Best of 2024 pt. 2 - Stats and Mixes
Regional, genre, and artist stats, plus lots of thematic mixes, some sequenced and others in large, beautiful heaps.
This is my favorite post to put together during my year-ends, even though it probably comes off like a clip show episode if you’re an Other Dave diehard. Throughout the year I track the national origin and genre attributes of every song I listen to in a big spreadsheet and crunch the numbers, then make a few mixes based on these rearrangements. Origin isn’t too tough — I try whenever possible to describe where in the world the music I’m putting on mixes comes from when I write the newsletter each week.
Genre is trickier. I use genre tags as a suggestion but greatly simplify when I categorize. To give one example: I don’t use an “amapiano” tag, but rather “Afrohouse,” which encompasses the whole umbrella of South African dance music. When forced with a choice between a more expansive genre category or a more exclusive one, I go for expanse, as should be evident in the original mixes these songs all appeared on.1
“Indie” is especially fraught. The term has long since ceased to accurately distinguish production methods or social category. It is literally impossible to distinguish between industry shills and bedroom-poppers on sound alone, and even when you do distinguish, I have a hard time figuring out who counts as what to whom. I have more certainty in applying “alt-pop,” which includes anything vaguely in the ballpark of provocative hybrids, hyperpop, art-pop, or anything that seems even somewhat weird. (But even that category was still too unwieldy for its own year-end mix without further discrimination, which I decided against.)
I’m also reluctant to simply define pop by region. This year I formally added to the Asian -pops (J- and K-) with T-pop (Thai, enough songs for a standalone mix) and V-pop (Vietnamese, just shy of enough songs for its own mix), but have been reluctant to use P-pop (Philippines) or I-pop (Spotify’s dubious rebranding of what was previously its Hindi playlist). If there’s a consistent way to coherently conceptualize the other major I-pop (Indonesia), I haven’t figured it out yet.
There are other categories that I feel more confident about qua category that just don’t show up in my mixes that much, usually as a matter of taste or focus, but perhaps in some cases as a sign of the category’s health. I have no idea how country or metal might be doing in 2024 based on my playlists so will defer to specialists there. Straightforward guitar rock in English is rare on my mixes. Batida and kuduro thrilled me last year but dwindled a bit this year for no discernibly systematic reason. Dancehall and Caribbean pop are perennial blindspots that I’ve tried to rectify this year, with some limited success. I’m just not much of a chronicler; I’m a slop sorter.
The spreadsheet is useful, too, in helping me cool my jets on some assumptions. Despite my intellectual hemming and hawing about “A-pop,” it is not a verifiable phenomenon based on anything my spreadsheet, and are we dealing with absence of evidence or evidence of absence? US and Anglophone countries are both down 4% from their representation last year. Is it the world, or just me? Even despite that, the US still has the largest plurality of songs on my big list: #1 but declining, with Asia nipping at its heels. Sounds about right.
The rest of this post, after the stats recap, is made up of regional and genre playlists for those of you whose head was turned by some pocket of the world this year and you’re curious to learn more without having listened to every song I posted (perish the thought).
For the few categories where I couldn’t possibly whittle down to a CD-length mix (South African dance music, Brazilian funk, and Francophone African, Caribbean, and diaspora pop), I’ve just thrown everything in a playlist for you to hit shuffle and see what happens. For everything else, I’ve sequenced a mix that is more of a greatest hits: Afrobeats; R&B; Francophone indie and alt-pop; soul, funk, and psych; Latin American and Spanish-language pop; Thai pop (T-pop and indie); Eastern European pop. Try it as dinner music—more claret?
The categories you will not find include undifferentiated global indie or alt-pop, as well as most US, Anglophone, and European pop, all of which are too diffuse across my mixes and feel like a slog to sort through again. I also decided not to make mixes for areas where other critics’ superior focus and expertise is readily available: US rap, global dance music, J-pop, and K-pop. In all of those cases, I probably won’t put you on to anything much beyond the representative selections in my 100-song shortlist:
Regional breakdown
2024 percentage of tracks across all mixes (change from 2023)
USA: 20% (-4)
Asia: 15% (+2)
Africa:2 13% (+1)
Latin America: 12% (+2)
Western Europe/Scandinavia: 11% (-1)
Misc/internat’l collab: 8% (+1)
Anglosphere:3 7% (-4)
Eastern Europe: 5% (0)
Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey: 5% (+1)
Caribbean: 2% (+1)
French-Canadian: 2% (0)
Repeat Artists
6 appearances
DJ Ws da Igrejinha; Shakes & Les; Zee Nxumalo
4 appearances
Atmos Blaq; DJ Maphorisa; Djy Biza; Kabza De Small; Lee McKrazy
3 appearances
Angel Dior; Asake; Bibi Babydoll; DJ Kawest; DJ Lycox; DJ Tira; Funky Qla; Hala; Jey One; La Joaqui; Lomiiel; Meryl; Mc Gw; Mc Th; Natoxie; Nia Archives; NLE Choppa; Peso Pluma; Thakzin; Yeri Mua; Yuri; Yuri Redicopa
2 appearances
031Choppa; Addison Rae; AKRIILA; Angélica Garcia; Ava Max; Baby B3ns; Baula; Bb trickz; Bizarrap; Black K; Cardi B; Chley; d.silvestre; DJ Arana; Dj Brenno Paixão; Dj Caio Vieira; Dlala Thukzin; Doja Cat; Ekko Astral; El Alfa; Emilia; Franek Warzywa; Glorygirl2950; Kerchak; Lil Wayne; LiSA [Japan]; LISA [South Korea]; Luis R Conriquez; Maandy; Mabe Fratti; Malu Magri; Margaret Berger; Masew; Maude Latour; Megabaile Do Areias; Mellow & Sleazy; Merveille; MFS; Młody Budda; Murumba Pitch; Mxshi Mo; NewJeans; Nicki Nicole; noa; Omo Ebira Beatz; Pabi Cooper; Phelimuncasi; Pongo; RIXXIA; Sadboi; Samara Cyn; Saya Gray; Semi Tee; Skrillex; Slowboy; Tei Shi; The Blessed Madonna; TKD; Tony Allen; Tshegue; Tuấn Cry; Two Shell; WILLOW; Xduppy; XG; YOUNG POSSE; Yumbs
Sequenced Mixes
Afrobeats
Mostly Naija pop, with a few international Afrobeats and Tanzanian songs.
Eastern Europe
Pop, rock, alt, etc. from Eastern Europe, majority Poland and Ukraine, with a few songs from Russia, Belarus, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
Indie En Français
Francophone indie and alt-pop, mostly from Montreal and France. Includes a few Montreal bands who sing partially or (in two cases) primarily in English.
Latin America
Pop, reggaeton, and corrido from Latin America (including Puerto Rico and a few Spanish-language US-based artists), with a heavy emphasis on alt-pop variants. At leat one Brazilian (non-funk) selection and some dembow, limited to pan-regional interpretations and major pop crossovers.
R&B
A collection of somewhat under-the-radar R&B from the year.
Soul, funk, and psych
Mood mix from my soul/funk/psych genre category. Vibes: chill.
Thai and T-pop
T-pop proper plus assorted Thai indie, pop, and rap.
Unsequenced Mixes
Afrohouse
A catch-all playlist for South African dance music: amapiano, 3-step, gqom, and afrotech.
Francophone African, Caribbean, and diaspora pop
Francophone music from Africa (mbalax and coupe décalé), French rap and R&B, French Antilles and Caribbean pop, and similar music from the wider diaspora
Brazilian Funk
This playlist compiles all of the funk that made my mixes this year. I have hundreds of tracks that didn’t make my list and have also slowly been making my way through well over a thousand that didn’t make that list.
That’s it! Next week I will try to tackle a few albums, which I failed to do last year, without succumbing to extremely wooden blurbage.
—Dave Moore (the other one)
I happen to think that forcing different music together is sort of the whole ball game, but I understand the need for finer-grain categorization just as a way to focus. I imagine for a few people, pared-down mixes by region or genre might be a much easier way in to all of the songs I culled this year. I also recognize that not everyone’s “beat” can just be “me myself and I,” and I have a lot of admiration for lane-choosers with real depth of expertise.
Excluding North Africa
UK, Ireland, Australia/NZ, and Anglophone Canada