What Have I Been Listening to Lately?

Jan 234 min read

Hello! I'm so excited to return to blogging for the new semester. I just have a short post for today. Over winter break, I listened to a lot of music. I also made a goal for 2025 to move away from K-pop a little bit, just because there's a lot of drama in the industry right now, and it's starting to affect my enjoyment of the music. Therefore, I've been trying to find more Western music to listen to and write about. This is all music from 2024 that I really enjoy but probably won't write full reviews on (seeing that I'm already super late, and we're almost a month into 2025). Here are the five albums I've listened to the most for the past couple weeks.

Chromakopia- Tyler, the Creator

Whenever I think of this album, the intro to "St. Chroma" pops into my head and gets stuck there. I talked a little about this album in my post from last semester about what music I listen to. Back then, I had only listened to a couple songs off the album, but now I've listened to all of it, and I can safely say my opinion changed from "it's good" to "it's great." So much quirky personality from Tyler shines through in every song. I feel like the album balances tones well from the more explosive songs to more emotional ones. I personally enjoy more fast-paced and loud songs, my favorites being "Sticky" and "Thought I Was Dead." "Sticky" just has an amazing build from minimilizism to a cacophony of sound, and it feels cinematic in a way. The horn arrangements on both songs are great. I also really like some of the more toned-down songs, too, which is pretty rare for me. "Like Him" is another favorite, just because it's so beautiful, from the vocals to the piano to the lyrics and personal nature of the track. A sleeper hit for me is "Balloon" because it has such a celebratory feel and Doechii. Overall, I love this album since I am finally really into a hip-hop album and excited to explore similar projects from Tyler and other artists.

GNX- Kendrick Lamar

Chromakopia isn't the only rap album, though. I kind of got into Kendrick through the beef with Drake and eventually got into "Not Like Us" unironically, so when I saw Kendrick dropped an album, I just thought, "Why not?" He seems silly enough. And wow, is this album silly. But it's also strangely profound and emotional at times. It seems very theatric, too, and I'm so here for it. Granted, this is my first Kendrick album, so I'm just sharing what I think. Like, "Reincarnated" has him conversing with God, and "Peekaboo" has possibly one of my favorites lines ever: "bing-bop-boom-boom-boom-bop-bam, the type of sh*t I'm on, you wouldn't understand." It's insane but amazing. At the same time, "Heart pt. 6" is gorgeous and "Luther" is super vibey with a SZA feature. Those aren't even my favorites. "TV off" and "Squabble up" are bangers, and I love Kendrick's delivery on them. This is just such a great album.

Alligator Bites Never Heal- Doechii

I discovered Doechii only recently, and I'm so sad about being late because I love her already. There's a line on "Nissan Altima" that goes "You a Doechii stan," and that's me, I'm the Doechii stan. I haven't even listened to the full album yet because this album will become my personality. It's exactly what I listen to. She mentions things like Reddit and is uber-bisexual. There's such an air of confidence and flair on every song, and I love details like "Denial is a River" being a conversation and leading right into "Catfish." It's also just fun. Like, "Nissan Altima" is the craziest song I've ever heard. Part of it feels completely out of my element, like I could never have listened to it five years ago, but I think that makes it more enjoyable. I've also heard clips of Doechii's NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and that sounds incredible. I can't wait to fall deeper into the rabbit hole that is this album.

Imaginal Disk- Magdalena Bay

I've heard so many good things about Imaginal Disk, and I finally checked it out, and yeah, it's really good. I actually love "Killshot" and had no idea it was by Magdalena Bay. This album is just incredible. I haven't listened to the whole thing in one sitting yet because I want to be able to just sit down and cry my eyes out. It feels more like an experience, and I feel like I'm floating every time I listen to it. Every song is so surreal but catchy, and Mica's vocals are so unique. I don't have a ton to say, but this is possibly the most beautifully haunting pop album I've ever heard. I definitely have to get into the genre of trippy synth pop. The concept and music videos are so creative, too. My favorite songs are "That's My Floor" and "Image," but all of them are incredible. I can't wait to listen to more of this album.

Brat- Charli xcx

Here we are. I mostly listened a lot to this album when it first came out and during "Brat summer" (which I will always miss), but I got back into it especially around New Year's. I love Brat and will never get over the iconic nature of every song. I still get insanley hyped whenever "360" comes up on shuffle on Spotify and complements the random song that came before it. It's the perfect combination of campy and fun but also personal and real. I can't even tell you my favorite song since it always changes. It was originally "Von Dutch," but currently it's "Talk Talk." It could be "Club classics" or "Guess" tomorrow. It just somehow never gets old. I haven't even listened to much of the remix album yet, which puts entirely new spins on a lot of the songs. I will be forever grateful to Brat for defining 2024 but especially for being an awesome album.