“COWBOY CARTER” TO “GNX”: From the year’s best country release, to one of the greatest living rappers anywhere, with “Alligator Bites” on the side. PHOTOS COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA

New York (AP) – Ten of the top albums of the year, as chosen by Associated Press Music Writer Maria Sherman.

“Cowboy Carter,” Beyoncé 

She rode in on a white horse, in patriotic chaps and wielding an American flag. She declared, this “ain’t a Country album” but “a ‘Beyoncé’ album” — positioning herself in opposition to the genre’s rigid power structures. And yet, she made the year’s best country (and then some) release: Beyoncé’s “Act ll: Cowboy Carter,” a 78-minute, 27-track masterclass in inherited and uncelebrated histories, pulling from the Black and brown performers at the core of country’s canon, and providing visibility to oft-overlooked progenitors. It’s heard in the inclusion of Linda Martell, the first African American woman to play the Grand Ole Opry. It’s heard in Beyoncé’s natural twang, a return to form for the Texas native, at times, a vibrato that pulls directly from the earth. It may only be 2024, but it’s hard to imagine this record not being considered one of the decade’s best.

“BRAT,” Charli XCX

It wasn’t just brat summer, babes, but a brat movement: English singersongwriter Charli XCX’s sixth album altered the language of 2024. The music oscillates between hedonism and anxiety, but also manages to bring the underground’s pop queen into the mainstream without compromising her vision.

“Alligator Bites Never Heal,” Doechii

When alligators kill, they do what is known as a “death roll”: They sink their teeth into their prey and spin rapidly, flipping their bodies in and out of the water, drowning, disorienting and dismembering whatever was unlucky enough to get in its way. Florida rapper Doechii’s breakout mixtape, “Alligator Bites Never Heal,” embodies that kind of intensity — not in aggression, per se, but in acuity — for a versatile album that teeters from the romance of her smooth R&B and the particularity of her flows. Single “Boom Bap” made her greatness known. Tracks like “Catfish” confirm it.

“Manning Fireworks,” MJ Lenderman

Last year, AP named “Rat Saw God,” the album from Asheville altcountry indie rockers Wednesday, as one of 2023’s best. The band features MJ Lenderman, whose “Manning Fireworks” is almost frustratingly addictive. It’s a record of hilariously immediate classic.

“Orquídeas,” Kali Uchis 

When Amy Winehouse first emerged, she was celebrated for being a once-in-a-generation voice, an old soul in a modern world — not overly sentimental or stuck, but an artist willing to communicate with the past to make art in the future. In many ways, the same can be said about Kali Uchis and her 2024 album, “Orquídeas.” Her superpower is her syrupy voice, which feels in time and out of it — classically and effortlessly smoothing over and disrupting her lush sonic worlds. If 2024 is about fluidity — of genre, language, love, loss and divination — Uchis provides a roadmap from restrained reggaeton to alt-R&B.

“GNX,” Kendrick Lamar The holidays arrived early this year this one of the year’s best. As the AP reviewed, it is his effortless ability to “switch cadences and lyrical perspectives mid-song” and seemingly limitless breath control that stand out.

“Hit Me Hard and Soft,” Billie Eilish

It often seems like there is no record Billie Eilish can’t break, no accomplishment she cannot summit. So where was she to go, at just 22, with her third studio album? Up, as it turns out. “Hit Me Hard and Soft” is a 10track testament to her own ambition. No one is doing it like her.

“Two Star & The Dream Police,” Mk.gee

Upon first listen, if New Jersey guitar virtuoso Mk.gee confounds, do not worry. He is a 2024 success story who emerged fully formed. The record is gauzy, ripe for a “lo-fi music kind of life-altering adventures — ugly and rejuvenating — that can only happen far from home. It’s a beautiful portrayal of the U.S. — all big skies, starry nights and idiosyncratic people — as well as dumpster diving, shoplifting, addiction, politics, queer bars and poetry. In a word: America.

“Phasor,” Helado Negro 

Nearly a decade ago, Helado Negro — the bilingual musical project of Roberto Carlos Lange — released the single “Young, Latin and Proud,” a celebratory exploration of Latino identity that became a rallying cry for indie kids with similar heritage. The album, recorded in English and Spanish, uses electronic sounds to express inspirations pulled from nature, effervescent and ambitious, easy to listen to and joy to dissect.