2024 Was The Most Important Year For Female Pop

Our pop culture-obsessed editor looks at how some female pop singers have shifted pop music and beyond this year.

Pop music 2024 Taylor Swift Beyonce Charli XCX Lalisa Jennie Rose Arian Grande Chappell Roan Sabrina Carpenter Billie Eilish — Photos: Courtesy of Versace/Katia Temkim, H&M, Ralph Lauren/Getty Images

By Aaron Kok - published 5 Dec 2024

I clearly remember that night: In between bopping and holding my own bathroom karaoke session, I shot a text to another pop culture-obsessed friend of mine, saying “In a year of Charli XCX, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, for the first time I’m feeling super excited to hit the club”.

You see, for a person who’d rather be at home on the couch binge-watching Netflix films (hello Christmas rom-coms and Chad Michael Murray’s abs!) and shopping online, for me to not be in my pyjamas with a sheet mask on by 9pm was a miracle. To be dressed up at 9pm in a sequined blazer with short-shorts worthy of Paul Mescal, now that was a feat.

But isn’t that the truth about 2024? Perhaps when we look back at the history books of pop music, let it be said that 2024 A.D. was the year that a band of pop girlies helped bring pop music to new heights.

Now, I know that this is going to elicit some strong reactions.

“What about the guys?”
“Um, where are the Korean boy bands in this list?”

And you know what? That’s a fair cry from the masses. But the sway that some of pop’s biggest female acts have on music is undeniable, and the way that they have shaped culture on a seismic level is truly something worthy of reflection and admiration.

The Queens Are Back

For starters, ask yourself the question: where were you when Beyonce dropped her second album from a three-part act, also known as Cowboy Carter?

For me, it was in my living room, because as a card-carrying member of the Beyhive, I wasn’t about to be asleep when the album dropped on Spotify at midnight. Cueing up the first track, I was hit by a wave of choral vocals, which segued into a mixture of trap, rap, hip hop, soul and country music as Queen Bey sought to explore her Southern roots and the history of country music in a fashion that only she could do. She confronted the long-held traditions of country music by bringing in musicians new and old and across the racial divide to create a sound that’s uplifting, dirty and addictive.

Suddenly, TikTok is all about line-dancing to Bey’s “YA YA”. That’s the pull and power that Beyonce has on the way we interact with her music.

Then, there’s Miss Taylor Swift, who amidst a record-breaking sold-out tour, found time to cut a new album and drop it mid-tour. Titled The Tortured Poets Department, the album’s debut moved about 2.6 million album-equivalent units, extending her record as the seventh album in Swift’s discography to open with over 1 million units sold. She also clinched the top spot on Spotify’s Global Top 10 Artists ranking for the entire year.

Swift has always been known for her radio-friendly pop hits like “Shake It Off”, but since the likes of Folklore, the singer-songwriter has moved her songs in a more personal direction. Often, tunes are more pensive, and her lyrics have matured with her to explore themes of love, loss and the intense emotions that develop with life in the public eye.

In TTPD, her focus is on analysing the smithereens of an old flame. Critics are quick to sweep it aside as ‘another break-up album’, but to call it so does it a disservice. If anything, I felt that Swift’s album aimed to unpack the cobwebbed boxes of a short-lived relationship. It’s not dissimilar to anyone who has found themselves thinking of an old love with wiser eyes.

On the topic of dissecting a failed relationship through music was another pop queen who also had a great year this year, Ariana Grande.

We’ve all been so inundated by the 10,001 memes of Grande and her co-star Cynthia Erivo on the press tour of Wicked that it’s easy to forget how pre-Wicked, Grande dropped her album Eternal Sunshine that many praised for its raw power. According to Spotify, the app saw a 2,000 percent jump in user-generated playlists titled “yes, and?” in January as fans of Grande eagerly awaited her album.

The title is an obvious nod to the movie Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, in which a jilted lover seeks to scrub his former flame from memory. In many ways, Grande’s album is a catharsis of similar sorts.

Admittedly, this album took its time to grow on me. It didn’t hit me immediately like many of the other pop anthems in this article did, yet over time, I began to appreciate the softness and surges of emotion. Perhaps it was one too many times that my spin instructor made us cycle to it, but as I sat with the music on my morning commutes, I began to see volumes of energy and emotion that she was trying to communicate. And like Swift, there is a vulnerability that feels refreshing when you consider the hyper-glossy facade of pop music.

K-pop 2.0

As a die-hard Blink, nothing thrilled me further than having solo launches from not just one, but three members of BLACKPINK.

Firstly, we have Lalisa, who has had a banner year so far. While we eagerly anticipate the third season of The White Lotus, the Thai popstar dropped a slew of new tracks. Suddenly, we were all asking her to teach us Japanese (à la “Rockstar”), revving up our auras (à la “New Woman”), and giggling like schoolgirls sharing a secret as she croons about her rumoured French beau on “Moonlit Floor”.

It’s also interesting to note the vast differences in sound that her singles have honed in on. She’s her usual rap-spittin’ baddie self in her first single, but by the time we hit “Moonlit Floor”, Lisa’s sound has fully transitioned into one that’s sensual, liltingly flirtatious and dripping in girlish charm, showcasing her range beyond the music we’ve come to expect from her.

There’s also Rosé, who is the first of her bandmates to drop a fully-realised album. Titled “rosie”, the first single “APT.” has already gone viral across the Interwebs, and spent five full weeks at the very top of Billboard’s Global 200.

I remember listening to the single when it first released, while I was on a short trip to Bangkok. That same day, walking around Chatuchak market, you’d hear the unmissable chants of “APT.” every few shops. I knew that it would be a hit, but to immediately see shoppers mouthing the lyrics to the song whilst haggling on lemongrass soaps was truly a spectacle.

If nothing else, it confirmed how successful things can be when Rosé and her bandmates are given a longer leash to experiment and express themselves in sounds that aren’t typical of BLACKPINK’s group discography.

Rounding off the trio of BLACKPINK girls releasing solo projects is Jennie, whose song “Mantra” is an addictive, confidence-inspiring, pep-boosting track. I am by no means a ‘pretty girl’, but even in the act of simply singing “This that pretty girl mantra/ This that flaunt ya” was enough to make me feel pretty darn good.

“Mantra” dropped a few days before “APT.”, and collectively, these two songs sent me on a complete Korean pop binge. Not only was I grooving to these songs, I began diving back into older K-pop girl bands and replaying some of the yesteryear (but no less fresh) tracks.

Still, one of the things that excites me about Korean pop isn’t just the queens that we know today, but that tomorrow, a young hot act can sprout up out of nowhere and dominate.

This year, we’ve had the introduction of KATSEYE. What sets them apart from most other Korean girl bands is that save for one member, the rest of the six-girl band doesn’t hail from South Korea. I’m not even sure they speak Korean.

KATSEYE is the fruit of a tie-up between two record labels—HYBE and Geffen—who sought to create a global K-pop girl band. It asked two questions: can a band of girls from all over the world survive the notoriously tough training regime of the Korean pop industry? And more importantly, is it K-pop if a majority of the band’s songs are in English?

This was like MTV’s Making the Band for the 2024 audience. Televised on Netflix, the series titled Pop Star Academy followed the rigorous journeys of trainee hopefuls as execs whittled the cast down to create the final fruit. Yes, I binged the series in a weekend, and yes, I committed myself to learning the “Touch” dance after that.

But KATSEYE’s ability to already have three viral hits is no small feat for a young band. Right off the bat, they had “Debut” and “My Way”, two tracks that fared well enough with TikTok natives. It was only when “Touch” came about that they truly exploded overnight. This writer is waiting to see how KATSEYE follows up their megawatt successes with more hits.

Espresso, Pink Ponies, And Brat

Here’s where things get interesting.

It’s not a farfetched notion to say that the summer of 2024 belonged to four pop princesses: Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Billie Eilish, and Charli XCX.

The first name—Miss Sabrina Carpenter—had us all singing “I’m working late/ Cus I’m a singer” even though we all had regular day jobs in offices. Even Adele couldn’t help it, telling her audience at one of her shows in Las Vegas that it was the one line stuck in her head.

That line came from “Espresso”, the first of several hits that Carpenter released from her album, Short n’ Sweet. According to Spotify’s Wrapped 2024 statistics, “Espresso” is also the most-played song of the year, so clearly, Carpenter has finally found mainstream success at the bottom of her coffee cup.

Then came “Please Please Please”, “Taste”, “Bed Chem” and so on. In one career-making album, Carpenter was able to showcase her vocal chops and her ability to spin gold out of her owned lived experiences. Sure, there are plenty of conservative parents out there concerned about her confidently sexual lyrics, but love her or loathe her, you’re talking about her. And that’s always a good thing in the bible of pop music.

As for me, I’m on my 2,084th replay of “Taste”, and I make no apologies for it.

Billie Eilish’s HIT ME HARD AND SOFT was another drop that got me excited, because after years of keeping a fairly low profile in the public spotlight, Eilish’s return brought with her an album brimming with honesty. HMHAS focused on her resigning from an expired relationship, and finding love in another woman.

Her wistful vocals, combined with her reliably real and raw approach to penning her songs, makes HMHAS an easy love for many. Little wonder why it’s managed to bag seven nominations at the upcoming Grammy Awards, including the coveted Album of the Year award.

From HMHAS to the chronicles of a Midwestern princess, specifically Chappell Roan.

Roan’s road to stardom has fascinated me endlessly. If you’re like me, you would have been down a rabbit hole trying to learn everything about Roan. Her story goes a little bit like this: she was dropped from one music label, and did everything—from writing new music to securing her performance slots—by herself. She was finally picked up by another label, and her songs began to attract fans through the ever-powerful roots of social media.

Little by little, her fanbase grew and catapulted her into the limelight. If it all sounds a little grassroots-ish, it’s because it was. It wasn’t until TikTok videos of people doing her “HOT TO GO” dance began to gain steam did mainstream pop observers sit up and listen.

As for myself, Roan was a rare gem whose music immediately drew me in, not least because she painted with every colour in her emotional paintbox.

It’s euphoric, even when she sings about loving a person who will never return her feelings. It’s cathartic to watch gay male choirs cover her track “Pink Pony Club” in remembrance of those who died in the AIDS epidemic of the ’80s; the souls who wanted to dance in their own Pink Pony Clubs of liberation and self-love. And when she drops the beat in “Super Ultra Graphic Modern Girl”, we all just wanna get up and dance our Friday nights away.

Finally, and obviously not the least, we have Charli XCX. With one word and one obnoxiously neon green, Charli had the entire world calling itself “brat”, including one presidential nominee. Collins Dictionary has picked ‘brat’ as the word of 2024.

Charli’s story is interesting: she’s been around for a while and has seen some semblance of commercial success. Yet none of her previous crowns can compare to what “brat” has ignited for her. It’s an ‘it girl’ album, stuffed with plenty of party bops that will undoubtedly continue to play into 2025. And why shouldn’t it, when it’s that good?

To ask “what is brat?” is to not get it, but that’s precisely what we love about it. The idea of brat-ness has transcended beyond being just an .mp4 file. It’s so much more than knowing how to do the “Apple” dance, that it’s become a lifestyle.

Ask any of your Gen Z friends to share with you a list of brat items and you’d get a lengthy WhatsApp message that would include lime cordial and Oakley visors. Brat has now become so much more than an album name: it’s an adjective (“such a brat skirt”), a noun (“have a little brat in life”) and an adverb (“she dances so brat”).

And when you think about it, isn’t that the magic of pop music? It’s there for your aural pleasure, but when done right like in the case of Charli XCX, it can move culture in ways so profoundly that it alters the way we frame the world around us.

So here’s to the pop queens of 2024, and may they reign forever.

2024 Was The Most Important Year For Female Pop

By Aaron Kok - published 5 Dec 2024

The Queens Are Back

K-pop 2.0

Espresso, Pink Ponies, And Brat

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