Sunday Special: The Best Music of 2025

What It Covers

New York Times music critics review 2025 as a disappointing year for mainstream pop releases, with no consensus album of the year, but highlight standout records from Bad Bunny, Lady Gaga, and emerging artists.

Key Questions Answered

• •Bad Bunny's cultural curation: Debbie Mas Photos mines Puerto Rican musical history using 18-20 year old instrumentalists, creating intergenerational dialogue that expands his fanbase beyond Latin music while maintaining contemporary production values and electronic elements throughout the album's runtime.
• •Post-breakout artist strategies: Chapel Roan released only two singles after her massive 2024, while Sabrina Carpenter rushed out a full album. Strategic withholding creates stronger anticipation than oversaturation, as demonstrated by artists who resist streaming era pressure to constantly release content.
• •Producer-as-artist trend: Dijon exemplifies the rise of experimental producers becoming solo artists, blending avant-garde fragmented sounds with accessible themes like new fatherhood. However, studio expertise doesn't always translate to compelling live performance, requiring separate front-person charisma development beyond production skills.
• •Taylor Swift's cultural exhaustion: The Life of a Showgirl dominated Billboard charts as number one album but faced unprecedented criticism. The AMC film release charging fans twenty dollars for glorified lyric videos felt cynical, shifting conversation away from music toward commercial exploitation.