2025 was one hell of a year. From the tumultuous political climate, the continued rise of social media, and the uncertainty of the future. One thing that remains consistent however, is the beauty of music. A song from your favorite artist, the opening sounds of a ground-breaking album, or the soulful production from a jazz record; each of which evokes a visceral emotion from whoever is listening. This year, countless albums were released, but only a few broke through and reached critical acclaim.
After an almost 16-year hiatus, Malice and Pusha T (collectively known as Clipse) release Let God Sort ‘Em Out, one of their best works to date, and a testament to the staying power of hip-hop. Once thought to be a young man’s game, rappers like Nas, Jadakiss, and Wale, among others, have created projects in recent years that rivaled—if not exceeded—many of their successors. Teyana Taylor’s Escape Room also marked another return to form. In her first LP since 2020, Taylor enlisted musicians such as Lucky Daye, Jill Scott, Tyla, Kaytranada, and more.
With all of the quality projects that came out within the past 12 months, there’s plenty of optimism on the music front for next year. Now, let’s take a look at the best albums of 2025.
Teyana Taylor’s Escape Room is an album that moves through bruised memories, emotional rebuilding, and the quiet courage it takes to start again, tracing the arc of a woman learning to live in her own truth. Across its sprawling tracklist, Taylor threads vulnerability with intention, pairing richly textured R&B with cinematic spoken-word interludes that add depth to her story. Rather than sidestep the pain of her divorce or the weight of public expectation, she faces both head-on, finding clarity in community and rebirth in her craft
Wale’s highly-anticipated Everything Is a Lot is a poetic album to say the least. Across 18 tracks, he sifts through anxiety, ego, and evolution, never rushing the process. The guest list is wide-ranging, but everyone shows up in service of Wale’s vision, not the other way around. What stands out most is how present he sounds: calmer, clearer, and willing to confront himself without flinching. It’s a reset, yes, but also a reminder that Wale’s voice hits hardest when he lets us into the mess.
Dijon’s Baby emerged as one of the best releases of the year. It features warped samples, rattling percussion, and tender guitar lines all collide in a way that feels spontaneous. Dijon leans into chaos without losing sight of the devotion at the center of the project, shaping love songs that wobble between confession and combustion. What emerges is a portrait of a man trying to express something too large for clean lines or tidy melodies. Baby thrives in that blurred space—where affection turns unruly and vulnerability becomes loud, messy, and electrifying. It’s Dijon’s most daring and emotionally charged work yet.
After years of headlines, Cardi B barrels back with a project that feels hungry, mischievous, and unfiltered. Across the tracklist, we see features from Summer Walker, Kehlani, Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, Tyla, and more. Songs built for block speakers sit beside tracks where she finally lets her guard down, revealing a more complicated interior. It’s a return that reasserts her skill, resets expectations, and reminds listeners that few artists command attention the way she does.
After more than a decade apart, Pusha T and Malice fall back into formation with a chemistry that feels untouched by time. The album is full of their trademark detail—half confession, half warning—as they revisit the world that made them, now with older eyes and sharper scars. Pharrell’s production frames their verses with a haunted elegance, giving space for both the bark and the bruises beneath it. The bravado is still there, but so is a deeper reckoning: family loss, moral fatigue, and the cost of chasing the high of ambition. It’s safe to say, the Thorton Brothers are back.
Givēon unmistakable baritone anchors an album that trades modern gloss for sweeping strings, warm horns, and arrangements that echo the soul greats without imitating them. Across these songs, he pieces together a love story marked by longing, clarity, and the quiet ache of self-reflection. There’s a spaciousness to the production that lets his vulnerability breathe, allowing every confession and hesitation to land with weight. Beloved proves that Givēon isn’t just reviving classic soul aesthetics; he’s shaping them into something deeply contemporary and unmistakably his own.
Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving debunks the myth of the “sophomore jinx.” The album features themes like love, hope, hesitation, and longing, with a light touch that never waters down the emotion. Her vocals float over warm arrangements, giving tracks like “Nice to Each Other” and “Man I Need” a glow that lingers. What makes the album stand out isn’t its size but its clarity: Dean knows when to hold back, when to bloom, and how to make vulnerability feel like its own quiet power.
Across nine tracks, Pinkpanthress’ Fancy That pulls from early-2000s UK club textures, pop oddities, and cheeky samples, stitching them together with her whispery confidence and diary-like storytelling. The shift in tone is noticeable: she’s no longer the wallflower nursing heartbreak over breakbeats, but someone stepping into her own. The record moves fast, slipping from flirtation to panic to pure adrenaline, but never loses its charm. Fancy That proves she can evolve without losing the hyper-specific world only she can build.
On Live Laugh Love, Earl Sweatshirt widens the lens on his interior world, delivering some of his most open and self-assured writing to date. Here, Earl threads together sharp observations, and flashes of dry humor over production that lurches and loops like old vinyl drifting through a dream. In typical Earl fashion, rather than chasing big hooks or showy moments, he leans into lyrical precision.
Amaarae’s Black Star is an album that treats the dance floor like a space for reinvention. Her guests—Bree Runway, Zacari, Pinkpantheress and more—amplify the project in the best way, but it’s Amaarae who remains the gravitational force, playing with pitch, persona, and desire like she’s rewriting the rules of pop in real time. Here, she delivers a record that refuses respectability and celebrates freedom instead. Black Star is her boldest, most provocative release yet.
