best of 25

looking back, 2025 was one of the best years for music in recent memory. the list could be endless: a playboy carti release, a new lady gaga album, sabrina carpenter's attempt to build off of last years success, a taylor swift album that tries to be sabrina carpenter, and the return of clipse. newcomers to superstardom like geese, olivia dean and dijon brought their all with on-repeat classics. more locally, artists like chase plato, tommy fleece and racing mount pleasant found their footing in their respective genres. while a very brief recap, if one thing was certain — this year had something for everyone. 

with so much happening in music, after assembling all of the releases and moments, it seems pointless to try to and give a ranking to the countless releases, so instead, i've divided it into categories to give a 5 item list of what was most memorable to me, in no particular order.