Rap has always been a popular high school music genre from old school times of Ice Cube and Biggie to modern day rappers like Kanye and Yeat, and, without a doubt, every year a good number of new album releases keep the trend going.
Highschoolers avidly wait for their favorite artists to come out with more music as it’s very important
“Music is a huge part of my life,” Kate Daniel (‘26) said. I’m constantly listening to music and I always know when a new album comes out so I can listen to it.”
2024 is carrying the rap trend steadily forward with three astounding albums blessing listeners’ ears. During a one week period early in the year, outstanding artists Kanye West, Yeat and 21 Savage came out with three different sounding albums.
The first big rap album that came out in 2024 was “Vultures” by Kanye West. After several delays, it dropped on February 9th.
On this album, there seems to be one song that dominates all the others by a long shot. That song is “Carnival” and when the album first came out, nobody could get the chorus out of their heads. And some still can’t.
Despite there being one dominating song, sophomore Trey Bachofner (‘26), said “I could listen to the whole album on repeat.”
21 Savage’s album “American Dream” dropped on February 11th and was an instant hit. The album definitely wasn’t a small project. It features several other big artists like Travis Scott, Drake, Metro Boomin and Doja Cat.
Arguably the best song on the album, “Redrum,” had the whole world captivated by the unique intro and beat drop. The album is so different and captivating because the intro to the song is in Portuguese. You’ll hear the smooth sounding lyrics cut off and then instantly beat drop into 21 rapping, causing a great duality of sound for the listener.
Both Kate Daniels and sophomore Anthony Luber agreed that “Redrum” is one of the best songs on the album alongside “nee-nah” and “all of me.”
Yeat’s album came out on February 16th. His two-part album, called “2093” is receiving mixed reviews. The listeners that really like Yeat tend to like the new sound style that he uses while “TikTok Yeat listeners” don’t like that he switched his iconic style.
“At first I didn’t really like the album that much but once I got used to it I started to like a bunch of the songs,” Anthony Luber (‘26) said. “Some of my favorites are probably ‘Breathe,’ ‘Run They Mouth’ and ‘Psychocaine.’”
Even on TikTok they dominate the sounds being used. When the albums first dropped, all TikTokers could hear were sounds from the albums. Three months later, songs from Yeat’s album 2093 are being used to make videos.
With these three albums topping charts, 2024 has already been taken over by rap and high schoolers expect it to continue throughout the entire year, captivating listeners with new sounds and lyrics.
