The Gen Z pop girlies taking over our Spotify lists

In 2024, pop music has its fair share of emerging voices and stadium stars. And then, of course, there’s Taylor Swift, who might as well be our generation’s Michael Jackson – at least, in terms of the sheer magnitude of crowds she pulls. Her music is another topic altogether, but we’re not here to talk about her today.

We’re here to talk about the pop girlies taking over the world – the ones dominating your algorithms, whether you like it or not, and the ones floating just under your radar. We’re focusing on those who’ve gained momentum in the last two years, so time to keep up! Your new favourite song is just a fateful stream away.

Chappell Roan

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No one has had quite a year like Chappell Roan, and this is still considering that she hasn’t embarked on a worldwide tour of her own yet. In September 2023, Roan released her debut album The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, which fared incredibly well with critics but only performed modestly on the charts. 

Cue 2024, a year where Roan landed slots under Olivia Rodrigo’s world tour and at prominent summer music festivals. As Billboard put it in a chart, factors such as her spirited Coachella performance, along with the release of single Good Luck, Babe!, precipitated her success that saw an incredible boost in streams and, later, throngs of new fans crowding her sets. Her debut album is full of shout-along hooks, and Roan writes lyrics that read both disarmingly funny and liberating in an age where popular music struggles to awaken from its pandemic-isolation sadness.

Addison Rae

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In the 2000s, it was common to find pop stars crossing over to film and TV, and vice versa. And it didn’t stop in the 2010s, where we now have pop stars in Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez and Sabrina Carpenter when most first knew them as goofy sitcom teens.

This is a trend that won’t die, and, if anything, will keep evolving. Now, TikTok celebrities try their hand at pop – and with Addison Rae, she may be its most dedicated one yet. Having begun making music since 2021, her bubblegum 2023 EP AR gave a peek at what she can do beyond a lone single. However, she’s also become a Charli XCX affiliate with the Von Dutch remix, and her latest single Diet Pepsi shows that she’s starting to find her own voice. It’s going to be hard to ignore Rae when (and not if) she becomes big, but it’s better to start early anyway.

Tyla

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At 22, Tyla is the most prominent amapiano star outside of Africa. And that’s a huge feat considering the genre – an intoxicating blend of deep house, soul, and synth-pop – has mainly been dominated by men in the past decade.

It’s no wonder: her breakout single, Water – a pop song that’s less a party anthem and more a spiritual awakening – made her the first South African solo artist to enter the Billboard charts in over 50 years. Her self-titled debut album is a wondrous trove of R&B infected by both pop glamour and quiet storm intimacy. It’s pure vibes with Tyla, and she’s only going to go up from here.

PinkPantheress

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Pinkpantheress emerged at a time when young people either yearned to return to the club, or could only imagine what it would be like. So it makes sense that the music of Pinkpantheress connected almost instantly – with strains of 90s drum & bass, UK garage, and hyperpop never threatening to overpower her whispered vocals. 

Her 2021 mixtape To Hell With It became club music for bedrooms, but when 2023 rolled around, she had to step up once she began performing on big stages. Her debut album Heaven Allows may be uneven, but it still has its bright spots. And it may just be the blueprint for how Pinkpantheress the pop star will be like in the coming future. Watch this space.

Gracie Abrams

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Out of everyone on this list, Gracie Abrams sounds almost like a direct descendant of Taylor Swift’s current era of sad-girl, introspective pop. It’s certainly made clearer with us., which features Swift and Abrams yearning in harmony. And she’s also had the production hand of Aaron Dessner, the indie-rock guitarist turned Swift associate.

The teardrops-on-my-guitar pop of Abrams may also resonate with those who connect deeply with the sharp, sardonic indie folk of Phoebe Bridgers. However, Abrams also has the spirit of a theatre kid – someone who isn’t afraid to make her inner feelings feel maximal – and the uncertainty of a young adult still struggling to paint her vulnerability with clarity. It’s a combination both heady and relatable that has unsurprisingly made her a breakout act in 2024.

Tate McRae

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Tate McRae maybe 21, but she’s spent her whole life preparing for a life as a pop star. But she didn’t start as a singer – formerly a finalist of So You Think You Can Dance at age 13, she slowly moved out of her classically-trained ballerina origins and into the singer-songwriter mould at age 17 with her debut EP All The Things I Never Said, which features songwriting collaborations with Billie Eilish and Finneas.

Cut to 2024, and McRae is riding high off two studio albums and a trap-pop sound that, while polished, doesn’t show McRae in all her songwriting splendour. As it is, McRae is still growing as an artist, and doing it under the limelight will add an unimaginable amount of pressure. But her continuous success, with billions of streams and a laundry list of live shows, shows that she’s putting something out that people are paying attention to.

Rachel Chinouriri

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It’s 2024 and Oasis have reunited while Coldplay are dominating stadiums worldwide. Elsewhere, a singer-songwriter named Rachel Chinouriri is growing into her own craft, having been influenced by both artists, while getting endorsements from Adele and Lewis Capaldi alike.

Chinouriri was born in 1998, years after Britpop reached its cultural zenith, but her debut album What a Devastating Turn of Events was made in tribute to that era – one that was represented by a generation in revolt against the gloomy skies of London. Chinouriri can be heard here in revolt against a similar threat, but also against issues like systemic racism, body dysmorphia, and social withdrawal – yet, it’s still all about the celebration of the self. And, if you’ve found yourself adrift after playing Mitski for the nth time, Chinouriri’s the way to go next.

This article was originally published in Female.