While 2024 saw one particular electric green-hued album dominate the cultural zeitgeist since its mid-summer release, 2025 was more of a collective effort. This year’s most influential albums showcased expansive, world-building artistry, sparked provoking cultural dialogue, and continued to blur genre lines in more exciting ways.
Debuts came from a lineup of promising new artists and once-quiet forces who swayed the sonic subcultures from behind the scenes like Monte Booker, Ovrkast., and Kal Banx. If the future of music is in these musicians’ hands, we’re more than alright.
Heavy-hitters hit harder than ever, with Bad Bunny’s success of DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS shattering records, making Benito the first-ever artist to top Spotify’s streaming charts four times in a row, taking home the title once again in 2025 with a whopping 19.8 billion streams. Cameron Winter’s Geese, Tyler, the Creator’s DON’T TAP THE GLASS, and ROSALÍA’s LUX all broke records and boundaries, continuing to speak to the unprecedented artistic risks we’re witnessing, both big-name talent and budding newcomers alike pushing far beyond conventional forms.
It was definitely a year for the books, so we split up the 50 albums that defined 2025– a number that continued to rise – into five different categories: the debuts, the heavy-hitters, the comebacks, the collaborations, and the hidden gems.
Read the full list below.
Debuts:
2025 was the year of the big debut. From indie artists to underground rappers, many artists stepped into the scene with their most creatively fine-tuned foots forward.
Liim – Liim Lasalle Loves You
And we love Liim Lasalle. The wise-beyond-his-years 22-year-old is just a self-proclaimed “regular dude” from Harlem, raised on New York City grit and community across all five boroughs, unfazed by the acclaim his debut Liim Lasalle Loves You has garnered. With a Tyler, the Creator co-sign under his belt (probably Supreme) as well, Liim’s utter inability to feign authenticity and act as anyone else but himself informs his genre-bending music more than ever as he makes his ascent. The 12-track album veers soulfully between rap, pop, R&B, and indie, peaking at standout songs like “For The Both Of Us” – on which he reflects rather stream-of-consciously post-breakup and the fully French “Le Pouvoir Noir.” It’s every genre and no existing genre at the same time. It’s Liim Lasalle!
Listen if you like: Tyler, the Creator – specifically Flower Boy and CALL ME IF YOU GET LOST
Monte Booker – noise ( meaning )
A quiet force in defining the sonic persona of many for over a decade now, the Zero Fatigue founding member graced us with his formal introduction as a solo artist this year. Entitled noise ( meaning ), Monte Booker’s big debut smoothly blends genres and layers ambient textures across its seamlessly interwoven 14 songs. Booker’s rolodex of collaborators is also interspersed throughout the immersive listen, with familiar faces like Smino, reggie, and Ravyn Lenae contributing to high points “lights,” “awake,” and “no good,” respectively, along with pioneering first-timers who each continue to pave their own artistic lanes like Planet Giza, Young Pink, and chlothegod.
Listen if you like: Chicago hip-hop, hour-long “lo-fi” YouTube videos
SAILORR – FROM FLORIDA’S FINEST
Preceded by “Pookie’s Requiem,” SAILORR’s swagger speaks for itself. Hailing from, you guessed it, Florida, the Vietnamese-American approaches her music as she does everything else, with an undying veracity that shines through her diaristic debut LP. Oscillating between peak hot-girl energy and down-bad vulnerability, FROM FLORIDA’S FINEST is an impressive and candid introduction to who SAILORR is as both an artist and an individual. Atmospheric production comingles with her confessional crooning and subdued spitting throughout the mixtape, a sonic love letter to her lore.
Listen if you like: SZA, but if she were from Florida
Jim Legxacy – black british music (2025)
Jim Legxacy has been shaping the sound of the U.K. underground for quite some time now, but this year, his black british music (2025) mixtape maneuvered him more into the mainstream spotlight. A time capsule of the rapper’s last few years, the follow-up to homeless n*gga pop music is a time-transcending tapestry of genres, eras, samples, and styles that piece together his homegrown coming-of-age.
Listen if you like: Wayne Rooney, SKINS UK
Ovrkast. – While The Iron Is Hot
A true byproduct of the Bay, Oakland is all over Ovrkast. His infectious nonchalance and borderline blasé way of speaking to what I’d say is his sonic superpower of being able to swerve between the front seat and the back seat of the souped-up SUV. The 27-year-old has already asserted his poignant production prowess, having his hand in the likes of songs by Drake and Earl Sweatshirt; now, he’s committed to building his own body of work as a solo rapper. While The Iron Is Hot marked Kast’s first foray as a front-facing artist, pieced together by his production aptitude and a compelling, almost contrasting approach to lyricism that combines his contagious Californian cool with a fine-tuned storytelling flow and one of the sharpest pens in the game.
Listen if you like: the beats on “If The Shoe Fits” and “El Toro Combo Meal”
John Glacier – Like A Ribbon
An aptly-named debut from the otherworldly and un-boxable John Glacier. Dubbed Like a Ribbon due to the structural composition – split into three metaphorical acts that unravel like a ribbon – is smooth and sleek, icy and intimate. Glacier doesn’t hold anything back, moving effortlessly over airy and atmospheric production, her domineering deadpan gliding atop 11 one-of-one tracks. As for production, assistance comes from a diverse range of greats, including Flume and evilgiane.
Listen if you like: Little Simz
WHATMORE – WHATMORE
If WHATMORE’s breakout year was one thing, it was true to form. NYC’s refreshingly fervent five-man brigade first met in the halls of LaGuardia High School, as they’ve been ascending healthily to many locals’ playlists and party soundtracks, and not once did the five-man brigade stray from their fresh, fervent, and unapologetically New York ethos. Spanning Cisco Swank, Yoshi T., Jackson August, $eb (Sebastiano), and Elijah Judah, WHATMORE wrangles a contagious, previously unexplored (sans corniness) sense of nostalgia that knows no genre. The self-titled debut is the soaring supergroup’s real-time realization of its boundless potential, sure to carry the five New Yorkers far beyond the city’s five boroughs.
Listen if you like: BROCKHAMPTON and internet culture
dexter in the newsagent – Time Flies
dexter in the newsagent is another one of the budding voices stemming from the U.K – though hers just might be the most ethereal of them all. At just 23 years old, the South London-based songstress exudes an air of allure and ease, equipped with delicate, wistful vocals that lend themselves ideally to yearning in any capacity. Time Flies hears dexter draw directly from her grief over her father’s death, finding solace across the LP’s soothing melodies and seamless transitions. In tandem, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s hopeful, the enigma that just might be at the core of the rising singer’s lyrical storytelling.
Listen if you like: yearning and PinkPantheress, simultaneously
Kal Banx – RHODA
Kal Banx’s production credits precede him, that is, until this year. The Top Dawg Entertainment tentpole has teamed up with nearly the entirety of the label’s roster and then some, in 2025 alone, joining forces with Pink Siifu, SiR, and, as the opener of her headlining Alligator Bites Never Heal tour, Doechii. A key year in Banx’s championing of his own sonic blueprint, the multihyphenate also lifted the veil on his solo studio endeavor, RHODA. With A-list assists from Isaiah Rashad, Audrey Nuna, Smino, and Maxo Kream, RHODA is a diverse artistic patchwork, also platforming a plethora of additional behind-the-scenes shapeshifters as well, including reggie, Maxo, and Mez.
Listen if you like: clean, California-meets-Chicago-style hip hop production
EsDeekid – Rebel
One of the leading rappers rising from the UK underbelly, EsDeeKid — whom we can now officially confirm isn’t Timothée Chalamet — made quite the entrance into the scene with Rebel. A slow burn in the sense that it didn’t reach its prime potential until a few months after its June release. Dripping in British braggadocio and glued together with grimy, grunge-esque production, Rebel sees the Scouse spitter secure his spot as a force to be reckoned with far beyond the confines of the UK.
Listen if you like: A Scouse accent
Venna – MALIK
Carving out Venna’s very own lane in the jazz-rap comes his impressive studio debut, MALIK. With a couple EPs under his belt, the Grammy Award-winning saxophonist makes a masterful and majestic introduction as a solo lyricist, while also making a case for the promising future of modern-day jazz. Each song fuses fluidly into the next, velvety and vibrant from open to close. MIKE, Leon Thomas, Smino, and Jorja Smith all hop on.
Listen if you like: a smooth instrumental solo
Comebacks:
The year also marked an extended comeback season, with returns coming from all corners of the industry.
Yung Lean – Jonatan
Yung Lean’s first studio project since 2020’s Starz, Jonatan invokes a more introspective persona, taking shape of another signature Leandoer soundscape, steeped in just the right amount of existentialism. After all, Lean curated the album’s tracklist in three hyper-existential places: the dark Swedish woods, the Californian desert, and New York City. The ABBA-interpolating “Might Not B” leans more outskirts-of-LA, while “Babyface Maniacs” evokes a woodsy solitude, and “Forever Yung” finds solace in NYC angst. A solo lyrical endeavor from a ruminating Lean, the entirety of Jonatan’s art direction was overseen by Drain Gang‘s Ecco2k.
Favorite tracks: “Swan Song,” “Might Not B,” “Babyface Maniacs”
Bon Iver – SABLE fABLE
Bon Iver released his happiest album this year. For SABLE, fABLE – the first Bon Iver album in almost six years – Justin Vernon sought to reject not only sadness as a concept itself, but the notion that Bon Iver can only make music rooted in sadness. Only further elevated with contributions from longtime collaborators, including Jim-E Stack, Dijon and Mk.gee, the salmon-hued SABLE, fABLE finds heavy inspiration in Vernon’s Wisconsin roots, though the widely anticipated project ultimately sees the Midwestern musician stepping out of the woods and into the light.
Favorite tracks: “Day One,” “From,” “I’ll Be There”
Justin Bieber – SWAG
Bieber’s big comeback doubled on its deliverables for one of the most anticipated (and unexpected) returns of the year, but the inaugural release hits a bit harder than its successor, at least in the Hypebeast office. Marking Justin’s first longform studio project since 2021’s Justice, SWAG had big shoes to fill for its all-eyes release – and it slipped right into them like it was second-nature, shimmering with production from Mk.gee and Dijon.
Favorite tracks: “YUKON, “THINGS YOU DO,” “WALKING AWAY,” “405”
Dave – The Boy Who Played The Harp
Asserting his pen as one of the strongest in the game comes Dave, with no formal rollout or any single releases in the fourth quarter. It’s a move only the 27-year-old UK rapper could finesse and make look so easy. On The Boy Who Played the Harp, his third studio LP, Santan stirs in his subconscious, spitting some of his most contemplative bars. He looks inward on “History” with James Blake and “My 27th Birthday”, and pivots outward, reflecting on the state of the world on “Chapter 16” with Kano. The most notable feature, however, just might come from Jim Legxacy on “No Weapons.”
Favorite tracks: “No Weapons,” “Sundance”
Earl Sweatshirt – Live Laugh Love
The suburban mantra sounds a whole lot better when it’s coming from Earl Sweatshirt’s mouth. The rapper named Live Laugh Love before he even started writing the album; initially named satirically, the titling process says a lot about the album, one that showcases a softer side of the rapper – a family man, new father, and someone who seems to be content where he’s at. An anecdotal time capsule of early fatherhood and continuing to find himself – reiterated by featured artists Black Noise, Child Actor, and Navy Blue – the album revels in Sick!’s aftereshocks, a more mature Sweatshirt spitting on more mature themes of personal growth.
Favorite tracks: “INFATUATION,” “Gamma (need the <3)”
Clipse – Let God Sort ‘Em Out
A reunion for the ages. Hip-hop’s favorite brothers Pusha T and Malice got the family back together this year for Let God Sort Em Out – over 15 years after the last Clipse release, Hell Hath No Fury. This is how to return to the scene. Recorded primarily in Paris and reinforced by sharp production from Pharrell, Let God Sort Em Out reminds us who Clipse is. And that no one will ever do it like them.
Favorite tracks: “Ace Trumpets,” “So Be It,” “Let God Sort Em Out/Chandeliers”
FKA twigs – Eusexua
EUSEXUA is a combination of “sex” and “euphoria,” as per FKA twigs when she first announced the release of her empirical avant-pop opus. Sensual, synthesized, and self-assured, the new twigs is just what we’ve been missing the last six years. Spanning 11 dance-inspired tracks, EUSEXUA is far beyond just a body of work; rather, it’s a feeling – and it’s a full-body one. Inspired by her love of techno music, something she found herself incredibly drawn to during her time overseas in Prague, the album builds on the energy twigs felt at warehouse raves and underground DJ sets and spins it through her own distinct creative lens. Each song is a “eusexua” of its own, moving between synths and strings but all held together by twigs’ ethereal vocals.
Favorite tracks: “Girl Feels Good,” “Perfect Stranger”
Dijon – Baby
Materializing right on time, a little under four years after its pioneering predecessor, Absolutely, and fresh off the understated musician’s most front-facing year yet, the universally awaited LP is exactly what we’ve been eyeing from Dijon after his recent solo hiatus of sorts. Building on Absolutely”s boundless composition but from a less frenetic and more focused, family-oriented perspective, Baby is primarily a solo endeavor; the project is a homegrown, heartfelt family affair, a musing on Dijon’s little familial unit that now includes his young son. Since Absolutely‘s release, Dijon’s not-so-quiet influence on the music zeitgeist has only gotten clearer in focus, the refreshingly raw album (and its dining room live performance visual) paving the road for a new era of intimate, improvisational-feeling sonic experimentation. Something he seemed to don with pride, the musician has now shed his IYKYK label with this release. Clinging to his ability to amalgamate deeply introspective lyricism with needle-pushing production tactics, Dijon does what he does best on the new album, equipped with a more honed sound and (just slightly) more polished production.
Favorite tracks: “HIGHER,” “(Referee),” “Baby!,” “Kindalove”
Playboi Carti – MUSIC
Chaos, the Carti way. Traversing from trap to techno all whilst staying true to the tithings of gritty SoundCloud rap, Playboi Carti’s Whole Lotta Red successor didn’t disappoint. Lengthy and long-winded just like its years-long rollout, MUSIC maneuvers between 30 tracks and an all-star lineup of featured artists such as Travis Scott, Skepta, Future, The Weeknd, Lil Uzi Vert, and Young Thug. With implications far beyond the music, the album kick-started a new era for Carti, who became, for the first time ever, a front-facing figure.
Favorite tracks: “FINE SHIT,” “TOXIC,” “I SEEEEE YOU BABY BOI,” “HBA,” “LIKE WEEZY”
Lorde – Virgin
A cathartic coming-of-age and record of rebirth – as well as all of the wreckage that comes along with it. Virgin, Lorde’s most introspective record to date, fronted by an infrared X-ray image of Lorde’s pelvis – IUD and all. Virgin is just that: the New Zealand songstress’s self-performed internal examination of not only the last four years, but the feelings that came long before that shaped her into the grown-up 16-year-old New York City-living girl she is today. With production by Jim-E Stack, Virgin is about feeling all of those messy, misunderstood feelings, many of which come to light on the streets of NYC – Canal Street, Baby’s All Right and outside on the Westside Highway.
Favorite tracks: “If She Could See Me Now,” “Clearblue,” “Shapeshifter”
Tame Impala – Deadbeat
Welcome back, Kevin Parker. For the first Tame Impala album in five years, dancefloor-apt Deadbeat dazzles in its synth-soaked shift in form. A clear pivot from 2020’s The Slow Rush, the layered, house-infused LP sounds like the feeling after laying in the sun all day; it’s a psychedelic, electronic dreamscape.
Favorite tracks: “No Reply,” “Not My World,” “Loser”
Blood Orange – Essex Honey
Dev Hynes’ homage to home hears him pen and produce some of the most heartfelt work of his career. Essex Honey – the English musician’s fifth studio album and his first in six years – tells the story of Hynes’ upbringing in Essex, riddled with grief in its visceral and vulnerable form. As Blood Orange does, he makes heartaching, brooding sound blindingly beautiful, meditating on his mother’s death across a myriad of the tracklist. Features fall into place right when they’re needed, some of our favorites being Lorde, Mustafa, and Daniel Caesar.
Favorite tracks: “Thinking Clean,” “Somewhere in Between,” “I Listened (Every Night)”
Hayley Williams – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party
Over four years following her last solo LP, Flowers for Vases / Descansos in February of 2021, Hayley Williams graced us with her third solo album, which first materialized as an untitled dump of unconnected singles – Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, which also arrives as her first independent release. As she laments on her career and current Williams’ agony and angst are palpable through the project’s expansive palette of pop and indie subgenres.
Favorite tracks: “Ice In My OJ,” “Showbiz,” “Whim,” “Hard”
Heavy-Hitters:
The obvious inclusions; you’ve heard enough about these already, so we’ll keep it short.
Geese – Getting Killed
The Cameron Winter-led flock falls in line for its third studio release as Geese, which rerouted the traditional structure of rock music with its production from Kenny Beats, culminating in a whirlwind impact.
Favorite tracks: “Au Pays du Cocaine,” “Husbands,” “Cobra”
Olivia Dean – The Art of Loving
Olivia Dean secured her Best New Artist Grammy 2026 nomination the second The Art of Loving landed on streaming; a riveting R&B release laced with lush instrumentation and graceful introspection, Dean’s soulful sophomore LP sounds like a future classic.
Favorite tracks: “Lady Lady,” “Man I Need”
Bad Bunny – DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS
Boasting top spots on a myriad of end-of-year music lists, Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS taught us all just how powerful music can be, transcending miles and language barriers to bridge the gap between cultures all around the world and comment on the communal concept of coming home, and how that feels especially amidst global change.
Favorite tracks: “DtMF,” “TURISTA,” “NEUVAYoL”
Tyler, the Creator – DON’T TAP THE GLASS
Landing ten months post-CHROMAKOPIA, the surprise Tyler, the Creator project filled in all of the gaps that the grandiose 2024 release left, revelling in a more raw sound design and harkening back to a pre-smartphone era with its “No Phones” concert series where tickets ranged from just $5 USD – $10 USD.
Favorite tracks: “Big Poe (Sk8brd),” “Stop Playing With Me”
ROSALÍA – LUX
Reevaluating the role of “pop” music in the modern music era, LUX leverages ROSALÍA’s worldly wonderment is on full display, envisioning an expansive and enthralling ether embedded with a global cultural fabric and 13 different languages.
Favorite tracks: “Porcelana,” “Sauvignon Blanc”
Turnstile – NEVER ENOUGH
An expansive exploration of the band’s unshared emotions, Turnstile’s fourth studio project NEVER ENOUGH redefined the meaning of “immersive,” accompanied by a Tribeca Film Festival-premiering short film directed by the band’s Brendan Yates and Pat McCrory.
Favorite tracks: “NEVER ENOUGH,” “BIRDS”
Collaborations:
Link-ups from first-timers and seasoned collaborators alike, spotlighting the summit of sonic synergy.
Anysia Kym, Tony Seltzer – Speedrun
Another celestial, collaborative release to come from 10k. Anysia Kym and Tony Seltzer’s Speedrun is a paragon of the powerhouse label’s defining pillars, a visceral yet all-around highly intentional art form. Seltzer’s sleek, somewhat unpredictable production patterns infatuatingly intermingle with Kym’s gentle vocals over the course of Speedrun’s 12 tracks, most of which clock in at a minute-and-a-half or less, totalling in a run-time of just under 18 minutes. Speedrun is an easy one-sitting listen, suited for a commute, a coffee run, or to comfortably listen on loop while you’re locked in at the office.
Peak synergy: “Automatic,” “Diamonds & Pearls”
Freddie Gibbs, The Alchemist – Alfredo 2
A piping hot three-course meal, a captivating Tokyo crime saga and another hearty helping of the pair’s unwavering creative synergy. Still as locked in as they were five years ago, it’s clear Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist cooked Alfredo 2 with lots of love, spending ample time behind the multi-medium follow-up project, infusing it with the same spice, flavor, and collaborative finesse of the first course. It’s a masterful ode to the pair’s boundless artistic synergy.
Peak synergy: “Ensalada,” “1995,” “Gas Station Sushi”
MIKE, Tony Seltzer – Pinball II
Another apex of 10K’s 2025 takeover. Following up 2024’s Pinball, Seltzer and MIKE’s synergy is on full display and fine-tuned even further on its high-octane successor, Pinball II. Immune to any genre constraints or production preconceptions, the seasoned duo’s sophomore Pinball installation sounds like a more realized version of the rapper-producer pair’s collaborative potential. Everything they were figuring out has been boiled down to a nonchalant formula now, but it never once feels haphazard.
Peak synergy: “Sin City,” “WYC4,” “Prezzy,” “Shaq & Kobe”
Larry June, The Alchemist, 2 Chainz – Life is Beautiful
This is classy hip hop. If the good life had a soundtrack, it’s this project. Larry June and 2 Chainz ditch quiet luxury for straight-up loud luxury, subtle flexing and finessing over The Alchemist’s smooth production. If wealth is a mindset, Life Is Beautiful is a one-way stop to that state of mind.
Peak synergy: “Muyon Canyon,” “Colossal”
Saba, No ID – From the Private Collection of Saba and No ID
If heaven is Chicago, then Saba and No ID are surely a match made on-site; From The Private Collection of Saba and No ID, a holistic homage to the Chicago hip-hop scene hailing from two of the city’s heavyweights. A reflective and refreshing listen, From The Private Collection of Saba and No ID is rooted in the real-time emotions of both Saba and No ID, making for a stream of conscious type of subject matter – ranging from zodiac sign banter to pondering one’s purpose.
Peak synergy: “Every Painting Has A Price,” “Crash,” “Stop Playing With Me,” “How to Impress God”
Hidden Gems:
Behind the veil of the major mainstream releases is a deluge of underrated soundscapes.
Maxo – MARS IS ELECTRIC
MARS IS ELECTRIC sounds nothing like Debbie’s Son or Even God Has a Sense of Humor. Maxo builds an immersive narrative world on his elastic, textured, dreamy 10-track offering. Representative of the subconscious mind, a character named MARS narrates the album, symbolic of the duality and complexities we all carry. It’s an electric-infused expansion of the rapper’s discography, hearing him flesh out a more atmospheric sound.
Favorite tracks: “Idk,” “Saturday Love (Cherry),” “Mars Is Electric”
Nourished by Time – The Passionate Ones
Released in August, Marcus Brown’s second studio album as Nourished by Time is a true 12-track catharsis. Shaped by the sounds of his Baltimore hometown, The Passionate Ones hears the musician muse on themes of love, labor, existentialism, disillusionment, and hope through the lens of metamodernism. Enmeshing genres – electronic, indie, R&B, jazz, and hip hop – The Passionate Ones expands on Nourished by Time’s artistic world-building that’s rooted in commentary on capitalism and corporate greed, but brings his sound to a more matured place.
Favorite tracks: “Automatic Love,” “It’s Time,” “BABY BABY”
Pink Siifu – ONYX’!
The rapper’s sprawling studio album builds on the groundwork of Black’!Antique, Pink Siifu dipping in influences of punk, jazz, and spoken word. Deep introspection is placed directly up against textbook hedonism, the juxtaposition precisely evocative of the story Siifu is seeking to tell.
Favorite tracks: “nun+,” “$$$4EVA”
Zelooperz – Dali Ain’t Dead
Many musicians are quick to self-label with the term “artist,” but Zelooperz is a true embodiment of the term. True sonic surrealism, painted and penned poignantly by the Bruiser Brigade affiliate, Dali Ain’t Dead, encapsulates the expansiveness of Z’s artistry, the zenith of his wide-ranging creative capabilities. His singular vision seeps through the entirety of the genre-jumping tracklist, elevated by just two features – Zack Fox on “Push Me Around” and Paris Texas on “NDA.”
Favorite tracks: “Art of Seduction,” “Broke Ass H*es”
Dominic Fike – Rocket
Where we last left Dominic Fike was on Sunburn (not accounting for his 14-minute 14 minutes EP in May of 2024) – an archetypal summer album, soaked in nostalgia and strung together via genre-bending guitar melodies. For its successor, Rocket, Fike finds himself face to face with some of the heavier, less sunny parts of his past. His most introspective project to date, the fully solo mixtape takes us on a journey through Fike’s fluid soundscape, making stops even at the more far-out points as he comments on fatherhood, fame, and fortune, and continues to scale the sonic universe he’s forged.
Favorite tracks: “Great Pretender,” “Epilogue,” “Aftermath – Edit”
Amaarae – BLACK STAR
Amaarae‘s star has been one to watch for a while now, initially inviting an influx of eyes with breakout single “Fluid” in 2017. Almost ten years later, the Ghanaian-American’s artistry is still guided by her fluidity – in genre, gender, style, and sonic composition – possibly more now than ever before, shining through her third studio album, BLACK STAR. Across the enchanting 13-track album, Amaarae takes the sounds of her Ghanaian upbringing global, amalgamating amapiano and Afrobeats, among other local subgenres – ghettotech, house, techno, and baile funk included. Her internet era come-up is also strung throughout the album, hypnotic synths and dreamy dance breaks hitting right when needed. Infused with the influence of her elders, BLACK STAR blurs a myriad of local sounds and revamps them for the internet age – turning up the reverb, leaning into AutoTune, somehow maintaining a finger on the pulse to anticipate just what unexpected sonic union we don’t even know we’re seeking out.
Favorite tracks: “She Is My Drug,” “Girlie-Pop!”
Rico Nasty – LETHAL
Rico Nasty’s LETHAL reintroduces us to the reinventive rapper in her releast release yet. Tacobella and Trap Levigne are aliases of the past. LETHAL isn’t a character; rather, it’s her in her most raw form, Maria. Her third studio album, and her first under the label Fueled by Ramen, LETHAL rings to a more rageful tune, a personification of the once-masked parts of herself that Rico is now ready to unleash. At 15 tracks, the cutthroat compilation catapults itself between rap and rock, for a listen that’s far from formulaic.
Favorite tracks: “WHO WANT IT,” “ON THE LOW,” “PINK”
Niontay – Fada<3of$
Niontay’s come-up is in progress, and we’re privy to it live. His first longform release of 2025 marked his second studio album, Fada<3of$, released with 10k. The striking and sparse selection of 19 tracks that make up Fada<3of$ comes lifted from the rapper’s summer 2024 trip to London, culminating in an alluringly abstract yet assertive, genre-blurring collection of songs.
Favorite tracks: “MR.HAVEMYWAY,” “Vice grip,” “So lovely”
PinkPantheress – Fancy That
Echoing the sentiment that she croons on the first verse of Fancy That‘s closing cut “Romeo,” PinkPantheress has “added to her portfolio” with her most recent mixtape. Arriving after a nostalgic, Y2K-centric rollout, the Internet’s favorite it-girl’s newest nine-track EP packaged Pink’s versatility. Infamous for predominantly dropping super short songs, Pink proves her longevity on Fancy That, which features nine solo tracks – only two of which are less than two minutes long, the 24-second “Intermission” interlude, and “Noises.” On “Noises,” the songstress reminds us of her online-oft wit – sampling Nardo Wick’s (“What the f*ck is that?”) on the chorus – while closing cut “Romeo” spotlights her lyrical prowess.
Favorite tracks: “Noises,” “Illegal”
TiaCorine – CORINIAN
TiaCorine’s final form has been, well, finalized. CORINIAN, the final chapter of her world-building trilogy, proves her most polished, honed-in project to date. The 17-track CORINIAN is an immersive and, like all of her creative endeavors, highly intentional envisioning of Tia’s confident, unapologetic aura. Singles “Ironic,” “Fall in Love,” “Different Color Stones,” “ATE,” and the JID-featuring “Backyard” all land on the final tracklist, with additional ambitious assistance coming from Flo Milli, Smino, Wiz Khalifa, and Pouya. Kenny Beats offers his hand at production throughout as well.
Favorite tracks: “High Demand,” “Was Hannin,” “Damn Right,” “Ironic”
Kevin Abstract – Blush
In a homage to Houston, Kevin Abstract’s Blush harkens back to the spirit of his hometown for another genre-blurring, needle-pushing album showcasing some of his sharpest storytelling yet. Blush sounds homegrown, Abstract calling the genre “Texas Pop,” with that sentiment stringing through each of the 18 tracks as features come from a handful of local Houston artists like Love Spells, along with a collection of Abstract’s close friends and creative collaborators, including JPEGMAFIA, Danny Brown, and Dominic Fike – now 1/2 of the pair’s “Geezer” group. Top-to-bottom executive production comes from Quadeca paired with Abstract’s autobiographical penmanship, making for an enveloping listening experience.
Favorite tracks: “Maroon,” “H-Town,” “Text Me,” “Geezer”
Provoker – Mausoleum
For Provoker, fear remains a key feeling of inspiration, and it’s reinterpreted in a riveting way once again on the group’s Mausoleum. With production coming from Kenny Beats, the post-punk trio’s third studio album strings shoegaze with subgenres of pop and indie for a nostalgic and melodramatic collection of 11 songs.
Favorite tracks: “Swarm of Flies,” “Pantomime,” “Germaphobe”
Little Simz – Lotus
A risk-taking release from Little Simz. Produced by Miles Clinton James, Lotus is a flourishing tapestry of sonic influence, capturing the London musician’s artistic and personal evolution. Rooted in themes of her complexity as a creative and an individual, the project ignores traditional genre tropes and trudges ahead in its staunch range and versatility.
Favorite tracks: “Young,” “Lion,” “Blood”
redveil – sankofa
When redveil raps, you can hear that his soul is elsewhere. It’s in a bunch of other places, actually, which is the guiding sentiment of the Prince George County-bred rapper’s latest studio LP sankofa, which translates to the Ghanian Akan tribe’s concept of “go out and get it.” The 12-track album is fully produced and arranged by the 21-year-old rapper, self-aware, sonically experienced, and artistically atune beyond his years. But this is an album redveil has felt he needed to make since he was 12 years old; it’s this cathartic, stream-of-conscious lyricism that defines the diverse body of work rooted in redveil’s heritage and history.
Favorite tracks: “or so i,” “pray 4 me,” “buzzerbeater / black christmas”
Rochelle Jordan – Through The Wall
If hypnotic house music and sleek, sensual R&B had a baby, it would be Through The Wall. Arriving a decade after its predecessor, Rochelle Jordan’s well-received yet underrated delivery is a holistic solo record that revels in more refined yet still electro-experimental sound. Jordan pushes the boundaries of dance music to the edge and beyond, reinterpreting tropes and tactics through her own enticing artistic eye.
Favorite tracks: “Grace,” “Bite The Bait”
