Under the Hood: Breaking Down the Production Tricks That Made 2024's Biggest Hits Slap
Ever listened to a song and felt it physically before you consciously processed it? That bass that sits in your chest, that snare that snaps just right, that vocal that somehow feels like it's right in your ear even through phone speakers? That's not magic. That's craft.
We've been obsessing over some of the most sonically compelling tracks of the past year, and we broke them down piece by piece. Here's what we found — and more importantly, here's what you can actually apply to your own productions.
1. Sabrina Carpenter – 'Espresso'
The Move: Vintage Warmth Through Intentional Saturation
If you've spent any time near a radio or a TikTok For You page in 2024, you've heard this one. What's fascinating about 'Espresso' from a production standpoint is how it achieves a warm, almost retro pop feel without sounding dated.
Producer Amy Allen and co-producers leaned hard into analog-style saturation across the mix. Listen closely and you'll notice the low-mids have a slightly compressed, tape-like quality — that's not accidental. Running individual tracks (especially the bass and rhythm guitar) through subtle tape saturation plugins like Softube Tape or UAD's Studer A800 can add that kind of harmonic warmth without muddying the low end.
The vocal chain is equally smart. Sabrina's voice sits in a bright, forward position in the mix, but it never feels harsh. That's likely achieved with a high-shelf boost somewhere around 10-12kHz paired with a gentle dip in the 2-4kHz 'honk' zone — keeping the air without the bite.
Takeaway: Tape saturation on your bus or individual channels can add cohesion and warmth to an otherwise sterile digital mix. Don't sleep on it.
2. Kendrick Lamar – 'Not Like Us'
The Move: Aggressive Low-End Carving and Percussive Space
This track is a masterclass in what mixing engineers call 'space creation.' Producer Mustard built a beat that feels massive, but notice how every element has room to breathe — the kick doesn't fight the bass, the snare doesn't clash with the vocal.
The key is ruthless low-end carving. In a track this bass-heavy, you have to high-pass filter almost everything that isn't supposed to live down there. That means cutting the low end on percussion samples, mid-range synths, and even background vocals aggressively — often as high as 200-300Hz on elements that don't need those frequencies.
The snare on this record is also worth studying. It has a sharp transient attack but a controlled, short decay — that's compression doing the work. A fast attack and medium release on a transient shaper or compressor tightens the snap and prevents the tail from cluttering the groove.
Takeaway: High-pass filter everything that doesn't need to live below 100Hz. You'll be shocked how much clarity it adds to your low end when there's less competing for that space.
3. Chappell Roan – 'Good Luck, Babe!'
The Move: Layered Synth Stacks and Controlled Stereo Width
Chappell Roan's breakout hit is a synth-pop production that somehow sounds both huge and focused — a tricky balance to pull off. The secret is in how the synth layers are arranged across the stereo field.
Rather than spreading a single synth patch wide, producer Dan Nigro appears to have stacked multiple complementary patches — some narrow and centered, some wide and atmospheric — to create depth without losing punch. This technique, sometimes called 'layered width,' keeps the core of the sound mono-compatible (critical for phone speakers and club systems) while the outer edges add that expansive feel on headphones and good speakers.
The chorus also benefits from subtle parallel compression on the overall mix bus — a technique where a heavily compressed version of your mix is blended back in with the dry signal to add density and energy without killing the dynamics.
Takeaway: When building synth layers, think in terms of a narrow core and wide atmosphere rather than making everything wide. Your mix will translate better across playback systems.
4. Future & Metro Boomin – 'Like That'
The Move: Dusty Sample Flips and Deliberate Lo-Fi Texture
Metro Boomin is one of the most studied producers working today, and 'Like That' is a reminder of why. The production flips a sample with intentional roughness — there's grain, there's dust, there's a deliberate imperfection in the texture that makes the track feel lived-in.
That texture comes from a combination of things: vinyl simulation plugins (iZotope Vinyl, RC-20 Retro Color), bit-crushing on certain elements, and what sounds like a subtle room reverb that places the sample in a physical space rather than leaving it floating in digital cleanliness.
The 808 on this record also deserves a mention. It's pitched and tuned to sit in the key of the sample — a step that a surprising number of producers skip, and it's one of the biggest reasons 808s can sound 'off' even when everything else is right. Use your pitch correction tools to tune your 808 to the root note of your track.
Takeaway: Tune your 808s to your track's key. Every time. And if your production feels too clean, a touch of vinyl simulation or bit-crushing can add the grit that makes it feel real.
5. Beyoncé – 'Texas Hold 'Em'
The Move: Dynamic Range as a Stylistic Choice
In an era of hyper-compressed, loudness-war-era mixes, Beyoncé and her production team made a bold choice with 'Texas Hold 'Em' — they let the track breathe. The dynamic range on this country-leaning record is noticeably wider than most pop releases, and it's a huge part of why it feels so emotionally impactful.
The mix gets quiet in the verses, really quiet, before the chorus opens up. That contrast is doing emotional heavy lifting. It's a reminder that compression isn't always the answer — sometimes pulling back on your master bus limiter and letting peaks exist naturally creates a more powerful listening experience.
The acoustic guitar tone is also worth noting: it's recorded with enough room ambience to feel like a real space without being washy. A short room reverb (pre-delay around 15-20ms, decay under 1 second) on acoustic instruments can replicate that 'you're in the room' feeling without losing definition.
Takeaway: Don't be afraid of dynamic range. A mix that gets quiet before it gets loud hits harder than one that's loud all the way through.
The Bigger Picture
Looking across all five of these tracks, a few themes emerge. The producers behind the biggest hits of 2024 aren't necessarily using the most expensive gear or the most complex signal chains. They're making intentional choices — about space, about texture, about contrast — and executing them with precision.
That's the real secret sauce. Not a specific plugin, not a particular compressor model. It's knowing why you're making each decision and what emotional effect you're chasing.
Study the records you love. Break them apart. Listen on every system you can — headphones, earbuds, car speakers, your laptop. Then go make something that hits just as hard.
