Why Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ Should Get Album of the Year at the Grammys — and Kendrick Lamar Should Get Song of the Year

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter is much more than a country album — it’s actually a tour through the Black roots of American music that manages to be both thematically rich and stuffed with indelible pop songs, in multiple genres. Kendrick Lamar’s virtuosic “Not Like Us,” meanwhile, completely transcends its status as a killing blow in the Lamar-Drake battle, packing in an astonishing amount of lyrical and musical density — and it’s somehow also the year’s most entertaining, endlessly replayable track. 

 In the new episode of our Rolling Stone Music Now podcast, we begin a multi-part look at the best music of 2024 so far, via picks from our staff — in this episode, Mankaprr Conteh joins host Brian Hiatt to run through her favorite R&B, hip-hop, and Afropop songs and albums of the year. Along the way, we make the case for Cowboy Carter as a top pick for the Album of the Year Grammy — including the obvious fact that Beyoncé is way overdue for it after multiple snubs. We also argue that “Not Like Us” should be the clear favorite for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year.

To hear the whole episode, go here for the podcast provider of your choice, listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or just press play above.

Elsewhere in the episode, we dive deep on albums and songs by artists including Tems, Tyla, Normani, Kendrick Lamar, Megan Thee Stallion, Tierra Whack, Flo Milli, Card B, Sexyy Red, Schoolboy Q, Ayra Starr, Rema, Tems, Mustafa, Cash Cobain, J. Cole, SiR, Ab-Soul, Denzel Curry, Usher, Pheelz, Nnena, and Remi Wolf.     

Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone‘s weekly podcast, Rolling Stone Music Now, hosted by Brian Hiatt, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). Check out seven years worth of episodes in the archive, including in-depth interviews with Mariah Carey, Bruce Springsteen, Questlove, Halsey, Neil Young, Snoop Dogg, Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, Rick Ross, Alicia Keys, the National, Ice Cube, Taylor Hawkins, Willow, Keith Richards, Robert Plant, Dua Lipa, Killer Mike, Julian Casablancas, Sheryl Crow, Johnny Marr, Scott Weiland, Liam Gallagher, Alice Cooper, Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Donald Fagen, Charlie Puth, Phil Collins, Justin Townes Earle, Stephen Malkmus, Sebastian Bach, Tom Petty, Eddie Van Halen, Kelly Clarkson, Pete Townshend, Bob Seger, the Zombies, and Gary Clark Jr. And look for dozens of episodes featuring genre-spanning discussions, debates, and explainers with Rolling Stone’s critics and reporters.