Best Christian Songs of 2024
I could have done 20 songs, but I am just a man! Next year will be different. 2024 was an excellent year for Christian rap, however, some of the adjacent subgenres of CCM have offered some boundary-pushing releases. Christian R&B is seeing a significant rise. Meanwhile the more alternative scene is picking up steam in some unexpected places and I wanted to highlight some of those as well. Therefore, as far as medial goes, here are the best Christian songs of 2024.
15. Dirty Laundry — Battz
This has been an odd year for Battz, because he came off of a brilliantly executed record in 2023, Shuck’N’Jive and yet I did not see him build upon it like I thought he would have. I suspected he was going follow through with more visuals, or some lyric breakdown videos-anything to expound upon the hype and creative real estate establed with that aforementioned record but that didn’t happen. That being said, he has dropped some stellar singles completely unrelated to the project. I hope we get to see even more of him in 2025.
*Also the visual for this is so cool.
14. Hi-C — Porsha Love, Anike, Queen Lee & Tk Lee
This is the type of song that you sip a matcha lemonade to while doing 80 on the highway on a sunny summer day.
I am down to see a tour with all four of these ladies. Porsha has been an innovator for CHH for the past few years. Especially, as we are enjoying an abundance of women in the hip-hop scene. Overall, I think she has a unique voice and is yet another standout talent within the subgenre. It’s really cool that we have so many ladies with so many differing perspectives, voices, and styles. but enough about that. This song is high-energy Porsche Love-led joint. The ladies follow suit. I was unfamiliar with Tk Lee and Queen Lee, but they all stepped up. This was on blast this past summer.
13. Don’t Touch Me — Big Breeze + I Project
See? I’m not all boom bad rapity raps.
If I had made a top 20 best albums list, WestSide Nights 2 would be on that list. That record had a lot of bounce and passion on it. “ Don’t touch Me” has an interesting Neptunes vibe. It reminds me of when Migos teamed up with Pharrell for “Stir Fry”. This brings a different side and some diversity to Big breeze’s catalog. Overall I like his music but it would be cool to see him venture into some slightly different veins every now and then, because this definitely works.
12. Hold on — Nyrik Brown
Nyrik is someone I wish I had taken the opportunity to write about more. I just never got around to it. A lot of the alternative music I would write about didn't get much traction, anyway. Maybe the future will yield different results. Hold on ep was a delightful project full of gentle exhortations compelling the listener to glorify God whether in a time of good or in a season of pressure. Nyrik pulls from the rock influences of the '60s and '70s and delivers these sweet light yet sincere jams. I'll be lying if I said I wasn't doing some prayer and this was playing in the background.
11. LAST TIME — IT DEPT
Play this for all your KSG, BROCKHAMPTON, jpeg-loving friends.
This is right up my alley. An alternative futuristic moody instrumental with introspective bars. The song is a psalm of sorts lamenting about the hard times, but choosing to lean into the uncertainty rather than merely ignoring the obstacle. Their full-length self-titled project is also great. It almost made my top 10 albums list , but this gave me a good excuse to write about them.
10. Come Closer — Braden Drake
Here’s to an artist I stupidly have not talked about as much as I probably could have this past year. Braden Drake is psych-rock artist based out of Tennessee. His music is an inspired blend of Blue Light Orchestra, LED Zeppelin, and Kevin Parker. As he has told me himself he has taken those influences and gone his own direction with it. “Come Closer” is just a smooth groovy track which I think he pulls off unironically. I was jamming this throughout the year. The visual is pretty fun and cool and I know he has some more work cooking for 2025. I’m excited to see what that rollout may look like.
9. Vengeance — Arkham Knights {Battz + Aaron Dews}
I don’t know how that’s going to work out in a copyright situation. I feel like this is something James Gunn would aprove of though.
When is the Arkham Knights album? I am sure they’ve got something more substantial down the line. Maybe we’ll get all of their releases packaged together with a few extra songs in 2025. They are collaborating in different capacities while also taking on their solo paths. In any case, “Vengeance” is an industrial post-rock meets rap instrumental where the two come together for absolute lyrical carnage . As they admit in the song, this isn’t where they get conscious and wax philosophical. I’m sure we’ll get more of that in the future, but right now this is just them having fun and giving us a good mosh pit track. And it works!
Arkham Knights may be the modern black star of Christian rap.
8. Matthew 5 — Terrian + Anike
This is what I'm talm bout! why don't we have more of this type of music? This is the future of CCM.
How come we don't have more Ciara’s or friggin’ 3LW’s? Christian R&B has seen some really good traction over the past few years but I feel like it hasn't taken over it like it's supposed to, but I think we're getting close. Keep the Good Vibes going. It broke my heart when that Ladies’ Night Out tour fell through. I feel like that's what Anike should have been doing from the jump. Songs like this are the answer for an underserved demographic. I hope we see more of this. Come on SSTEDI!
7. Renaissance — nobigdyl.
This song reminds me of Kanye's Power which was his first epic swing back into the zeitgeist after his then most appalling controversy, which is laughable now. In a similar fashion this is nobigdyl’s reaffirmation of what he understood about his journey as an artist and a believer. If I could give a Grammy to someone it would be this man. It's a great precursor to his full length, the people we became.
6. Walking by Faith — Ron Riley
Not all of these were going to be singles. Truthfully, I don't think Riley had an extra-official roll out for this, but in the world of medial any good song could be a single. From my heart to yours is a Stevie Wonder-inspired project and you can hear that in songs like “Don't you worry about a thing.” “Walk by Faith” features theses 808s and heartbreak-style vocals at the top of the song which then proceed into the hook and Ron Riley just gives us all he’s got.
5. Love Me — Aaron Dews
I was put in a quandary with Aaron Dews’ R&B rebrand. I could not make heads or tails of it. “Peace of Mind” was a really good song but it just seemed odd for him to totally redirect his trajectory into an Indie Don Toliver-esque persona. This one took me for a loop. He normally has this sort of futuristic Timbaland meets Gambino vibe but this feels like a lost track from Igor. That robot harmony at the top of the song, but then jumps into this cha-cha salsa vibe for the verse but then immediately jumps into that futuristic bubble drum signature that he has on his music. This is just an engaging song from beginning to end.
You know how you have those Christian friends that are like “ Who says Christian music is corny?” and then they proceed to play you some of the corniest Christian music you've ever heard?
Ok. Listen to this…
4. Big in Japan — Marty
He really is the auteur that he deserves to be. Remember that Kanye West and James Blake collaborative album we were supposed to get? It feels like Marty snuck in the back door and stole someone's hard drive. That's right but it's so good. It goes from this Jon Brion meets 2015 Kanye but then it transitions into the soundtrack of a Sophia Coppola or a Spike Jonze movie.
I am down for a spike Jonze directive music video for Marty. Anyone else?
3. curse/rain — Hollyn + weathrman
It’s a weathrman collaboration so… 2 points already.
Hollyn and weathrman collaborate in a way that feels a bit more forward-thinking yet succinctly inherent to the artist of Hollyn. Weatherman always has a reputation for recontextualizing an artist’s sound in a way that makes sense. This situation’s no different though we see her embracing different subject matter much more intuitively than some of her peers. There are other collaborations amongst them, that are equally good, but I think it’s best to open the gateway with this…
2. TLAMY {the locusts ate my years} — Tragic Hero
Tragic, after a very long hiatus, returns as if he never left with his continuous run on futuristic soundscapes with an emotionally resonant palette. The first song “buzzkill”, featuring SIV, continues his time traveling psalmist aethetic, lamenting over time lost because of past mistakes made. It sounds like he’s detailing what the ascent specifically looks like and what he is experiencing emotionally.
Shout out the homies and HomeTownHero.
1. YBA — THE New Respects
This entry is a formal rebuke of all of us because it is an absolute crime for The New Respects have been putting out straight heat for the past year and they have yet to go viral. It befuddles me that “Struttin” didn’t go crazy.
Coffee in the Morning
Was everyone drinking decaf?
Candy
Are all New Respects fans diabetic?
I’m still pissed Hella Black didn’t blow up… as much as we love affirming black people.
This song is great! It works anywhere. Play it at Target. Play it Church. Play it at a funeral.
Alrighty. Them joints was hittin’s right?
Enjoy the playlist.
