I'm not lying y'all, this was not planned at all lol.
So I was going through some "best of the year so far" lists that came out over the past couple of days, and I was like "Damn, a lot of this shit sucks," so I decided to spend a few impromptu days compiling stuff that I've liked throughout the year just to see if I still have any juice left (Spoiler Alert: Kinda don't lol). But the blurbs, I wasn't even planning on doing that much but I did write at least a sentence about each one, so yay me lol.
However, I can't guarantee that I'll be doing this more often, but I just wanted to share some new shit with y'all, so I hope y'all enjoy and appreciate y'all's time as always <3
50. 2Slimey - Jungle [Prod. vlor5k]
What can you even say about shit like this.. LMAOOO
Some dudes in Guadalajara decided to make a new genre called "Metal Tumbado" which is just corridos with blast beats. Just as insane as you expect it to sound. Somehow not the cheesiest thing I've ever heard but shit, this just goes.
Nettspend's girlfriend might be a GOAT witch house artist??? Also this shit was produced by the kid from Mid90s - Just doing Mad Libs at this point lmao.
Craziest 2-part song of the year; Starting off rapping over them door stopper thingys and then a particle accelerator starts turning on and you start disintegrating lol. AA2x! been one of my faves from this year.
Colombian Guaracha is a genre that seriously overwhelms me. I never know where to start other than checking out these mixes from these random producers and this one from Bogota's DJ 7SAIXX might've seriously broke my brain. Like the last half of this, good sweet lord. My favorite thing is guaracha is when they really lean heavily on the dissonance - You have these fonky, out-of-tune horns that are berating you like a band of bees with TNT tied to them. I just listen to this mix and just hold my head up in disbelief because what the fuck is half of this shit lmao.
Probably the weirdest sounding dude in New Orleans at the moment, which does say a lot. Sounds like a whole ass Cartoon Network character but it works so well. Babyface Ray randomly got on the remix too which elevates this Detroit Batman ass beat even better.
43. Dino BTW ft. Bog Vonnie - Blocka Blocka [Prod. BlaqNMild]
2 of NOLA Bounce's best doing their best over a NOLA nuclear reactor that's about to blow.
42. Vson - Jeffrey [Prod. Oslin]
Imagine what a 75 year old Bob Dylan fan thinks Playboi Carti sounds like - It would probably be something like Johannesburg's Vson, one of the weirdest hip hop artists in the world right now, let alone the super unique and brooding South African underground scene. Embellished baby voices that sound like alien languages at times, however it just works. One to keep your eye on.
Ferocious emoviolence from Rhode Island (maybe Quahog?). These newer bands that have popping up over the last couple of years are so good at sounding both from 20 years ago and 2025 as well. Makes you want to run through a concrete wall.
Got only one word for this one.... Motherfuckinggodamn
BOUNCE
This Justin Bieber 2.0 FIFA 14 Regen is pretty fucking sick. Honestly might be better than his patna 2Hollis as well. Get 2015 Skrillex on the phone with them stat (I know he got them connections come the fuck on now)
One of my new favorites from the UK linking up with one of the greatest to ever do it from there. This beat is so fucking cold too.
One of my favorite rappers in the South at the moment. I'm not sure if it's because that Alabama twang makes him sound like Barney the Dinosaur or because he reminds me of some southern legends like Gucci and Bankroll Fresh. The ad libs are so good too lol. All in all, it's perfect music to wake you up at 7 in the morning.
These motherfuckers need to make more music in their native language because it has a beauty that none of their older music in English has. The Euro Trance sound just works like a charm here. Also love the context here that this song is something that Swedish primary students sing at the end of the school year.
Alright, prefacing this by saying that this song technically came out in 2023 (Split came out this year tho so suck my ass), however discovering multi-national brutal death metal band Theurgy has been one of the vital brain-breaking moments of 2025 for me. I don't even know what to describe this as - Like I love me some extreme music, but seriously NOTHING sounds like this band. From the jump, the guitars sound like they're being played in the 5th dimension. Everything's so complex and overwhelming however I just cannot get enough. Really recommend their album from last year, as that is one of my most played records of the year.
Cavernous, atmospheric death metal from London that has gotten a lot of play this year from me. That scream at the beginning is so damn good.
This dark plugg sound has like permeated the world like a mist and now we get dudes like Claudio Castagnoli's cousin rapping all crazy. Lausanne's Dialryckx is just strange. I guess it's because I've never heard a Swiss dialect of French before but like he sounds like a fucking goblin man. I know that he's embellishing it a bit, but damn it just works, whether I know a lick of French or not. He's like if Mandark from Dexter's Lab listened to a shit load of Lazer Dim - Hilarious, but seriously good.
Alright, that fakemink x Ecco2k song is pretty shit, I'm not gonna lie to y'all. However, this is the true fakemink song of 2025. That piano line just bounces back and forth through my skull treating it like a Line Rider map, however I can't unhear that this is a "Chocolate Rain Ass Beat."
Yoyotheproducer is seriously making Playstation 9 Music at this point, like this is still one of the most insane beats that have dropped this year.
I Will Listen To Anything Profound Lore Puts Out So Help Me God
28. GG12 - one less
Want to keep this one a surprise, but this is the craziest Justin Bieber remix I have ever heard lmao. GG12 My GOAT.
A 10 minute dancehall epic from one of Florida's most promising rappers. Impossible to not smile while this is on.
A song that's pretty incoherent, as it is breathtaking - Love this futuristic approach to the kuduro sound that Nazar always builds upon. Sounds like nothing else. Also this new album reminded me of like early James Blake at times?? Still trying to figure out if that's a good or bad things lmao.
They really making these UK Underground kids like fucking hot cakes at the moment, because I feel like a new one is popping up at like a weekly basis now. Llondon actress is almost like a British smokedope2016, in the way of how hazy they sound, however this is genuinely some really fresh shit. This one in particular just makes me feeling like I'm gliding inside one of the abstract Clams Casino Instrumentals album covers. Just so good.
24. squillo - OUTLAW [Prod. XanGang & boolymon]
My favorite Panamanian goblin still going crazy over nuclear explosions and the end of the world. Love when does that Tony Montana voice, however this beat from boolymon and XanGang is the star here, as this is a fucking lazer beam being emitted from a Star Wars ass ship. Electrocutingly stupid.
Without a doubt my favorite music video of the year. What's with Scottish people and just making otherworldly electronic music? Something has to be in the water there.
Stupidest collab of the year? Easily. I'm not sure why Oklahoma slam metal band PeelingFlesh got together with brostep tearout producers, however it results in one of the weirdest mishmash of genres I have ever seen. The slam parts are brutal (their drummer is bonkers man) and then you are just pelted by this overwhelming wave of distortion and bass, as if the .mp3 you have got cursed or something. I hope this doesn't become like a frequent trend, as this shit is super fun in moderation.
You might need a bucket to pick up all the sweat that's about to drip off of you when this song plays, because London's Sherelle made one of the kinetically fun dance records this year with WITH A VENGEANCE. This shit just goes, and "SPEED" is the perfect encapsulation of this album. The abrasive acid lines, beeps and boops going everywhere, and frantic Chicago nature of this tune just develop into this whirlwind of dance music madness, that'll have you sticking right now in no time. You can tell how crazy this song is by how tired everyone is by the end of this video lol.
All y'all wahwah'ing about how there's no "Song of the Summer," here you go you ungrateful heathens. This checks every single box of what y'all need for a summer anthem. Just infinite stupid, classic Atlanta fun.
God I love this song so much - Makes me feel like I'm smoking a pipe inside of a dark cathedral. So regal and mysterious.
I'm not afraid to say that the highly anticipated MUSIC was pretty fucking abysmal - A bloated mess that had so much potential to be better, because you had incredible tracks like Rich Kidz throwback "LIKE WEEZY." Atlanta Euphoria in audio form. Also this kid deadass made a better video than the official Carti one lmao.
Houston Texas Legend Tenkay With Another Incredible Tune - One Of The Most Underrated In The Underground
More Houston Texas Greatness and this time it's the newly formed Deathgrind band Terror Corpse, consisting of members of legendary Houston bands Insect Warfare and Malignant Altar. This is seriously one of the hardest hitting projects out of any corner of the world this year. The tight, demonic playing is topped off by the ridiculously insane voice of Hector Andrade-Viveros, as he sounds like he's being ripped apart limb-by-limb by a rabid bear right in the middle of I-45. Very under-the-radar project that needs more love.
This posi-early-10s Chicago revival has been one of the sickest developments of the year, with young artists like lil2posh bringing back the bright and bubbly motifs of bop music. That syncopation with the 808s here brings my brain into a frenzy of being a teenager again lol. Whole tape is incredible too with this throwback sound.
I mentioned this in a previous list before but Houston's Mel V is like if the Juggernaut was a rapper on SoundCloud. Like once you hit play, she's jumping in your room like the fucking Kool Aid man yelling "CHAPPPOOOOO." Her album Chaponomical is chock full of these bass-rattling bangers, but "Jimmy Choose" is the one that makes my car feel like it's going to rattle its chassis off at the stop light. Unstoppable music.
12. Feng - Ayia Napa [Prod. Boxxy, Feng, & Arizona]
Hardest Christian youth group leader of all time.
Lazer's output kinda stagnated in quality towards the end of the year, however with weird spacey bangers like "spawn," I'm starting to gain hope again in my chosen one. It almost sounds childish, however it works perfectly with Lazer's playful flow here. Hope more good stuff to come from him later!
Espírito Santo is starting to gain traction with gringos as a proper funk region (as it should be!) mostly thanks to their scene's stalwart, DJ KN DE VILA VELHA. That cursed-drums-from-hell sound is very apparent and unique once you start going through their tunes, and it's just irresistible altogether, as if you're put in some sort of a trance. While the original single was more of an Adele interpolation, I really enjoy the album version better, as that person's part is much more haunting and suits that abrasive sound. A scene more folks need to be aware of!
It's going to break my brain once I see someone figure out that MexikoDro was a producer and not just a rapper, because I'm sure that's going to happen with some born-in-2007-ass motherfucker sooner or later. Other than that, this is like Atlanta final boss music. Just so damn good.
Coming from someone with a legitimate mathematics degree, the greatest math related song of all time. Thank you my GOAT Tisakorean.
7. yuke & ksuuvi - out da spot [Prod. bbuggin]
Easy winner for the "Best Sample that Made Me Turn My Face Stupid" award. Also an unstoppable duo here.
My favorite new band from this year has been Florida's Bubba. Stupid name aside, these guys made one of the weirdest, most unique sounding metal albums this year with Cogwheels of the Pious Forge. If you give it a listen, it honestly sounds like it's going to be some type of a screamo/emo record at first, however within an instant, you are brought into this brutal death metal hell world with some of the most insane guitar tones and drumming I've heard from any metal band recently. They borrow from a lot of genres on this record, despite being a strictly BDM band, however the best example of these genres clashing is "Homogenized Paracausal Automata." Like this song is half depressive black gaze, half death-metal that will incinerate your face if you're too close to it. The way those two styles blend here so easily is just crazy and I cannot talk about the drummer enough here. Just a fucking machine. Probably my most played album this year? Them 25 minutes just breeze through every time.
A song technically from 2012 being finally released 13 years later.... Sure lmao. I can't even explain to y'all how much I listened to the snippets and leaks of "Voltage" back in the day. This was such a nice surprise on what might be Skrillex's best ever project, which is crazy to think about. More sentimental of a ranking than anything else, but this whole project is incredible.
4. snoa - work it out [Prod. 444jet] / addicted [Prod. fbs]
My favorite new artist of 2025 without a doubt has been Leicester's snoa, this nasally desolate voice of the UK underground that has the most potential out of anyone over there at the moment. Their collaborations with Houston producer 444jet is a real highlight of the year, with projects like new that showcase that they are one of the best duos in the underground today. With "work it out," it shows that you can use that dumbass Gotye song without sounding corny, as the 8-bit interpolation being blanketed over snoa's East Midlands accent is just serene. And this kid has a voice too, as you can see with tracks like "addicted." That was a falling-out-of-my-chair moment and had me go all in on him. One who's really going to blow over the next couple of months.
3. Oklou - obvious
Okay yes, this single came out at the end of last year, but I am just obsessed with this Oklou album, especially this song. Like I don't know what the fuck this ambient minimal dancehall shit is but, it feels like music made for fairies or something. Just incredibly twinkly and it makes me feel so warm inside. A literal earworm.
I graduated high school in 2013, so you know damn well this shit got me like the stupid sucker that I am. Just like lil2posh, thirteendegrees° is another Chicago native with a yearning for the positive vibes of early 2010s rap in his city. Like aesthetic and everything, I feel like I'm going to go back into my tumblr account to reblog gifs from this music video during class or something. From the classic throwback sample that's just genius to thirteen's throwback, almost I-Came-From-Nothing-like delivery, this is a record that you would need to find on Datpiff.com
Please Mr. Silvestre Can I Just Have The Album Already I Will Give You A Million Dollars
(No but seriously, this is just the apocalypse in audio form - The ending where the bass tones start harmonizing, I genuinely got scared lmao)
My most anticipated project of the year and it's going to be hard to top that, so good luck everybody else!