We’ve finally made it to the most lit season of the year! Summer isn't the liveliest season simply because temperatures rise significantly and school is out for most students. Summer is so lively because it totally has its own vibe that seems to be palpable to everyone.
For those of us within hip-hop culture, summer 2024 has started off with an absolute bang! A big reason for that could be attributed to an instant summer anthem that has millions of people (especially on the west coast) back up and outside (we’ll address that song later; but you may have already guessed it).
Obviously, seasons change every 90 days or so. As do trends in the culture. These are the hottest trends in hip-hop in Q3 2024.
Who’s hot in music
They say that every summer has its own soundtrack. And although the culture stays litty year-round, things are far more exciting, interesting, and quite frankly… sexy during the summer months.
And if what they say is true, that each summer does indeed have its own soundtrack; the following artists will be the ones providing that soundtrack to keep the streets ablaze for the summer of 2024.
These are the hottest artists in the culture at the moment:
Kendrick Lamar - Back in 2013, on his featured verse on Big Sean’s song, Control, Kendrick Lamar said, “I’m Makaveli’s offspring, I’m King of the coast; one hand, I juggle ‘em both.” Albeit the song was released over a decade ago, it’s apparent that Kendrick wasn’t exaggerating in his verse—he was prophesying.
Make no mistake, Kendrick Lamar is now officially the undisputed King of Hip-Hop.
Already coming off what many believe was hip-hop’s verse of the year (which also sparked his controversial beef with Drake) for his feature on Future & Metro Boomin’s song, Like That; Kendrick went even further and upped the score in his rap beef Drake.
The preeminent track from the beef was Kendrick’s song, Not Like Us, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 has become not only this year’s summer anthem; the success of the song officially solidified Kendrick as the winner of the battle and hip-hop’s new king.
Making Kendrick the first west coast artist to wear the crown since the late Tupac Shakur (aka Makaveli) dawned it back in 1996.
What’s more, Kendrick’s recent live-stream concert, "The Pop Out – Ken & Friends” set an Amazon music streaming record as the most watched Amazon Music production ever across Prime Video and Twitch.
Sexyy Red - Very few artists can become hot and remain that way in today's climate without being active on social media. Instead of relying entirely on having a hit record and huge marketing budgets to generate interest—artists now focus on their social media presence to build their fanbase.
There may not be an artist in hip-hop that is more active on social media than St. Louis native Sexyy Red is at the moment.
Her controversial social media posts, lyrics, image, music videos, along with the success of her third mixtape, In Sexyy We Trust, have all contributed towards Sexyy Red now becoming one of the most popular artists in the culture.
Megan Thee Stallion - Hip-hop music has gone through many eras. But no era has been more beneficial for female rappers than the current one. Houston hottie Megan Thee Stallion is one of the artists that we could thank for that.
Released on June 28th of this year, her latest album, suitably titled, MEGAN, will certainly turn summer '24 into another “Hot Girl Summer.”
Ice Spice - Aside from having one of the dopest stage names in hip-hop, Ice Spice also has one of the most distinctive styles and voices in hip-hop as well. Already a household name in the culture, her much-anticipated debut album, Y2K, is finally slated to be released on July 26th.
The album’s recently released second single, Phat Butt, has demanded that all eyes and ears in the culture remain on the Bronx native.
BossMan Dlow - Most hip-hop fans probably have never even heard of Port Salerno, Florida. Let alone, be able to point it out on a map. Yet while no one would ever mistake Port Salerno for a hotbed for hip-hop, the city could still take credit for producing one of the hottest artists in hip-hop at the moment—Bossman Dlow.
Dlow’s first breakout hit, Get In With Me, has received over 42 million streams on Spotify and has helped the Bossman generate nearly 5 million monthly listeners on the platform as well—despite not having released an official debut album to date.
Future, Metro Boomin - In sports, one of the most impressive things an athlete could do is to consecutively make exceptional plays in the same game. Well, if there were an equivalent of doing that in hip-hop, it would be dropping two great albums back-to-back in the same quarter.
Which is exactly what Future and Metro Boomin did by releasing two critically-acclaimed joint projects less than a month apart with We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You. Both albums debuted number one on the Billboard 200.
GloRilla - Maybe it’s her deep voice. Her raunchy lyrics. Or her outspoken interviews. Whatever it is, there’s something about Memphis, Tennessee rapper GloRilla that just makes you want to pay attention to what she says and does.
Glo’s most recent single, TGIF, is already in heavy rotation in the streets (especially after Rihanna recently posted a video of herself rapping the song's lyrics on social media). In less than a week after its release, TGIF has been streamed over 3 million times on Spotify—adding to her already impressive track record of hit singles.
What’s hot in non-traditional media
We’ve arrived to the point where just like music artists; everyone now has a favorite podcast that they tune in to. Each day, hundreds of millions of people log on to streaming platforms like iTunes, Spotify, and YouTube to check out their favorite hip-hop-oriented podcasts.
These are the hottest non-traditional media platforms in the culture at the moment:
Club Shay Shay
Joe Budden TV
Kai Cenat Live
Million Dollaz Worth Of Game
Say Cheese!
The Art Of Dialogue
VladTV
What’s hot in fashion
Besides the great weather, amazing vibes, and fun events to attend—one of the best things about summer is stepping outside looking so fresh and so clean! A big part of not only getting—but also feeling fresh, is updating your wardrobe each year for the summer. That includes rocking the most in-style brands.
These are the hottest fashion brands in the culture at the moment:
Amiri
Balenciaga
Chrome Hearts
Dior
Fendi
Givenchy
Off-White
What’s hot in traditional media
Now that we’ve addressed some of the positives that come along with summer. One of its negatives is that season not many good television shows have new episodes on-air during the summer months.
But there are a few in rotation at the moment—as well as some that are set to air later this season that the culture is focused on.
These are the hottest television shows in the culture at the moment:
Basketball Wives
Bel-Air
Mayor of Kingstown
Power Book II
The Chi
Hottest social media platforms
Even though the vast majority of us tend to be outside more during summer, no matter if we’re at a cookout, a concert, or even an amusement park, we all tend to arrive at one place regardless of how much fun we’re having outside—and that place is social media.
These are the hottest social media platforms in the culture at the moment:
Instagram
X
TikTok
Facebook
Snapchat
What’s fading
From a fashion standpoint, when looking at pictures of ourselves from the past, we often view them from two perspectives. Either we view them fondly; admiring how fashion-forward we were at the time.
Or we view them unfavorably; asking ourselves just what it is that we were thinking at the time that made us think that style was cool. Well, when it comes to one particular fashion accessory that was hot not long ago, many have seemed to acknowledge that the proverbial juice wasn’t worth the squeeze.
That accessory is luxury designer belts. An item that was extremely popular in the culture not long ago.
For years, brands like Fendi, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, made hundreds of millions of dollars off of belt sales alone from consumers within the culture who purchased expensive belts as a wealth gesticulation.
Which is funny, because in many cases, a person’s designer belt was the most expensive attribute of their outfit.
Be that as it may, and to the dismay of a handful of luxury designer brands, the days of walking down the street and seeing several people wearing $500 belts is now fading from the culture.
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