Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
The end of the year is a time of much joy and jubilation. We have the holiday season, which usually means some days off with the family and, hopefully, good eats. However, it’s also the time of year when reflection typically morphs into a multitude of lists detailing this or that about any number of things that have transpired over the past year. Platforms that dabble in specifics drop their best 10, 25, or 100 (whatever number) albums, books, movies, electronics, etc.
My favorites are the album lists. To start, it feels like albums are becoming increasingly niche. I grew up in an era when I would wait outside in line at Tower Records, located near Lenox Square Mall in Atlanta, on Monday nights to buy the newest releases from Janet Jackson or Erykah Badu. I continued to do the same when I moved to Washington, D.C., in 2001, until the retailer closed its doors in 2006. Tuesday was the day.
Now, everybody drops on Fridays, and instead of a bunch of album releases, there are a million singles. It feels like the music industry is algorithm-dependent now, so dropping singles instead of bodies of work is understandable, but for people like me (dinosaurs, perhaps?) I want a complete thought to analyze, critique, enjoy, and rank in an artist’s canon. Le sigh…but we move on.
As someone who loves albums, 2025 has been a great year for me personally. There are several albums by artists I know and artists I’ve only recently learned of who have dropped projects for me and you, your mama, and your cousin, too. Because I believe that caring is sharing, here are eight albums released in 2025 that have been on constant repeat…and maybe you should play them over and over again, too.
Wale “everything is a lot.”
I’ve long written about my relationship to and with Wale’s music. Because he’s from D.C., I always feel a certain desire to listen with more intention to his projects than those of other artists. But at the same time, I’ve always felt like most Wale albums showed flashes of brilliance, but mostly left me wanting more. Not this time.
On “everything is a lot.” his 8th studio album, I felt straight up like this is the album Wale has been telling us he’s had in him since he showed up. It’s introspective and personal, displaying various parts of his personality while also jamming. The song “Belly” is probably the best song of his career simply for how real he gets about who he is, but the entire project is worth the listen. In 2025, Wale did his big one, and to top it off, he got not one but TWO shoe releases with Nike–the most no-brainer collaboration that should have happened years ago. Point is, “everything is a lot.” should be on your year-end list. Sabi sabi sabiiii.
Anaiis “Devotion & The Black Divine”
I first came across Anaiis, a Senegalese-French singer-songwriter, earlier in 2025 after a song called “BPE” popped up on some playlist I was listening to. Her voice was haunting, and the subject matter caught me. “BPE” stands for “Brown People Everywhere,” which she sings with such force that, had the album been “Black People Everywhere,” I think we’d have had another anthem.
With that said, I dug into her catalog and was mad at literally every person who had heard of her but hadn’t told me about her. My anticipation for her album was at a fever pitch, and when it dropped in September, I just hit play and let that thing ride out. I don’t even know how to properly categorize her sound as she covers so many bases. Vocally, she is a powerhouse, even if most of her singing feels so subdued. If you’re looking for a great album from an artist you probably don’t know, look no further than “Devotion & The Black Divine.”
The Clipse “Let God Sort ‘Em Out”
The Clipse’s album was preceded by one of the best album rollouts in recent history. When the two elder statesmen of rap at this point (Malice is 53 and Pusha T is 48), dropped “Let God Sort ‘Em Out,” for weeks, all folks could talk about was the lane that the Virginia-duo-plus-Pharrell have carved out in the culture.
The raps were as concise as ever, and while the Thornton brothers are never straying far away from the coke rap that made them famous (along with the Pharrell co-sign and production), it felt more pointed and purposeful this go around. Honestly, I’m not sure I saw The Clipse as an entity mattering as much as they did in the year of our lord 2025, but here we are, and they surely did.
JID “God Does Like Ugly”
Aside from being one of the Blackest album titles ever, and a nod to what I’m pretty sure is a Blacks-only statement (“God don’t like ugly!”), JID delivered a project that was punchy and laced with amazing production and take-no-prisoners lyricism. I wasn’t even a JID fan before this album, which might actually be blasphemy based on the response people have had when I’ve said as much. I’ll take it because I’m all in now. For instance, the record “Of Blue (featuring Mereba)” might be my absolute favorite record of 2025. I mean, seriously, listen to this record; the beat alone just digs into your skin and soul. In fact, hold on…brb. I had to go listen to it again. Point is, JID’s “God Does Like Ugly” is easily one of my favorite albums of 2025 and also manages to double as one of the best.
Chance The Rapper “Star Line”
I’ve been a Chance The Rapper fan since I first heard his classic “mixtape” “Acid Rap” back in 2013. I’ve written about him and followed his career through its ups and downs, so when Chance releases an album, I’m waiting right there to check it out. “Star Line” is no different. One thing about every Chance project is that the production and sound are so dense, so developed, so intricate, and so thoughtful that even if you are turned off by his voice (as many are), if you can just hear him out, you can hear the talent bursting through each record.
“Star Line,” a nod to the infamous Black Star Line of Marcus Garvey, is an album that embodies reality, Black empowerment, and aspiration for the community. Chance has been on a mission in the past almost-decade to use his voice to speak truth to power and improve the lives of Black people. His medium is music, and “Star Line” is a great entry into that canon. It is definitely one of 2025’s best projects.
UMI “People Stories”
One of my favorite musical discoveries over the past 10 years has been UMI, a Seattle-based singer-songwriter who was a student at the University of Southern California when she broke into the music business. I found her song “pretty girl hi” via Shazam, from her 2020 EP “Introspection,” and I’ve been on the bandwagon ever since. 2022’s “Forest In The City” stays in rotation, so it only stands to reason that when she dropped 2025’s “People Stories,” I was all in. UMI’s sound is folksy, and her words wistful, but ultimately, when I need something to ride to late at night that feels like a modern quiet storm, UMI’s “People Stories” is my go-to.
Olivia Dean “The Art of Loving”
Can I be honest with you for a second? I actually had no idea who Olivia Dean was until there was some controversy about her and Ticketmaster on social media. I was like, “Who is Olivia Dean?” I pulled her up on Spotify and saw that her song “Man I Need” had something like 400 million streams, and I realized, “Oh, I’m the problem here.”
I hit play and felt like the song jammed enough for me to keep listening, and then I heard, “Lady Lady,” and well, I was different. The vocal design on it ALONE had me in my whole feelings. Then I dug into the lyrics, and then there were horns—oh, the horns. After that, I started the album from the beginning and haven’t looked back since. If there was one album this year that I couldn’t live without, it is 100% Olivia Dean’s “The Art of Loving.” Is it my favorite album of 2025? I think so. I (heart) it so so much.
De La Soul “Cabin In the Sky”
Since 1990, De La Soul has been one of my favorite groups. On May 13, 1991, they released my favorite hip-hop album of all time, “De La Soul is Dead.” Like most groups whose heyday was in the 1990s, though, the idea of them releasing an album that is not only dope but modern and relevant in (arguably) a young man’s sport seems far fetched, but like The Clipse, De La Soul popped out and showed folks that they still have it, dropping an album full of nods to the era from whence they were raised but with modern twists and turns that feel right at home in 2025. The album is especially resonant because it’s the first since the passing of Dave “Trugoy” Jolicoeur, a founding member of the group, who passed away in 2023. I fell in love with hip-hop as a 10-year-old, and De La Soul was part of that romance; I’m glad that love still exists in 2025.
Panama Jackson is a columnist at theGrio and host of the award-winning podcast, “Dear Culture” on theGrio Black Podcast Network. He writes very Black things, drinks very brown liquors, and is pretty fly for a light guy. His biggest accomplishment to date coincides with his Blackest accomplishment to date in that he received a phone call from Oprah Winfrey after she read one of his pieces (biggest) but he didn’t answer the phone because the caller ID said “Unknown” (Blackest).
