My Favorite Hip Hop Songs Of 2025

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Well, we made it through 2025, with 365 wild days and what seemed like 365 million songs released along the way. The volume of new music keeps climbing every year, and I keep doing my best to listen to as much of it as possible so you don’t have to. One of the biggest trends this year was the flood of releases from legacy artists—far beyond what we saw even during the 50th anniversary year of 2023. New music arrived from Wu-Tang Clan, Diamond D, Ice Cube, Slick Rick, Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, Kwame (yes, that Kwame), Big Daddy Kane, and Salt-N-Pepa, just to name a few. At the same time, we got a welcome breather from the so-called Big 3, with relatively little noise coming from the camps of Kendrick, Drake, and J. Cole. If there was a dominant force in 2025, it had to be Clipse, whose reunion gave us an album for the ages, paired with a brilliant rollout and an electrifying small-venue tour. All told, it was a rewarding year of listening—with more than enough beats & rhymes to fuel my long runs, commutes, road trips, and Saturday-morning errands while putting an extra bop in my step. Below are the songs that provided the soundtrack to my 2025.

Happy Listening.

Lamont

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My Top 10 (In Alpha Order)

Community - JID Ft. Clipse - As if Pusha T and Malice had not already accomplished enough in 2025, they still found time to bless us with these verses

Ensalada -  Freddie Gibbs - Gibbs could rap the phone book and I'd still be happy if he flowed like this

Free - Little Simz - Simz knows what real love feels like...freedom 

Pardon Me - Joey Bada$$ - World-class sh*t talkin' from Joey Bad

Small Talk - Ovrkast Ft. Samara Cyn - Every year Samara Cyn makes her way onto my list...here she provides a nice little assist to OvrKast

So Be It - Clipse - Thank Pharrell for the beat, Pusha and Malice for the lyrical masterclass and Swizz Beats for clearing the sample

Stick - Jim Legxacy - I could get used to this black british music, keep it coming

The Package - De La Soul - Joyful, soulful, lyrical and easy on the ears...vintage De La

Woes Of The World - Saba & No ID - When a gifted emcee and elite producer lock in, this is the result

Won't Stop - Gunna - Hard charging, relentless, overbearing...Gunna is indeed unstoppable

Honorable Mention (T25 In Alpha Order)

Belly - Wale
cLOUDs - J. Cole
Don't Tap That Glass - Tyler, The Creator
Dre & Sidney - Reuben Vincent & 9th Wonder Ft. Sweata & Raheem DeVaughn
Egypt (remix) - Westside Gunn Ft. Doechii
Gawdlley's Breath - Stalley
Get With It - Diamond D Ft. Sadat X
'Hol That - Reason Ft. Ransom & Coyote
The Hungry Artist - blxkout
Masquerade - Knucks
Shoot His Gun - Jarren Benton Ft. Demrick
Shootouts With Choppas Look Like Light Shows - Doley Bernays & Chris Crack
South Of France - Troy Ave
Top 5 - Ryan Witherspoon
Town Ballroom - Che Noir & 7xvethegenius

75 More To Round Out The Top 100 Playlist

4th Disciple - Ghostface Killah
Ace Trumpets - Clipse
Allrightythen - Marty & Brenno
Anxiety - Doechii
Armani Section - DJ Premier & Roc Marciano
Bad Choices - Larry June, 2 Chainz & The Alchemist
Banana In The Tailpipe - The Cool Kids
Band4Band - Central Cee & Lil Baby
Beno! - MoRuf
Blanco - Wale
Blue Velvet - Princess Nokia
Brand New - The Underachievers
Break Down - Neek Bucks Ft. Jadakiss
Chapo's Daughter - R-Mean Ft. Offset & Ty Dolla $ign
Coco Gauff - Mick Jenkins & EMIL
Cut The Lights - Armani White
Damage Control - Wale & Pusha T
Day In The Sun - De La Soul Q-Tip & Yummy Bingham
Day One - Childlike CiCi & Lecrae
Documents - Slick Rick & Nas
Drip BBQ - Metro Boomin
Drugs Callin (Remix) - Hurricane Wisdom& Lil Baby
Feel So Good - Amine
Fire Your Manager - Youngboy Never Broke Again & Playboi Carti
Friendly Fire - PartyOf2, Jadagrace & Swim
Generational Love - Smoke DZA, Killer Mike & Harry Fraud
GG Freestyle - Social Club Misfits
Ghost - Armani White FT. Samara Cyn
Gimme A Hug - Drake
Git Ready - Nas & DJ Premier
Glory - JID
Good Credit - Playboi Carti Ft. Kendrick Lamar
gsw vs sac - Earl Sweatshirt
hello - Gabriel Jacoby
Hold It Down - Awich & Rza Ft. Westside Gunn
Hop Out Cho Feelins - Kal Banx Ft. Smino & Buddy
Hundred Acres - Noname
I hate Your Friends - Coi Leray
I'm Not An Apprentice - Rexx Life Raj
Letter To My YN - DaBaby
Live In The Flesh - Statik Selektah, The Musalini & Wais P
Look At Me - Mobb Deep & Clipse
Makemealilmoney - Domo Genesis & Graymatter
Man In The Mirror - Mike
Maximum - Delivery Boys
Mercy - Aaron Cole
Might Let It - Jace & DJ Drama
No Money, No Problems - Kai Banks & Jon Kabongo
Nunya - Buddy & Guapdad 4000
One In A Million - Mutant Academy, Big Kahuna OG & Foisey
One Thing - Bia
Paranoid - Rich Amiri
Permanent Ink - DJ Skizz & Marlon Craft Ft. Mick Jenkins
Pop n Olive - Samara Cyn & Sherwyn
Prick - Westside Gunn Ft. Brother Tom Sos
Rap City - Deem Spencer
Road To Perdition - Jay Electronica
Room Of Smiles - BNYX
S.U - IDK Ft. Denzel Curry
Set You Free - Jack Harlow
Slur - Zio & 2% Reese
SOS - Lupe Fiasco
Star Side Intro - Chance The Rapper
The Story Of Adam & Eve - iAMLYRIC
Ten - Lady London
Told You So - Benny The Butcher
Touchdown - AJ McQueen
The Vibes - Jon Connor & Dizzy Wright
Wax On Wax Off - Awich, A$ap Ferg, Lupe Fiasco & Rza
When I'm Back - Mark Battles
Wild Corsicans - Raekwon, Conway, Benny, & Westside
Win - Adyb, Shuko & Roberto Di Gioia
Woke Up Knowing Everything - Open Mike Eagle
Write Back - Saigon & Buckwild
5 Dollar Pony Rides - Mac Miller


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