What would this whirlwind year of chaos, confusion and calamity be without the music that helped us keep it all together? While 2025 may not have been the most robust year of tentpole releases from music’s biggest superstars, there were still plenty that we kept in our rotations.
Among them were, of course, Cardi B’s long-awaited follow-up to her Grammy-winning debut (“Am I the Drama?”) and Bad Bunny’s acclaimed love letter to his beloved Puerto Rico (“Debí Tirar Más Fotos”). Not to mention, the epic comeback of Clipse, aka Pusha T and Malice, after years spent making music apart.
Some surprise albums dropped from artists like Tyler, the Creator and Miguel, while others such as Doja Cat traded in her “Scarlet” era less than two years after its release for a completely new sound.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t at least acknowledge some of the honorable mentions you won’t see below (I know, I know): Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl,” Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem,” Justin Bieber’s “Swag,” Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend,” Drake and PartyNextDoor’s ”$ome $exy $ongs 4 U,” The Weeknd’s “Hurry Up Tomorrow,” Summer Walker’s “Finally Over It” and SZA’s “SOS Deluxe: Lana” (which came out in 2024 after our best albums list). But some great 2025 highlights still made our list.
From the projects that exceeded our expectations to the breakthrough releases that still have us in a chokehold, HuffPost staff members look back at the best albums of the year.
Audrey Hobert performs onstage at iHeartRadio 102.7 KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball 2025 in Los Angeles.
Amy Sussman via Getty Images
Audrey Hobert, ‘Who’s the Clown?’
Audrey Hobert had me hooked from the first few seconds of the infectious, video game-y beat on her debut single, “Sue Me.” This was not an untouchable pop star polished to perfection — “’Cos being a saint is exhausting/ Sue me, I wanna be wanted,” she sings on the chorus. The rest of her album, “Who’s the Clown?” follows a similar formula: wit, honesty to the point of self-deprecation, a portrait of a 20-something who aims high but settles for whatever when reality crashes back in. Hobert is awkward and silly and doesn’t hide it, inviting listeners in for a dance party and gossip sesh. Anyone who has been in the Hinge trenches will find it relatable. The line, “He’s heating up and eating up a pizza pocket/ I wanted one, but he forgot it/ He’s off his meds, and he’s an artist,” from standout “Sex and the City” will continue to haunt me. — Jillian
Bad Bunny performs on a stop of his Most Wanted tour in San Francisco, California.
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Bad Bunny, ‘Debí Tirar Más Fotos’
It’s been an incredibly busy year for Bad Bunny. Just five days into 2025, he dropped a love letter to Puerto Rico with his addictive sixth studio album, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos.” Over the summer, he completed his 31-show Puerto Rican residency. Then, in October, he hosted the Season 51 premiere of “Saturday Night Live.” In late November, the 31-year-old Grammy winner launched his world tour at stadiums from Dominican Republic to Australia. He was even in the sequel to “Happy Gilmore.” All of this before taking one of the biggest stages in February — the Super Bowl halftime show. All the fanfare around the Puerto Rican rapper is well deserved. “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” helped make Bad Bunny Spotify’s top global artist of the year. As a New Yorker, perhaps no song better encapsulates that perfect summer vibe more than “Nuevayol,” which includes a sample of “Un Verano en Nueva York” by El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico. “Baile Inolvidable” is one of the best songs of the year, and one of Bad Bunny’s favorites — in which the rapper basically dares you to not get up and start dancing along. “DtMF,” the initialized title track, is an emotional song of the plena genre — which mixes rap and reggaeton, where Bad Bunny reflects on his regrets, and per the album’s title, of not taking more photos with his loved ones along the way. It’s an incredible feat to create an album that fans carry through the year, and “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” has staying power that surely will last us for a while. — Erin
Cardi B performs onstage during the 2025 LadyLand Festival in New York City.
Santiago Felipe via Getty Images
Cardi B, ‘Am I The Drama?’
The Bodega Baddie is back. It’s been seven years since Cardi B dropped her debut album “Invasion of Privacy,” and she finally dropped her sophomore album “Am I the Drama?” in September. Boy was it worth the wait. The 23-track album features everything Cardi does best: talk shit (“Hello,” “Pretty & Petty,” “Killin You Hoes”), make viral hits (“Outside,” “WAP”) and offer fans her perspectives on her personal life (’Shower Tears,” “What’s Goin On,” “Safe”). The fiery album also helped Cardi make history: she became the first female rapper whose first two albums debuted atop the Billboard 200. Cardi is riding high right into 2026 as she prepares for her first arena tour, The Little Miss Drama Tour. Who knows what Cardi has up her sleeves, but perhaps it’s safe to say that she’ll have everybody talking. — Erin
Chance The Rapper performs during the 2025 Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago.
Erika Goldring via Getty Images
Chance the Rapper, ‘Star Line’
Chance the Rapper had a lot to prove with “Star Line.” The Chicago rapper captured the world’s attention in 2016 with his breakthrough mixtape “Coloring Book,” but almost completely lost fans’ interest with his flop studio debut “The Big Day.” Thankfully, though, “Star Line” didn’t suffer the same fate. Though a less cohesive offering compared to his previous projects (understandable after a six-year hiatus filled with life changes), Chance the Rapper’s latest album is still a strong return to form. Over 17 tracks, “Star Line” bounces from fun grooves (“Tree,” “Ride”) to bangers (“Drapetomania”) to more mellow cuts that are scattered about (“Space & Time” and “Speed of Love”). Introspective songs like “Back to the Go,” “Letters” and “The Negro Problem” add a bit of depth and balance out the sprawling album that includes a ton of starry features (my personal favorites being Do or Die, Vic Mensa and Jazmine Sullivan). “Star Line,” in many ways, sounds like the old Chance from his “Acid Rap” days, just more refined and willing to take more risks. — Njera
Pusha T and Malice of Clipse perform during the 2025 ESPY Awards.
Kevin Winter via Getty Images
Clipse, ‘Let God Sort Em Out’
The return of Clipse has been a long time coming. After musically parting ways following 2009’s “Til the Casket Drops” — Malice stepping away from rap to do some soul-searching, while Pusha T pursued a successful solo career — the Thornton brothers reunited this summer to unleash their long-awaited and hotly anticipated comeback album, “Let God Sort Em Out.” Arguably one of the best rap albums of the year, featuring production from their key collaborator and fellow Virginian Pharrell Williams, the 13-track LP is a stunning “culturally inappropriate” display from a sibling duo that never lost its step in the art of rhyming.
Laced with a bevy of signature coke raps, “Let God Sort Em Out” is exactly what longtime fans expected to hear from Clipse after a yearslong hiatus. But their time away was well spent on growth and maturity, too, as evidenced by tracks like the vulnerable leadoff “The Birds Don’t Sing” (an ode to the brothers’ late parents). Strategic features placed on the album — a “controversial” verse from Kendrick Lamar (“Chains & Whips”), a hell of an effort from Tyler, the Creator (“P.O.V.”) and a catchy hook from Stove God Cooks (“F.I.C.O.”) — only bolstered what Pusha T, Malice and Williams cooked up in the latter’s Louis Vuitton studio in Paris. But what’s most clear on this album is how Pusha remains one of the best among his rap peers, while Malice reemerged still sharp as ever; no doubt cementing his title as rap’s MVP of the year. The brothers’ reunion culminated in four stunning Grammy nominations for the 2026 cycle, including Best Rap Album and Album of the Year. After what they proved with this project, I’d say it’s the least they deserve. — Njera
Coco Jones performs during the 2025 Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans.
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Coco Jones, ‘Why Not More?’
The renaissance of Coco Jones has been nothing short of remarkable. The former Disney star found her way back into the spotlight in 2022 with an all-grown-up lead role in Peacock’s “Bel-Air” and her breakout EP “What I Didn’t Tell You,” which featured her Grammy-winning hit “ICU.” The momentum of that success paved the way for her debut album this spring, “Why Not More?”, another rich R&B offering that proves why Jones is one of the genre’s most promising stars today. Beyond the soulful sounds that made us fall in love with her undeniable voice, displayed on songs like “Here We Go (Uh Oh)” and “AEOMG,” the album shows Jones’ range in flipping pop classics (“Taste” with an interpolation of Britney Spears’ “Toxic”) and experimenting with more fun, upbeat tracks (“Keep It Quiet” and “On Sight”). The back half of the album is especially enjoyable, as the singer slows it down with stirring songs like “You,” “Hit You Where It Hurts,” “By Myself” and “Forever Don’t Hit Like Before.” “Why Not More?” was the perfect title for Jones’ debut, because with an album that showcases so much of her artistry, why wouldn’t we want to hear more of what she has to offer? — Njera
Daniel Caesar performs at Camp Flog Gnaw 2024 in Los Angeles.
Michael Blackshire via Getty Images
Daniel Caesar, ‘Son of Spergy’
Daniel Caesar’s albums always feel like part sermon, part therapy to me, and “Son of Spergy” is no different. When I finally pressed play on the singer’s fourth studio album, I immediately got lost in its stirring fusions of gospel and folk, as heard on songs like “Rain Down,” “Moon” and “Touching God.” Faith had a strong hold on this latest effort from Caesar, as he spends the album contending with his relationship with it — plus love, of course, courtesy of tracks like “Baby Blue” and “Have A Baby (With Me)” — while interrogating his own sense of self as his father’s son. No song makes that more clear than the album’s anchor track, “Sins of the Father,” a Bon Iver-assisted two-parter where Caesar sings of confessions and a need for “alchemical transmutation” like he’s behind the church pulpit during a Sunday morning service, with a choir appropriately backing him up. “Son of Spergy” is positively Caesar’s most intimate and transparent album to date, and one I’ll likely be thinking about for a very long time. — Njera
Doja Cat performs on Day 1 of Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco, California.
Steve Jennings via Getty Images
Doja Cat, ‘Vie’
Doja Cat is one of the most surprising artists in the music business. Her undeniable talent will always keep her fans guessing. With “Vie,” her fifth studio album, Doja Cat surpassed expectations with a project that imbues ’80s fun with her signature brand of innovative rap, melodies and ideas. She brings a driving and breathless feel to “Aaahh Men!” and turns to a synthy, upbeat vibe on “Jealous Type” and goes to a slowed-down groove with “Acts of Service.” If Doja’s fourth album “Scarlet” was her darker, straightforward hip-hop record, then “Vie” takes her fans a little closer to her pop-focused works like “Planet Her” and “Hot Pink.” But Doja Cat is still doing some of her best work on this album, no matter where your genre affinities sit. For music fans who want artists to continually grow and experiment with different sounds, Doja Cat is a top contender among artists who are pushing the limits in a way that will always keep us coming back for more. — Erin
Jade performs during day four of Glastonbury Festival 2025.
Jim Dyson via Getty Images
Jade, ‘That’s Showbiz Baby!’
When Jade Thirlwall, now just JADE, released “Angel of My Dreams,” the first single from her much-anticipated debut solo album, pop fans simultaneously released a collective sigh of relief and a giant WTF? Hopes were high for the former Little Mix minx’s new music, but no one expected such a risky, chaotic and menacingly catchy song to herald its arrival. The song is just one of the many delights on “That’s Showbiz Baby!” which finds JADE taking on heartbreak, Hollywood and badly behaved boyfriends with a wink, a snarl, and a handbag full of hooks and beats, instantly solidifying her spot in the pantheon of pop royalty. She just released an extended version of the album with even more to ooh and ahh over, and still, we can’t help but already greedily wonder what wonders she’s going to gift us on the follow-up project. — Noah
Khamari, ‘To Dry a Tear’
The first time I heard Khamari sing his song “Head in a Jar,” I thought I was listening to a newly released Frank Ocean track. That’s not so hard to believe considering the uncanny resemblance between the two singers’ voices. But the comparisons should stop there because, as demonstrated on his bluesy sophomore album, “To Dry A Tear,” the Boston-born Khamari is an artist in his own right, poised to claim his spot in the new class of R&B torchbearers. Inspired by iconic soul musicians like Stevie Wonder and D’Angelo, his 11-track LP certainly walks in their footsteps in pulling from raw, vulnerable places — just listen to songs like “Sycamore Tree,” “Euphoria” and “It’s a Mad World.” The soothing instrumental arrangements on Khamari’s album are among its strongest highlights, complementing the depth of his vocals. However, the singer’s deep, introspective songwriting is the real treat, laying bare all the vulnerabilities that have been seemingly missing from mainstream R&B lately. “To Dry a Tear” might have flown under the radar this year, but it’s a great place to start if you want to hear what Khamari is all about. — Njera
Leon Thomas performs at iHeartRadio 102.7 KIIS FM’s Jingle Ball 2025 in Los Angeles.
Kevin Mazur via Getty Images
Leon Thomas, ‘Mutt Deluxe: Heel’
It’s been nearly impossible to escape the reign of Leon Thomas’ earworm album “Mutt” since its breakthrough moment last year, and even more so since the singer-songwriter reupped with a double-disc deluxe in May. With nine new tracks added to his Grammy-nominated opus, Thomas has only further cemented his place as R&B’s latest and greatest star. Expanding on his original album’s experimental rock and soul sounds, “Heel” is another vulnerable offering where Thomas vents about a controlling relationship (the title track, “Heel”), letting it go (“Rather Be Alone”), fighting for love (“Not Fair”), carrying emotional baggage (“Dirt on My Shoes”) and embracing his flaws in the game of love “Catch a Stray”). The lyrics alone are a sign of an artist unafraid to put his emotions on front street, and the result is something completely unrivaled.
It’s clear that Thomas’ “Mutt” — both the album and song, the latter of which peaked among the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart — is still enjoying its moment in the sun thanks to an extra push from this deluxe, as evidenced by the Album of the Year Grammy nomination the singer notched. It comes as no surprise, though. Thomas’ sophomore LP has literally put him on the same stage as legends this year, which goes to show just how impactful it remains. Ten years from now, we’ll probably look back and thank this album for reinvigorating a genre that is so far from dead. — Njera
Miguel performs during Roots Picnic 2025 in Philadelphia.
Taylor Hill via Getty Images
Miguel, ‘CAOS’
For the last eight years, Miguel fans anxiously waited for the R&B veteran to make his return with yet another album for the ages. He finally answered the call in October with his long-awaited fifth studio album, “CAOS,” a 12-track collection of moody, cathartic cuts that flirt more with rock and P-Funk sounds than the blissful R&B that initially made him a star. Still, even in this experimental era, which finds him tapping more into his Spanish roots on tracks like “CAOS,” Miguel remains compelling as ever, singing with more grit about his own evolution in an ever-changing world. This time around, his love and heartbreak songs are a bit edgier than usual, too (“Always Time,” “New Martyrs (Ride 4 U)”), but they’re just as affecting. “CAOS” may not be another critically acclaimed, commercial success for Miguel, but it’s still a great reminder of his musical prowess. — Njera
Olivia Dean performs during the 2025 Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Amy E. Price via Getty Images
Olivia Dean, ‘The Art of Loving’
Olivia Dean isn’t new to the music scene, but 2025 certainly seemed like a huge year for her. The British singer-songwriter released her second studio album, “The Art of Loving,” in September. Then, she was nominated for Best New Artist for the 2026 Grammys. “The Art of Loving” is a tender look at love in so many forms. It’s a tight 12-track album that feels like springtime and newness, especially on songs like “So Easy (To Fall in Love)” and “Man I Need,” two singles on the project. Of all of my favorite albums of the year, Dean’s “The Art of Loving” accomplishes a rare feat: It is a no-skip album that makes you think about all the love that surrounds you — and that’s within you. — Erin
Tyler, the Creator performs during the 2025 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Theo Wargo via Getty Images
Tyler, the Creator, ‘Don’t Tap the Glass’
Tyler, the Creator’s “Don’t Tap the Glass” came as a total surprise this summer, but the dance-inducing album fits nicely into the rapper’s ever-expanding discography. Less than a year after his transparent “Chromakopia” album, Tyler followed up with his ninth studio LP, a brisk and bold listen you can’t help but shake ass to, clocking in at just under 30 minutes (perfect for a quick workout if you need something for your gym playlist). While the album may not have the grand stakes we’ve grown accustomed to from the Grammy-winning rap star, it’s proof that Tyler doesn’t need all the thrills and frills to put together a highly entertaining project that still has a purpose. And on this album, the priority was clearly to get listeners up and moving, as evidenced by high-energy tracks like “Sugar on My Tongue,” “Stop Playing With Me” and “Don’t Tap That Glass / Tweakin’.” It wouldn’t be a proper Tyler project without a few braggadocious bars (“Mommanem”) and some yearning here and there, too (“Ring Ring Ring”). At this point in his career, Tyler is an expert at crafting acclaimed, world-building albums; this we know. But a low-stakes project like this hits just as hard. — Njera
Wale performs during the One Musicfest 2025.
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Wale, ‘Everything Is a Lot’
Heart-on-his-sleeve rapper Wale has always delivered superb music when he taps into his vulnerability, and his latest album is a solid show of that. On “Everything Is a Lot” — perhaps the most appropriate title for these current times — the D.C.-born rapper is painfully honest and introspective in his rhymes, perhaps more than he’s ever been after nearly two decades in this treacherous music game, as he’s loosely said in the past. He spends much of the album talking about exes (“Conundrum,” “City On Fire”), being jaded in the industry (“Michael Fredo”), survivor’s guilt (“Survive”) and more problems that sound like they’ve taken quite a toll on him mentally. But in his usual poetic style, Wale lays it all out in the open over more contemporary R&B and soul beats that soften the blow of what he shares without recoil. Of course, there are still a few lighter tracks to vibe out to, like the Afrobeats cut “YSF” and “Like I” (which features a sweetly sung hook by Andra Day). But Wale’s album is at its best when it’s just him being 100 percent transparent about the woes of his world. After all, that is his specialty. — Njera
