AOTY 2025

i just wanted to shout this out - it’s a live performance of The Roots first studio recorded album and a reminder that even though they have that Fallon stank on their name they still got it. the live instruments and jazz club setting is a vibe and they sound like they’re having a blast performing this record. it’s really fun listen.

Danny Brown is known to be risky and challenging with his music but this is one of his most creative and ambitious records to date. it’s got a lot going on, genre bending, at times hard to listen to, at times easy to get lost in.

it’s a big year for the gaggle that is Geese. they’ve made almost everyone’s album of the year lists and i can’t say they don’t deserve it. i really dug the boisterous, rambunctious, rocking nature of this album. it’s tight but feels sloppy; it’s passionate, heartfelt and fun. to me, it kinda sounds like a blend of Radiohead and Tom Waits.

p.s. i think there might be a bomb in dude’s car.

i was unfamiliar with Ninajirachi before this year but this album really got me. it’s such a fun and weird album. super dance-y, late 90’s/early aughts coded. it’s just a blast to listen to while dancing around the house.

the first version of this album didn’t quite hit for me at first, but something about this second version felt a bit more cohesive to me. i do wish Girl Feels Good was also on this version though cause that song rips. this album is a cosmic journey that’ll have you dancing and then put you in a trance that sends your spirit elsewhere.

this album is just banger after banger. Clipse returned to the game like they never left and delivered an instant classic. great beats, fire bars, good features. Push never stopped, but it’s been great to see Malice still got the juice. thank you Pusha T for giving us the line “Yellow diamonds look like pee pee”.

i’ve liked and respected Viagra Boys for a while now but none of their previous albums quite grabbed me like this one. it’s funny, fun, poignant, punk that gives no fucks.

ROSALÍA’s LUX is probably the most ambitious work I’ve listened to this year. she set out to create something special and i believe she did. the production is top notch, the arrangements are beautiful and the tracks are pulling from tons of different cultural inspirations.

when the titular single, Angie, released i was pretty obsessed. i liked spill tab’s previous singles/eps but this track hit different. when the rest of the album released i kinda couldn’t stop listening to it. this album just rocks, idk. it probably seems weird to be so high on my list but i just really connected with it. it’s kinda like grunge meets bedroom pop? it’s fairly short but packs a lot. there’s a lot of emotion and passion seeping through every track.

i 100% completed Silksong earlier this year and that experience definitely factors into this album’s placement on my list. but even standing on its own, i think this is just such a fantastic score. the tracks imbue such strong emotion. there are so many epic pieces that are truly inspiring, and then there are the softer, quieter tracks that make me want to fall onto my knees weeping. it’s hard to listen to this album without feeling my heart tighten up a bit. it’s truly a masterpiece.

before this year, i liked Bad Bunny fine. he makes good, catchy music that also feels experimental in a way and he has his own unique identity, as a musical artist and a celebrity. but it wasn’t til his Tiny Desk concert that i really connected with this album in a way i wasn’t ready for. he had the Puerto Rican flag sprawled out on the desk, but the shading of blue was a more pale blue. i noticed in the comments of the video someone pointing out that this is how some folks will find out about the Puerto Rican Independence Movement. i am Puerto Rican on both sides and not once have i heard of this. anyway i continued to watch the performance (in subtitles of course because my Spanish isn’t very good) as he sang songs about sex and partying and what not. then he started to sing about Puerto Rico and LO QUE LE PÁSO A HAWAii - or what happened to Hawaii. a song about how Puerto Rico is currently being gentrified and turned into a tourist trap, and how he’s afraid of our people’s culture dying to the forces of capitalism…like Hawaii. it’s a beautiful love letter to the island and a plea to our people to fight. by the last song of this video i was in tears. they ended the set with DtMF - i should’ve taken more pictures when i had you. i should’ve given you more hugs and kisses whenever i could. i’ve got complicated feelings about my family and in part of that, my culture. i won’t go too deep into that, but i’ve not entirely respected or appreciated where i come from. this album made me want to try better to change this and understand more. not just my family over here but my people still on the island fighting and holding onto our culture. i encourage everyone to look into the Puerto Rican Independence Movement, Pedro Albizu Campos and the current gentrification of the beautiful island of Puerto Rico. oh and this album is really good, you should listen to it if you haven’t.