StonesJournal

This list is entirely opinionated. Debate and other points-of-view are encouraged. The best thing about music is that you can never be wrong. Here are AJ Stone’s top ten albums that came out in 2025 and why each of them made the list!

Written By: AJ Stone (12/25/2025)

10. You Can’t Kill God With Bullets (Conway The Machine)

Conway The Machine makes a late jump onto my list with his fifth studio album, You Can’t Kill God With Bullets. The Griselda influence is strong throughout this gritty, unapologetic project. Conway uses soulful samples and slick production from producers like The Alchemist, Conductor Williams, Timbaland, and more. He continues to excel at delivery, using sharp bars and bold tone.

​This album centers on drug-fueled lyrics, blended with top-tier production and depth. The intro, Gun Powder, starts with a moving speech about Black empowerment and systemic injustice. It segues smoothly into Conway’s direct approach. The next highlight is ‘BMG,’ the third track, a brash celebration of Conway’s life and heritage. He shares what he’s endured and sees himself as a kind of martyr. ‘Mahogany Walls,’ more laid-back, still conveys Conway’s self-empowerment. A Conductor Williams beat pairs with Conway’s punchy rhymes for a sonic standout. The outro features a raw freestyle by phone, adding a chilling touch to the otherwise mellow song. ‘Se7enteen5ive’ sounds like it could be from a Westside Gunn album, and Conway dominates the gritty chords and chopped samples. The closing track, Organized Mess, sums it up with vivid cocaine bars, feeling like luxury laced with danger.

​Conway consistently crafts a soundscape capturing the essence of the drug world and those who climbed from nothing to greatness.

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9. DON’T TAP THE GLASS (Tyler, the Creator)

Throughout his now lengthy music career, Tyler, the Creator has built a reputation as a songwriter who continues to grow and embraces change. Tyler’s ninth solo album explores an entirely new layer of his artistry and creative process.

​DON’T TAP THE GLASS takes a contemporary approach to a Tyler album where he’s no longer imploring reflection and reaction, but your own self-expression through his music. This comes in the form of an exceedingly well-executed dance album that Tyler was adamant about being a “for fun” project, and man, is it fun. The intro, Big Poe, is nothing more than a club banger that gives mature Cherry Bomb vibes. Production sounds like a wild animal thrashing about. Pairing the genius of Tyler the, Creator and Pharrell has yet to disappoint. After a great tone setter, Tyler takes us to the dance floor with Sugar On My Tongue. This song has SO much attitude and doesn’t shy away from stealing the spotlight on an album full of perfectly executed tracks.

The second half of the album takes on a more light-hearted process that hands the listener a one-way ticket to emotional bliss. I’ll Take Care of You perfectly exemplifies the emotions that Tyler seems to be searching for. Although it encourages the listener to enjoy themself it doesn’t neglect the responsibility of wanting others to be well-endowed in their own right. This song wants to enjoy the moment but preserve the love. It’s very hard to imagine a track that demonstrates this feeling more concisely and attractively.

​Tyler found a new lane to dominate with this album, and the sheer flexibility of his artistry knows no ceiling. At this point in his illustrious career, it’s near impossible to deny that Tyler belongs on modern music’s Mount Rushmore.

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8. AIN’T NO DAMN WAY! (KAYTRANADA)

2025 has been a year to let go and embrace dance music. One of the music game’s most underrated producers and performers, KAYTRANADA, released what might be his best album to date in AIN’T NO DAMN WAY!. This album offers an exciting take on bubbly production paired with chopped samples, creating an atmosphere where you can listen, dance, or reflect. A very exciting modern dance album that warrants a listen.

​Exploring from various perspectives, KAYTRANADA delivers a dance album full of flavor, excitement, and the willingness to break free from expectations. AIN’T NO DAMN WAY! opens with the energetic dance track SPACE INVADER. The song features an eccentric build-up, and the female vocalist complements the electronic vibe. Another highlight is DON’T WORRY BABE/I GOT U BABE, which invites movement while conveying an emotional theme. The album remains accessible and direct in its appeal. For KAYTRANADA’s fourth studio album, the well-crafted melodies and harmonies reveal both beauty and depth.

​KAYTRANADA does what he does best on this album: he entertains. His production makes you want to get up and jump around. His samples make you bop your head to exhilarating vocals. His ability to create and work with others is something that should be admired by his peers. It’s time to give KAYTRANADA his flowers as a top producer and artist in the game right now.

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7. From the Private Collection of Saba and NO ID (Saba and NO ID)

NO ID’s legacy has been long cemented in the rap game as he holds production credits on Heartless (Kanye West), Find Your Love (Drake), Mr. Rager (Kid Cudi), and 4:44 (Jay-Z). That being said, it truly speaks to his artistic integrity to creatively invest in a young emcee like Saba. Since the release of his first big break, CARE FOR ME, Saba has found his footing as a lyrically focused hip-hop artist who knows his way around well-produced tracks and pairs his elite lyricism with a catchy flow. This specific piece from the duo is more of a mixtape than an album, but possesses some true hitters. When you give a young and hungry creator access to the creative genius that is NO ID’s production, you get a top ten album.

​The Private Collection is packed full of catchy hooks, gorgeous melodies, and an exquisite feature list. This well-maintained grouping of sonically intriguing songs introduces itself to us with Every Painting Has a Price. A spirited look at Saba’s life to this point that teams up with uplifting background vocals from feature legend BJ The Chicago Kid. Another one of my personal favorites off this tape is 30secchop. An experimental song that pairs bars with exceptional vocals and a piano in the background that could entrance the sleepiest of the seven dwarves. 

The closing song on this project, a FEW songs, employs St. Louis’s finest young star, Smino. The unconventionalality of Smino carves out his own lane by mixing layers of hip-hop, RNB, and even a sprinkle of indie music. Smino and Saba dominate a NO ID beat that most people would drown in and do it alongside the hypnotic vocals of Love Mansuy.

​From the Private Collection of Saba and NO ID is what music is all about. Talented artists showcasing their talent for art, not fame. A collection of underrated emcees, legends, and future stars come together to create one of the genres more underrated albums to date.

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6. 12 (Westside Gunn)

The head of the Griselda syndicate has once again had a wonderfully successful year to add to a growing catalogue of musical excellence. With his unique voice, ad-libs, and vocals mixed in with immersive production from Denny LaFlare, Conductor Williams, and Daringer, Gunn capitalized on the seasonality of his sensational style and continues to remain ahead of the creative curve. This project is a testimony to an ongoing legacy that has been born in the hip-hop underground and continues to claw its way into the mainstream limelight.

​Griselda member Stove God Cooks makes appearances all over 12, including songs such as BOSWELL, ADAM PAGE, VEERT, 055, and DUMP WORLD. Stove’s attitude and feature brilliance seem to be effortless at this point when it comes to his Griselda collaborations. His self-loving, cocaine-refurbished rhymes over the choir on DUMP WORLD are the perfect example of how Gunn and Co. have maintained staying a tier above the rest. There is no other rap group in the game that can create an emotional audio environment that maintains a clearly macho attitude that screams, “I’m the best even though I’ve seen the worst.”

Gunn only rides solo on one track, and it happens to be my favorite song. OUTLANDER didn’t need any features. Westside Gunn was made for the spotlight. He talks like he’s preaching to the people who doubted him while also encouraging those who are currently going through the highs and lows of the human condition. The high-life culture of the Griselda G.O.A.T. brushes off on those around him, and the production behind his solo song speaks to his internal greatness. A background full of complex ad-libs layered over an almost jazz-like experience that softens the blow of his verbal gut punch.

​Westside Gunn may retire soon, but the mark he’s left on modern hip-hop won’t soon be forgotten. The originality behind his creative process is unique in what he alone has created within music, art, and fashion. The definition of an artist in a world that’s forgetting what true art looks like.

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5. Alfredo 2 (Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist)

Freddie Gibbs has become the king of modern underground hip-hop. Pairing his unceasing flows and rhymes with the otherworldly production of The Alchemist has proved to be a recipe for success in the past, and it maintains its potency in the form of Alfredo 2.

​This sequel is not only a sonically pleasing album, but also one that hits the eardrum with a certain attitude that I fear only Freddie can truly encapsulate. Gibbs doesn’t have many features to pair with his exhilarating performance throughout this project, but the ones that made the album are truly breathtaking. Anderson Paak. gives us one of the better features of 2025 on track four, Ensalada. Paak’s ability to create his own vocal beat while running in tandem with The Alchemist’s glowing production is a window into the musical genius of everyone who finds themselves involved in Alfredo 2.

​Freddie’s best performance comes on the outroA Thousand Mountains. The Alchemist provides a smooth flute sample that Gibbs slides on like he’s verbally sledding in “Christmas Vacation. The best-produced track is likely the intro, 1995. The Alchemist steals the show from Gibbs just for a quick interval with some hard-hitting guitar synths and a build-up that Freddie still finds a way to perform alongside. Lavish Habits sees Gibbs take shots at other people around the industry. Freddie “Kane” has never been one to shy away from beef in the past, and he maintains the bars to back up his loud attitude.

​Freddie Gibbs has slowly but surely become a force to be reckoned with sonically. A staple of consistency in a genre that seems to have lost its identity in the world of modern music. Gibbs is the calm in the eye of the storm for the rap game and has yet to disappoint to date.

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4. Let God Sort Em’ Out (Clipse)

The Virginia-born brethren have BURST back onto the music scene with a passionate, unforgiving, and emotional project that feels like it brings parts of hip-hop back from the dead.

​If one of the rap game’s late legends were to make a ghostly appearance in today’s world, this might be the album I would show them. Pusha T and brother Malice have always had their own lane carved out in the rap game. Their cocaine caviet bars aren’t quite as braggadocious as the Griselda clique, but their lyrical excellence and mastery of craft is quite literally second to none. Let God Sort Em’ Out is a perfect example of what happens when you supply true emcees with beats that they don’t have to carry.

​The production on this album is enough to warrant a listen all by itself, and that’s before delving into the heart-wrenching, mind-altering, aggressively passionate bars presented by Pusha and Malice. There’s no clear-cut MVP on this album. Malice might have the best verse, but Pusha continuously holds his own on every track, and the features truthfully don’t have a single miss.

Chains & Whips employed the musical genius of Pharrell Williams AND Kendrick Lamar. This quartet of greatness solidified to drop one of the best tracks of 2025. So Be It is likely the best-produced track on the album and has some Pusha and Malice bars scattered throughout that make you raise an eyebrow or two. Not only did Clipse add a gem to an already timeless collection of albums, but Pharrell Williams also inked another sonic infinity stone by being the lead producer on yet another legendary album.

​A once-in-a-career type of album from Clipse that speaks to the progression of an ever-evolving rap game. The brothers have given me hope that the age of hard-nosed rap legends isn’t necessarily forgotten, but has rather been in more of a stalemate.

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3. Rocket (Dominic Fike)

Dominic Fike has made a career out of his entrancing voice, catchy hooks, and playful production that challenge you to take it seriously. Rocket is one of Fike’s deeper projects that takes a more introspective look at his life and the lives of those coexisting around him.

​The Florida native maintains a joyousness throughout this album, but pairs it with a deeper and more brooding approach to the heartfelt tunes we’ve all gotten to know him by. A true king of his own genre, Fike finds a way to blend his soul into the modern trends and vibes of a nonstop society that rarely takes a moment to look in the rearview mirror.

​The intro track All Hands on Deck envisions life from the perspective of a man who’s willing to look an ugly and unfortunate world in the face and meet its gaze with a grin and a solemn point of view. It sets the tone for an album about internal happiness that doesn’t neglect all of the lowpoints a person will have to venture through to garner what happiness truly entails. 

Fike’s personable outlook on his own life comes paired with peppy love songs that are attuned to slower melodies. This allows his masterful voice to take over and shine in the brightest of lights. This album is a gorgeous piece of art that deserves its flowers.

​Dominic Fike has had some distinctions about his artistry brought up in the past, of being a bit of a “hit maker, but Rocket has changed everything, and it might never be the same (for the better).

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2. Son of Spergy (Daniel Caesar)

The current king of RNB Daniel Caesar, flipped a page in the story of his beautiful journey to the promised land of musical immortality with a graceful, soulful, and heavenly project focused on his father and his deep roots in Christianity.

​Son of Spergy starts with the intro track Rain Down, which is truly just a masterful worship song from a duo we’ve all been waiting for. Pairing the likes of Daniel Caesar and Sampha never should’ve taken this long. Sampha’s feature only adds to an unbelievable performance from Spergy’s son. The production of Son of Spergy is one of its critical acclaimations. Mustafa and Jordan Evans put in unimaginable work. Although when producing for a voice as perfect as Daniel Ceaser’s, it must be more of a joyous campaign than a job.

​Touching God is my personal favorite song on the album. Even though this album is forthcoming about its Christian roots, Daniel isn’t shy about his own experience within his religion. He talks about how he knows his own truth of the lord and how help is being “withheld” on a track that builds up like a soul-infused rollercoaster that takes you down an introspective curve. Features Yebba and Blood Orange continue the flawless work of collaborators on this immaculate piece of art by executing the chilling outro that pairs well with a climax that knows no bounds. 

On track six, Who Knows, Caesar takes a real look at modern love and shows vulnerability. A track that explores how many people romanticize very ordinary things around them and get wrapped up in their own thoughts to the point of no distinction between reality and dreams.

Who Knows bridges the album together and truly makes the listener lachrymose, compiled with the joyousness of the lord that bleeds through the rest of the album, this creates an emotional paradox. Sins of the Father serves as the outro and has been dissected in every degree by fans due to its deep meaning and layers of truth. Daniel explores the similarities he sees between himself and his father, but also how he handles the circumstances in a completely different manner.

​The cycle of “Sins of the Father” doesn’t necessarily end with Daniel, but it evolves and has turned into his own path to happiness. This album might emit Christian energy and values and definitely upholds them, but the true purpose of Son of Spergy is for the singer and songwriter to take a look in the mirror and realize who they really are.

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1. Blush (Kevin Abstract)

Blush is an enigma. There isn’t much about this album that’s easy to understand or articulate. A collection of vulnerable and atmospheric tracks that push the boundaries of modern music. Kevin Abstract upholds the latter part of his name, being devoid of constraint by the trends of the current music industry. This album has songs that will: make you cry, make you smile, make you think, make you feel, make you believe, and make you have to LISTEN. It’s really hard for me to demand more from a piece of art than to make me feel. This album makes me feel everything.

​A chilling introduction interlude leads straight into H-Town, a song full of attitude and moody rhymes that are supplemented by an angelic singing piece to pair with intimidating background production. The autotune and vibe throughout this project are very comparable to the former greatness of the musical group Brockhampton. Following up on the first track, Copy is a vulnerable melody about love and loss. An emotionally contemplative song that explores the themes of longing for lost love and awaiting the return of something that is more or less long gone.

​A recurring theme on this project is the consistent quality of feature artist Love Spells. Tracks such as Yoko Ono, NOLA, Post Break Up Beauty, 97 Jag, Doggy, Girlfriend, and Bloom all employ the services of the seductive vocals that Love Spells brings to each track. Her best performance comes on the song Doggy which was added as a deluxe after the album’s initial release. Doggy explores the theme of loving someone to the point where loss brings you to the precipice of hatred. A track that presents a truly haunting theme over an addictive and peppy beat, with lyrics that bounce and drift over production that sounds like a smile.

Dominic Fike finds himself intertwined in another top 10 masterpiece when it comes to Blush. The author of Rocket resides on songs such as Maroon, Geezer, and Doggy. Fike’s intoxicating delivery and vocal stimulus add a layer to the alien production of Kevin Abstract and Quadeca that this album needs to remain interesting in all facets, rather than just being a deep and brooding listen.

​The energy throughout this project is otherworldly, and there isn’t much left to say other than to implore you to give it a listen.