Each year at NPR Music, we curate two flagship lists: The Best Albums of the Year and The Best Songs of the Year. But there's a lot more recommendations and criticism where those came from. You'll ...

Welcome to the sound of public radio in 2025. Our list of the best 125 songs of the year was curated by more than 60 writers and DJs across the NPR Music Network, and runs the gamut of sounds, scenes ...

In these 100 songs, you’ll hear lusty dubstep, quietly subversive electronic pop, regional rap bangers, alt-country odysseys, ubiquitous chart-toppers, and much more. We were drawn to songs this year ...

This year in Afropop, a whispery Ghanaian It-Girl shook the world, a Francophone trio remade Bastille Day in their image, and East African R&B stars took romantic tension to new heights. Meanwhile, a ...

Country women have delivered some truly great music in 2025. This list of the 12 best country songs released by females features several contemporary hitmakers, one absolute legend and a woman who ...

Rap in 2025 was all about experimentation. From the year’s first runaway hit, NBA player-turned-musician Gelo’s single “Tweaker,” to the maximalist ecclesiastics of Playboi Carti’s Music, or even in ...

(KTLA) — Pop culturally, the year tends to wrap up by early December, at least with music. Few artists want to drop anything they care about amid the holiday rush and the domination of holiday music.

Listen to 48 tracks that broke new artists, blew apart genres and revived beloved sounds. By Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz Jon Caramanica On the one hand, living in an environment in which sounds ...