The Best of 2025 in Music

Well 2025 certainly felt like it went on forever, didn't it?

For many reasons that I will not get into in this blog post, it feels like I've lived 2 or 3 years in 2025. In the world of music, it also feels like this was a long year. We had some large releases right at the beginning of the year (see Bad Bunny's DTMF and The Weeknd's Hurry Up Tomorrow), and then it felt like the next 6 or 7 months were dominated by holdovers from 2024. I guess the musical output in 2024 was bursting at the seams so much that it spilled over into 2025.

The first half of the year left me worried that 2025 would end up being a bit of a nothing year in music, but fortunately we picked up the pace in late summer into the fall, and while it's nowhere near the dizzying heights of 2024, we still ended up with a pretty solid set of records for the year.

Let's get into the best ones.

Songs

"FIRST PLACE" - Justin Bieber

Well, hello there, Justin. Nice to see you back in the scene!

I strongly considered placing the SWAG album as a whole on my Best Albums list for the year, but it was a tad too inconsistent to make the cut. However, I had absolutely no trouble including "FIRST PLACE" as one of the best songs of the year. Justin typically sees the most chart success when he sticks to the more straightforward sounds in mainstream pop, but he occasionally likes to detour into R&B, and SWAG was his boldest and most experimental swing in the genre yet, bringing in sonic palettes from 1980's R&B, alternative R&B, and even trip hop.

"FIRST PLACE" is the clearest and most well-executed example of this vision. There's a very clear influence from Dangerous-era Michael Jackson present on this track, from the jittery syncopated delivery in the verses (I especially love the way he sings "something's gotta, something's gotta give" in the second verse) to the heavy use of percussion throughout the track. It's a great example of "less is more" in music; structurally, the song is pretty simple, and it clocks in at a length of just 3:20 and a lot of lyrical repetition, but it's such a vibe and a great song to bump your head to.

"Folded" - Kehlani

It took me a while to even get my ears onto this song (it came out in July and I think I first listened to in October), but I'm so glad I did. R&B is having a bit of a moment, especially 2000's-influenced R&B, and "Folded" is sitting right at the forefront of that wave.

It's a lush, guitar-led melody with lyrics detailing mutual peace and respect for a former partner. The toned-down R&B production allows for Kehlani's voice to really shine. Especially in the second verse and chorus, she treats the instrumental as a vocal playground, throwing in a bunch of runs that all sound fantastic.

Kehlani followed up "Folded" with another very very good 2000's-inspired R&B track in "Out The Window", and she's said she has an album coming soon (likely sometime in 2026), so I'm very excited for what she has in store for us next.

"Garden of Eden" - Lady Gaga

I really, REALLY struggled to decide which song from MAYHEM I wanted to include on this list. "Zombieboy" and "LoveDrug" were both strong contenders (the latter very nearly made the cut), but I had etched "Garden of Eden" into the list early in the year, and I told myself there had to be a reason I knew so early I wanted to include it.

Lady Gaga is this generation's chameleon, seamlessly moving from pop to jazz to country to rock to dance. But there was a distinct feeling of homecoming on the MAYHEM album, and "Garden of Eden" is perhaps the best example of that. The song could easily fit on either 2008's The Fame or 2009's The Fame Monster. The dirty grimy club production, the vaguely religious imagery, and the choppy verses combined with the stadium-sized chorus felt so much like a Gaga I wasn't sure we'd see again after all these years, even though I always knew she had it in her. This track makes the list for not only being a great pop song, but for being a return to the form that made us all love Gaga 17 years ago. Well done, Gaga, the stadium monster you are.

"luther" - Kendrick Lamar & SZA

Kendrick spent 2024 sucker-punching Drake over and over and over again, and GNX was a victory lap for the historic year he had. "luther" was a nice switch-up though, deviating from the confrontational West Coast rap format he'd been running with all year in favor of a more subdued hip-hop/R&B style that featured a beautiful sample of Luther Vandross's "If This World Were Mine".

Kendrick and SZA have never missed when they get together for a collaboration, and her presence on this track is no different; it's such a smooth track, and their voices complement each other so well. Kendrick doesn't sing very often on his albums, but the underlying current of retro soul proved to be a fruitful space for him to flex his vocals in harmony with SZA's beautiful voice.

As incredible as the braggadocio of most of Kendrick's 2024 output was, "luther" was a welcome change of pace. It also ended up being both his and SZA's longest-running #1, spending 13 weeks atop the Hot 100, and for good reason. It's a really great song.

"Manchild" - Sabrina Carpenter

This one was a bit of a slow-grower for me. I did like it on first listen, but it felt a bit safe right off the heels of Short n' Sweet. It also sounded like something I had heard before (the comparisons to Chappell Roan's "Good Luck, Babe!" are not unfounded). That being said, the more I checked back into it, the more I realized that it's just a brilliant continuation of the recipe that's sent Sabrina into the stratosphere over the last couple of years. The sun-kissed country pop production combined with the lyrics telling off her man as essentially useless make the song so much fun to listen and sing along to. It's just a really, really fun song.

"Man I Need" - Olivia Dean

After a pretty stale first 6-8 months of 2025 in pop music, we needed something to kickstart the charts back to life, and Olivia Dean's "Man I Need" was one of the first songs to break the stranglehold that the holdovers from 2024 (and Alex Warren's "Ordinary") had on the charts.

And what a song to crash the party. "Man I Need" is one of the best retro soul songs we've had climb the charts in years. It's such a simple concept and production, but the sonic and vocal movement throughout the song keeps it interesting. And it sounds like she's smiling right through the lyrics.

I'd love to see more of Olivia Dean in 2026; she's such a breath of fresh air on the charts right now.

"NOKIA" - Drake

I know. I KNOW.

Why the hell would I put a Drake song on the list in 2025, especially when I already talked about a Kendrick Lamar track?

To that I say: who am I to deny a stupid, catchy earworm of a track?

"NOKIA" is one of those songs that really doesn't want to (nor should) be taken seriously and is just a silly, fun, memeable hip-hop/pop song, and for that reason, it succeeds. The call-and-response of "who's callin' my phone?" and "is it [insert name here]?" is so annoyingly catchy that it was stuck in my head for months, and the beat switch is a fun touch as well.

This song was part of a collaborative project with PARTYNEXTDOOR, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, and while the album as a whole is pretty terrible, this song (aside from being one of the only songs to not also include PND) was in my regular rotation through the spring and early summer of this year.

Dammit, Drake, you did it again. Well played.

"Revolving door" - Tate McRae

Tate McRae has been on an absolute tear in 2025; So Close to What is one of the best albums of the year (I talk about it more in my Best Albums list), and just about every single she's dropped has charted inside or near the top 20 of the Hot 100, and for good reason.

"Sports car" was the big hit from the album, but "Revolving door" is my top choice. It's the best example of her growth as an artist, diving headfirst into jersey club while still holding onto the lyrical and emotional honesty that helped her burst into the mainstream back in 2020.

The music video takes the song to another level, and were I making a list of best music videos, would be on that list as well. It showcases her extraordinary flexibility and dancing skills, and it adds extra emotional heft with a visual metaphor of not being able to escape the space she's in and being stuck in a cycle of repeating habits.

One of the most thrilling listens of the year.

"Sapphire" - Ed Sheeran

I did not have Ed Sheeran making multiculturally inspired music on my 2025 bingo card! Play's lead single "Azizam" is a great showcase of the Iranian culture that I hail from, but "Sapphire" exceeds the bar set by "Azizam" by more fully diving into the sounds and instrumentation of the Indian culture it shines a light on.

The song is full of Indian elements, from the tabla to the shimmery synths and the bouncy time signature. It also features Ed singing in Punjabi in the chorus, and a surprise mini-verse from Indian multi-instrumentalist Arijit Singh. Above all, it exudes a bright and euphoric energy that was both largely missing from pop this year and sorely needed in our current world.

This track never fails to put a smile on my face, and Ed Sheeran sounds as great as ever on it, and for all these reasons, it succeeds.

"The Dead Dance" - Lady Gaga

Surprise! Turns out I kinda lied earlier and put two songs from MAYHEM on this list!

Okay, maybe "The Dead Dance" doesn't really count since it wasn't on the original track list, since it was released as a standalone single to promote Season 2 of "Wednesday", but it was from the MAYHEM sessions and ended up being included on the deluxe reissue of the album, so I'm going with it.

There's really not a whole lot to say here. It's a tight, sleek funk-pop song that feels right at home with the rest of MAYHEM, and I've had it on constant repeat since it was released in early September. It's a shame it wasn't a bigger chart hit, but the charts have been really weird this year (I could go on an entire tangent about that; maybe that'll be its own blog post), so I'm not taking that as a ding on the song itself. Gaga's hot, resurgent 2025 was extended with this track, and I kind of love that it became a sort of rick-roll moment during the Mayhem Tour.

Do the dead dance.

"twilight zone" - Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande already made my best-of list last year with her album eternal sunshine, but she gave us a pleasant surprise when she announced in early March that the long-awaited deluxe version was finally coming. The deluxe tracks largely serve as a continuation of the soft tones present throughout much of the standard album (which is not a bad thing), but "twilight zone" really stands out from the rest.

It's sonically very similar to 2024's "we can't be friends (wait for your love)", but it's slightly more stripped back and reflective in tone. It also has some of her most honest writing, reflecting on a past relationship (likely her marriage to Dalton Gomez, which ended in divorce in 2023) that, despite being glad it ended, affected her so much that it still feels surreal it even happened in the first place. We've heard Ariana be reflective and mournful many times in the past, but this track combines the raw honesty in the writing with some really beautiful straightforward synth-pop production, letting the story shine without veering too far into balladry.

It's this delicate production combined with the honest songwriting that makes it a winner for me. Well done, Ariana.

"12 to 12" - sombr

Similar to Lady Gaga, I had a heck of a time deciding which sombr track I wanted to include on my list. Originally I had "back to friends" on my early mid-year shortlist, and I briefly considered "undressed" as well (both of which are absolutely fantastic songs and deserving of honorable mentions). But when I first heard "12 to 12" in late July, I knew this was going to be the one.

The former two tracks both expertly showcase sombr's melancholic writing against more downtempo alternative production, but "12 to 12" takes the emotion present in those tracks and pumps some adrenaline into the production. The result is a song that is both emotionally contemplative and very, very danceable. The music video also showcases these dueling feelings well, with a fun cameo from Addison Rae as his partner.

Honorable Mentions

• "Cry For Me" - The Weeknd
• "Golden" - HUNTR/X (from K-Pop Demon Hunters)
• "Headphones On" - Addison Rae
• "LoveDrug" - Lady Gaga
• "MUTT" - Leon Thomas
• "TIT FOR TAT" - Tate McRae

Albums

Alligator Bites Never Heal - Doechii

Alligator Bites Never Heal is a thrilling collection of stories that mix glorious braggadocio with surprisingly deep and honest songwriting. Doechii shows herself as a keen student of the golden age of hip-hop that was the 1990's, with influences from boom-bap, East Coast hip-hop, and even a bit of hip house. But more than anything, it's Doechii's clever and quick-witted lyricism that makes this project one of the best rap projects of the year and a well-earned recipient of Best Rap Album at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards (which made her only the 3rd woman to ever win the award). From her rhyming speed to all the different vocal styles present throughout the verses on the project, Doechii has established herself as one of the most versatile rappers in the game right now.

Highlights from this project include "BOILED PEANUTS", "DENIAL IS A RIVER", "CATFISH", and "NISSAN ALTIMA". Also, special shoutout to "Nosebleeds", which was released immediately following her aforementioned Grammy win.

Doechii the Don, Doechii the dean, Doechii supreme, the Swamp Ruler, indeed.

DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS - Bad Bunny

Bad Bunny has been on an absolute tear in the 2020s (2022's Un Verano Sin Ti might be my favorite album of the decade so far), and his hot streak continues here. Benito makes a bit of a sonic pivot on DTMF (translating to I Should've Taken More Photos) and takes us back to Puerto Rico for an eclectic, defiant, and powerful love letter to "home."

While the album can still be generally grouped under the umbrella of reggaeton, it's at its most interesting and emotionally captivating when it detours into more localized genres like jíbaro, plena, and even salsa. More than anything, the album is a defiant love letter to Puerto Rico, celebrating and reminiscing on the best moments that come with "home" while speaking to the struggle of that very same home being corrupted by politics and external forces.

There's no track that better encapsulates the prevailing themes of the album than the title track, which reflects on the time he's spent with those closest to him throughout his life and how he wishes he could've done more to capture those moments on camera. The song also resulted in one of the most moving trends of the year, where people placed the chorus over photos and videos of their most favorite memories, which even brought Benito tears.

Other standout tracks include "PIToRRO DE COCO", "NUEVAYoL", "EoO", "TURiSTA", and "LA MuDANZA".

At a politically and emotionally very fraught time in the world, it's music like this that reminds us to cherish the good moments in life, to stay loudly proud of our vibrant backgrounds and heritage, and to celebrate the things that make us truly unique. For me, this album was a defiant and powerful reminder of that.

Fancy That - PinkPantheress

PinkPantheress's aesthetic has always been very Y2K-influenced, but Fancy That was the first time I really checked into it for a full-length listen.

Fancy That pivots slightly from the drum-and-bass and club-pop sound of her first couple of projects in favor of straight-up 2000's UK garage and breakbeat (with the exception of "Noises", which is a brief but captivating DnB listen and the fastest track on the mixtape) and, save for a brief 24-second intermission, the party never lets up. I don't have a ton to say here, because the mixtape clocks in at just 20 minutes in length. Across 9 bite-sized songs, the project is a fun, cheeky vibe that I had on repeat throughout the year.

"Illegal" is the biggest and most viral hit from the mixtape, and it's a great song worthy of an honorable mention as one of the best songs of the year (I also love how she integrated it into her setlist on tour by using the ringtone version of the melody as a teaser, as if someone's phone went off in the crowd), but I don't really have singular song highlights to share, because the project is best-experienced as a front-to-back listen.

I had a lot of fun with this one.

Hurry Up Tomorrow - The Weeknd

The Weeknd is one of those artists that doesn't really have a bad album; even on his musical "misfires", there's still something so captivating about the way Abel expresses his character's story and experience, no matter how absolutely fucked up and toxic it is.

Hurry Up Tomorrow serves as the finale to the trilogy of albums that began with 2020's After Hours, and what a bang to end the trilogy on. The album continues many of the same themes Abel introduced in After Hours and Dawn FM, but there's a sense of finality and urgency on this album that wasn't on the previous projects. As with most of his albums, it's definitely best-experienced as a single listen all the way through, as not only do many of the songs seamlessly transition into the next, but the story arc is clearest when played in the order he designed.

Opener "Wake Me Up" takes heavy inspiration from Michael Jackson (like so many of Abel's songs) with its delicious production courtesy of French electronic duo Justice. "Cry For Me" is probably my favorite song on the album, with a nice blend of Brazilian funk and trap-pop (we can thank Metro Boomin and Mike Dean for that). The one-two punch of "Baptized In Fear" and "Open Hearts" is one of the best song-to-song moments in recent memory from him. "Timeless" was the big first single, and while it's a tad more monotonous than most of the rest of the album, it both succeeds as a standalone single and also fits well within the context of where it's placed on the album.

Hurry Up Tomorrow was accompanied by a film of the same name, and I didn't watch it so I don't have anything to say about it. His film and TV endeavors have had shaky end results, but the music still stands tall as landmark achievements in this era of pop music, and this album is no different. One of the best front-to-back listens of the year.

It's Not That Deep - Demi Lovato

Demi Lovato has gone on some musical adventures in recent years; since returning to music in 2020, 2021's Dancing With the Devil...The Art of Starting Over was a bit of a sonic cornucopia ranging from pop to R&B, trap, and stripped-down ballads. 2022's HOLY FVCK (temporarily) threw a funeral for "Popvato" by diving head-first into rock, a sound that many forget she struck gold with in the early 2010s before moving into pop. The following year, she even re-recorded many of her biggest hits as rock songs for the REVAMPED compilation album.

Fast forward to 2025, and Demi is in a very different place in her life. She is now married, has been sober for quite a few years now, and appears to have healed significantly from the trials and tribulations she experienced throughout the 2010s. So it's fitting that her latest project, It's Not That Deep, reflects her improved personal state. Here, Demi eschews the hard sound of her last couple of projects for straight-up four-to-the-floor club production. Primarily produced by Zhone (see Kesha's Period and Troye Sivan's "Rush"), It's Not That Deep is a lean, mean, 32-minute club machine that almost never lets up but also never stops being interesting.

"Here All Night" is her most pop-centric single in years and it's a smash. "Frequency" harkens back to early-to-mid-2010s EDM-pop with its heavy synth buildup of a pre-chorus. Songs like "Let You Go", "Sorry to Myself", and "Before I Knew You" allow for a (small) pause in adrenaline to let the lyrical honesty shine. And "Ghost" drops the club façade to give us one of the best ballads of Demi's career.

Take me to the chorus, Demi. Hell yeah, welcome back.

MAYHEM - Lady Gaga

Weird Gaga is SO back.

Like I said before, Lady Gaga is the musical chameleon of our generation. She's worn so many hats throughout her career, from EDM to jazz to country to house. But there's always been something special about Gaga on that glitchy, late 2000's to early 2010's electropop. The Little Monsters have been waiting patiently for her to tap back into that sound, and as soon as we heard lead single "Disease" in October 2024, we knew that Gaga was back. That turn-of-the-decade electropop sound that made her such an instant superstar has been updated for 2025 on MAYHEM, but its heart is the same as ever, resulting in some of the most instantly thrilling songs from her in years in tracks like "Abracadabra" and "Garden of Eden".

That being said, it's not all nostalgia. If anything, the first three tracks are a bit of a red herring, as MAYHEM primarily takes its sonic cues from the 70s and 80s. "Vanish Into You" would sound at home on a prime ABBA album, "Killah" is Prince-meets-Trent Reznor, "LoveDrug" is classic 80s synth-rock, "The Beast" is a great Phil Collins-inspired ballad, and tracks like "Zombieboy" and "Shadow of a Man" are destined to get you onto the dancefloor with their disco-funk flair.

MAYHEM is one of my few truly front-to-back skipless listens this year, and it's the clear album of the year for me. When we needed her most, Gaga returned with force, thank you.

So Close to What - Tate McRae

Tate McRae has been on an interesting pop journey since she broke onto the scene in 2020 with "you broke me first". I've liked my fair share of Tate's singles over the years, but I've never really gotten into her previous projects as a whole. That being said, with 2023's "greedy" and "exes", I was definitely paying attention. She was transitioning from a moody downtempo artist to a bonafide popstar.

So Close to What is the strongest and most clear-eyed result of that vision up to this point. The emotional depth is there as it's always been, but there's an air of confidence and lust that has not really been front-and-center on her previous projects. "Sports car" is the biggest single from the album and sounds like it was plucked right off of The Pussycat Dolls' PCD. Lead single "It's ok I'm ok" and "No I'm not in love" also would've felt right at home in the early-to-mid 2000's hip hop/R&B-pop scene. Songs like "Like I do" and "Greenlight" utilize a more modern R&B-pop production and are also high points from the album. And "Revolving door" is one of the best songs of the year.

Finally, special shoutout to bonus track "Siren sounds", which was apparently originally written during the THINK LATER sessions but still feels right at home here and is instantly one of the best songs on the album.

What a great collection of pop. Well done, Tate.

Honorable Mentions

• Addison - Addison Rae
• Man's Best Friend - Sabrina Carpenter
• Pretty Idea - Amber Mark
• SWAG - Justin Bieber

Conclusion

What an interesting year in music! I do think we really picked up the pace in the back half of 2025, and there are some roots laid for what should be a good 2026. R&B and soul seem to be making a comeback on the charts, led by the likes of Olivia Dean, Leon Thomas, and Kehlani, and some big names have teased new music in 2026. Madonna and Warner Records have teased a follow-up to 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor slated for release sometime in the new year, and artists like Charlie Puth, BTS, and Charli XCX have teased or announced new music as well.