It’s no secret that the West Coast ran rap in 2024. Kendrick and Mustard put on for Los Angeles heavy throughout the beef, bringing gangster sounds that have defined the region for years into the mainstream. All those hometown heroes getting their due at The Pop Out only for there to be one notable omission: Big Sad 1900.
Big Sad has been one of the most consistent artists in his lane since the start of the decade, but with a uniquely thoughtful, even therapeutic take on the modern gangster sound. He kept it up with a few of his best albums to date in 2024, but stayed in headlines for different reasons.
In the wake of “Not Like Us“, it seemed like the whole West was ready to explode in a rap civil war with Big Sad dissing Ralfy the Plug and the Stincs (among various other disses from Remble, OTM and K7TheFinesser). If that weren’t enough, there was a scare that all the bangin had caught up to him with recent video of a police shootout that thankfully turned out to be a mix up.
All this being said, let’s take a look at some of Big Sad 1900’s highlights musical highlights from 2024.
My Side, They Side & The Truth
Big Sad’s first release of 2024, My Side, They Side & The Truth, shows every unique angle of his music and what he does best. While he has similar gangster stories to any other rapper in the scene, he does so with a different level of articulateness and an emotional bend – you might even argue there’s a bubbling genre of West Coast pain rap full of melodramatic takes on betrayal, trauma, and addiction.
Tracks like “Midnight in LA” always see Sad painting a picture of his ugly come up, but he takes plenty of time for simple flexes on here as well and even pulls an 03 Greedo feature on “She From Stockton“. He might benefit from more frequent and high profile collabs like this to distinguish his releases from each other.
Listen to My Side, They Side & The Truth
Guns & Butter (w/ Baby Stone Gorillas)
Baby Stone Gorillas are usually among the least interesting artists in their lane and have weak rap voices, but the collab format works well for them, bouncing nicely off of Big Sad’s wordier delivery on Guns & Butter. Five different artists on one tape could get messy, but Baby Stone functions as one unit. Not only that, but they draw Big Sad out of his emotional hole for some more fun, straightforward shit you would expect from a Cali album like this.
Listen to Guns & Butter
1937 South Corning St.
Big Sad’s latest release 1937 South Corning St. is a statement – both musically and personally. Tightly wound with no frills (his releases quite often run long, with tracks blending together), he takes the time to show he’s really living life as he deserves, with the spoils of fame, despite his introspective, paranoid themes. The contrast between tracks like “I Eat Lobster” and “Betrayed by N- I love” shows character depth that’s rarely matched in this scene. The deluxe also includes “Therapy 5“, from his signature series that’s sure to hook listeners.
Listen to 1937 South Corning St.
More 2024 Releases From Big Sad 1900:
Members Only – a collab tape with affiliate Blueflag1900
The Separation – produced by MikeMadethe808s. Big Sad very often locks in with single producers like Cypress Moreno for full projects
With everything going on in West Coast hip-hop and Big Sad 1900’s high profile in 2024, he seems to be on the verge of something greater. If he continues to hone his craft on projects this good and secure some major local collabs, he might be the next great in the scene.