A Year-End Music List...

I’m going to preface this post with a confession.

I actively dislike year-end music lists.

Imagine the conundrum I found myself in when my friend Matt (whose year-end piece is genuinely excellent) suggested that I put together a list of my own.

Was I about to cross the line from disliking lists to actually sharing one myself?

What follows is my best attempt at showcasing the albums I really dug in 2025 while also outlining what I actively dislike about these types of lists.

My number one peeve with year-end lists is a lack of ranking criteria.

Does this list represent your FAVOURITE albums of the previous year or the albums that you consider to be the best?

Take two albums – John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme” and Rumpletilskinz’ “What is a Rumpeltilskin?” (a relatively obscure early ‘90s hip-hop album).

If you asked me which was the better piece of music, there’s no question that I’d answer Coltrane with little hesitation.

That said, I will spin the Rumpletilskinz album nine times out of ten if given the choice.

We should also distinguish the albums we love now and those we think we’ll love in five years. I call this the Benny the Butcher test.

Benny’s ‘Burden of Proof’ album was one of my 2020 faves. I also can’t remember the last time I ever thought to give this record another spin.

Since this list is personal, my criteria combine my favourite albums of the year with those I’m confident I’ll still be spinning in five years. In other words, the albums I enjoyed enough to purchase physical copies of.

Without further ado, here are my favourite albums of 2025 (in no particular order):

Whether I copped the physical – on vinyl, CD, or as a digital download - was central to how I built my list.

Given how easy it is to listen to almost anything for $9.99/month, the sheer number of options becomes overwhelming, making it far too easy to discard an album if it doesn’t grab you immediately.

If you purchase an album, you’ve invested in the album. You’re going to give it spins. It’s not just “one and done”.

This leads me to my second gripe surrounding year-end lists – Quantity over Quality.

I must admit that I chuckle when I see lists with “The top 125 albums I listened to this year”.

Let’s keep it real: no one is able to fully digest 125 albums in a year. You might have had them on in the background or while at the gym but the listening is not deliberate.

To that end, here is my list of 2025 albums that I enjoyed but I didn’t get to spin as much as I would have liked:

There’s a clear theme in my selections thus far: they’re mostly hip-hop. That’s where I spent the vast majority of my listening time in 2025.

And it brings me to my final major issue with year-end lists – they can be performative in nature and not authentic.

So many of the lists I see look almost identical. The same albums, shuffled into slightly different orders. Why is that?

Did everyone listen to the exact same albums this year?

Did everyone love the Geese album and I’m the only one who is out to lunch?

My take is that there’s a subtle pressure at play. People who publish lists are often hesitant to stray too far from the consensus, for fear of negative commentary or being seen as having “bad taste.”

That raises another question: why do so few of these lists include any pop music?

Sabrina Carpenter is on the radio constantly, especially if you’re chauffeuring around two kids (11 and 8) who don’t want to hear Wu-Tang B-sides in the car.

Yet, her album rarely showed up on year-end lists.

Maybe it’s because people who primarily listen to whatever is on the radio don’t publish lists at all. Or maybe those albums don’t feel “serious” enough to include.

I don’t know the answer to that question but I do think it reinforces the idea that many of these lists are shaped as much by how listeners want to be perceived as by what they actually enjoyed.

That’s why my list looks the way it does. I just turned 50, and at this point I care far more about enjoying the music I love than whether anyone else approves of it.

Looking back at the albums I loved this past year, I found that I gravitated towards artists such as Earl, Navy Blue and Evidence due to their lyrical content. Their music focused on themes such as finding yourself and dealing with personal issues, which fit nicely with my own personal journey.

In the spirit of being authentic, I’ll finish this with 2025 albums that everyone else seemed to love that I wasn’t feeling:          

I take my listening seriously. Music is a passion of mine.

With that in mind, I’m always looking for ways to improve my listening experience.

Here are my four intentions for 2026.

I’ve long been a proponent of physical media (and digital purchases to support the artist when physical options are not available/affordable).

Streaming has its place as well but I’m not in love with where I see the streaming industry going (and don’t get me started on Spotify as a company).

So, for 2026, the focus is going to be on listening to the albums that I own on vinyl or CD. For on-the-go listening, it will be downloaded (legally!) copies on my iPod.

While working on this piece, I realized that most of my listening happens alongside something else: work, making dinner, working out.

It’s increasingly rare that I will sit down and focus on a single album without multitasking.

I think this matters a lot.

When I listen intentionally, I pick up on details that I might otherwise miss: a specific lyric (‘Did he just say that?’), masterful drum work, or (especially with hip-hop), a cleverly flipped sample.

I know we are not supposed to “sample snitch”, but while listening to the Hit-Boy & The Alchemist album last week, something clicked.

Where have I heard this before?

Instead of heading straight to WhoSampled? (which, by the way, doesn’t list it), I spent entirely too much time thinking it through but eventually figured it out.

Genius work by the producer. Extra credit for Jeff.

Much of my listening is driven by two things: vibes or whatever concerts I happen to be attending.

When I was struggling mentally in late 2023, my soundtrack skewed heavily to late-era Radiohead, Interpol, and Sea Change-era Beck.

2025, by contrast, carried a more optimistic “Let’s Get It!” mentality, both personally and professionally.

I was also fortunate enough to attend shows from Cypress Hill (with De La Soul and The Pharcyde); Wu-Tang Clan; Raekwon and Mobb Deep, and Earl Sweatshirt.

This resulted in a strong underground hip-hop slant.

In 2026, I’d love to make space again for other genres that I love: indie rock, jazz, and crunchy guitar riffs.

For 2025, though, the albums I loved reflected where I was at in my life.

Earl, Navy Blue, and Evidence when I was focused on getting stronger mentally.

Westside Gunn and Clipse when I was in the gym, working on my physical strength.

billy woods, Armand Hammer, and Gabe ‘Nandez while I was positioning my business for long-term success.

These albums defined my 2025.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this list: tell me where you agree, or where I’m completely out to lunch.

More importantly, let me know which albums and artists defined your 2025.

I’m always looking for something new to dig into.