24/7, 365, we deliver you the tracks and artists setting The Agenda. This year, we said farewell to one of UK rap’s most dependable hitmakers, Nines. An ever-present in the scene since his larger-than-life intro on the mixtape circuit in the 2010s, Nines gracefully called time on his career with “Tony Soprano 3”, a chilling salvo about his decade-long run as Ice City Boyz’s head honcho. He could have bowed out after completing his Crop Circle trilogy in 2023 but, just when he thought he was out, he was pulled back in one last time to make this year’s Quit While You’re Ahead. It proved a fitting final dispatch from an MC who put street rap on a higher platform with the force of his personality. “I could always say more, I’ve always got something on my chest, but the title says it all: Quit while you’re ahead,” he told Apple Music’s Dotty, while revealing that filmmaking was one interest he now intends to pursue. “I don’t think I’ve gone as far as I can, deffo not. But I just want a new challenge. A lot of rappers should have quit while they were ahead, right?” Two artists with more left to say in 2024 were Kendrick Lamar and Drake. When they decided to ignite a feud that had been simmering since the 2010s, it produced a track as momentous as K.Dot’s “Not Like Us”—a certified West Coast classic. The advance of Afrobeats also continued, as Tems’ “Love Me JeJe” refreshed Nigerian singer-songwriter Seyi Sodimu’s 1997 track of the same title (and soundtracked weddings across the year), while Darkoo and Rema fused reggaetón with the sound on “Favourite Girl”. The new kids once again added a layer of freshness: from R&B wonderkid Odeal’s “Soh-Soh” to the effortless bounce of Kairo Keyz’s “GANG”. Listen here to the artists that set The Agenda in 2024.