Pitchfork: Alphonse Pierre's 27 Best Rap Albums of 2024

Though SahBabii has been a staple of the rap scene for over a decade, his 2024 album *Saaheem* is only his second full-length LP. SahBabii sounds so confident, though, that it’s clear he spent his off-seasons practicing. The Chicago-born rapper moved to Atlanta as a young teen, and the blend of trap and drill that he brings to his albums is an effortless combination of the two subgenres. On *Saaheem*, which is also his birth name, SahBabii doesn’t force-feed these different aspects of his musical style. Rather, they subtly shape his sonic worldview, creating an album that’s fascinating in its understated variety. Take “Viking,” a booming, rumbling track that features the canonlike bass of Windy City street rap with the triplet hi-hat rhythms and syrupy flow of ATL mainstays like Young Thug and Migos. On “Kodak,” he plays with the plugg style prevalent on the East Coast, crooning over pillowy synths so warm they practically wrap him in a hug. No matter what city he touches down in, SahBabii sounds at home.

If runaway smashes like “Pound Town,” “SkeeYee,” and “Get It Sexyy” told us anything about St. Louis MC Sexyy Red, it’s that the *Hood Hottest Princess* trades in anthems. Nearly exclusively. Her *In Sexyy We Trust* mixtape hardly deviates from the plan, delivering even more anthems extolling the allure of the Sexyy Red lifestyle. Across the tape, we hear Red rap about upholding a particular standard of courtship (“Boss Me Up”), the joys of puppy love (“U My Everything”), how hard she goes in the streets (“Ova Bad”), and also the very precise sexual maneuvers she enjoys (“Lick Me,” “Awesome Jawsome”). The bulk of it is delivered over charging Tay Keith production, which will make fans excited to shout back lyrics at her during an unknowable number of Rolling Loud sets. Red’s work here is enough to make guest appearances from Drake and Lil Baby seem like an afterthought, but they, too, very obviously recognize an aspiring hitmaker when they hear one.

Laila! begins her debut album *Gap Year!* with a snippet from a live show. It’s an acoustic-guitar jam called “Talent Show,” and it’s ostensibly a performance from a high school talent event. She showcases her dexterous voice on the unvarnished cut, and it establishes some of the themes she explores on the record. Laila!, whose father is celebrated rapper Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), presents her unfiltered self on the collection, using this “gap year” between childhood and her foray into professional music as an official introduction. On “R U Down?” she cues up a disco-inspired groove and asks a potential partner to come at her from a place of mutual respect. “I’m not that mean,” she sings, before adding, “I just mean what I say/You know that.” She lets her vulnerability lead the charge when she concludes, “I’m just a girl, and I don’t know what I’m feeling.” Laila! saves the pre-release smash “Not My Problem” for the end, and after she spends the album ruminating on her place in the world as an adult, the song’s message hits all the harder: “Bitches talkin’ shit, it’s not my problem.”