By Mikael Wood, August Brown and Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — Pop music was not at all safe this year from the encroachments of an AI industry determined to slop-ify everything it can. Yet the proliferation of great songs — written, performed and savored by people — raised the hope that all is not lost. Here are the 25 best of 2025.
1. Bad Bunny, “Baile Inolvidable”
Bad Bunny has made it clear: Everything he does is tied to Puerto Rico. Here, in what he’s dubbed “Benito’s take on salsa,” he sings about the dance of a lifetime over an orchestra of synthesizers, congas, trumpets and an isolated piano — a six-minute ode to the island’s roots and influence on the genre. And just like that, salsa has become cool once again. — Cerys Davies
2. Karol G, “Ivonny Bonita”
Karol’s history-minded, history-making “Tropicoqueta” LP lovingly combs through the generations of Latin music that made her a global superstar. “Ivonny Bonita” splits the difference between past and present, with a come-hither bachata swish over Pharrell-produced bass hums. — August Brown
3. Chappell Roan, “The Subway”
The vocal performance of the year. — Mikael Wood
4. Justin Bieber, “Yukon”
Bieber will never escape the power of his high-pitched voice, whether he’s 15 years old singing “One Time” or 31 in this meditation on his favorite SUV. — C.D.
5. Doja Cat, “Jealous Type”
’80s-pop cosplay so convincing that folks in 2025 forgot to make it a real hit. — M.W.
6. Dijon, “Higher!”
Take an absolutely exultant R&B track, then let a cat walk all over the punch-in triggers on the mix console. — A.B.
7. Addison Rae, “Fame Is a Gun”
Want to know how this TikToker became an internet It girl overnight? She spells it out clearly in this pop-star manifesto. — C.D.
8. Rosalía, “La Rumba del Perdón”
Rosalía’s album “Lux” feels like Ken Russell’s “The Devils”: A woman possessed of celestial talents fights it out with the god who abandoned her. It’ll go down with knotty LPs by Tori Amos and Fiona Apple that contort classical traditions to tangled, personal ends, and this track sums up her mission beautifully. — A.B.
9. Miley Cyrus, “End of the World”
A disco queen shoegazes into the void. — M.W.
10. Olivia Dean, “Man I Need”
She wants to dance with somebody (who satisfies her). — M.W.
11. Sofia Isella, “Out in the Garden”
“Evil’s genetics will trap you in flesh … Blood escaping like it hates being inside me.” — A.B.
12. Kehlani, “Folded”
The best R&B is always rooted in the art of yearning. — C.D.
13. Charlie Puth, “Changes”
The long tail of “Sob Rock.” — M.W.
14. Drake and PartyNextDoor featuring Yebba, “Die Trying”
For proof of concept, check the unauthorized SoundCloud mash-up with Morgan Wallen’s “Heartless.” — M.W.
15. Amaarae featuring PinkPantheress, “Kiss Me Thru The Phone pt 2”
They always say the sequel is never as good as the first one. In this homage to Y2K club music, Amaarae and PinkPantheress beg to differ. — C.D.
16. Tate McRae, “Sports Car”
While Timbaland is off making AI nonsense, McRae’s sultry single clatters like his best 2006 work. — A.B.
17. Huntr/x, “Golden”
Says it goes up, and that’s what it does. — M.W.
18. Hayley Williams, “Parachute”
Being angsty has never not been cool. If there were any doubt, though, Williams clears it up with this infuriated tale of betrayal. — C.D.
19. Taylor Swift, “Ruin the Friendship”
The storyteller lives. — M.W.
20. Maruja, “Look Down on Us”
Ten virtuosic minutes that veer from filthy, noise-decayed bass and hardcore circle-pitting to exalted cosmic jazz and a gasping sentiment that almost, maybe resembles hope for our dismal present. — A.B.
21. Clipse, “So Be It”
“Calabasas took your b— and your pride in front of me” is a hall-of-fame L.A. insult. — A.B.
22. FKA Twigs, “Hard”
Can’t wait to hear this sweaty electro earworm at a rave under L.A.’s 6th Street Bridge. — C.D.
23. Sombr, “12 to 12”
The zoomer wedding dance-floor anthem of 2035. — A.B.
24. Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”
“He always loved ‘Amarillo by Morning’ / I should’ve taken that as a warning.” — M.W.
25. Shelly, “Cross Your Mind”
To hear that Clairo too is chasing the glory days of being a 17-year-old in suburbia — as heard in this single by her old band Shelly — is proof that bedroom pop will never die. — C.D.
©2025 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
