The Best Music of 2025

This year brought forth a changing of the guard. Many of the very best albums and songs of the year were made by artists we’ve never featured on our year-end lists before. Maybe it was AI infiltrating our lives and teasing us with the ease of passivity; maybe it was our growing skepticism around major streaming services and their data-mining algorithms; maybe we were sicker than ever of the flavor of the week on the internet and middling art populating our feeds through thinly veiled paid promo, but our ears extended deep into the great beyond in 2025. This is music that challenged us, made us laugh and cry, commanded dancefloors and Discord servers, overpowered the stench of slop, and pushed us to really listen.

Label of the Year: AD 93

Daring, heartfelt, and unpredictable, the London label has released some of the best music of the year. We talk to its founder, Nic Tasker, about the evolution of the singular AD 93 sound, and how every leftfield experimental signee has to have just a little pop to it.

The 32 Best Rap Albums of 2025

Featuring projects from Earl Sweatshirt, Che, BunnaB, Monaleo, and, uh, HappyDranker

The 40 Best Rap Songs of 2025

Featuring Playboi Carti, Fly Anakin, Pluto, fakemink, MexikoDro, JT, Tezzus, and more

The 30 Best Electronic Albums of 2025

Featuring Shinichi Atobe, Blawan, DJ Elmoe, Nick León, gyrofield, aya, and more

Dijon Had a Miraculous Year. He’s Not Finished Yet.

Amid starting a family, writing blockbuster pop albums, and making his acting debut in One Battle After Another, Dijon Duenas spliced together his second album, Baby, and became one of the most compelling voices in modern music. We catch up with our Artist of the Year in Los Angeles, who let us in to his rehearsal space and headspace, way left of the dial.