In the world of music, 2024 was the year of the underdog.
New artists made historic strides globally and dominated the top of the charts, introducing fresh sounds — from Ayra Starr‘s danceable Afrobeats to Laufey’s Grammy-winning jazz-pop fusion — to the pop zeitgeist.
Variety Young Hollywood cover star Sabrina Carpenter became the first solo act in the history of the 66-year-old Billboard Hot 100 chart to land two simultaneous top-three hits with “Espresso” and “Please Please Please.” Meanwhile, Benson Boone enjoyed massive wins with his melodious breakout single “Beautiful Things” earning him co-signs from pop mainstays like Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey. K-pop acts like Ateez and NewJeans continued to deliver eye-popping performances all over the world while Spanish-language singers Xavi and Manuel Turizo led the new waves of música mexicana and Latin urban-pop, respectively.
For 2024’s Power of Young Hollywood Impact Report, Variety spotlights 12 musicians with outstanding accomplishments.
The list of 2024’s music honorees is below; head here for the full article.
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Ayra Starr
Image Credit: Courtesy of Mikey OshaI In the 12 months leading up to Starr’s sophomore album, “The Year I Turned 21” (Mavin-Republic Records), the Beninese-Nigerian artist, 22, embarked upon a debut world tour, racked up a billion streams on Spotify, landed a Grammy nomination and became the first Nigerian female artist to chart the Billboard 200. To perhaps even greater disbelief, she also found a fan in Rihanna: “You never think that you’re going to actually meet her one day and be one of her favorite artists.”
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NLE Choppa
Image Credit: Courtesy of Gunnar Stahl At 21, NLE Choppa’s achievements include over 8.3 billion streams and 17 RIAA-certified plaques, with his second album, “Cottonwood 2” (No Love Entertainment/Warner) peaking at No. 9 on the R&B/Hip-Hop albums chart in 2023. The Memphis native has also played an active role in supporting his hometown, launching the NLE Reading Challenge, which incentivized at-risk elementary students to read 40 million words, and leading the “Skate for Tyre” peaceful protest following the death of Tyre Nichols.
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Tommy Richman
Image Credit: Getty Images After releasing a string of singles with Brent Faiyaz’s ISO Supremacy label, 24-year-old Richman posted a teaser of “Million Dollar Baby” to TikTok in April — a move that would lead to a No. 2 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 two weeks later. As the dance challenges that helped make the song go viral continue to proliferate, the pop-rap artist finds himself having spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the TikTok Top 50 chart.
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Ateez
Image Credit: Courtesy of KQ Entertainment Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho, Yeosang, San, Mingi, Wooyoung, Jongho
The octet — Hongjoong (25), Seonghwa (26), Yunho (25), Yeosang (25), San (25), Mingi (24), Wooyoung (24) and Jongho (23) — are the first male Korean group to play Coachella. The KQ Entertainment act scored their first Billboard No. 1 in December 2023 with “The World EP.Fin: Will,” hit No. 2 with EP “Golden Hour: Part1” in June, the biggest sales week for any 2024 K-pop album. They have played sold-out stadiums on their Towards the Light: Will to Power North American tour, propelled by a dedicated fans base dubbed “Atiny.”
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Xavi
The Arizona native who caught the attention of Interscope executives on social media began 2024 with his hit single, “La Diabla,” becoming the No. 1 song on Spotify’s Global 200. Blending R&B, pop and urban with música Mexicana, the 20-year-old says the highlight of his year was his Poco a Poco tour. “The name explains how ‘little by little’ we are chasing our dreams,” he says, dreams that will soon find him finishing a debut album and helping his family open a restaurant.
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NewJeans
Image Credit: Josh Brasted/FilmMagic/Getty Images Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein
Since its July 2022 debut, NewJeans — the K-pop group comprised of members Minji (20), Hanni (19), Danielle (19), Haerin (18) and Hyein (16) — has charted on the Billboard Global 200 for 37 consecutive weeks (the longest of any K-pop female act), achieved more than 4.3 billion streams and secured brand partnerships with Coca-Cola, Apple and (fittingly) Levi’s. In other words, they’re total K-pop darlings who, with the release of new tracks “Bubble Gum” and “How Sweet’’ this past May, are positioning themselves for a massive 2025 world tour.
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Lizzy McAlpine
Image Credit: Courtesy photo After her 2023 breakthrough “Ceilings” went viral on TikTok, McAlpine, 24, retreated to Pasadena to hone the stripped-back sound that permeates “Older” (RCA), her third album, which was released in April. “I realized that I just want to focus on the art,” the singer-songwriter told Variety. It’s a realization that has since yielded a run of sold-out North American shows, including two nights at L.A.’s Greek Theater and two nights at Radio City Music Hall.
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Manuel Turizo
Image Credit: Courtesy of Gabriel Bucheli Turizo, 24, solidified his position as a major force in the Latin music world with his wildly successful single, “La Bachata,” becoming the No. 1 most-streamed Latin solo song in Spotify history, and achieving U.S. platinum and 26 x Latin platinum status in 2023. In the lead-up to his fourth studio album, “201,” which comes out this fall, the Miami-based Colombian artist found himself a Paris fashion-week fixture with front row seats at Fendi, Dior and Balmain.
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Laufey
Image Credit: Courtesy of Gemma Warren Born in Reykjavik to an Icelandic father and Chinese classical violinist mother, Laufey (pronounced LAY-vay) kicked off 2024 with a Grammy win for “Bewitched” (AWAL), her sophomore effort that fused jazz, classical and contemporary pop genres. “One thing I’ve thought about in the last few months is how much I’ve become the musician that I needed when I was younger,” says the Berklee College of Music grad, whose August show at the Hollywood Bowl is sold out.
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FLO
Image Credit: Douglas, Downer, Quaresma: Courtesy of Tallulah Ballard Jorja Douglas, Stella Quaresma and Renée Downer
The Brit Award-winning Douglas, 22, Quaresma, 22, and Downer, 21, have just released single “Check” and are working on their debut LP. The singers have steeped themselves in on-the-road experience, including their first U.S. festival performance at April’s Coachella. “Growing up, Coachella was the ‘it’ festival. To have been a part of it so early in our careers is definitely a highlight,” they tell Variety. It was also good prep for the tour they’re about to embark upon in support of Kehlani.
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Benson Boone
Image Credit: Courtesy of Dennis Leupold With 1.43 billion on-demand audio streams worldwide, Boone’s “Beautiful Things” has become the most streamed song of 2024, earning the 22 year-old a spot in Spotify’s “Billions” club. “When I sit back and look at what’s happening, it really, truly blows my mind,” the singer-songwriter told Variety. In addition to a completely sold-out world tour for his debut full-length LP, “Fireworks & Rollerblades” (Night Street/Warner), Boone was selected to open for Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour in London.
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4Batz
Image Credit: Courtesy of Ralph Canono When the 20-year-old Dallas native released his debut track in 2023, he got traction quickly — and has kept it. In under six months, the R&B artist amassed more than 2.5 million streams on Spotify, receiving co-signs from SZA and Drake — the latter of whom appeared on a remix of “act ii: date @ 8” this past March. Two months later, his debut mixtape landed at No. 2 on Billboard’s Top R&B albums chart and featured a remix by yet another heavy hitter: Ye.
