The Rise of Latin Music in the USA

Latin music has had a place in the popular music zeitgeist for decades now, but it really wasn't until the 90s that it exploded into the pop charts in the USA. Artists like Ricky Martin, Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, and the legendary Selena were a huge part of the Latin music boom of the 1990s. The success of those artists would continue into the 2000s as new artists and genres emerged in the Latin music scene, and they would continue to find huge success in the charts here. 

In 2004, Puerto Rican artist Daddy Yankee would open the doors for a new genre with his iconic song "Gasolina." The rise of Reggaeton in the early 2000s was the next big step for Latin music after the pop music of the 90s was starting to fade away. Reggaeton was a game-changer for not just Latin music but music worldwide as a whole. The genre had existed for a few decades, finding its start in Panama. Here in the USA, though, we saw the rise of artists like Don Omar, Pitbull, and Wisin & Yandel help the reggaeton genre keep rising in popularity in the 2000s. This is all important to what would eventually come in the 2020s. But, before that, reggaeton had its time in the spotlight for a few years before it went away for a short time. Like with all trends in music, things eventually become oversaturated, and the genre slowly loses its popularity. 

Enter the 2010s, and we get a new style of Latin music called Urbano that starts to take off in the charts, and that's the more pop-sounding tropical Latin songs with some reggaeton elements still in there. The biggest hit from this came when Daddy Yankee teamed up with Luis Fonsi to make the song of the summer in "Despacito". You also had artists like J Balvin, Nicky Jam, and, of course, Bad Bunny start to take off around this time. Lots of mainstream artists outside of the genre were also trying to use this "urbano" style to get hits, too. We saw the likes of Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, and Drake all try to ride the wave of popularity and were mostly successful in doing so. 

All this leads to the current decade of the 2020s, where things are certainly changing. The whole "urbano" movement ran into the ground by this point, with all the artists trying to ride its popularity like I mentioned, so things needed to go in a different direction for Latin music. Enter Bad Bunny. In 2020, he released the album "YHLQMDLG", and it helped shift Latin music in a new direction. A return to the more club-centric style of reggaeton, with perreo. The album was a huge success for Bad Bunny, and it would eventually lead to his most successful album yet, a few years later. "Un Verano Sin Ti" was the album that took over streaming and launched Bad Bunny into superstardom across the world. It was his most ambitious project yet, and the experimentation in his music paid off, as it was hugely successful and was even a nominee for best album at the Grammys. Latin music in the 2020s has really promoted more experimental sounds and different genres, not that it wasn't happening before this, but it feels like more artists are being recognized from the Latin music world here in the USA. I mean, Bad Bunny just performed at the biggest televised event of the year in the USA, so that should tell you something. More artists are getting that kind of spotlight now, and it should just be the start.

Talking about modern Latin music and its rising stars, I figured I could mention a few projects here from the last few years that are standouts and worth checking out if you want to dive into some new music. 

The Marias: Submarine

A band that has music in both English and Spanish. They started getting big in the early 2020s, but it wasn't until "Submarine" came out in 2024 that the band would get their music on the charts. Actually, they did technically have a hit before this with a Bad Bunny collab back in 2022, but I would count that more as a Bad Bunny hit. They were actually just nominated for the Best New Artist Grammy, but didn't end up winning. Still, that's nothing. The album "Submarine" is their best work so far, though it's a great alternative album that really elevates their established sound. It's a more dreampop sound compared to their earlier work, but it really works for them, or at least they make it work better than a lot of other artists in that genre. I'd say anytime you can stand out in a genre that's being oversaturated these days is a big deal. Anyway, go check this album out is what I'm trying to say.

Rosalia: Lux

Is it still Latin music if it's from Spain? I don't know, but I'm going to talk about this album anyway. Rosalia has been around for a decent amount of time now, and she already has some great and well-known albums out there. Last year she released her newest album called "Lux," and it was... well, it was way different than I would have thought. Rosalia wanted to create an album that wasn't just full of earworm choruses and catchy tunes, but one that could really challenge the listener and bring out deeper emotions. It's without a doubt her most ambitious album to date, but also possibly one of the most ambitious albums ever made by someone in her position. Certainly didn't play it safe with this one, but the risk paid off and she accomplished exactly what she set out to do. The album still has a few pop-friendly songs, especially in "La Perla." But then there are tracks like "Sexo, Violencia y Llantas" that have heavy classical influence and deeper lyrics that continue throughout the rest of the album. Lots of religious imagery/references really help paint a picture along with the music. It's a challenging album, but one that deserves a listen. 

Natalia Lafourcade: De Todas Las Flores

Following the last album by Rosalia, we get another album heavily influenced by music of the past in "De Todas Las Flores" by Mexican artist Natalia Lafourcade. Seriously, one of the most beautiful albums of the decade (so far). Natalia has a special way of drawing in listeners with her amazing vocals and beautiful lyricism that often feels like a warm hug in the form of a song. If you just want to relax on a beautiful day, this album is perfect to just put on and enjoy. Really, Natalia is just great at putting emotions into all her music, and you can always feel what she feels through her vocals, even if you didn't understand Spanish. But if you do, then you are rewarded with beautiful lyrics from a great songwriter. 

Jean Dawson - Rock A Bye Baby, Glimmer of God

I've been really into Jean Dawson as of late. Jean is a Mexican-American artist who has been around the music scene for getting close to a decade now. He's known for his experimental sounds and always trying new things with his music. His latest project, "Rock A Bye Baby," was another really good one with elements of many different genres like pop, rock, R&B, trap, and more. I can't say it always works perfectly, but I'd say more often than not it does. He does a great job at injecting those genres with his own style to make them fit into his projects. Even though there's plenty of experimenting, nothing sounds out of place, and the album is cohesive. I just want to shout out more artists who are willing to keep trying new things and making them work. 

Well, those are a few albums you can check out if you've never heard them before. Not that they were hidden gems or anything, as all those artists have a good following, but in case you didn't, I would recommend listening to them. I look forward to seeing how Latin music keeps innovating not just in the Latin music world, but the entire music world as a whole. Who knows where else it could go from here, but I'd say it can only get bigger. 

                                                      

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The One Where I Review Every Episode of FRIENDS For No Reason (season 1)

 I recently started my latest rewatch of the beloved series Friends, and I thought it would be a dumb idea to review every episode of Friends ever. So yeah, here goes nothing. I doubt I have to explain Friends before I begin this, but I'd like to at least say that this is probably the show I've watched the most in my life, as I've rewatched the series from start to finish multiple times, as well as just watching random episodes on cable every weekday afternoon back when cable was a thing we still had. It's a series that just brings lots of comfort to me, as spending time with the friends just feels relaxing and nostalgic. So here goes the longest post I'll probably ever make and probably the last one as this will be so much work that I'll never want to do this again. Maybe. 

SEASON 1

The Pilot: A very solid episode to start a new series and introduce everyone in the main cast. It's always fun to see how much changes with all six friends from this episode to the last. It's actually almost jarring how different some of them are compared to where they end up in season 10. Right away, you pick up on a few qualities of the main cast, like Phoebe's eccentric personality and beliefs, or Chandler's constant jokes and one-liners. Probably the most important thing this episode does is establish Ross' feelings for Rachel, which ends up being the main story arc throughout this season. I also think Joey might be gay? (kidding)

"Sometimes I wish I was a Lesbian" - Chandler

GRADE: C+

The One With the Sonogram at the End: This episode really establishes the Gellar family dynamics, with Ross being the favorite and Monica being the one who's always being scrutinized by their parents. It's a long-running joke in the series, especially in the first few seasons, that Monica's mom is always finding something wrong with Monica, usually with her appearance. The other big reveal is Ross' ex-wife being pregnant with his child, another story that runs throughout the first season. Also, one of the few episodes (maybe the only one?) where Ross' wife Carol is played by Anita Barone before she is recast. Another decent early episode. Before I forget, it's also the first time we get an ugly naked guy joke, another long-running gag in the series. 

"Are we still talking about sex?" - Joey

GRADE: C

The One With the Thumb: The best part about this episode is Monica's new boyfriend, Alan, whom the friends become obsessed with. Leads to a lot of funny moments, like Chandler only quitting smoking because of Alan. The reveal that Alan actually can't stand Monica's friends is great. The other big story is Phoebe finding a thumb in her soda and getting 7000 dollars from the company. It shows more of Phoebe's character and how she doesn't really care for possessions, as she tries her best to get rid of the money, but only keeps getting more and more free stuff. Not too bad, it's getting better as the cast starts to really become their characters. 

"Maybe it's a contest, like collect all five" - Chandler on the thumb in the soda

GRADE: C+

The One With George Stephanopoulos: This is a fun episode because we get to see the guys and girls split up the whole time. The guys go to a hockey game, but Ross gets hit in the face by a puck, so they take him to the hospital. We see a lot more of their dynamic, and I think it's a great episode for Chandler as he really stands out with his comedic bits here. On the other side, the girls end up spying on celebrity George Stephanopoulos from the balcony. There are some nice character moments as we learn more about their past, and it's just nice to see all the interactions between the friends and we get to see more of their personalities. 

"Who's FICA? Why is he getting all my money?" - Rachel

GRADE: B-

The One With the East German Laundry Detergent: This episode really helps build the romance between Ross and Rachel, as they spend a lot of the episode with each other. This is also the first appearance of the fan favorite Janice, who is always in an on-off relationship with Chandler and always makes for great episodes when they are together. The weaker story here is Monica and Joey trying to break a couple up, which leads to a lot of weird incest jokes and doesn't really end up going anywhere. Another decent episode held back by that last story.

"Uberweiss! It's Strong, It's German, It's extra Tough" - Ross

GRADE: C

The One With the Butt: This one features Joey singing in one of the weirder scenes in the series. My favorite part of this one is Chandler's romance with Aurora, a beautiful woman he meets at Joey's play. The twist is she's already married, so Chandler is just one of her lovers out of many. It's nice to see Chandler is willing to give up a no-strings-attached relationship with a beautiful woman because he really wants something more serious, which shows how different he is compared to Joey. This episode also really establishes Monica's clean freak personality as she freaks out after Rachel tries to clean the apartment, which is another great moment. 

"ALL YOU WANT IS A DINGLE" -Joey singing in his awful play

GRADE: B

The One With the Blackout: One of the more memorable episodes of this season. We are introduced to the Italian Stallion, Paolo, who is used as an obstacle between Ross and Rachel's potential romance. More importantly, it's also the introduction to Mr. Heckles, who is a funny side character that doesn't really get enough time on the show. The last thing is Chandler getting stuck at an "ATM vestibule with Jill Goodacre." It's another little story showing how charming Chandler can be, even at his lamest. 

"Gum would be perfection" -Chandler, trying to flirt with Jill

GRADE: B+

The One Where Nana Dies Twice: Eh, I always kind of disliked this one. It's got some decent jokes, but overall, it's not the best episode for any character or story. The few moments I liked were Ross finding Nana's Sweet N' Low stash in her closet, Ross falling into the empty grave, and Ross getting high off of meds. So a good episode for Ross, really. Also, this is the first episode where they really focus on the "everyone thinks Chandler is gay" thing, which is a joke that comes up a few times after this episode. Not great.

"You have a quality" - Monica to Chandler

GRADE: D+

The One Where Underdog Gets Away: Another not-so-great episode, but the first Thanksgiving episode of the series. In this one, everyone is forced to spend Thanksgiving at Monica's place for one reason or another. Everyone wants Monica to make a special dish for them, and it's annoying. Rachel wants to go skiing with her family, but can't afford it. The funniest part of this episode is Joey posing for a health poster that's posted everywhere in the city, so everyone thinks he has V.D. Not terrible, but as far as Thanksgiving episodes go, this might be the worst?

"Shoop, shoop, shoop" -Rachel 

GRADE: C-

The One With the Monkey: We are introduced to Marcel the Monkey, who is a big part of this first season. I'd imagine having a monkey on set wasn't the easiest thing to do, so Marcel isn't a part of the show for long, but he does come back in a later season for a last appearance. The most memorable part of this episode is the one-off appearance by David, whom Phoebe falls in love with instantly. It's a very short and sweet story contained in one episode, but Hank Azaria does such a good job that it kind of sucks he doesn't stick around a little longer. Well, we all know he comes back one more time much later in the show, but you know what I mean. The episode ends with Joey kissing Chandler. 

"Hey! That monkey's got a Ross on his ass." -Chandler

GRADE: B

The One with Mrs. Bing: We are introduced to Chandler's mom, who is always amazing when she appears in this show. This is the first episode where two of the main friends get into a real conflict, as Ross kisses Chandler's mom when he's depressed about Rachel dating Paolo. That's really the only good story in this episode, as the other stories involve Monica and Phoebe helping a guy who's in a coma they both fall in love with, and Rachel tries to write erotica. Nothing amazing. Chandler is extra funny in this one, but that quickly becomes the norm in this show. The relationship between Chandler and his parents is interesting too, because they seem to love him a lot, but I guess the trauma from his childhood keeps him at a distance from them. 

"...his huge, throbbing pens? You don't want to be around when he starts writing with those" - Ross on Rachel's erotic novel 

GRADE: C

The One With a Dozen Lasagnas: The episode starts off great with the cast humming The Odd Couple theme song. The rest of the episode has a few memorable moments, with Paolo making a move on Phoebe and Joey and Chandler getting their famous foosball table. The episode ends with Ross finding out he's having a boy, and it's sweet. I don't know why, but I always find Monica giving Paolo a lasagna after Rachel breaks up with him extra funny. 

"AND we're done with the yogurt." -Ross, when Pheebs tells him some people eat placenta

GRADE: B-

The One With the Boobies: This is a meh episode that features a lot of storylines I don't really care too much about. The two big stories are Joey's dad having an affair and Phoebe dating a psychiatrist whom everyone hates. It's not great, but I guess it's nice to meet Joey's family here, even though I don't really remember them being in the show much after this. The whole gag where all the friends are trying to see each other naked isn't the best either. I guess it's good to see Joey act like the adult in the room compared to his dad, but then realizing that he's actually just messing up a good thing for his mom is a nice, honest look at relationships. 

"Why can't parents stay parents? You know? Why do they have to become people?" - Rachel

GRADE: D

The One With the Candy Hearts: This episode is decent; the best part is when Ross and Carol have a nice moment alone, and we catch a glimpse at what their relationship was like before the divorce. On the other hand, you have a decent setup where Chandler is surprised by a blind date who happens to be his ex, Janice. It's always nice seeing Janice, so it's good. The girls spend the night reminiscing on all their terrible exes, and it's also pretty good. It's actually a great episode to learn more about the characters outside of maybe Joey. 

"Is it loaded?" -Chandler's response to Janice saying she has a surprise for him

GRADE: C+

The One With the Stoned Guy: This episode has one of the funniest gags in the first season, maybe the whole show? Jon Lovitz plays the stoned guy who wants to try Monica's food and he's so funny in this episode, one of the best guest appearances on the show. There's also a fun story where Ross is struggling to dirty talk with the girl he's dating, and Ross's performance in this episode is especially funny. If you are a fan of The Office, you'd recognize the actress who plays Jan as Ross' date in this one. 

"Well, smack my ass and call me Judy!" - Steve, the stoned dude

GRADE: A

The One With the Two Parts: The first two-parter of many in this show. It's probably the weakest one on the show that I can remember right now. I dislike the whole Joey dates Phoebe's twin storyline because it feels weird for Joey to do something he knows will hurt Phoebe, and that never really fits his character. Joey is the one who almost always goes out of his way to make his friends happy. Chandler also starts dating an employee he has to fire, which certainly fits his character as the guy who hates confrontation, but it also seems slightly too mean-spirited for Chandler when he starts rumors about her. It's still the best story in this episode, because it's Chandler, and he's the funniest in most episodes. The last big story is Rachel and Monica having to pretend to be each other to get Rachel's health insurance. George Clooney and Noah Wyle guest-star as the doctors whom Rachel and Monica have to trick, and they put on solid performances. There is a nice moment where Ross is scared about becoming a father, but is comforted by his friends and his dad. Actually, that moment where Ross and his dad are talking about the first moment they shared when Ross was born was really nice. 

"Oh my God, I am so spoiled." -Monica pretending to be Rachel

GRADE: C-

The One With All the Poker: Another really great episode. It's always nice when most of the episode features all the friends just hanging out together, this time the girls play poker with the guys for the first time. Monica's Aunt Iris is really funny in this episode, kinda sucks we never see her again. The episode ends up focusing a lot on Rachel and her trying to get one of her dream jobs, but ultimately failing. It's another Ross and Rachel moment that really gets you to root for them to get together, as well as just being a very funny episode. And it's also nice to see Ross humble himself to make Rachel happy, which really makes you root for him. 

"Hey! That's Joincidince with a C!" - Chandler after Pheebs says Joker is Poker with a J

GRADE: A-

The One Where the Monkey Gets Away: Another memorable episode here that furthers the Ross and Rachel story. This time, they get into their first argument when Rachel loses Marcel the Monkey in the apartment building. Mr. Heckles makes another appearance, and he is once again one of the funniest parts of the episode. The end goal of this episode, though, is to tease the audience even more on Ross and Rachel's romance. Feels so close here, and yet we all know it's not happening anytime soon. Phoebe gets shot by a tranq, so that's fun.  

"Whoa! Marcel, did you poo in the shoe?" -Rachel

GRADE: B+

The One With the Evil Orthodontist: Eh, this one isn't that good. Any episode that revolves around Rachel's ex, Barry, is pretty bad. I mean, I know we're not supposed to like Barry, but if they could have just erased his character from the show, that would have been okay. The rest of the stories aren't the best either. I guess maybe the best one is Joey finding out the person spying on them with a telescope is a woman, and he's into it. So Joey. 

"Are you outing Mr. Peanut?" - Ross, after Pheebs calls Mr Peanut gay

GRADE: D

The One With Fake Monica: The main story in this episode, where Monica has her identity stolen, is really good. It's funny to see Monica go through a whole life change as a result of that, and her short friendship with the fake Monica is surprisingly sweet. I will say, the change Monica makes doesn't really seem to carry over to the rest of the show. The other story is good too, and it's all about Ross having to say goodbye to Marcel the Monkey, as he can't take good care of him anymore in his apartment. Funniest thing in this one, though, is Chandler tricking Joey into using the name Joseph Stallin for his auditions. 

"Joey... Switzerland?" -Chandler, when Joey asks for a more neutral-sounding name

GRADE: A-

The One With the Ick Factor: Boy, do I hate Ethan. One of the main stories in this one involves Monica dating a young man named Ethan, who is in College. Turns out they are both lying about their age, and Ethan is actually still in High School. It's not very funny, and I find the Ethan character to be really annoying. Chandler hires Phoebe at his job, but it doesn't go well when Phoebe tells Chandler that everyone hates him. It's funny to see Chandler try his best to be the likable boss, but even funnier that he just embraces the hate at the end. Ross is also jealous of Chandler because Rachel had a sex dream about him, which is... meh. Though it leads to a funnier gag where she dreams about having a threesome with Joey and Chandler, and at times, she's not even involved. 

"MY SCONES!" - Ross and Joey making fun of Chandler

GRADE: C-

The One With the Birth: The first of many birth episodes in the series, and a pretty solid episode. Monica is sad throughout the whole episode because she wants babies, and she feels hopeless in her search for love. It's a nice reminder of Monica's wants, and it comes into play next season in a big way. I really like Joey's side story with Lydia; it's the first time in the show that we see him being really sweet and possibly having a real romantic connection with someone. Sad when it just ends before it even begins. I guess the weakest part of this is the Ross and Susan rivalry, which has been ongoing for the whole season. At least here, we finally get some feelings resolved, and Ross finally makes peace with Susan. 

"MY GOD! THIS PARACHUTE IS A NAPSACK!" -Chandler

GRADE: A-

The One Where Rachel Finds Out: The season finale has some great moments, mostly revolving around the Ross and Rachel romance. Rachel finally finds out that Ross is in love with her, but he leaves for China for a week. It's a nice moment when Rachel finally decides that she wants to be with him, though it ends in a cliffhanger. Chandler's reaction to accidentally telling Rachel about Ross is really good, and the way he acts the rest of the episode is peak Chandler. The other fun story has Joey being unable to have sex with his new girlfriend because of a medical study he joins. This leads to him becoming the most unselfish lover in bed for the first time in his life. It's funny how he doesn't take anything away from this experience and goes back to his normal routine after. 

"You're gonna be making money hand-over-fist!" -Pheebs to Joey 

GRADE: A

Season 1 Thoughts: Like I said before, it's always great to go back to this season and see how different all the characters are compared to the last season. This season feels a lot more chill and toned down than the later seasons in the show. A lot of the characters are still finding their personalities, and the actors are getting used to playing their roles, but they do a really good job in one season of getting you to fall in love with the show. There are a few mediocre episodes, but most of this season is still very good, and it still holds up. I wish Chandler had kept his longer hair for more seasons, but oh well. The Ross and Rachel romance is still good, though maybe doesn't hit as hard when you already know all the things that they are about to go through on this show. Joey is also completely different from season 10, like almost an entirely different person in some ways, but I guess I'll get to that if I ever get to the later seasons. Who knows, I mean, this was just one season, and it took a while to get through this. 

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WE ARE CHARLIE KIRK (and the rise of AI music/art)

The year is 2026. Food comes in pill form and is transformed into 5-star meals with just a drop of water. Cars are flying around the busy cities, using a newly created fuel that's safer and cheaper for the earth and its people. Most diseases have a cure now, and humans on earth are living longer and healthier lives because of it. Artificial Intelligence has made our lives better as it does all the jobs humans don't want to do, and allows humans to focus on creating art. Haha, just kidding, AI is actually creating all the art now, and humans are just trying to create as much AI art as possible to make money from people who can't tell it's not made by a person. Also, all the other stuff hasn't happened yet, and everything is just way more expensive now. 

I poke fun at the year 2026 because back in the 80s and 90s, we all imagined a more Star Trek-like utopia coming in the future, and it's not even close to that. But really, I wanted to talk about all the AI art that's been dominating social media these days and how weird it's making life right now. It's really funny how AI is being used these days to create so much art, when we always imagined it would be used to do all the mundane tasks we hate so that we could have more time to create art ourselves. Instead, people are just spamming prompts into every AI generator to get works of art without actually doing anything. Now, I don't want to completely shit on AI art as a whole, as I'm sure there are good uses for it in art, music, movies, and writing. Maybe as a way to iron out some minor details or add some little details in the background, if you have a small budget for a movie, perhaps? For smaller studios or artist it could be a tool, but for billion-dollar corporations, it's not necessary at all. I mean, we recently saw Coca-Cola using AI for their Christmas ads here, and that's the kind of thing you don't want to see. Coca-Cola 100% has the money to pay artists to actually animate a commercial, so they are just doing it to save money and screw over actual talented workers. That's the kind of use of AI I don't want to see. 

The one thing I never thought we would see, though, is AI making music that not only gets lots of listens, but gets so many listens it goes viral and even charts on Billboard. "We Are Charlie Kirk" was created by the totally real band called "Spalexma." AI couldn't even come up with a good fake band name. What the hell is a Spalexma? Anyway, they are known for such awesome songs as: 

"With Jesus Love America Great Again"

"Stop, in the Name of God" 

and of course, "We Carry The Flame - Powerful Female Mix."

Gotta love a good female mix, that's also powerful. Okay, so clearly this is an AI Christian worship band. Well, not just any Christian worship, but Christian Nationalist American worship. You know, the worst kind of worship. The band has also managed to release about 20+ albums in less than two years, working those AI generators pretty hard. "They" didn't hit it big until they released a track exploiting the murder of Charlie Kirk with the song "We Are Charlie Kirk." The song was probably made just a day after Kirk's murder, but wasn't officially released until 6 days after. It went viral pretty quickly as it was posted across all social media platforms, especially TikTok, which is known for helping songs go viral quickly. It's so obviously AI because, of course, a song like this couldn't be made so quickly after an event occurs. I would imagine a lot of its listens came from people poking fun at it for its exploitation, as well as it sounding like it's meant to be a joke song, when it's actually being 100% serious. It's so weird seeing AI music being used to worship God or honor someone, because obviously, the AI doesn't personally worship a God or know anything about Charlie Kirk outside of the information it's fed on the internet. The song itself (We are Charlie Kirk) isn't even good, especially the vocals that sound so off-putting, just one of the things AI can't really get right at this point. 

That was the first big viral AI hit so far, but there have been lots of artists uncovered on Spotify that are just posting music created by AI generators. Another band called Velvet Sundown admitted that all their music was AI, but this was after a couple of their songs had already gained over a million listens. There are plenty of other AI bands out there on Spotify that have some songs that have reached over a million streams, it's getting pretty crazy. As if streaming didn't make it harder to get discovered as an artist already, now you have to compete with a bunch of AI slop being uploaded to Spotify in mass. I mean, at the end of the day, I think people are going to always want to hear music from actual people and not AI-generated artists. It just won't be the same coming from a computer, and at the moment, all AI music has this eerie quality to it that just makes it hard for most people to connect with. I'm kind of hoping it always stays that way, because I can't imagine how annoying it would be to have AI music that actually sounds completely human-made.

I don't know where this AI slop craze is going to go at this point. I figured it would be tired by now, but it looks like it's still going strong. AI is being abused in a lot of creepy ways, especially on Twitter, with people using GROK to create some pretty disturbing things. That, along with people trying to pass off AI art as their own, leads to a lot of frustration from real artists and people who are being used in AI pictures without their permission or having their art stolen. The soulless music of AI is not as serious as that other stuff, but it's still annoying, and I feel like there should at least be some kind of disclaimer forced on all AI art to let everyone know it wasn't made by an actual artist. Also, maybe stop letting companies that are worth billions cut out actual artists they can totally afford in exchange for that ugly AI art. 

Wait. What if this whole post was written by AI? NOOOOOOOO 

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Our President is Worse Than Terrible

Well, it's been a while since I wrote one of these "Trump is terrible" posts. I mean, it's been a whole... month? That's it, just a month?! He's already done enough terrible things for me to make another one of these posts? Well, I guess he's trying to end the year off strong. So yeah, it's only been a little over a month, and I already have enough things to write about here, but really, one very recent disgusting act was the main reason for me to do this again. We'll get to that one first, but there's still plenty of other things to mention, so here we go: Part 4 of why our current President is a terrible person. 

*I started writing this around December, but things kept happening that I wanted to add to this list, and it kept taking longer, so here we are in January now, and the list just keeps growing. 

Rob Reiner

Tragedy struck recently with the murder of Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner. This happening the same week as two mass shootings in the world was just a terrible end to a terrible week. Rob Reiner was a legendary director and created some of the best movies of all time, like The Princess Bride, A Few Good Men, and When Harry Met Sally (where we met his wife, Michele). Michele was a producer for movies as well as a political activist. It was a sad day to lose two people who did so many great things, but of course, a certain someone had to make it about himself. Yes, none other than President Trump had some disgusting things to say about Rob Reiner on the day of his death. Trump, in a social media post, talked about how Rob Reiner was a washed-up director who died because of his "Trump derangement syndrome." It's so incredibly pathetic how Trump has to make everything about himself, even after a man is tragically killed, he just can't let go of his hatred for one second. Even a lot of his followers were disappointed in Trump with his hateful and disgusting posts on Reiner, calling him classless. Trump even had a chance to take back his words, but instead decided to double down. 

World Cup Peace Prize

The World Cup is taking place in the United States next summer, and it's going to be a big event here. The hype for the World Cup is always big because it's the most important tournament in soccer, and it only happens every four years. Unfortunately, there are more than a few problems with this upcoming World Cup, and that's Trump and FIFA. Two of the most corrupt groups in the world working together? Sounds like a dream. FIFA is famous for being corrupt, and it's gotten a lot worse over the last few years, when the new President of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, was named. He's been nothing but terrible for soccer as a whole and is consistently making things worse for fans. He's also obsessed with sucking up to world leaders, especially Trump. So, when Trump was not awarded the Nobel Peace Prize he so desperately wanted, Infantino decided to take matters into his own hands. He decided to create a brand new trophy called "The FIFA Peace Prize," solely to give to Trump as a consolation prize for not getting his real Peace Prize. It was incredibly stupid and obvious that this was all just to suck up to Trump and make him feel better for losing out on the real Nobel Peace Prize he didn't even deserve in the first place. Of course, Trump accepted it and gave a boring speech because if he has the chance to suck himself off in front of a crowd, he'll take it. 

Christmas Calls to Kids

During Christmas week, the White House thought it would be a good idea for Trump to make phone calls to kids and ask them what they want for Christmas. It went as horribly as you'd expect from the President who has no idea how to talk to kids. Also, the president is currently involved in the whole Epstein scandal, so that just makes things even creepier. During these calls, he lies to kids about the 2020 election he lost, calls coal beautiful, and brags about winning Oklahoma. He has no idea how to talk to kids and instead ends up bragging about himself or saying stupid things that kids have no interest in. Just bizarre. Can you get over the 2020 election already? It's like losing to Biden is the one thing this dude will never get over. Speaking of which...

Presidential Plaques

Trump is such an insecure loser that he decided to put new plaques under the portraits of Obama and Biden. Basically, the plaques just mention how terrible they were as presidents, with mostly lies about their accomplishments. He tries his best to downplay the success of Obama's Affordable Care Act and accuses Obama of spying on Trump's 2016 election campaign. On Biden's plaque, he mentions that the 2020 election was corrupt, and that's how Biden won it. Trump just can't get these two guys out of his mind, no matter what happens. He's so insecure about himself that he has to keep bringing them up to try and make himself feel better. That, and he also really wants people to think that he's not the worst president in recent history, which would be false. 

Execute the Dems

Oh, nothing, just a post on his social media website about wanting to execute democrats for making a video telling troops to not obey illegal orders. Trump never really sees any kind of punishment for saying some of the most disgusting things a President could say, but maybe people are finally starting to get sick of this guy not actually fixing the economy and instead just being a douche most days. 

Pardoning Zhao

Changpeng Zhao is the creator of the cryptocurrency exchange called Binance. He was found guilty of allowing the service to be used by criminals to exchange money for illegal acts, including terrorism. So, of course, Trump would pardon the guy just a few months ago. What's worse is that he admitted to not even knowing who the guy is or what he did in an interview on 60 Minutes. What is true, though, is that Zhao has connections to Eric and Don Jr, who just happen to be Trump's kids. Huh? What a coincidence. 

Epstein

I mean, I don't even know how to cover this whole mess, and it's an ongoing problem that just keeps getting worse. I won't go into all the allegations people are posting online because, without any real evidence, it's pointless. The problem was that they promised to release ALL of the files by a certain date, that being December 19 of 2025. Did that happen? Well, no, of course not. Not only were all the files not released on the due date, but the ones that were had so many redactions that a lot of pages were just completely blacked out. It's an ongoing mess, but really, who even thought that they would actually do this right anyway? 

Nukes Baby!

Trump wants to do nuclear tests again. Honestly, I can never tell what this guy is serious about, because this could just be another deflection tactic. I guess they said that they're not just going to be exploding nukes and making mushroom clouds in the middle of nowhere, so that's... good? I mean, the idea of nuclear strikes and war is always nice. Nothing like fearing the end of the world because world leaders can't keep their shit together. 

The Double Tap

The USA has been striking down boats in the Caribbean that are supposedly carrying illegal drugs into our country. The double-tap incident was alleged to have occurred on September 2nd. A moment where a strike happened on a boat, but there were survivors. At this point, the normal procedure would be to pick up the survivors, but in this case, they decided to strike the boat again and wipe out any of the remaining survivors. This is all alleged, but it would be easily cleared up with the release of the video, but of course, that wasn't going to happen, and Hegseth told the media so right away. The idea of any of these people actually facing any kind of consequences for their actions just seems impossible these days. Like, do whatever you want and get away with it is the way the government is rolling right now. 

Venezuela

Well, as I was writing this post here, the big news came in that the USA has captured Maduro and his wife and has brought them in for justice. So yeah, Trump decided to go and capture another country's political leader and then said afterward that the USA will be in charge of Venezuela until further notice. Trump didn't even hide the fact that he's after the oil in the land and wants to bring in US oil companies to the country. The whole thing is going to be a mess, and while Maduro wasn't a worthy leader and the people of Venezuela are happy he's gone, it's only a matter of time before things can go from hopeful to ugly with the way nothing is really being planned for the country. It's especially strange when Trump just left the current regime in charge, and it doesn't seem like he's planning to have a new election to put someone the people actually want in charge in office. So, taking out Maduro is the right thing to do in Trump's eyes because of his ties to drug trafficking, but not so long ago, he pardoned Nicaragua's president for doing the same thing. 

 It's also scary to think this could just be the beginning of Trump's takeover of other countries. He's been talking about Greenland for a while now, and this could be a big step towards that being his next move. 

Trump's Idiotic December Speech

Trump's obsession with Biden continued in his recent address in December. He starts off by mentioning how Biden ruined everything, and he's going to fix it all. He talks about how amazing the economy is doing since he took over (he's lying). He complains about men playing in women's sports because his followers hate trans people, so they'll cheer for that. He said crime was at record levels under Biden (he's lying). He even mentions how our country was a joke to all other countries in the world when Biden was in charge. Of course, he's too stupid and egotistical to realize he's the biggest joke we've had running this country. Honestly, he pretty much just goes down the list of republican MAGA talking points that he hasn't shut up about all year long, with all the racism and lies that come with that. It was a nearly 20-minute-long speech, so of course I didn't sit through all of it, especially when the first five minutes were just the same lies he always says. I'll never understand how people hear him talk and actually believe a single word this guy says. 

Renee Nicole Good

I can't even finish writing this post without something new happening every time I'm about to publish it. This time, it was a horrific event that involved ICE shooting a woman to death while she tried to drive away from them. The victim was Renee Nicole Good, and in the video that shows her death, it was very clear she was not being violent towards ICE, nor was she trying to hurt anyone around her. But with ICE, you get a bunch of untrained idiots with guns who are ready to shoot first and deal with the consequences later. I say consequences, but the current regime has made it clear that they don't want the murderer of Renee Nicole Good to face any consequences at all. Trump immediately started spreading misinformation about the shooting, as he said that Renee was trying to run over the ICE agents and was a violent agitator. As far as we can see from the videos of the shooting, none of that is true of Renee, and in fact, it looked like she was going out of her way to not hit anyone with her car. All this leads to more questions about the state of our country and how many more people need to die before we actually see any significant change. The fact that people keep getting killed in our country for no real reason is a problem we've had for too long, and it is incredibly depressing to see it just get worse and worse. Well, when the murder of Charlie Kirk, who was a friend of Trump and Vance, doesn't open their eyes, then why would some random civilian? But no, let's just keep making excuses for the guys with the guns who have no idea how to handle such powerful weapons with any kind of restraint. They say ICE is supposed to be taking away the criminals back to their countries, but it turns out that ICE were the criminals all along. Fuck off. 

Well, I'm glad I got to end that on an extremely low note. I mean, it's not like I was expecting things to get better anytime soon, but holy shit, they keep finding ways to lower the bar. 

JD Vance is a hoe, and I want that known.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c773de38p2go

https://news.sky.com/story/who-will-take-over-as-venezuelas-president-its-not-so-simple-13490121

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEwe3esSytc&t=6s

https://www.vox.com/politics/474637/ice-shooting-minnesota-renee-nicole-good-trump

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-trumps-plaques-for-past-presidents-at-the-white-house-walk-of-fame

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/trump-says-democrats-video-message-to-military-is-seditious-behavior-punishable-by-death

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/sport/soccer-world-cup-peace-prize-trump-intl

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/03/politics/video/trump-pardon-binance-changpeng-zhao-60-minutes-digvid

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The Worst Songs of 2025 (and best too, sort of)

2025! What a year to be alive. A year that only seemed to keep getting worse as the months kept passing by. Everything just kind of sucks around here right now, but at least we got some great music to get us through it all, right? Well, yes and no. Outside of the charts, music was pretty great, and we got a bunch of great albums from established names and even some newcomers. ON the charts, however, it wasn't so hot. 2025 was one of the most stagnant years for pop music in a loooong time, like it was almost shocking how little things seemed to move on the charts. So much so that a lot of the most popular songs of this year were just the same hits from last year. It was so bad that Billboard had to create new rules for how long a song can stay at the top of the charts before being removed completely. I call this the Teddy Swims rule, as his hit song "Lose Control" was on the charts, floating around the top 10 for over two years, until the new rules were established, and it was finally pulled off the charts. A lot of songs were finally removed thanks to this new rule. So, making this year-end list I usually make became pretty difficult when a lot of the songs I had to pick from were songs that were on my list last year. Plus, the fact that most of the new songs weren't really sticking with me much. So with all that out of the way, here are the worst songs of the year! and a couple of decent ones too, I guess. 

THE WORST!

TAYLOR SWIFT - ACTUALLY ROMANTIC

So Taylor released another album this year. I believe that's 6 albums in 6 years now, so she's been pretty busy along with her tours. The Life of a Showgirl is her latest album, and it was received with mixed reactions. Despite that, it still sold a billion copies more or less, and every song on the album charted on the Hot 100. I myself found the album to be a bit of a mixed bag, with some great songs and some duds all wrapped into an okay album. This was probably my least favorite from the album for several reasons. The main one is just how dull the music turned out on this track. The song is carried by an electric guitar strumming some simple chords, but it really sounds weak, along with the rest of the music in this song. Just bad production all around, really. As for the lyrics, well, it's said that this is meant to be a diss track aimed at fellow star Charli XCX, though I don't think Taylor ever confirmed that herself. Even if it's not aimed at her, it's still a pretty weak diss track overall, as Taylor calls out "Charli" for being obsessed with her. The main diss being that "Charli" is giving her so much attention that she must be in love with Taylor. As far as diss songs go, it's a bit childish. 

The song that people say is Charli's diss track to Taylor is called "Sympathy is a Knife." Honestly, after listening to it and reading the lyrics, it really doesn't even seem like a diss song to me. It's more about how insecure Charli feels around a certain person who's possibly Taylor Swift.  

BENSON BOONE - MYSTICAL MAGICAL

It's so great that one of the few songs that really took off this year was also one of the more annoying songs I've heard recently. Dumb lyrics, annoying vocals, and a chorus that only makes me think of the song "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John. Benson Boone was coming off a high when his song "Beautiful Things" became a huge hit last year and made him a new star. He tried to take advantage of his new stardom by releasing a new album this year, and it was... well, it was pretty bad actually. It was pretty much the worst thing he could have made right after finding success last year. The album was a mess, but he still managed to get a few hits out of it, one of those hits being "Mysical Magical". I don't know why I dislike this song so much, but it might just be the moonbeam ice cream that he keeps forcing into the song. Gotta get that CRUMBL partnership, I guess? The chorus also gets annoying after one or two listens. That being said, Benson Boone is still a decent artist and out of all other artists on the worst list, he's the only one I can see bounce back. Just stop making annoying ass music, perhaps.

MORGAN WALLEN - WHAT I WANT (W/ Tate McRae)

What happens when two boring artists team up for a hit song? Well, nothing interesting. That's it. I've gone on and on about how much I dislike Wallen's music from the last 5 years. It won't be the last time on this list, so spoilers, I guess? I truly don't get Tate McRae as an artist, though. I have no idea why she is a mega star in today's music scene. Nothing I've heard from her makes me think she's anything other than a generic pop singer. She's like the Corn Flakes of pop music. No offense to Corn Flakes. 

MORGAN WALLEN - JUST IN CASE

The most boring artist your friends like for some reason released a new album this year. Another 2-hour-long masterclass in time wasting. Dude, can you stop making these long ass albums when you barely have enough good material to make an EP? I seriously want to know who sits through these two-hour-long albums and actually enjoys them, because I can't imagine any real human actually being able to do that. The sad part is this might be one of the better songs from the album, but that's not really saying much. It's at least got a hint of emotion, a bit of story about him still in love with someone he can't have. That being said, the song is still incredibly boring from Wallen, and maybe could've worked better with another singer. 

ALEX WARREN  - ORDINARY

I mentioned this song in my last post, where I talked about the worst songs of the 2020s so far. The song here isn't bad in an interesting way, but just extremely boring in a way that makes it easy to forget. The kind of song you only listen to because everyone keeps using it on their TikToks for engagement. Once that fad went away, the song went away with it, and we're left with a song that most people won't remember after this year ends, at least people who like good music anyway. Just writing about this song is putting me to sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Sorry, fell asleep while typing there. 

FORREST FRANK - YOUR WAY'S BETTER

Christian music's back babyyyyy (sigh). Oh, wait, this actually sounds like trash. I guess it's not that surprising that a Christian song would become a pop hit in 2025, kind of the way things are going these days. I guess I wouldn't mind so much if it weren't for the fact that this song is so incredibly lame. Terrible production with some of the cringiest lyrics you can find. "Making waves like a jetski" is an actual line in this song. It almost reminds me of an AJR song, which is not a good thing. I don't know, I mean, a lot of popular Christian music back in the day was this cheesy and lame, but I swear there were good artists out there who actually made great songs that weren't as pandering as this.

KOE WETZEL - HIGH ROAD (w/ Jessie Murph)

Jessie Murph is on this song? Believe it or not, straight on the worst songs list. I can't stand Jessie's vocals, and anytime I hear them, the song instantly becomes unlistenable. Not that the song would be much better without her, as it's still a pretty boring country pop song at the end of the day. But I guess that's what people like these days, boring ass country anthems that won't be remembered next year. 

JESSIE MURPH - BLUE STRIPS

Oh, look, it's Jessie Murph again. This time, it's just her alone, which is 100 times worse than her being in a song with Koe Wetzel or Jelly Roll. This straight up sounds like shit, and I have no idea how anyone can listen to Jessie Murph for fun. This feels like a joke. Why does she have so many hits right now? Why is she allowed to have a career in music? I've lost all hope in music this year after all these terrible songs. I think I understand why so many hits this year were just the same songs from last year now. It's because 2025 literally gave us nothing new to listen to in pop music. Everyone is too depressed to make good music now, thanks, America. Thank God for indie music because if not, we'd have nothing new to listen to this year. Also, thank you Lady Gaga, for making one of the few great pop albums of the year. 

MORGAN WALLEN - I'M THE PROBLEM

Morgan Wallen and Jessie Murph are the worst things to happen to music in 2025, as they both have at least two songs on this list. This song is just depressing as Morgan whines about his ex-girlfriend and their messy relationship. In the song, Wallen questions his ex's taste in men by asking why she stuck around so long with him, putting up with his bullshit all the time. Wallen thinks his awful behavior could partially be blamed on her because she kept coming back to him despite the fact that she seems to think he's terrible and possibly has a drinking problem. The whole "if I'm so bad, then why do you keep coming back" thing is annoying too, as if people didn't struggle with leaving terrible relationships for actual good reasons. Besides the bad lyrics, the song itself is another boring Wallen song where the most interesting thing about it IS the bad lyrics. 

THE GOOD?

Okay, I wasn't being completely serious about all the pop music being terrible this year; there were a few songs I really liked. 

TAYLOR SWIFT - OPALITE

I'll admit I wasn't super into Taylor's new album "The Life of a Showgirl.", although it was nice to see her return to a more upbeat pop sound this year, as much as I enjoyed Folklore and Midnights. Opalite was a standout from the new album, as a straight-up catchy song with fun music and a memorable chorus. The song is about Taylor finding her own joy in life through the hard times and stress. It could also be about the happiness she found in her relationship with Kelce. The joy of the song is pretty contagious, which I think is why I enjoy it so much. 

KENDRICK LAMAR - TV OFF (w/ Lefty gunplay)

One of the few albums to really take off this year (it was released late 2024). It's Kendrick, so you expect greatness from him, and this album delivered on that. I love the energy of the track "TV OFF," as Kendrick spits awesome verses on the great production by DJ Mustard and... JACK ANTENOFF?!? Well, I didn't see that one coming. This is one of the more energetic tracks off of GNX, and I love it when Kendrick does these kinds of tracks. 

KENDRICK LAMAR - LUTHER (w/ SZA) 

Speaking of GNX, here's another great track from that album. This was the bigger hit as the duo of Kendrick and SZA always seems to equal a huge hit. This is a much slower track, but it's still just as good as the last one (TV OFF). It has a nice beat with some nice strings and piano carrying it on top of the usual heavy bass. 

SAJA BOYS - SODA POP

Just when I thought the days of seeing K-pop hits crossover to the USA were done, out comes one of the biggest hit movies of the year with multiple hit songs.  I don't know what to say, outside of that the song is extremely catchy and fun, and it's exactly what this year needed more of in the charts. Probably should have been the song of the summer, but instead we got "Ordinary". 

BAD BUNNY - DtMF

It was another big year for the Bad Bunny. Releasing a new album in the first week of the year was a smart move, as the album dominated the conversations when there weren't many other big albums so early in the year. That tied with him standing up against the crappy state of the USA and touring exclusively outside of the country, and of course, in Puerto Rico. Speaking of Puerto Rico, the song feels like a love letter to his home, family, friends, and island. It's that with a mix of nostalgia, good memories, maybe some regrets as well. 

CHAPELL ROAN - THE SUBWAY

Chappell released two new singles this year in "The Giver" and "The Subway." The first one wasn't the best, at least in my opinion; it felt like a step down from all the great music she made in the last two years.  The Subway, on the other hand, was much better. The song is all about the frustration after having your heart broken, those weeks/months after, where you can't stop thinking about the person with whom you broke it off, and everything reminds you of them. It captures that feeling well, and I like the idea of just Chapell just clamoring for the boring daily subway rides where she's not reminded of her ex. 

LADY GAGA - ABRACADABRA

I wasn't kidding when I thanked Lady Gaga earlier for making one of the best pop albums. Lady Gaga had her big comeback album after a 5-year gap between her last one in 2020. It really felt like Gaga returning to her big signature sound, and it was easily one of the best albums of the year, certainly the best pop album. It's a shame the only really big song from this album ended up being last year's single "Die With a Smile," because that song almost feels out of place with the rest of the album. I think "Abracadabra" is a much better representation of how fun her new album was. Only Gaga can write a chorus that sounds like gibberish and make it work. But if, for whatever reason, you haven't heard this album yet, please go listen to it. 

Best Songs (outside of Pop Charts)

Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

Twenty One Pilots - City Walls

PARTYOF2 - Feel Love

After - 300 dreams

Sam Fender - Rein Me In

The Aces - Gold Star Baby

Perfume Genius - No Front Teeth

Laufey - Tough Luck

JADE - Plastic Box

Wolf Alice - The Sofa

Best Albums 

Wolf Alice - The Clearing

Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

JADE - That's Showbiz Baby!

Clipse - Let God Sort Em Out

Laufey - A Matter of Time

Lady Gaga  - MAYHEM

Bad Suns - Accelerator

Kali Uchis - Sincerely, 

The Last Dinner Party - From the Pyre

Djo - The Crux

Random "Awards"

Underrated Album of the Year: Miley Cyrus - Something Beautiful

Considering how big a star she is, I feel like this album wasn't really talked about much. While not her best album in my opinion, it was a big step up from her last release (Endless Summer Vacation). 

Overrated Album of the Year: Taylor Swift - The Life of a Showgirl

Overrated is probably too strong a word. The truth for me is that the album is just okay, but most people either see it as another masterpiece or the worst thing she's ever done. It's probably the only album I could have put as both overrated and underrated because of the reaction to it being so polarizing. It's certainly her weakest album in a while, but that doesn't automatically make it the worst thing in the world. On the other hand, it's Taylor, so this album still sold more than the Bible this year. That and every single song on the album was on the charts for multiple weeks. It probably deserves to be somewhere in the middle, so that's why I put it here. 

Worst AI song: We Are Charlie Kirk 

I'm not even going to name the artist because it's not really an artist, it's just AI. I mean, I know for a fact there are worse AI songs out there, but this one actually had some success on the music charts, which is just depressing. Even if you ignore the subject material, the song is terrible with the crappy AI vocals belting the chorus. 

Worst Trend: AI Music

Not that AI in music hasn't been used before 2025, but this year, it just really ramped up in quantity. Spotify has been seeing more and more AI artists and bands join its service and some of them actually get a good amount of streams. AI Art in general has been so toxic this year, with tons of people stealing art styles from real artists and trying to sell their computer-generated trash to the masses. Maybe actually try to learn music or art? Who wants to buy art that a computer stole from other artists? The fact that the answer is not zero people is depressing. 

Best Trend of the Year - Y2K

I'm sure it's just my nostalgia for that era, but I've been digging the whole Y2K aesthetic making a short comeback. Artists like Bad Suns, After, and Ninajirachi used it to create fun albums, among others. I'm sure it'll get tired in a short while, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts. 

Worst Overall Artist of the Year - Morgan Wallen

For releasing one of the worst albums of the year, and making it nearly two hours long. Also, for having a bunch of hits this year from that terrible album. 

Best Overall Artist of the Year - Bad Bunny

For releasing one of the best albums of the year, and also not being afraid to take a stand. I guess with his insane levels of fame right now, he's in a good position to be able to take a stand against all the bullshit in this country. Deciding to not tour the USA because of ICE, and also putting on a bunch of shows in Puerto Rico, was a great move for him. All this leading up to what should be an insane Super Bowl performance in 2026, much like Kendrick at the last one. 

Also including a playlist of a bunch of songs I liked from 2025. Hope you had a great year despite everything, and if you found some great music not mentioned here, please send it my way.

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