Top Songs of 2025, So Far

Plus: Kendrick's dancer arrested, Lorde's fourth album, Benson Boone's #1, and Lewis Capaldi drops a courageous track.

June 27, 2025

👋 If you're tired of "playlist this," "algorithm that," you probably just need human curation that actually slaps. Billboard’s team spent months separating the TikTok wheat from the streaming chaff, and honestly? These 50 tracks prove real taste still matters.

Read time: 4 minutes | 1,148 words

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📀 Top 50 Songs of 2025 (Top 5)

2025 is shaping up to be the year music found its perfect balance between nostalgic comfort and fearless innovation. While the charts remain dominated by 2024's most stubborn earworms—Benson Boone, Shaboozey, and record-setting Teddy Swims refusing to relinquish their top 10 strangleholds—something more intriguing is happening beneath the surface.

The past keeps crashing into the present with resurgent catalog hits from Coldplay, Lorde, and Charli XCX proving that great songs have no expiration date, while simultaneously, a new generation of artists is announcing themselves with boundary-pushing boldness. The full list is here.

1. Kendrick Lamar & SZA - "Luther" | ⭐ 4.4/5

The crown jewel of 2025's musical landscape wasn't just a song—it was a cultural phenomenon. Kendrick Lamar and SZA's "Luther" dominated the charts with a staggering 13 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100, while simultaneously breaking records on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

Built on the foundation of Luther Vandross and Cheryl Lynn's classic sounds, "Luther" transforms nostalgic soul into something entirely contemporary. The former TDE labelmates created what Billboard calls a "swoon-worthy ballad" that imagines an idealized world where love conquers all pain. Their layered harmonies create an almost spiritual listening experience, anchored by Cheryl Lynn's original angelic vocals weaving through the chorus.

The track's live performance history reads like a masterclass in cultural impact. From its Super Bowl halftime show debut to stadium performances across their ongoing Grand National Tour, "Luther" proved that intimate R&B can command the biggest stages. The 2025 BET Awards recognition for best collaboration was just the cherry on top of a year that truly belonged to this dynamic duo.

2. Doechii - "Denial Is a River" | ⭐ 4.4/5

Doechii didn't just release a rap song—she delivered a generational statement piece. "Denial Is a River" reached that rarified air of verses that transcend music into pop culture lexicon, joining the ranks of iconic rap moments that anyone under 30 can recite verbatim.

The Florida rapper's breakthrough hit from "Alligator Bites Never Heal" showcases an artist operating at multiple levels simultaneously. Her narrative capabilities paint vivid pictures of personal growth and industry navigation, while her sharp wit and emotive delivery keep listeners hanging on every word. The song's most innovative element might be Doechii's decision to literally argue with her own inner conscience, creating an internal dialogue that feels both deeply personal and universally relatable.

Peak performance moments elevated "Denial" from streaming hit to cultural touchstone. Those eye-catching late-night and award show performances helped push the track to its No. 21 Hot 100 peak, but more importantly, they introduced mainstream audiences to one of hip-hop's most inventive artists. Even the song's closing heavy-breathing exercise became a quotable tagline—proof that Doechii understands how to create moments that stick.

3. Bad Bunny - "DtMF" | ⭐ 4.0/5

Bad Bunny flipped the script on digital detox culture with "DtMF," a meditation on regret wrapped in irresistible Caribbean rhythms. While everyone else preaches about putting phones down and living in the moment, Benito offered the opposite perspective: maybe we should capture more of life's fleeting moments before they slip away forever.

The title's acronym—representing his four-week Billboard 200 chart-topper "Debí Tirar Más Fotos" (I Should've Taken More Photos)—tells the whole story. This isn't just nostalgia; it's a philosophical statement about memory, documentation, and the weight of moments we let pass unrecorded. The song's meditative slice of plena, a traditional Puerto Rican folk genre, carries social messages through organic percussion and sing-song call-and-response structures.

"DtMF" proved that introspective reggaetón could still dominate global charts. The track's No. 2 Hot 100 peak demonstrated Bad Bunny's ability to blend traditional Caribbean sounds with contemporary production, creating something that feels both deeply rooted and completely modern. For a song about moments that slip away, its melodic melancholy has proven remarkably hard to shake.

4. Lady Gaga - "Abracadabra" | ⭐ 4.2/5

When 2025 needed a soundtrack for "dancing while the world burns," Lady Gaga delivered "Abracadabra"—a chaotic, maximalist pop masterpiece that hard-launched her Mayhem era. The track captured the essence of recession pop, that peculiar energy of finding joy amid uncertainty that defined much of the year's musical landscape.

The song's structure operates like a sonic pressure cooker. That grinding, industrial post-chorus builds tension to nearly unbearable levels, only for Gaga's elegant vocal to provide immediate relief—before the cycle begins again. It's pop music as emotional rollercoaster, designed to keep listeners simultaneously on edge and completely entranced.

Those seemingly nonsensical words in the power-pop chorus might actually contain magic. Little Monsters everywhere found themselves transfixed by Gaga's return to form, suggesting that "Abracadabra" succeeded in casting whatever spell it was attempting. The track represents everything fans love about Gaga at her most unhinged: theatrical, unpredictable, and utterly compelling.

5. Sabrina Carpenter - "Manchild" | ⭐ 3.2/5

After her "Short n' Sweet" era proved her hitmaking abilities, Sabrina Carpenter returned with "Manchild"—an instant Song of the Summer contender that continued her ongoing investigation into modern masculinity. This Jack Antonoff-produced track feels like a sonic sequel to her first Hot 100 No. 1 "Please Please Please," but with one crucial difference: Sabrina's done hoping for better.

The song's resignation is its secret weapon. "Oh I like my boys playing hard to get/ And I like my men all incompetent," she sings with the weary acceptance of someone who's stopped expecting emotional maturity from her dating pool. It's pop music as therapy session, where admitting you're attracted to "stupid," "slow," and "useless" men becomes a form of empowerment through acknowledgment.

The twangy production adds the perfect sonic framework for Carpenter's relationship autopsy. While her love life might sound "spotty," her ability to soundtrack summer months grows stronger with each release. "Manchild" proves that sometimes the most infectious pop songs come from the most honest places—even when that honesty involves admitting you're consistently attracted to emotional disasters…

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