We’re at the end of yet another year where commentators and fans speculated on the health of the rap world. In October, it was reported that, for the first time in 35 years, there were no rap songs in ...

Our staff's favorite albums from the year that was. Is pop now officially an albums-driven genre? The year 2025 made a strong argument for the answer being “yes.” Acclaimed sets from rising stars like ...

Rosalía made an album invoking the saints, Lily Allen took us on a tragicomic trip through her domestic hell, Lady Gaga found the sweet spot between artpop and arena-ready funk, and Bad Bunny was just ...

As a pioneer of Durban Gqom, he has been a driving force in the genre for over 20 years. With a career spanning decades, he’s known for his commitment to nurturing emerging talent. He has consistently ...

There are many throughlines in the list you’re about to scroll through: triumphant comebacks, showstopping debuts, thrill-seeking left-turns and emotional documents of grief and pain. But what stays ...

This is read by an automated voice. Please report any issues or inconsistencies here. Piling on, stripping down, looking back, pushing ahead: Musicians found all sorts of uses for the album form this ...

Stream this list on Apple Music and Spotify. See The FADER's 50 best songs of 2025. In a chronically online, AI-slop-embedded hellscape, Don’t Tap the Glass is Tyler, the Creator’s surprise social ...

The Korean pop outsider Effie and the Brooklyn indie-rock band Geese top our critics’ lists this year. By Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Jon Caramanica Musicians know how to make music, and they ...

Recently, in casual conversations, I’ve been asked for my opinion about the October report that “No Rap Songs Are in the Billboard Hot 100’s Top 40 for the First Time Since 1990” more so than my ...

The most compelling releases of the year reimagined hip-hop tracks, deep-rooted collaborations and longstanding inspirations. By Hank Shteamer In a year that saw the deaths of two leading drummers, ...

Taylor Swift released an album so bad we won’t even talk about it. FKA twigs fucked around with EUSEXUA and found out… it got even better? Rosalía let her hair down from the Tower of Babel. Addison ...

In other words, 2025 had plenty of peaks and valleys. In our list of the year’s top albums, we try to capture these trends and tell the story of a music scene that is fractured, matching a cultural ...