s,” he said of his initial mentality when hearing it.
Unfortunately, Eazy-E would end up dying less than two years later in March 1995 due to HIV/AIDS, one month following his diagnosis.
As for Snoop’s 2024, it’s a busy close-out to the year for the Death Row legend, who reunited with Dr. Dre for their first full-length project since 1993’s Doggystyle, as Missionary arrived Dec. 13. The joint album features a star-studded cast of 50 Cent, Eminem, Sting, Jelly Roll and more.
Listen to the full interview below.
Billboard and Tres Generaciones Tequila are partnering to find out the Get Up Anthems of select cities, and for the final stop, we’re in Los Angeles. In conversation with Rocsi Diaz, L.A. natives D Smoke and The Game sat with Billboard’s Carl Lamarre to curate their top 10 Get Up Anthems for L.A. The list includes songs that inspired and energized their city, by L.A. artists, presented by Tres Generaciones Tequila.
The Game:I’m gonna go, I’m throwing it. I’m throwing two.
D Smoke:Two? I was about to say.
The Game:Because somebody in there.
D Smoke:It’s not one, something’s one.
The Game:It’s not one.
D Smoke:That’s two, that’s two for sure.
Rocsi Diaz:Hey there. I’m Rocsi Diaz, alongside Billboard and Tres Generaciones Tequila. We’re embarking on a journey to celebrate the profound impact of music, both personally and within communities. Our mission? To uncover the Ultimate Get Up Anthems for cities across the nation, and today we’re on the West Coast in the beautiful city of Los Angeles. Thanks, Jess.
Contributing to this discussion, I’m joined by L.A.’s very own The Game and D Smoke alongside Billboard‘s hip-hop and R&B guy Carl Lamarre. Just a few days ago, we began the selection process for L.A.’s Get Up anthems, and it was challenging, but with Billboard‘s exclusive chart data, we narrowed it down to just a few tracks that are in this bowl right now. They’re all up for discussion as we finalize the top 10 list and crown L.A.’s No. 1 Get Up Anthem. Before we jump into our exciting discussions, let’s toast L.A.’s diverse and illustrative musical legacy with a glass of Tres Generaciones Tequila. So here’s to the city where dreams come true. Cheers, fellas. This is good, Jess.
Wow, “We Can Freak It” Kurupt. Favorite backyard party song for sure, period.
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For this year’s update of our ongoing Greatest Pop Star by Year project, Billboard will be counting down our editorial staff picks for the 10 Greatest Pop Stars of 2024 all this week — you can see the artists we’ve already counted down, plus our Honorable Mentions, Comeback of the Year and our Rookie of the Year artists all right here. Now, at No. 3, we remember the year in Taylor Swift — another historic 12 months for the unquestioned biggest pop star of the 2020s.
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Taylor Swift ended with a finale, then another, then another. That’s how the last surprise song of the Eras Tour played out, at the record-setting trek’s final performance on Dec. 8 in Vancouver: sitting down at a piano adorned with decorative flowers, Swift performed a mash-up of “Long Live” and “New Year’s Day” — the closing tracks on Speak Now and Reputation, respectively — as the parting acoustic performance of the stadium trek.She oscillated between verses, then choruses, mixing images of gratitude and hushed togetherness in the middle of thousands of breathless fans.
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Then, Swift added one more coda: the outro of “The Manuscript,” the final song on this year’s The Tortured Poets Department. “Now and then, I re-read the manuscript,” Swift sang to close out the acoustic medley, “but the story isn’t mine anymore.” The echoing piano notes and bittersweet remembrances of “The Manuscript” stand in stark contrast with the final song on 2022’s Midnights, the Tortured Poets predecessor: on “Mastermind,” Swift portrays herself as the ultimate puppet master of romance, as synth-pop hooks function like gears in an immaculately constructed machine.
Shortly after the aching few seconds of “The Manuscript” in Vancouver, Swift was performing “Mastermind” as part of the Midnights set, commanding her dancers around the middle of the stage like pieces on a literal chess board – pristine pop maximalism after lump-in-throat intimacy. No other artist on the planet can navigate that tonal juxtaposition so effortlessly, and have it define another impossibly successful year.
Swift’s 2023 was awe-inspiring, the type of monumental career year where you could name a handful of different defining accomplishments — from the launch of Eras to “Anti-Hero” becoming her longest-leading Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit to “Cruel Summer” receiving a viral explosion to a pair of enormous Taylor’s Version releases — and still leave a dozen others on the table. She was named our editorial staff’s Greatest Pop Star of 2023, after winning in 2021 and 2015 before that – the only artist to top our list twice in three years, and three times total. Swift was the biggest star on the planet when 2023 began, and by the end, she was one of the biggest stars ever to grace this planet.
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And Swift remained at a commercial level in 2024 that none of her peers could approach, across all platforms — if this list was based solely on numbers, she would be No. 1 this year, and most years. Yet in 2024, Swift balanced the enormity of her superstardom with the most vulnerable music of her career, including songs written about the trappings of that superstardom. The heights she had reached gained greater nuance; her fans got a peek behind the curtain of the greatest show on earth. And Swift’s artistic gamble paid off handsomely, with fresh songwriting ground explored, more records broken, and a new era added, literally and figuratively, to the most sprawling show of her career.
Swift announced the April release of The Tortured Poets Department on a night where she made history: at the 2024 Grammy Awards in February, Midnights won the album of the year trophy, giving Swift a record-setting fourth career win in the category (after Fearless, 1989 and Folklore). The revelation came out of nowhere, as Swift had been on the Eras tour since March 2023, with little downtime between stadium shows; most fans expected her next announcement to focus on the final two re-recorded albums in her back catalog, after Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) and 1989 (Taylor’s Version) became chart-topping successes in 2023.
Yet on a night where Swift was the big winner, she told the world that she was pushing forward, with her fourth new full-length in five years. “All’s fair in love and poetry,” she wrote in an Instagram post revealing the grayscale album artwork, a message and image indicating that the reigning album of the year would receive a dramatic follow-up.
When The Tortured Poets Department arrived in April, the mastermind at the end of Midnights had been shape-shifted into a self-saboteur — heartbroken at times, pissed-off at others, with scores to settle but an obligation to the megawatt life she had constructed for herself. Working once again with Jack Antonoff and Aaron Dessner, Swift refracted the warm synth-pop and rustic indie-folk of her past few projects through an even moodier prism, and the songs shrugged off radio-friendly hooks in favor of insecurities and unruly thoughts. (Of course, there was one dart aimed at top 40: “Fortnight,” the opening track featuring Post Malone, a downtempo electro-pop duet that builds into a sweeping belt-along. It begins with dejected murder fantasies and ends with dreams of an escape to the state of Florida — no, the old Taylor still can’t come to the phone.)
Tortured Poets represented a wonderfully tangled knot of emotions hoisted up to the light; it was over an hour long, and quickly became much longer, with its 16 tracks joined by 15 more on streaming services hours after its release, for a double album dubbed The Anthology. The album confounded some critics upon its release, but was roundly embraced by fans as their favorite artist’s most unguarded statement to date. And as the commercial highs of 2023 were carried into the new year, Swift dominated the charts in ways that were downright mind-boggling — she was only competing with her past self, and she was winning.
The Tortured Poets Department debuted with 2.61 million equivalent album units, including 1.91 million pure album sales — the biggest bow of the decade and numbers exceeded only by Adele in the past 20 years, the best debut of Swift’s career, coming deep in the streaming era, when these sorts of debuts weren’t supposed to be possible anymore. Meanwhile, all 31 songs on the double-album hit the Hot 100, and Swift owned the entire top 14, including “Fortnight” clocking in at No. 1. Consumption records fell, streaming charts were flooded, and the best week for vinyl sales belonged to Swift once again, after Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) set the record last year. Plenty of A-list pop projects were released before and after The Tortured Poets Department this calendar year, but Swift created a seismic event – no other artist managed even one-sixth of those first-week numbers.
And then, the album stayed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for months… then left, and came back… and still, eight months later, sits on top. The Tortured Poets Department has logged 17 consecutive weeks atop the albums chart, thanks in part to high demand for its physical variants, such as the recent release of The Anthology on vinyl. It’s now Swift’s longest-running No. 1 album, even breezing by era-defining blockbusters Fearless and 1989, which each posted 11 weeks in the top spot. That longevity demonstrates the increased consumer demand for all things Taylor — after all, we’re only three years removed from Evermore earning four total weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. But this is not 2021, and Swift is far more impactful now than she was even at the beginning of this decade.
The Eras Tour reached four countries at the beginning of 2024, before The Tortured Poets Department was released in April, and its setlist was revamped to include the newest era when the tour resumed in May. Through the rest of the year, the blockbuster live run included headline-grabbing surprises: Swift’s boyfriend, NFL star Travis Kelce, appearing onstage at Wembley Stadium was probably the biggest gasp-getter, but Ed Sheeran, Florence Welch and Antonoff also dropped by for guest turns; meanwhile, a thwarted terrorist attack planned for the tour’s weekend in Vienna resulted in the scheduled performances being cancelled, with Swift later calling the ordeal “devastating.”
Perhaps the most underrated accomplishment of the Eras Tour, however, was how it minted new stars, at least partly in Swift’s own image, when she wasn’t even onstage. The tour began 2024 with Sabrina Carpenter as the opening act, a former Disney Channel standout trying to secure a crossover hit; by the end of the year, Carpenter had scored several of them, from “Espresso” to “Please Please Please” to “Taste,” and has become an undeniable A-lister with top-notch lyricism as her superpower.
And as Swift concluded the Eras run in December, she did so with a lead-in from Gracie Abrams, a former best new artist Grammy nominee whose positive buzz has turned into durable hits like “That’s So True” and “I Love You, I’m Sorry.” Carpenter headlined arenas in 2024 after leaving the Eras tour, and in 2025, Abrams will do the same, with confessional singer-songwriter anthems that leave no doubt about who is her artistic north star. The next generation of Swift acolytes stretches far beyond those two artists, but their respective successes can partially be traced back to those nights winning over hundreds of thousands of concertgoers, and millions more livestreaming each date around the globe.
The conclusion of the Eras tour has coincided with more accolades for Swift, at the end of 2024 and possibly at the beginning of the next one: after becoming the artist with the most Billboard Music Award wins of all time, she might extend her album of the year Grammys record, since The Tortured Poets Department could earn her a fifth career win. Eras concluded with over $2 billion in reported ticket sales – the must-attend concert event of this century becoming the highest-grossing tour of all time, bar none – and as she is crowned Billboard’s Top Artist of 2024, fans are still speculating whether Reputation (Taylor’s Version) and her re-recorded self-titled debut will be unveiled soon, and potentially push her towards the Top Artist of 2025.
Yet another astonishing year for Swift reverberated beyond the honorifics. This year, we got a Lifetime holiday movie not-so-subtly inspired by Swift and Kelce, and an uptick in streams for The Darkness when the couple sang their song at the U.S. Open. Both candidates for president of the United States quickly responded when Swift made her endorsement of Kamala Harris — a meaningful declaration from a proud “childless cat lady” that resulted in thousands of newly registered voters. And, oh hey, she got to kiss her boyfriend after he won the Super Bowl as the entire world watched.
As she keeps working at a breakneck pace and upending expectations of her artistry, Swift exists in the very fabric of modern-day culture, to the point where it’s impossible to imagine popular music without her presence. She may never match her 2023 again, the biggest year for a solo artist over the last 40 years – but then again, who knows, this is Taylor Swift we’re talking about.
She has figured out how to be omnipresent while still taking risks and evolving in compelling directions. Swift will continue to tell her story, while also understanding that, as the world’s biggest artist, the story isn’t hers anymore.
See the rest of our top 10, along with our Honorable Mentions and Rookie and Comeback of the Year artists all right here — and then come back for the announcement of our top two Greatest Pop Stars of 2024 on Monday, Dec. 23!
African music is pop music. The long-awaited introduction of the best African music performance category at the 2024 Grammys, when Burna Boy became the first African artist to perform during the awards ceremony, is proof of its undeniable cultural dominance. And U.S. superstars like Chris Brown, Travis Scott and Beyoncé are reaching out to African artists like Lojay, Tyla and Tems, respectively, for hit collaborations.
However, Western recognition only scratches the surface of what’s coming together on the continent. Music consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa increased by 114% in the last year, according to Spotify’s annual Wrapped data report. Burna Boy, Wizkid and Davido’s top cities on Spotify are all in their native Nigeria, solidifying Africa’s foundation to launch homegrown music to the rest of the world. And no other label in Africa has been as successful in doing so as Nigeria’s Mavin Global.
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Founded in 2012 by legendary Nigerian producer and executive Don Jazzy, Mavin Global has been instrumental in making Afrobeats one of Nigeria’s greatest exports. With Tiwa Savage and Wande Coal as the label’s first artists, Mavin is still regarded as an incubator and launchpad for an entirely new generation of Afropop stars. Its current roster is larger than ever with 12 artists: There’s Johnny Drille with his alternative-folk sound, Ladipoe who leans into rap, and Lifesize Teddy, whose Afro-fusion blend speaks to Gen Z.
And of course, there’s Rema and Ayra Starr, two artists signed as teens in 2019 who’ve become the label’s marquee stars and commanded the world’s attention. Rema’s 2022 single “Calm Down” from his debut album Rave & Roses is one of the most commercially successful Afrobeats songs of all time, reaching No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, with the help of a Selena Gomez-assisted remix, and became the first track by an African artist to hit one billion streams on Spotify. And Starr’s 2022 single “Rush” earned the Afropop singer her first Grammy nomination in the best African music performance category.
Both artists also released their seminal sophomore albums this year, Rema with his daring HEIS and Starr with her coming-of-age The Year I Turned 21. Rema’s gothic tribute to his hometown of Benin City was created in response to the backlash from his sold-out, headlining show at London’s O2 Arena last November. He rode a giant bat – a nod to Benin City’s most popular animal – and wore a replica of Queen Idia’s famous mask in reference to historical artifacts, known as the Benin Bronzes, that were looted by British troops in 1897 and are currently being held at the British Museum. Meanwhile, Starr’s sophomore album calls upon an international assembly of artists – from Nigerian street pop stars Seyi Vibez and Asake to Brazilian pop superstar Anitta to American R&B singer-songwriters Coco Jones and Giveon – for support as she examines her transition into womanhood and navigates love, loss and life.
But there’s been one person behind the development of both artists: Rima Tahini Ighodaro, senior vp of A&R and creatives at Mavin. Guiding artists through what she refers to as “world-building,” the Lebanese-Sierra Leonean executive leads the 10-person A&R team that works with the label’s roster to both realize and reimagine their creative vision for their music – setting up studio sessions and liaising with the label’s other departments to maximize the artists’ full potential.
“With Rema, I went on maternity leave and he came to my house to visit me after I had my baby and was like, ‘Here’s my album.’ I didn’t even know when he had recorded it!” she tells Billboard.
Rema and Rima Tahini Ighodaro
Courtesy of Rima Tahini Ighodaro
While critics have described HEIS as having a dark energy compared to the lighter, Afropop sound of his earlier material like his breakthrough 2019 single “Dumebi,” Tahini Ighodaro argues “[he’s] more like experimenting with the old and what has always been true to Afrobeats to birth a new sound. For an artist like Rema, who knows exactly what he wants and desires to explore his potential fully, and continuously pushes the boundaries, he always needs a trusted soundboard.”
His experimentation paid off, and HEIS earned Rema his first Grammy nomination for best global music album at the upcoming 2025 awards show. “Last year was one of his biggest years in his career and you know we missed that Grammy moment… but there’s a saying in my culture: ‘delay is not denial,’” says Tahini Ighodaro, in reference to “Calm Down” missing the eligibility period for the 2024 Grammys. “HEIS is a project that was personal to him, he led a lot of the creativity in the music and stood by it even as it got backlash. It was a culture shock in a lot of ways, but I’m happy that he was recognized for the whole [album] as opposed to just a popular single.”
Rema’s boundary-pushing approach also rings true for Starr, who has evolved sonically as well as conceptually. Her Afropop, Afrobeats and Nigerian folk sensibilities in earlier projects have molded the sound of a well-rounded global pop star. “Making 21 was so different from [Starr’s debut album] 19 and Dangerous because she’s grown so much as a person [and] as an artist,” Tahini Ighodaro says. “She really knows how she wants to tell her story and wants to be at the forefront of everything, making certain decisions where she might have previously, due to age and inexperience, leant into A&R guidance, when it came to working with producers and other artists and crafting her sonic direction.”
Ayra Starr and Rima Tahini Ighodaro
Rima Tahini Ighodaro
On HEIS and The Year I Turned 21, Tahini Ighodaro adopted an even more hands-on approach, “giving feedback on the music, helping the artists communicate their creative vision to the teams involved and ensuring that their vision was properly executed,” she says, while simultaneously taking care of other tasks like “clearances, feature management and commissioning the right creative teams to work on artwork, music videos, photoshoots.” In the prolonged chaos of putting together an album, Tahini Ighodaro also served as a grounding force for both artists. “Sometimes the artists forget what they initially committed to or they deviate or maybe get in their heads. I was always on standby to reel them back in,” Tahini Ighodaro explains. “Creatives need a first responder.”
Six years since she started working at Mavin, Tahini Ighodaro has found that the job involves more than just developing the musical direction of an artist’s career. It’s also about empowering an artist to create their own trajectory, and she doesn’t take that responsibility lightly. “This is essentially a people business – and if you don’t have empathy, a high tolerance for working with different types of people and emotionally investing into their vision, then it just won’t work. Whatever music is made is a byproduct of how they’ve been made to feel,” she says.
Tahini Ighodaro uses this same empathy-led approach when developing artists who go through Mavin Academy, which develops newly signed artists for two years through vocal training, live performance practice, branding, creative direction and media training at Mavin’s headquarters in Lagos, before the label officially introduces them to the world upon their “graduation.” This process of grooming and preparation, dating back to Motown’s legendary artist development department in the mid-1960s, had been a mainstay of the pop music machine prior to the current era of overnight, viral success that often thrusts young artists into the spotlight. “The Academy is centered on the intentionality of building an artist [and] their craft. Artists come and go – we call it ‘blow’ in Nigeria, when they come up off one hit or a couple of bangers,” she explains. The Academy is more than a one-stop shop for making an African superstar; it serves as a reminder of Mavin’s legacy of building a foundation at home, which is a recurring theme in Tahini Ighodaro’s life and ascent in the African music scene. “It’s about shaping well rounded artists that have something to hold on to, even after their relationship with Mavin ends,” she says.
A deep sense of pride for the continent is something she has worn on her sleeve since she was designing and selling traditional clothes at diasporic gatherings and events at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., where she studied business and economics. “I always knew I wanted to work in Africa,” she says. “I didn’t think America needed me, because Africa is where I would feel a sense of purpose.” After graduating in 2016, she landed her first job as a senior associate at Kupanda Capital, a venture capital firm focused on incubating, capitalizing and scaling pan-African companies. “I was so excited because it aligned with how I wanted to come back to the continent.” Tahini Ighodaro says.
When she joined Kupanda, the firm was looking into investing in media and entertainment companies in Africa at a pivotal time when the music was exploding into the U.S. mainstream – think Davido’s “Fall,” which gained traction on U.S. radio and reached No. 13 on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart, or Wizkid’s feature on Drake’s “One Dance,” which spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and became the first song to reach one billion streams on Spotify. She moved to Lagos in 2017 to work on Kupanda Holdings’ multi-million-dollar investment in Mavin Global (Kupanda Holdings is a joint venture between Kupanda Capital and TPG Growth).
As a result of that deal, Tahini Ighodaro built relationships with Mavin CEO Don Jazzy and COO and president Tega Oghenejobo and its artists. While she was initially brought on to work on the due diligence of the deal between Kupanda and Mavin, she later grew interested in working on the creative side of the label and having a more direct impact on the artists’ careers. When the director of A&R role became available later that year, Don Jazzy and Oghenejobo thought she would be the perfect fit, in large part due to her empathy and ability to deal with so many different characters. “Don Jazzy and Tega could see how excited I was working on this side of the business. I always thought that this role was exclusively about music, but they explained that it’s more about having a high tolerance for working with others, as well as a good eye,” she explains.
Tahini Ighodaro’s senior role at Mavin is a positive signifier of increasing representation of women in African music, which she says is much better than it was when she first started but argues there’s still more work to be done. While pointing to powerful women – like Bose Ogulu, Burna Boy’s momager, and Wizkid’s manager Jada Pollock – as some of the few visible female executives, she admits navigating a male-dominated field “felt lonely at the time, not having a counterpart in the same industry who you could look at as a mentor or to be able to carve your career path.” When she started working at Mavin, her colleague at Kupanda Capital, Jordan Slick, also joined the label as its director of operations (she later became Mavin’s advisory and board observer). Tahini Ighodaro says they were the first women to work there, and six years later, there are three other women in senior roles at the company. “Women are in probably more than half of the executive roles at Mavin – operations, finance, legal and business affairs,” she says.
Tahini Ighodaro is also optimistic about the increased opportunity for meaningful investment into Africa’s musical legacy. In February, Universal Music Group bought a majority stake in Mavin Global, aiming to “accelerate Mavin’s strategic advancement” by focusing on two initiatives: nurturing talent through Mavin Academy and developing the next generation of African music executives through its executive leadership program. In addition to the pan-African aspirations, Tahini Ighadoro has her eyes on world domination beyond the continent.
“The attention from the major markets is so exciting – looking at places like India, where ‘Calm Down’ was one of the biggest tracks last year, is positive,” she reflects. “We want to continue to break barriers and build on that. But the true North Star is building on our local industry [and] channeling the global momentum into solid foundations that will pour into Africa’s creative economy.”
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