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The best jazz albums of the year feel supercharged with the spirit of discovery, but also offer revelations — both comforting and challenging — the deeper you dig.

Released in a span of three months, the new albums by Ayra Starr, Tems and Tyla are not merely career-making for the artists, but ground-shifting for the pop music of the continent.

In 2024, GloRilla, Latto and Doechii all delivered landmark rap albums. Not just because they had the best bars, but because each trusted themself enough to make an artistic and commercial leap.

In 2005, two Chicagoans made a generational classic and then sprinted in opposite directions, each daring the rest of hip-hop to follow them.

On her 12th album, the most dominant pop star of our era makes a spectacle of herself in full flower, in love and holding the music industry in the palm of her hand.

You can't always know that it's a great year for new music while it's happening, but there was a sense from the very start of 2024 that we were in for a ride.

Marcus Brown toiled for 10 years before stumbling into indie stardom. On his thrilling new album, he hears music in every hour worked — day jobs included.

Sayonara is a dazzling indie game powered by synth-pop and emotional catharsis. In a year of bitter loss and isolation, its existence is a gift.

Staples began singing with her family as a teenager. The Staple Singers started out in gospel, but moved over to pop, eventually playing the '69 Harlem Cultural Festival. Originally broadcast in 1989.

After Louis Armstrong reigned as King Zulu in 1949, musicians began writing music specifically for and about Mardi Gras. These early songs paved the way for the sounds of Carnival for decades to come.