Breaking Through: Doechii, Mk.gee, ROSÉ

Your Spotify Wrapped may be deceiving you - and you're not alone in thinking so.

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Across social media, listeners are questioning whether their year-end stats tell the whole story. Brittany Luse, host of NPR’s It’s Been A Minute, captured the widespread skepticism when she noted that her Wrapped claimed two of her top songs were from Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter - an album she hasn’t listened to in months “and didn't play it a ton when it came out." Meanwhile, songs by less prominent artists that she plays daily were nowhere to be found. The sentiment has exploded on TikTok, where creators' viral breakdowns of suspicious Wrapped results have racked up millions of views.

But our own producer Reanna Cruz has gone beyond speculation to gather actual evidence. For years Cruz has linked their Spotify account to Last.fm, a service that independently tracks listening data, allowing them to compare their real listening habits against Spotify's claims. The discrepancies are striking: That viral Peso Pluma track Spotify ranked as their #2 song of the year? Actually their eighth most-played. Even more suspiciously, Charlie XCX appeared in their top artists despite their well-documented aversion to the album "Brat" (though honestly, what could be more Brat than that?).

While we can't peer behind Spotify's algorithmic curtain, these patterns suggest our year-end listening stats might be getting massaged to favor certain artists over others. This raises an interesting question: what other significant musical developments might we be missing? While Switched On Pop covered many of 2024's biggest stories - from Beyoncé's country transformation to the rise of Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter - some of the most exciting innovations happened just outside our radar.

Three artists in particular made remarkable breakthroughs this year that signal fascinating new directions for pop's future: Tampa's "Swamp Princess" Doechii, bedroom producer Mk.gee, and K-pop star turned solo artist ROSÉ. Each represents a different approach to pushing pop's boundaries – let's break down how they're reshaping the sound of tomorrow.

Doechii: The Swamp Princess Ascends

Jaylah Ji'mya Hickmon, better known as Doechii, embodies the perfect duality in her "Swamp Princess" moniker - combining the fierce, dangerous energy of Florida's wetlands with an undeniable regal presence. After gaining traction on SoundCloud and viral moments like 2021's "Yucky Blucky Fruitcake," Doechii delivered her definitive artistic statement in 2024 with the mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal.

What makes Doechii special is her shape-shifting vocal prowess. Take "NISSAN ALTIMA" - in just the opening verse she declares herself "the new hip-hop Madonna, trap Grace Jones" while demonstrating dizzying internal rhyme schemes ("getcha bake up, fake bluff, fake tuff"). She's a vocal chameleon who can pivot between aggressive bars and melodic runs, often inhabiting multiple characters within a single track.

On "Denial Is A River," she updates the narrative tradition of artists like Slick Rick for a new generation, weaving complex stories through different vocal personas. Even when she's at her most playful - like opening her Tiny Desk performance with exaggerated "rappity rap rappity rap" cadences on "Boom Bap" - there's a keen self-awareness about hip-hop's conventions and her place within them.

Mk.gee: The Guitar Alchemist

Michael Gordon (recording as Mk.gee) is doing something genuinely new with one of pop's oldest instruments. A New Jersey native who briefly studied at USC (where he was briefly Nate’s student) before dropping out to pursue his own vision, Mk.gee has developed a wholly unique approach to guitar tone and production that's earning attention from legends like Eric Clapton and John Mayer.

His 2024 debut album Two Star & the Dream Police showcases his distinctive style, particularly on standout track "Are You Looking Up." Where most guitarists chase pristine amp tones, Mk.gee deliberately records directly into a preamp, creating a dead, plucky sound that he then transforms through creative effects processing. The result defies physics - quiet passages feel intimate and close, while loud notes seem to explode into the stratosphere through carefully gated reverb and distortion.

This sonic unintelligibility perfectly matches his lyrical themes. On "Alesis," amid characteristically lo-fi, washed-out guitars, he sings about feeling lose "in another body… headless and heartless." Yet underneath the haze are surprisingly strong melodic hooks that caught the ear of pop hitmaker Charlie Puth, suggesting Mk.gee's influence may soon extend far beyond guitar nerds (Yes Charlie Puth, thinks Mk.gee should be a bigger artist).

ROSÉ: Breaking Free

ROSÉ's journey from Auckland-born Rosanne Park to K-pop superstar (as BLACKPINK's main vocalist) to solo boundary-pusher is one of 2024's most fascinating musical evolutions. Her solo album Rosie represents a subtle rebellion against K-pop industry constraints, starting with its title - using her given name rather than her stage name signals a move toward authenticity over carefully managed concept.

Her breakthrough single "APT." (featuring Bruno Mars) cleverly combines familiar American pop elements - its drum pattern traces a lineage from Taylor Swift's "Shake It Off" through Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend," and Toni Basil’s “Mickey,” all the way back to Bo Diddley - with Korean cultural touchstones like the hand game that gives the song its title. While its playful energy might seem tame to Western ears, lyrics about dating and intimacy represent a radical departure from K-pop idol expectations. When you hear lines like "kissy face, kissy face sent to your phone, but I’m trying to kiss your lips for real" remember that K-pop stars can face serious career consequences just for being caught dating.

As the first female Korean artist to top Spotify's U.S. chart, ROSÉ is helping bridge musical worlds while creating space for more personal artistic expression. The majority of "Rosie" is in English, but she's not simply adapting to Western pop conventions - she's creating something that draws from both traditions.

The Future of Pop Sounds Different

Looking ahead to 2025, these three artists show how pop music continues to evolve in surprising ways. Doechii proves there's still room for narrative complexity in hip-hop, filtering classic storytelling techniques through her chameleonic vocal approach. Mk.gee demonstrates that even after 75 years of electric guitar innovation, there are still new sonic territories to explore (even if they come from recording "wrong" on purpose). And ROSÉ is helping create a new hybrid form that maintains K-pop's polished production while incorporating Western pop's emphasis on personal expression.

Their success suggests that even as algorithms try to predict and package our musical preferences (sometimes quite literally making up the numbers), there's still plenty of room for authentic artistic innovation. Music remains gloriously unpredictable – just ask our colleague Nate, whose most-played track of 2024 was legitimately Jeremy Irons singing "Be Prepared" from The Lion King. Now that's the kind of chaotic energy we need more of in our playlists.

Listen to the whole conversation, and please share your own Wrapped anomalies with us – we're building a case file of algorithmic mysteries that would make The X-Files jealous. The truth about 2024's music scene is out there... it just might not be in your Spotify stats.