IT’S BEEN A big year for moody guitar bangers, boundary-pushing Latin pop, dazzling pop spectacle, and uplifting Afropop. The song of the summer sweepstakes are off and running. Superstars like Usher, Cardi B, Kendrick Lamar, and Kacey Musgraves rolled through with unforgettable tunes, and rising artists from Sabrina Carpenter to Carin Leon announced their presence with authority. There’s a ton going on in hip-hop beyond headline-hogging beef. Great country records are coming out that look past Nashville for inspiration. To capture it all, we’ve sequenced our (unranked) list of favorites into a Spotify playlist.

Shakira, ‘Cómo Dónde y Cuándo’

Shakira channeling her Nineties rock-era energy was not on anyone’s 2024 bingo card, but we sure as hell will take it. On the track off her 12th LP, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, the Colombian singer taps into the angsty soundscapes of her classic 1998 album, Dónde Están los Ladrones?, for an exquisite pop-rock moment. Shakira proclaims, “Life’s a bitch,” before using this grungy cut to essentially say “Fuck it” and remind herself and her listeners to seize the moment, no matter how, where, or when. —M.G.