"Um why the fuck you posting this in 2026?"
Because 2025 was a piece of shit year that deserves to burn in hell for all of eternity and we're all gonna die one day.
After months of putting this off, I've finally decided to say fuck it and finally get this done. Had this listed out and ready back in like November but you know me and how I need to put needless information for everything lmao. While the world continues to death rattle on, 2025 was a pretty solid year for music. Another year of scenes flourishing and new artists emerging, while others just talk about the same 6 bands over and over again. I know I say it every damn time, but I really hope you can find some new shit on here. It's why I work so hard on this, so if I fail, just let me know so I can quit this shit lol (I mean it). I appreciate everyone's patience and willingness to read something this out of date, so let's get this started with some honorable mentions (these are all very good songs, so don't skip it; I just couldn't write 123942734 blurbs lmao):
Honorable Mentions
63OG (France) - poukwa (elle m'demande) [iyuuxi]
Hyroshii (France) - TENSION [Keyzee]
Naz Dth x Mdot 59 x Benzo x Jah Bandz x Sai x Woodat x Steve Hound (New York) - Double O Blitz
MONSI & MONZO ft TRAPMAT (Montreal) - FASHIONSHIT [kaotonyy]
Adamn Killa (Chicago) - Fall On [Warheart & Aria1k]
underaiki (Venezuela) - TRAMADOL [GOXAN GOYXRD TG]
Ceren (Germany) - Synergie [sebo]
neva pray (Chile) - sygen [500xoe]
Pop Kreep (New York) - Hoodie [???]
KURAIMOKHA FT. BBYCNTE (Chile) - OCASO [KURAIMOKHA]
deathtoricky (Ireland) - motives [bxxxy]
niall ashley (London) - My Heart Bleeds [Niall Ashley]
kirie (UK) - bitter [444jet]
DJ WEED (Mexico) - HEAVY BASS MUSIC
kynlary (Atlanta) - speedinperu [hhhcra]
snowtanks (US) - JAYS ON MY FEET [8T33N]
NEGROSO (Argentina) - DOLOR HUMANO
Uptkidd (DMV) - DIE [BiggBossButta & Antisocial Beats]
user116 (China) - 是人还是鬼 [dia6lo&epv]
Sherifflazone ft Skino (France) - MOOSE [TRAPMONEYBIGGIE & Yoyotheproducer]
SlimeGetEm (DMV) - Gore [Yoyotheproducer]
Hacked Apart (BC, Canada) - People are the Plague
Nick Leon (Miami) - Broward Boy (TreOhFie Remix)
Farucox (Lyon) - TAFOD#
bloody shield (Scotland) - This Is [Thirdeye and Eli-O]
ST6 Jodyboof (DC) - SLEEP [sjr]
In Which Divides Us (Inland Empire) - Promises to the Naive
the autopsy of jane doe (Long Beach) - The Name's Busch, But You Can Call Me Busch Light
Defacement (Netherlands) - Worthless
glaive (North Carolina) - Asheville [Jeff Hazin, Ralph Castelli, John Cunningham & glaive]
GONERVILLE (Utah) - HOWLS
Bby Eco (Amsterdam) - (i) [Bby Eco]
MR DUKE (Mobile) - SIZZLE MIX 3
Bri3 (Maryland) - Off Me [TNCDontPlayWithMe & baylord]
Yonaa (Milwaukee) - FBN [???]
HELLOLOLA & LA CHENNY (Argentina)- TURRA LÁTIGO [Hielo & GONZO]
Tracey ft. Riko Dan (UK) - Sex Life
Slimesito ft. Fluhkunxhkos & BeezyB (Atlanta) - Ice Kream Man [I guess the Ice Cream Man?]
Gab3 (LA) - Fashion [F1LTHY GAB3 WARPSTR ARKMANN LIKELIAM]
Number Collector (Japan) - Google Earth [endren & 444jet]
Zukenee (Atlanta) - KINO DER TOTEN [desmos]
DJ Arana (São Paulo) - Senta Olhando Pra Mim
Priori (Canada/US) - Thick Air (Loidis Reconfiguration)
AJ Tracey feat. Jorja Smith (UK) - Crush [Raheem Balogun, AJ Platinum & Nathaniel London]
Dead Hippie (Atlanta) - WAFFLES [Dead Hippie]
1-800-PAIN (US) - BODY COUNT [1-800-PAIN]
Eternity Chaos + Ghost Mountain (US) - DIE4U [Eternity Chaos and Ghost Mountain]
Lunice & Rustie (Canada/Scotland) - Patterns
BunnaB & YKNiece (Atlanta) - Innit [TheRechordz & Jupyter]
LuzyQV (France) - Maqila [Unogabe]
brodiebased (Houston) - Swaghili [hhhcra]
DISEMBODIED TYRANT (Missouri) - 8.6 BLACKOUT
I Promised The World (Dallas) - Bliss In 7 Languages
lil2posh (Chicago) - mama [mist341o]
Lancer (UK) - Fine [Lancer]
Irmãs de Pau (São Paulo) - MEDLEY DO NOVO FIM [Brunoso]
diamond* (Atlanta) - skys the limit! [???]
Onto the full 100 now
100. Selvnatt & Felvum - Pale Stars
Always gotta start it off with a "are you really ready for this bullshit" type song - Ukrainians are holding it down on the "black metal drainer rap" front, as these 2 are posted up in the villages making bloodcurdling noises over cold ass riffs. Like this is something I would daydream about in high school. A lot of this stems from fellow countryman and resident wanderer in the night Këkht Aräkh, as his 2023 single "Wanderer" feels like a spark of this style of cold, almost cloud-like rap; It baffles me how no one else has really capitalized on that sound. However in "Pale Stars," I feel like Felvum (the motherfucker that kinda looks like Bladee) shines here as it feels a bit more unorthodox in comparison to Selvnatt. Highly recommend black metal bladee's project from this year, as it's very in this vein.
99. Gvlli3 - Labubu Float [Prodbyche]
Y'all were either gonna get this or Labubu Funk, so be grateful. This is like post-Sexy-Drill or something. Just a beat that floating in the endlessness of space that doesn't have any intention of dropping and it just puts you in a trance while New York's Gvlli3 (fka Sha Gualla lmfao) is doing some sort of spell on the listener, crooning like an Italian Kid Cudi who did a fusion dance with Smoove'L. It's just so strange, yet incredibly lush and addictive. This dude has been tearing it up on the "YouTube 'Live Performance' Freestyle Industrial Complex," as many of his performances are these outlandishly hilarious workshops on how to be a pop star. Also a pretty underrated album from this year.
98. cult shφtta & tanboymiguel - sick kunt (R.I.P Zyzz) [Don Sahand]
Beautiful tribute to a top 5 Australian from Evil Alex Albon and a motherfucker named "tanboymiguel." They also got that dude who ran into all that tape and broke his neck in this video too. Song makes me want to listen to Basshunter lmao.
97. PSYCHO-FRAME - Blueprints For Idol Genocide
808 bass drops that clip through everything. Snare drum hits that sound like gunshots. Resident Evil samples. Dual crazy white boy vocalists. Emmure worship. What more would you want in your deathcore? Missouri's Psycho-Frame are one of the heaviest bands around today, as their latest album is just unrelenting madness.
96. Kasst 8 - They're Called 110s [lucwhatscooking]
Best Scouse rapper #imo
95. 1i1an1 - Swag [bloomcr4zy]
The fact that we're already getting Gen 1 Duwap Kaine Regens genuinely terrifies me. Like all the intonations are so similar, I start getting hot flashes. However, Chicago's 1i1an1 (lil ant.... I'm not fucking joking lmao) is someone who has been piquing me over the past year. Someone to keep your eye on in 2026.
94. MAC1OTA & YUNG13 - MEDLEY INFINITO
The São Paulo funk scene gets more insane by the second and two producers who have just scared the shit out of me have been MAC10TA and YUNG13; both act like they're nuclear sound physicists or something because I feel like my head is going to explode anytime I play something from them. This one in particular is just ridiculous - It just keeps building and building into more noxious noises and by the end, your eardrums are just a fine powder. Nothing better than that. YUNG13 did just drop an album at the end of the year that's just constant insanity like this.
93. Justice - Afterimage (Justice Remix)
Justice is always a weird act - That last album was a bit (a lot actually) of a stinker but there's always these slight glimpses of brilliance that these Frenchmen still show every now and then that give me comfort even though their peak is almost approaching 20 years now. Here's that little shimmer that they still got it, as Justice doing high-NRG gabber is a hard fucking left from any bloghouse act. Apparently this was an "Amazon Music Exclusive" originally which is funny as shit because that one dude listening to Gunna was prolly the only dude able to listen to it at first. Regardless, it shows that the "Justice remixing their own music" trick still works.
92. Nader Khalil ft. Nok From the Future - Blue Sky
Two sides of one of my favorite artists for the past 10+ years finally collide for the first time, as this combines both the internet-y side of NFtF's music and Nader's more traditional, middle eastern motifs. The type of song that puts a stupid goofy smile on my face. Highly recommend his recent interview on Free Palestine TV - Such an interesting person and artist.
91. ocelot with kastle - okk [ocelot]
The thing with underground music on Soundcloud is that it's never ever going to fucking stop unless we're all annihilated by the comet that shitted on the dinosaurs. With that, we've been approaching a level of fried that I didn't even know was possible, as we are getting artists exceeding the weirdness of the early 2020s SC who are just making pure zoomer sonic terror. The one who I really attribute this to this year has been this dude named ocelot - I don't know where the hell they're from but I haven't been this dumbfounded by an artist in a good long while, as jesus fucking christ. It's like they took blown out music and then blew it out again; it's so overwhelming, as you're always getting a barrage of different sound effects and explosions as if you're in the Soundcloud front lines yourself. ocelot's sound can be traced back to a lot of Jewelxxet artists like islurwhenitalk, while also taking inspiration by your average flagship underground artists like Xav, however most of the time, this is an entire beast in itself.
Take "okk," as you're immediately smacked in the face with a parking garage full of car horns and then some 808s that were put in the air fryer for about 5 hours. You can barely grasp yourself and then next then you know, you get instant fucking tinnitus. Combine that with ridiculous sound clips from Minecraft and Five Nights at Freddy's and a barely-understandable ocelot and then wrap it all up in a Geek Bar that's actually a 6 ton bomb, you get something that really keeps me hopeful for the future of the underground and its batshittery.
90. Sulfuric Cautery - Consummate Extirpation
Easily, the best metal act of 2025 has been the LA-based duo Sulfuric Cautery, as they answer the question "What would goregrind music sound like if we had a conga player?" Goregrind is a genre that can really deter the average listener because of the incoherent riffs, orc-like babbling, and just the noisy, harsh sound in general, however if you vermin can look past that, you can tell that this is a genre that relies on pure visceral terror. The band's first album of 2025 Killing Spree is the textbook example of that terror, as this entire album is just like being beaten with hammers; You can barely hear the riffs (like motherfuckers were out there making fan remasters to solve that lmao), because all you hear is Issac Horne's ridiculous hyper blast beats that cut through the mix like a possessed spirit; it's one of my favorites this year for that reason alone because it's one of the most impressive albums in the whole spectrum of grind that I've ever heard.
Later in the year, they decided to say, "What if we actually made the riffs listenable?" and they did that by making this Brutal Death Metal Goregrind monster that is Consummate Extirpation, as it combines the insane drumming of Horne and mashes it up with more complex, pinch-harmonic-heavy riffs from frontman Derek that feels like those crazy blunts where they put the fucking fairy dust powder with 2349% THC and then put wax that look like dookies - Probably lethal but you still gotta try it. The title track from the album really envelopes that next evolution of the band, as it's just filthy corrosive madness. Play this one for grandma!
89. More Eaze, claire rousay - hopfields
God there's something so Texas about this song (and entire album) that I love so much - I live in the middle of the Piney Woods forest over here, so I'm just accompanied by endless roves of massive green blurs wherever I turn. Both of these Texan gals invoke that warm and cuddly feeling with these psychedelically twangy guitars that clashes with this purgatorial drone that can move mountains. Eaze's beautiful violin playing later accompanies this drone that turns into this lush angel. Just breathtaking stuff.
88. Skepta, Finessekid - Sirens (From Ireland) [Lee & killthissonny]
Skepta's best track in ages??? And it's on a jerk beat, so you're expecting like an Orlando Magic Patrick Ewing performance, however he just smashes this here with one of the hottest young rappers in the UK right now, Lambeth's Finessekid. The Yoruba in the hook is a nice touch too.
87. Ms* Gloom - Joker [Ms* Gloom, silent$ky & Gabriel Schuman]
Late 2000s/Early 2010s goodness here. I feel like this girl is like a lost Gossip Girl character or something. Feverish, hazy electropop from a super underrated artist.
86. Dj Aldair el rey de la chancadera feat. El bleiker - Full Chancadera
Doble Paso is so fucking insane man lmao. Shit's reggaeton on speed in the most ridiculous way possible. Lima's DJ Aldair is easily the best I've seen do this style. Brain-smoothening goodness.
85. xannaholik - evrything is so wronggg [rico yyiwinny]
xannaholik is another one of those Soundcloud kids making zoomer terror music like ocelot, however this song in particular... I don't know what they put in this thing but this became one of my most listened-to tracks for some reason. Sounds like they're putting a spell on you while the track itself is this rocket ship that's about to blow up during its launching sequence. Just unbridled anxiety here.
84. Miimii ft Dj Skycee - Sé Miimii
Bouyon might be the greatest genre to ever exist man - It rules over the Caribbean, and it's even starting to catch on in larger Francophone regions (you'll see later), as it has some of the most irresistible grooves on any corner of the world. Guadaloupe's Miimii shows what that's all about here, as her commanding hold over this insane metallic beat could make any dancefloor start levitating.
83. Ninajirachi - Fuck My Computer
I don't know all about the wanting to bonk your computer thing however that Ninajirachi album might be the closest a modern album has gotten to the true grittiness and vibe of late 2000s bloghouse. This track gives me crazy Bloody Beetroots flashbacks. May bloghouse never die!
82. THEODORA - MASOKO NA MABELE [ThisizLondon, AoD & Jay Keys]
France might be the best music-making country in the world at the moment. I know that can piss off some folks, but like, they are genuinely making some next level shit. Take French-Congolese aritst Theodora and her incredible deluxe album/mixtape/thingy MEGA BBL - It's a masterclass on how to mix all of these different genres/styles from Africa, the Caribbean, and all over and make it an unstoppable force. The standout is easily "MASOKO NA MABELE," a guitar-driven (shit sounded like a Riot beat for second lmfao) bouyon banger that sounds like going through the sickest rainbow road you've ever seen. Couple that with probably the best music video of the year? Please do not sleep on this woman for the love of god.
81. Dialryckx - Avoir [Purptokyo]
I never know what Swiss Doodlebob is saying, but with just the way that Lausanne's Dialryckx carries himself like a mystic goblin, I can just never get enough.
80. Vson - Makala [londonthrasher]
The dark prince of South African underground has been one of my favorite discoveries as of late. South Africa has been flourishing over the past 2 years with rappers like BrotherKupa, jaykatana, and K1llbrady, however with Johannesburg's Vson, he's such an enigma to the scene with their outlandishly weird vocal inflections and just the way he goes about himself. He sounds like what Carti would sound like to a 120 year old person; Almost incoherent. The beat for "Makala" almost sound like Muslimgauze for fucks sake (londonthrasher so underrated), while Vson is putting some sort of spell on you as you just sit there in bewildering fear. The type of music to give you a weird feeling but in the nicest way.
79. jujuvr - 130 backpack supreme backpack [xaviersobased + 22juggn]
It's unhealthy how much I've played this over the year and this was even before that scary ass baby meme. Barely over a minute long but it's seriously some of the most addictive bits of music this year, as every time I put it on, I have to run it back at least 5 times before I'm done. Jerk heaven.
78. keiyaA - take it
The way this turns from this jazzy, drum-fill-crazy sultry number to futuristic ghettotechy, 2-step brain-rattling madness is just insane. Another underappreciated album from 2025.
77. MfanaTouchLine - Prada Le Balenciaga [MfanaTouchLine]
The South African underground breakout star of 2025 has easily been Pretoria's MfanaTouchLine. While others that I mentioned in the Vson blurb are great, I feel like Mfana is the one who takes the most influence from music in his home country than anyone in that scene. Take his late-buzzer-beater-AOTY-contender Ntjaka, as it's just a mismash of so many South African styles which makes it the definitive album of this underground scene so far. My favorite track of his this past year has been "Prada Le Balenciaga," which is a callback to a 2005 Pretorian club banger "Naja," as it's been refurbished in a much more modern lens. Practically impossible to not move to this shit.
76. Diorbgs - Snatching Whips [walronD!]
I didn't know the St. Louis rap scene fucked with *youtube voice* 1c-xaviersobased-jerk-underground type beat, however Diorbgs made one of my favorite tracks this year with this ethereal, riding-in-the-clouds ass song.
75. DJ ROCKIE - I’m really the creator of this shit.mp3
I've listened to an unhealthy amount of New Orleans Bounce throughout my life, however this song/mix/whateverthefuckthis30minutethingis might be the most insane thing I've ever heard from the genre thanks to bounce mad scientist DJ ROCKIE. This is just straight up 30 minutes of the same sample being manipulated and drawn out to the point where you are in NOLA bounce purgatory. It doesn't feel like it will ever end and you just don't want it to ever end. Get you a sweat towel for this one.
74. DJ BN DO MARTINS ft MC MARLON PH - 10 MINUTOS DE MUITO ENTRETENIMENTO
Speaking of purgatory, this is another track that just feels like a purgatorial void that's never going to stop. Ipatinga's DJ BN DO MARTINS has emerged as one of my favorite funk producers at the moment, as he mixes these inhumanly deranged Minas Gerais-heavy drum patterns with some of the most hypnotizing loops I've ever heard in my life. This 10 minute track in particular, I've played at least 100 times this year. I put that shit on and I'm just frozen in my seat til the end. I don't know what they put in this but I might have to start going to church or something soon if weird shit starts happening.
73. Myaap - Fairy [ChristianGetBizzy]
This shit sounds like if Joanna Newsom was a baddie from Milwaukee. So strange but one of the most addictive songs of the year.
72. Percatric - short circuit [hiisoulja]
Percatric finally getting some love by being the batshit insane Indianian that he is makes me so damn happy. Ridiculously unique flow while choosing to rap on some of the craziest shit anybody's even attempted to try. While there's more insane stuff that's he's been on, there's nothing that exhibits the chaos in his music more than "short circuit." Sounds like the last moments of a robot when he got shot in the head or something. God bless music man.
71. EthoSuave x Mdot 59 - Top 1 [pat2calm] / Mdot 59 - Free Bmw [Yen5am & versss.9]
My favorite emerging New York rapper in 2025 was The Bronx's Mdot 59, as this kid has been making some of the hardest shit in the city all on Bandlab! While he might look like Jayson Tatum if he took a straightener to their head, Mdot is just ruthless man. An energy that makes you want to run through a brick wall. Couldn't decide between these two because of the Dangaropa sample in the first one and then just the late 2010s NY Drill feel that "Free Bmw" has. Hopefully he's a force to be reckoned with in the future (Dropped a good ass album in January to prove me right lol)
70. KatyWentMissing - The Unmatched Presence of a Grilled Cheese
Myspace Deathcore coming back over the past few years has really made me do a full reappraisal of the entire genre, as I wasn't the most keen with it back in the day, and what a fucking dumbass I was. Seriously, this is like the Walmart Hot Dog of metal music - Fucking grotesque and embarrassing, but still hits like a freight train. Texas is really putting on for this stuff with bands like San Antonio's KatyWentMissing. I first heard of them due to the Twilight-influenced, FuseTV-music-video-ass song "Bullets for Bella" that just blew me away, so I had to check out their other stuff and low and behold, they made the greatest song about grilled cheese ever made? Like a breakdown that got the dude saying "GRILL ME A FUCKING CHEEESEEE" is supposed to make you laugh endlessly, however you start crowdkilling grandma at Sunday dinner instead. Hoping for more awesome shit from these guys in 2026.
69. Effie - 2025기침 [Prod. kimj]
Busan-born, Seoul-based artist Effie was a without-a-doubt highlight of 2025 with their very internet-laden, hypomanic rendition of K-Pop that is indebted to Korean-American producer kimj's generationally insane chops - This pairing here is just undeniably good. This one is particular feels like a giant dragon breathing fire all over Seoul, while Effie is riding on top of that motherfucker carelessly singing chromatically like it's just a normal day at the park. That dragon of a beat from kimj is so hilariously blown out, as if their computer is literally crying in pain due to the noise. So much fun here.
68. 3 - Sturdy [balenci02]
Another crazy partnership is South Carolina rapper 3 and enigmatic producer balenci02. These two have some of the weirdest (and hardest), most ethereal songs in the underground, as balenci's signature bounce feels like you're hopping between celestial clouds or something. "Sturdy" feels like there's some mad god going berserk with some bells, as their ominous tolls are met with a floating bass groove that feels like you're listening to some ambient techno club music in 3025. Very BFTD2-like. Underground music made for androids lmao
67. pinponpanpon - Tea Party [frenchcries]
Probably the hardest girl idol group in the world? Tokyo trio pinponpanpon almost feels like a parody of J-Pop at times, however with Hawaiian producer frenchcries at the helm, this is some really hard-hitting serious shit. It has that tinge of internetty hyperpop-ness however they're pulling from so many styles and genres, so it's always a crap shoot when you get a new song from these gals. "Tea Party" sounds like a god damn Nero's Day at Disneyland/Lauren Bousfield song with its chaotic breakneck opulence, as if someone threw an ion grenade inside of a royal palace. Those breaks/snare rolls that pop up at the chorus feel sudden lightning attacks lmao. Such a fun ass song. pinponpanpon will be touring the US this year for the first time so don't sleep on them!!!
66. Lil M.U. - Top Of Cars [DeloMixedThis]
What happens when you live inside of a car horn factory and all you watch is Wala Cam videos lmao.
65. Tenxi, Suisei & Jemsii - mejikuhibiniu
NEW GENRE ALERT
I mean at least for us dirty foreigners who live under a rock and don't know what's going on in one of the largest countries in the world. Indonesia is seriously one of the most underappreciated music countries, as it's almost never talked about by the normal reader, however I've learned over the last couple of years that you're dumb as fuck if you're not keeping up. Once I heard Jungle Dutch for the first time, I had to learn where the hell this even come from and I feel like (my fellow Indonesians please smack me if I'm wrong) the main heartbeat behind all of their music is Dangdut and its signature percussion. Like that groove is like a neuron activating to me lmao. The way their traditional music has been revised and built upon over the past couple of decades is one of my favorite music developments out of any corner of the world.
Now Gen Z kids in Indonesia have taken that and mixed it with the hip hop they hear overseas and it has turned into a whole new monster of popular dangdut music called hipdut. When you hear some of these songs at first, they just sound like regular ol' hip hop, but then you hear them damn drums come in and it feels like all hell is breaking loose in your head. The ones who have pretty much popularized it have been artists Tenxi, Suisei, and Naykilla, while producer Jemsii has been the mind behind making these incredible beats. "mejikuhibiniu" almost feels plugg-y at parts but then that dangdut rhythm brings it all together to make this regional euphoria not many can reach. It's just so bubbly and fun. Get in the damn know!
64. Pretty V - #2BaddiesFighting [Arigatoray]
One of the best true outsider artists right now. Just really out there shit like this Coldplay flip that has no right to be this majestic and good. Large output of work that more folks need to know about.
63. zayok - Still love still love still love [zayok]
Absolutely beautiful work from South Carolina artist zayok, as their album In elsewhere was one of the year's most underrated releases. Ridiculously good self-produced R&B that just hits hard. The swells in this song are so good, I feel like I'm going to pass out. Just makes you feel.
62. Dayarga - Capote [Litleboy]
More French bouyon madness with Dayarga's "Capote" and this is the shit you put chairs on your head to. Just dancey, infinite fun that really pays homage to 90s/2000s African music videos with the wacky outfits, sets, and dancing. Think this is his only bouyon song too, as more of his music is very pop-Rap-Caviar-heavy, and it's prolly his best song too.
61. Jeune Morty - Bieber [Silver Knight & VKKNG]
Not even a few seconds ago I was complaining about French people doing American rap, however the best French rapper right now is doing Atlanta worship like he was born there. Choisy-le-Roi's Jeune Morty had a hell of a 2025 popping off as one of France's best rappers, with Eponyme being one of the year's best albums period. You hear a couple of songs from this guy and you start feeling like a sommelier the way you can sense different tinges of guys like Young Thug, Takeoff, and even Chief Keef in his music. "Bieber" was like the "Oh Shit" moment for me with this guy. Sounds like he's rapping over an obscure PS2 JRPG while Morty's doing Thugger Jutsu Poses. Undeniably good.
60. Dj Danifox - Rua do Abismo
While there's always an incredible abundance of batida tunes every single year, my favorite from 2025 was weirdly from a Principe compilation, however Lisbon's DJ Danifox really did put something in this tune. "Rua do Abismo" almost feels like an alternate reality where grime was made in Portugal for some weird reason - It's incredibly cold while being super melodious with these beautiful lines of accordions and marimbas that really tear at the heartstrings. Bring in that vocal sample that would feel more at home in a DJ Q song and that tactful, commanding percussion, you get why so many music writers like to use the word earworm because this shit is for real just crawling in your ear and you weirdly can't get enough. Still, one of the best ridiculously good genres/scenes out of any part of the world.
59. HappyDranker - Googly Eyes [Rich Wanny + Trapboy3k]
The epitome of Post-Skrilla-Philly-Apocolyptic rap is a dude who got a $500 gift card to Party City and got the scariest looking dog mask I've ever seen in my life. I don't know but that shit unsettles me man. Regardless, this mysterious dude can fucking rap. He's slowly been building up buzz in 2025 as one of Philly's best. Looking a whole ass GTA Online character.
58. Llondon actress - country [Llondon actress]
57. BABY MEL - SURROUND YU [Mike Gotti]
He might sound like he belongs on Yo Gabba Gabba, but Montgomery's Baby Mel has really molded himself as one of the best rappers in the South. Get heavy Bankroll Fresh vibes from him. That old-school Future callback is irresistible and Mel's energy got you sitting up in your bed at 3 in morning trying to figure out how you could make more money.
56. Ayesha Erotica - Menlo Park
The finale to Ayesha Erotica's precum feels like the last pop song ever made before our inevitable annihilation. Like The-Meteor-Is-In-The-Air-And-We-Can-All-See-It-And-We-Know-We're-Fucked type world ending situation here. While Ayesha creates something here that would be on The Evil Cursed Side of a Kitsumé Maison Compilation back in 2006, this is blown-out pop bliss that fills every crevice of my hallow skull. Music that you drive your 1997 convertible off of a really steep cliff.
55. MEXIKODRO - HEIGHT [BapeBrazy, Rott & Lov3]
54. Violent Magic Orchestra - Channeling Lurking Demons
Oooooooooo weeee man am I excited to talk about this band. Osaka-based project Violent Magic Orchestra was originally a collaboration between Japanese post rock band Vampillia and one of the dudes from Yellow Swans, where back in 2016, they released this noisy collage of black metal that was one of my favorite records of that year. Fast forward to the past couple of years, VMO has just been solely been the folks from Vampillia where they have been making some godforsaken cyber techno trance gabber rave black metal monster that is unlike anything I've ever heard in my life. "Channeling Lurking Demons" is the perfect amalgamation of all of these fucked up combinations because one second you're getting blast beats and then the next moment, there's a fucking trance dance break, like what the fuck are you guys doing and why is it working so well?????? Just a messy hodgepodge of ridiculousness that shows why VMO are one of the most underrated acts in the world at the moment.
53. Feng - XOXO [Feng]
I know a lot of people kinda hate this guy and think he's ass, but anytime I listen to Feng, I just picture myself back in my room playing FIFA 12 practice arena with Santos Neymar doing a buncha juggling tricks and shit. Obviously the nostalgia-baiting is apparent with the sample, but I don't know man it just works. Real Nike Roshe Run Music.
52. Vialice - Two Drugs [Vialice]
Sometimes you come across an artist and you're immediately like "Oh Shit New Character Unlocked" and Chicago's Vialice is exactly that type of individual, with their signature red and black facepaint looking like he's Kane's cousin or something. But seriously, this kid is a student of the mid 2010s Anti-Wrld/Sad Boys dojo or something because I instantly get brought back to that era with his music - Just hazy, up-in-the-cloud goodness. He has such a wackiness about him in his music videos too. Two great tapes from '25 and hoping for more in the '26!
51.Young Eman ft. eline vherodia - popstar in da bits [Young Eman and vandèuxx]
I started learning about Brits and their culture in like the late 2000s, so this whole thing means a ton to me lmao. Watching Skins and learning what the fuck chavs were - It was like teaching a caveman theoretical physics. Regardless, Sheffield's Young Eman is emerging as one of the best faces of the UK's loaded underground. His latest songs sound so grandiose and full of fanfare, as if you're at the Champions League final or something. Also shout out that girl Eline because she really makes this song sounding like a damn siren in the sea. Just so damn good.
Um, so yeah, not done with the last half yet, so if you made it to here, just take a fucking break man lmao
Thank you so much for reading this far and can't wait to share the last half next week! Take care!