Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar Are 2024's Pop Royalty
Look at that horse.
THE BEAT DROP
A pulse of the culture.
If you’re reading this, it’s another Saturday at the crib and this week, Beyoncé took over Christmas with her Cowboy Carter NFL Netflix performance, Billboard named Kendrick Lamar the No. 1 greatest pop star of 2024 and culture icon OG Maco passes away at 32.
THIS WEEK’S TRACKLIST
The most important news items of the week.
1. Billboard names Kendrick Lamar as the No. 1 pop star of 2024.
2. Beyoncé breaks Netflix servers with her NFL Christmas Day performance, drawing in over 27 million views and announces something is coming January 14. You can watch “Beyonce Bowl” on Netflix today, though.
3. President Biden grants clemency to Big Meech.
4. SZA and her longtime manager Punch fake part ways and Pisces catch a stray.
6. Lil Baby admits to gambling $8M away in one day and people have questions.
7. Quavo donates to families in his community with Huncho Farms.
10. GloRilla donates $25K to her old Memphis high school.
BARS OF THE WEEK
Notable quotes or lyrics that made waves.
“You don’t love me, you love the optics that come with it.” — Tyler, The Creator going off on his “THAT GUY” Freestyle.
“Gotta ask the big guy.” — SZA on a possible collab project with Kendrick Lamar.
“Sign my tit.” — Rihanna asking Mariah Carey to sign her boob.
“BET.” — Playboi Carti to a fan begging for him to release I AM MUSIC.
“I’m the best rapper alive.” — DDG for no reason at all.
“That’s the twin.” — Young Thug on clearing the air between him and someone not named Mariah the Scientist.
CHART TOPPERS
Notable top-performing rap and R&B tracks on streaming platforms and charts.
SZA’s SOS Deluxe: Lana is predicted to re-enter the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart with an estimated 171k sold.
SOUND WATCH
Upcoming releases and recent drops worth noting.
SZA’s SOS Deluxe: Lana is now out, featuring stand out cuts such as “Chill Baby,” “Scorsese Baby Daddy,” “BMF” and “30 for 30” with Kendrick Lamar.
Summer Walker “Heart of a Woman” music video dropped, stirring conversations about NLE Choppa’s appearance.
Ice Spice dropped Y2K: I'm Just a Girl deluxe with new songs featuring Bb trickz and Anuel AA.
Young Thug delivered Slime Season and Slime Season 2 to streaming services to much fanfare.
Yasiin Bey and The Alchemist have a project called The Forensics on the way in 2025.
Rema dropped the music video for “OZEBA” with no word on the status of that one Sade song he teased a while back.
My new favorite Twitter account put Doechii’s “Nissan Altima” to the beat of “Squabble Up.”
Don’t worry, Playboi Carti’s I AM MUSIC is still on the way. Mike Dean says just wait.
Skillz’s 2024 Rap Up freestyle is here.
BEHIND THE MUSIC
Industry news.
Spotify calls fake news on Drake’s “Not Like Us” bots’ accusations.
STEAK REPORT
Feuds, diss tracks and social media spats.
Akademiks waves the white flag in feud with JAY-Z and Roc Nation.
Meanwhile, JAY-Z is still dog walking Houston attorney Tony Buzbee by adding a defamation claim to his extortion suit.
FNG King was on the internet telling all of Finesse2tymes’ unscrupulous business this week — like how he ran off on a plug in Oklahoma.
Issues between Cardi B and Bia also resurfaced, but that was overshadowed by her public spat with her husband Offset. She’s demanding that he sign the divorce papers and he’s demanding that she drops an album.
THE BLUEPRINT
A deep dive of trending topics, artist profiles and music analysis.
Check out my picks for the Top 8 Songs and Top 8 Albums of 2024.
TOUR BUS
Concert and festival announcements, tour updates and live performance highlights.
Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s Grand National Tour kicks off April 2025.
FREESTYLE
Memes and viral moments.
RAP HILL
Legal matters affecting the music industry.
Drake versus UMG is going full-speed ahead and it’s all over the infamous K. Dot “streaming bots.” As of right now, the OVO rapper is just waiting for Spotify to comply with his “basic discovery” request. A hearing has been set for January 13.
Lizzo shares her side of the ongoing lawsuit against her by former employees while on This Is KeKe Palmer podcast, admitting she was “blindsided.”
More lawsuits have been filed against Diddy and a recent court appearance shows how little and frail he’s become.
TRENDSETTERS
Updates on key figures who are driving the culture.
Gamma founder Larry Jackson recalls signing Chief Keef at 16-years-old and later discovering he was on the alphabet boys’ watchlist.
OUTSIDE
Sightings and appearances.
Burna Boy had Chlöe Bailey rocking his chain after flying her out to Lagos, before treating Gunna to a lavish dinner.
Ice Spice made an appearance at a Bronx middle school and had the kids losing their minds.
BIRTHDAYS
Celebrating artists and industry figures born this week.
Big Latto, Denzel Washington, John Legend, Jordin Sparks, Timothee Chalamet, The Weeknd’s Echoes of Silence
OUTRO
A final thought.
It’s the last week of 2024 and what a ride it’s been. If you’re still reading this, thank you. I’ll be publishing this newsletter every Saturday with a take of everything happening in the culture each week on some chill vibes. I am not sure where this will go, but I plan to have fun with it and see. Subscribe and please tell a friend to tell a friend.
RIP OG Maco. His impact was worldwide and we should never forget that.
7 QTNA
1. Is Finesse2tymes just living up to his name?
2. How big exactly is Beyoncé’s cowboy hat?
3. “Met Gala” by Gunna or “Met Gala” by Gucci Mane featuring Offset?
4. Does the music video to SZA’s song “Low” actually exist if we’ve never seen it?
5. As a Playboi Carti fan, do you enjoy being hurt?
6. Is Invasion of Privacy the best debut/retirement combo of this past decade?
7. What exactly is pop?