For music, 2024 certainly had some high highs — and, unfortunately, some quite low lows. From one of Kanye West’s most cataclysmic flops yet to remarkably unsuccessful attempts at comebacks from Katy Perry and Eminem, we never fail to be surprised at some of the less-than-great music released each year.
While musical taste is entirely subjective, and there’s a great album or EP for everyone, it’s hard to defend these 10 records. The Daily Illini has selected our 10 least favorite albums and EPs of 2024, listed in no particular order.
“Vultures 1” — Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign
The DI’s rating: 2/10
Where do we even begin? West has stunningly dug himself deeper and deeper into a hole of controversy and disappointing music. When he attempts to address this in “Vultures 1,” the result is about as bad as expected.
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The album sparked even more controversy, with accusations relating to everything from stolen samples to him allegedly nearing bankruptcy. West started 2024 off on a bad foot and didn’t improve later on — as we may or may not see below.
“143” — Katy Perry
The DI’s rating: 1/10
“143” was set up poorly from the get-go, as it was revealed before the album’s release that Perry was collaborating with Dr. Luke, who was accused by singer-songwriter star Kesha of sexual assault back in 2014.
The album was outstandingly disappointing, proving to be Metacritic’s lowest-rated album of the 2020s upon its release. Less than mediocre, Perry’s sound feels forced and almost computer-generated, potentially seeing the pop star at her worst.
“The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)” — Eminem
The DI’s rating: 4.5/10
Despite some commercial success and even earning a Grammy nomination, you have to be a pretty loyal fan of Eminem to enjoy this one.
“The Death of Slim Shady (Coup De Grâce)” is a record we didn’t entirely want or need, providing an inconsistent concept album that sees the rapper in a battle with his former alter ego. Though the 52-year-old’s technical rapping ability still stands, his lyrics fall flat, and the wildly up-and-down quality of the album creates an overall disappointing result.
“YOUNG GENIUS” — Lil Mabu
The DI’s rating: 2/10
Lil Mabu — indeed “Lil” at only 19 years old — drew TikTok hype last year for his single “MATHEMATICAL DISRESPECT,” featuring his quick rhymes. However, the album that followed didn’t hold up.
Mabu is trying far too hard to be something he’s not, and the fake-rapper persona barely holds up for one track, let alone 17. A few interesting sounds are buried deep in the album, but Mabu may need a couple more years to develop a decent sound.
“The Party Never Ends 2.0” — Juice WRLD
The DI’s rating: 3/10
Juice WRLD’s final posthumous album reignites the debate over posthumous music, as some tracks were likely left unfinished for a reason. Continuing to roll out music from an artist who passed away over five years ago may have been the cause of the “finished” product still sounding like a work in progress.
Despite the release date of the album being pushed back multiple times, the content was still released to the public, and the underwhelming work of Juice WRLD’s management to put something together went about as well as expected.
“Guilty Pleasure” — JoJo Siwa
The DI’s rating: 3/10
The self-named “CEO of Gay Pop” has proved, once again, that she has learned nothing. The former child star’s attempt to completely rebrand has been disorganized, to say the least — not to mention repeatedly disrupted by rumors of her notoriously public dating life.
While JoJo Siwa certainly was groundbreaking as an openly queer celebrity on children’s TV, she seems to have lost her momentum in her inability to find a consistent — or high-quality — sound.
“Freak Show” — G-Eazy
The DI’s rating: 3/10
“Freak Show” has a mildly intriguing start as a concept album, with the first few songs framing the narrative of a freak show of tracks that all belong. G-Eazy seems to completely lose this narrative as the album progresses, getting lost in a smear of rapping about nothing in particular.
This weak attempt at a dark rebrand was immediately called out as a strong parallel to Siwa — and we can’t lie because the similarities are there.
“Serving Country” — Yung Gravy
The DI’s rating: 2/10
We’re not quite sure that this album is serving anything. The former Spring Jam artist has yet to create anything above average, as his 2024 album “Serving Country” fails to provide a successful evolution to the rapper’s music.
With features from Zac Brown and Shania Twain, Yung Gravy attempts to put a comically thin veil over his old goofy persona and ultimately fails to achieve anything musically impressive.
“Wild Ones” — Tom MacDonald, Nova Rockafeller
The DI’s rating: 1/10
Canadian rappers Tom MacDonald and Nova Rockafeller have certainly put out an album. Similarly to Yung Gravy, the duo has made an extremely unsuccessful pass at creating country music, with the result being an over-auto-tuned rock-country-rap mesh that sounds out of place in every way.
If there’s one thing we can praise MacDonald and Rockafeller on, it’s their honesty — songs like “White Rapper” clearly show their mindset going into the production of this album.
“Vultures 2” — Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign
The DI’s rating: 1/10
“Vultures 2” is supposedly the second of three in a Vultures trilogy. But the third album — intended for late 2024 — has yet to be released, and with the way these first two are sounding, that might not be a bad thing.
“Vultures 2” manages to be even less impressive than the first, with a less impactful sound coming from West. The album is easily West’s most forgettable and doesn’t bode well for the future of his steadily declining music career.
