OOPS! 50 of 2024 / #40-36: A Lion, A Bully and the Long Way Home

We keep moving along in the banner music year, which was 2024. This block has a surprising track from an R&B icon, some new artists to put on your radar and a trio of latin music powerhouses. All of these tracks shame me for missing them the first time around, but extremely grateful that I was able to come late to the party.

40. Sade: Young Lion

Sade has not put out music in over 6 years, but contributed a track to the compilation Transa, which raised awareness for trans rights. This project features André 3000, Sam Smith and Sade. She sings about her son’s gender transitioning journey in a heartfelt way where she lays out what she regrets about the past and her new understanding of that journey. With a career based on sentual love songs, it is fresh to hear something more personal. The vocals still hit and I hope Sade continues to put out more music.

39. Myriam Gendron: Long Way Home

This is good old folk at it’s best…personal, acoustic and a dramatic story. Canadian artist Myriam Gendron sings about crippling depression and exhaustion from battling through life and just wanting to step off the road for a rest “It’s been a long way home / And I’m afraid the fire’s gone / I just wanna be alone.” This track is both beautiful and emotionally gut wrenching, like all fantastic folk music.

38. Ariana Grande: Yes And ?

Coming out earlier in the year, Grande’s Yes And ? was a pop and club behemoth. I loved this track and leaving it off my top 50 is a big OOPS! This is Grande at her clubby best with pulse pounding electro beats and a hook that demands that you yell it out on a dance floor surrounded by neon and bad decisions. She has had a big year with this release and her stellar singing and acting work in Wicked. This is a talented pop artist at the top of her game who still has Wicked II on the horizon.

37. Sheila E ft. Gloria Estefan and Mimy Succar: Bemba Colorá

I have no idea how I missed this powerhouse track and will forever live in shame because of it. This track is exactly what you think…high octane percussion with impeccable vocals. Sheila E’s work is astounding as she pounds drums within an inch of their lives at a speed that verges on supernatural. This is a fun track that is rounded out with horns and forces you to get up and dance. If you ever are having an bad day, this track is the antidote.

36. Blondshell ft. Bully: Docket

The two rock/punk indie artists tell the story of a cheating on a rock tour from the perspective of the one knowingly engaging in the cheating. The mix of lust, sexuality, moral questioning and possible self-destruction is summed up in the line “my worst nightmare is me.” This is a coming of age story of someone who wants to be in a relationship, yet really isn’t ready for a relationship. Aside from the moral questioning brought up in this track, it is very catchy and some tightly performed rock.