Best of 2024

2024 was a monumental year for Asian Hip Hop. All of Asia made their own ‘Team Tomodachi’ remixes, Hanumumankind’s ‘Big Dawgs’ blew everyone away even before A$AP Rocky jumped on the remix, and YOUNGOHM went every direction on ‘Thatthong Ekkamai.’ That’s just the top three. YouTube is the currency of Asian Hip Hop, and last year's price is not this year's price.

Formerly known as KOHH, Japan’s Yuki Chiba rebranded himself with his real name and made the comeback of the decade by dropping ‘Team Tomodachi’ in mid-February. As soon as the song hit the streets, Japanese remixes were popping up with heavyweights like Jin Dogg, ¥ellow Bucks, Watson, and more. Then, the Asian wave happened and countries like Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Cambodia made their versions. THEN, things got really crazy when Duke Duce, Bun B, and Will Smith gave it the official co-signs of US rappers by putting their own twist on the song.

‘Team Tomodachi’ blew up so big that Megan Thee Stallion decided to put Yuki on her song, ‘Mamushi,’ which has 60 million views, and bring him out to rap a verse in Japanese at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Asian Hip Hop will never be the same, and when people discuss it in 20 years, the timeline will be before ‘Team Tomodachi’ and after ‘Team Tomodachi.’

In a normal year, Hanumankind’s ‘Big Dawgs’ would have been number one by a kilometer. The song, which owes a bit of gratitude to Project Pat, is a catchy, cross-cultural phenomenon that sent an already-dope Hanumankind into the stratosphere. While the music is amazing, the video takes it to the next level by showing the insanity of the Well of Death, a death-defying Indian carnival attraction.

At Rolling Loud Thailand during A$AP Rocky’s set, Hanumankind popped out and announced they had a remix coming out soon, and they played it for the first time. Soon, Hanumankind was at the Gully Fest doing the song with DIVINE. Yes, Hanumankind was raised in Texas and the song is in English, but this is the biggest Indian Hip Hop track to hit globally since Jay Z sampled Punjabi MC.

YOUNGOHM is the pulse of the streets in Thailand, where he raps introspectively about his troubles growing up, why he had to form the ALREADY DEADD crew, and how fame is changing him. What makes YOUNGOHM so dope is that he’s not scared to completely switch it up and that’s what he did with the UKG-influenced ‘Thatthong Ekkamai,’ which is already a dancefloor banger, but a remix from a big-name DJ could turn it into a club classic.

In any given year, the video for ‘Thatthong Ekkamai’ would be number one because it’s a no-holds-barred look into the wild mind of YOUNGOHM. It starts with men kissing, has a dance party in a high-school classroom, and shows people how to riot properly. That’s just the first minute, and it gets better from there.

‘Thatthong Ekkamai’ solidifies YOUNGOHM’s position as the voice of the young and proves that he’ll be around for a long time because he’s not unafraid to challenge the norms in Thai music and society.

Last April, to celebrate the Thai water festival Songkran, MILLI dropped a track that was sure to make waves. The divide between the center of Thai culture in Bangkok and the Northeastern Thai countryside has always been great. But with a national New Year’s festival, Songkran, and the pivot towards Country Music in US Hip Hop, MILLI went for hers. She teamed up with a famous Thai Luk Khung singer Arpaporn Makornsawan, and delivered a Thai version of ‘Old Town Road,’ and it resonated with the masses.

To take it a step further, they created a video in the Luk Krung style [but with serious art direction and set design] using many of the same saucy sexual gags and nods towards country living. Kudos to MILLI for her big tent approach to Thai culture and for that matter, Asian Hip Hop.

This past August RAMENGVRL dropped a single with Japanese Hip Hop queen AWICH via her Going Noodles production company called ‘Bombae’ and it was 110% girl power fun. With an obvious affinity between these two Asian Hip Hop pioneers, the song sits on a dancey, Afro-paced beat as the girls tell the story of who they are and what they are so damn fly. In other words, Hip Hop lyrics. Set in Jakarta, the music video is equally frenetic and shows them doing whatever they feel like - eating, dancing, having a pillow fight, rocking the mics live at a show…you know, Queen-type ish.

Last May, the Japanese Girl Group XG dropped a single and video that made the Asian Hip Hop world, and indeed the world sit up and take notice. Seven Japanese girls, JURIN, CHISA, HINATA, HARVEY, JURIA, MAYA, and COCONA can all Rap and dance. So, are they a J-pop girl group? But they went to Hip Hop school, so they bring it way different. Focused on tight rhymes - especially COCONA, whose memes have been shared around the globe like antibodies - XG comes hard and direct.

Their rhymes ride one of the illest beats of 2024. It’s moody, dark, and lives on the edges of Drill. Then there’s the music video, which looks like it has a million bucks worth of art direction, and it’s money well spent. It’s creepy, sexy, and futuristic all at once. The American football helmets and silver grillz are unforgettable.

K-Town Clan’s ‘Makeya Badego’ is a perfect lesson for producers to stack their drums. The verses are dope, but when the song hits the chorus and the drums come out to play, Dra-Vid, Roshan, and Big Bo need a break from dancing afterward.

In an interview with LiFTED, Roshan talks about their expectations of ‘Makeya Bodygo’ by saying they had decided to, “Just make music we are proud of and that’s true to us and whatever happens, happens.” When that happens, sometimes your tracks become one of the biggest in Malaysia in 2024.

2024 was amazing for MFS. She made the most of her Boiler Room feature and has translated that success into growing a following with ‘Don’t.’ The song is pure Baile Funk madness with a stern warning to all that you can look, but you can’t touch what she’s doing.

When someone takes seven years off, it’s hard to know what the reaction is going to be when they come back, especially for a musical artist, because things change so quickly in the industry. For G-Dragon, the welcome return he got for his month-old ‘Power’ has to be much more than he expected. Not only does ‘Power’ have 45 million views on YouTube, but it was inescapable on TikTok and Instagram for the first week it was released.

‘Pho Real’ has to be the first video where the rappers are rapping while using an ear wax removal service. It’s kind of ick, but it’s cool to see bbno$ pick Low G and Anh Phan to do a collab with because their hipster styles match so well.