Heard a bunch of good things this year but hard to point to anything that felt truly transcendental — kind of like what Benny was saying about Rifle Behavior Riddim in the dancehall thread, stuff that's basically just a take on what is now a fairly well established sound but elevates it somehow. But at the same time I do have this feeling there's probably loads of crazy music being made in Brazil and South Africa, I just don't have the time/energy to dig into it properly and build the relevant understanding of the context, so it's that much harder to really connect to it or find a way into it. I did start to go through some of the Brazilian stuff after picking up that NTS comp but then I thought who am I kidding? I'm not really going to devote enough time to do this justice. Then on the other hand the more accessible music — the kind of thing covered by the RA list — just sounds so uninspired for the most part.
Anyway, a few things that stood out to me:
2nd-gen kuduro/batida
A lot of this is released by Principe but you get some self-released singles floating around. Less banging/abrasive than old Marfox gear I guess, it has a bit more of an emotional quality - quite often a kind of downcast optimism. But then you also get these almost drill influences floating in every now and then. I've maybe enjoyed this stuff more than anything else this year.
Dogzout and DJ Lycox - Piki
Probably something from the DJ Lycox album deserves to go in but it only just came out so I haven't really cemented a favourite.
New York drill
The typical drill sound unsurprisingly feels pretty played out by this stage but then you'll still get tracks like Beckham. Feels like 41 weren't as productive this year which is a shame because for me they were the standout in 2023. The sexy drill thing is still producing gems but I wonder where that can really go.
Amapiano
Kind of a tricky one because a lot of the best tracks come out in December and I feel it's maybe only in January or February that the real bangers have cut through, at least for me all the way in Japan. So some of these are December 2023 releases but for me they still count.
Jay Music - DnB Beat Revisit
DJ Lag - Hade Boss
Ch'cco - Myekeleni
Dancehall
Jamal - Ballan D'or
Other bits
Producer of that Ay Carumba track is kind of interesting - making stuff that's sort of like a mid-point between grime and drill, but then he'll chuck in these other influences like amapiano.
Kelela- Happy Ending (A.G. Remix)
808Melo - Armageddon
Malibu & Merely - Arpeggiated Romance
De Schuurman - Broejaa (tbh this may have been made years ago even if it was released in 2024)
Pa Salieu and Byron Messia- Soda