Welcome to Listening Habits, a column where I share the music I’ve been fixated on recently.
After working in music journalism for over 10 years, if there's one thing I've come away feeling it's a true hatred for making lists. The very process of having to pick 10 or 20 or 50 or 100 of the best songs or albums or whatever and make it sound definitive is annoying in itself. When you add the inevitable consternation from the readership, then it becomes even more untenable. There's not one list I've ever made where I didn't immediately regret something about it: either I left something off I shouldn't have, or ranked something higher than I would've even a month later, or ignored something fun because it didn't seem serious enough for the prestige implied by these lists. The idea that any reader would treat a list as definitive, rather than just the collected opinions of people who listen to so much shit that they've lost their grip a little, actually baffles me. But here we are, at the end of the calendar, trying to lazily fill the weeks before the last two big holidays of the year with lists and recommendations.
Well, this time around I am not here to make any grand proclamations. The following songs are the ones that defined MY 2025. Some of them you might like, some you'll probably hate, and none of it is presented in any sort of ranked order. It is the kind of perspective that Apple's or Spotify's end-of-year surveillance printouts cannot provide, as it reflects the unquantifiable impact that music has had on me in the moments of life it has accompanied.
The Song That Made Me Feel The Oldest
Thirteendegrees – "Da Problem Solva"
I wrote about this in a previous column, but as much as I enjoyed Thirteendegrees' two projects from this year, BLACK FRIDAYZ and Clique City Vol. 2, watching a rapper mine the Tumblr era for nostalgia is one of the more demoralizing things to happen to me this year. The Tumblr era was the prime of my youth, in all its embarrassing glory of Chicago Bulls snapbacks and models who all looked like Cassie somehow. The idea that this time is already ripe for reinterpretation by a new generation was a lot to handle. Great music though.
The Song That Made Me Laugh The Most
KP Skywalka – "4 Tha Freakas"
I cannot recommend you listen to this song at work or in any place where someone else might hear it, and although "Morgan State" is the better song, nothing has made me laugh more than KP Skywalka's dirty sex romp "4 Tha Freakas," an ode to sex that would make Uncle Luke shed a tear. It's the audacity of it, how proudly explicit it is, which eventually veers into pure comedy, which I don't think is an accident.
The Club Record I Enjoyed The Most
Cash Cobain feat. Bay Swag and Rob49 – "Trippin on a Yacht"
I have written plenty about Cash this year and I fear his sound is already reaching overexposure, but for one glorious moment when this song came out he was still one of the more exciting producers making that leap to the big time. Even now when I listen to this song after two shots of bourbon I feel like DJ Khaled riding with the top down.
Favorite Use Of A Sample
Pig The Gemini – "Don't Play With Love (Interlude)"
Pig is for the romantics. She yearns and evokes passion on her songs. So the combo of her and a sample of The Cranberries' "Linger" make a potent mixture, giving you something you can feel. It's good when rap music can make you cry.
The Rap Song I'd Send To My Normie Friends
Key Glock – "Glockaveli"
I really liked Key Glock's big album of this year, Glockaveli. The man is in a tough position, carrying the flag for a label started by his cousin Young Dolph before his untimely passing. Glock always had his charms but Dolph was the star. To Glock's credit, he's not trying to be anything but himself, which he really excels at. Plus that Memphis sound just makes you wanna move your feet.
The Rap Song I'd Send To My Weirdo Friends
MIKE & Niontay – "Shaq & Kobe"
Sometimes it feels like MIKE, Earl Sweatshirt, Niontay, and the various rappers in that orbit are on a quest to try and deconstruct rap to some sort of primitive, opening of 2001: A Space Odyssey form. On "Shaq & Kobe" both MIKE and Niontay rap like they're falling off a ledge and into a drug-induced nap, and yet it works. It's incredible stuff, but only for those who get it.
The Album From This Year I Listened To Most
Playboi Carti – MUSIC
To be fair, it's like 30 songs on here, and that's a time commitment in and of itself. My thoughts haven't changed much since my review.
The Album From Last Year I Listened To Most
454 – Casts Of A Dreamer
I really just want any excuse to recommend this album as much as possible. The best project of the past two years.
Favorite Song Made By A Friend
zayALLCAPS – "MTV's Pimp My Ride"
I would say this even if I didn't know him, as he's making some of the most fun art rap you can find. All kinds of great weird shit on his latest record, art pop pop art, which you should check out.
Best Global Record Currently Outdoing America
ODUMODUBLVCK & Wizkid – "Big Time"
This spot could also go to Bad Bunny's "NUEVAYoL" as well. At this point, it's just reality that the biggest rap records in the world aren't being made in America. This isn't totally a bad thing. Rap is better as a genre of rebellion like punk, and we could use a lot less Top 40 music within its ranks. But seeing the big records that emerge from all over the world speaks to how influential hip hop is and how the rest of the globe has used it to platform their own culture. ODUMODU is making afro-drill, which is a wild combination, and Bad Bunny has become the biggest star in the world melding pop, rap, and reggaeton. All this cultural mixing is beautiful to see, even as the fascists try to re-segregate us all.
The Best Song By A Big Artist
Tyler, The Creator - "I'll Take Care of You"
I guess I should've put a Kendrick song here. Or a Clipse record, that would've been more popular. I'm not gonna pretend that I loved Tyler's latest album, but he is excelling at pop songwriting in real time. That said, it's probably telling that the two best songs on his album don't feature any of his rapping. I guess "Don't Tap The Glass" is cool.
The Actual Best Clipse Record of 2025
JID feat. Clipse – "Community"
It will never stop amusing me that after this drawn-out album rollout for the return of the Clipse, not one song on their new reunion album reaches the heights they touch as featured artists on JID's excellent album God Does Like Ugly. I guess that's how you define irony.
Other 2025 Rap Songs Worth Highlighting
Baby Osamaa – "What's The Word"
Rio Da Yung OG & RMC Mike – "Back Again/Liquor Store"
A Few of My Favorite Non-Rap Songs of 2025
Home Is Where – "Artificial Grass"
Rosalía & Yahritza Y Su Esencia – "La Perla"
Leon Thomas & 4batz – "Lone Wolf"
Kelela – "All The Way Down (unplugged)"
If you would like to contribute something or ask a question for future installments, email me at israel@defector.com.
