This Year, We Worked Songs By Some of Music’s Most Vital Stars, Ascendant Newcomers, and Names You Need to Know
The point isn’t to glorify hip-hop’s past and minimize its present and future, but to make a point that is obvious to us, and should be to everyone: scratch a bit below the surface, and hip-hop is healthier than it has ever been, speaking to new fans and elucidating the experiences of people in our most disadvantaged communities.
At Audible Treats, we are proud to tell the stories of these fascinating artists. Whether they are multiple Grammy winners like Chance The Rapper, or brand new artists like Luhh Dyl, we know that each artist has something unique to add to hip-hop’s tapestry.
Below, please find some of our favorite songs by Audible Treats clients, ranging from R&B to boom-bap to hyperpop, and emerging from everywhere from London, UK to Limestone Creek, FL. We hope you enjoy listening, and please consider these gems for your year-end lists.
Team AT <3
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THE SONGS:
album press release | youtube | spot
Chance The Rapper‘s acclaimed album STAR LINE is a versatile effort that reflected his recent travels to Ghana and Japan and jumped from style to style with ease. “No More Old Men,” though, is deeply rooted in Chance’s hometown of Chicago, resonating with the city’s wistful soul and bursting with powerful stories from 79th Street. Reuniting Chance with his “Sunday Candy” collaborator Jamila Woods, “No More Old Men” is a plea from Chance to the youth of today, imploring them to take care of themselves and others. More than ever, young men and women need the kind of guidance Chance received from his father and many uncles—and they need to grow old to impart their wisdom to the next generation.
Chance spits, “It’s the Four Black Commandments, man, you know how we rock/It goes One, watch your health, that’s your wealth/Two, watch yo’ brother, that’s yourself/Three, watch your home, that’s your door/Four, if they want it, we go to war.”
Acclaimed by outlets like Billboard and Clash, “No More Old Men” is one of STAR LINE‘s best moments, and Chance agrees: the artist submitted the song for Grammy consideration in the categories of “Record Of The Year,” “Song Of The Year,” and “Best Rap Song.”.
Sexyy Red tore through the industry in 2025, asserting herself as one of music’s most in-demand collaborators. The 27-year-old Northside St. Louis princess united with stars across genres, creating songs with Justin Bieber, Tiësto, Snoop Dogg, Maroon 5, and country riser Jessie Murph, among many others.
Sexyy saved the most surprising and high-wattage collaboration for herself, uniting with notoriously selective pop megastar Bruno Mars for “Fat Juicy & Wet.” Produced by Bruno Mars and The Stereotypes, “FJW” is a propulsive and elastic party anthem, combining a West Coast bass groove with lyrics that fans might expect more from Sexyy than Bruno. The two artists have surprising chemistry, as they avoid winking innuendo in favor of explicit come-ons.
“Fat Juicy & Wet” was a sensation upon release, earning coverage in Billboard, PEOPLE, Forbes, Variety, Pitchfork, HYPEBEAST, and many more. The song leapt onto the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at #17, and proved to have legs, reaching #1 on Urban Radio months after its release. The video, which featured cameos from BLACKPINK’s ROSÉ and Lady Gaga, racked up over 44 million views.
Whether she’s working on her own music or on one of her many side quests, it’s clear that Sexyy Red is a central character in music today.
Shoreline Mafia – “ROCKIN”
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Shoreline Mafia made a major splash in the late 2010s, electrifying the West Coast with their party-positive anthems. Despite the success, the Los Angeles group’s legendary run seemed to be short-lived: they went their separate ways shortly after releasing their 2020 debut album, Mafia Bidness. But in 2025, members OhGeesy and Fenix Flexin decided to put their differences aside and resume the band’s story, reuniting for a new album, Back In Bidness, and their first tour (100% sold out) since before the pandemic.
Shoreline quickly proved that Back In Bidness was a new beginning, not just a one-off, with their run of post-album singles, most notably “HOLLYWOOD,” their collaboration with YG, and their own hit “ROCKIN,” released in June. Produced by a crew of L.A. sound architects led by Sorry Jaynari, “ROCKIN” is a throwback to the 1980s Cali electro-funk scene, sampling “Funky Little Beat” by Debbie Deb, and adding supercharged 808s and crisp handclaps. Geesy and Fenix trade bars like they never left each other’s side, stacking flexes with effortless ease. The music video is a tribute to L.A.’s vibrant Mexican culture, as Geesy and Fenix rhyme in front of the Mexican flag, nosh at street food stands, cruise in lowriders, and vibe with their community.
Produced by King Nathan, Jacasikk & Martin Leib, “3am” is an infectious bit of sorcery, melding Shimmy and Toliver’s melodic styles to create a narcotic and seductive heater that equally suits smoke sessions and pregames. The song highlights Shimmy’s skill with sinuous melodies, as he winds between clicking percussion and lush keyboard chords.
“3am” built slowly throughout the summer, garnering steam until it became the breakout song from Rockstar Junkie. To date, it has racked up over 20 million streams on Spotify alone, and over 4 million on its YouTube video. On the week of November 1, “3am” made its debut on the Hot 100, coming in at #100. For an artist as talented as Loe Shimmy, it’s just the first of many career milestones to come.
LUCKI – “I Don’t Care…” ft. Lil Yachty
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Debuting as a teenager in the early-2010s, LUCKI evolved from an underground hero to a national concern, growing his fanbase to massive levels without ever compromising his art and chasing the mainstream. He counts many rap luminaries, including Drake and Earl Sweatshirt, among his big fans.
One of his mutual admirers is Lil Yachty, who collaborated with LUCKI on “I Don’t Care…”, a propulsive slice of narcotic cloud rap, layered with hissing synth pads and twinkling, plugg-like melodies. In their first collaboration since 2020’s “Greed”, Boat and Tune each deliver a supersized verse, sinking their teeth into producer Childboy‘s instrumental and baring their souls. The song arrived with an artful video directed by Lonewolf, LUCKI’s longtime collaborator, who contrasts a stark black-and-white color scheme with warm film grain to highlight the duo’s escalating cynicism and isolation. With over 2.5 million views on its YouTube video and 7 million streams on Spotify, “I Don’t Care…” dropped to excitement and acclaim, earning coverage from Billboard, Complex, and Pitchfork, who added the song to their Pitchfork Selects playlist.
Hailing from Limestone Creek, FL, 1900Rugrat established himself as one of 2025’s biggest breakout stars, and one of the rap game’s most colorful characters. The raspy-voiced young artist built a reputation for annihilating any beat put in front of him, scoring viral freestyles over beats with samples of artists as diverse as Lil Uzi Vert, Alicia Keys, and Nancy Sinatra. He struck gold when he did his thing over a flip of Rocko’s “U.O.E.N.O.,” tearing into the beat and creating “One Take Freestyle.”
“One Take Freestyle” became 19’s biggest hit to date, racking up over 74 million Spotify streams and 19 million YouTube views en route to a GOLD certification from the RIAA. In early 2025, Florida legend Kodak Black hopped on “One Take Freestyle (Remix),” splitting the song in half with 19. The remix became the crown jewel of 19’s debut mixtape, Porch 2 The Pent, and helped propel the rapper to a spot on the 2025 XXL Freshman List. The rapper looks to continue growing next year, solidifying his reputation as one of the most quotable spitters in the rap game: “Dove up in that water, huh, I ain’t have no scuba/Glock on my lap, up and blow like a tuba.”
With a piercing tenor and a gently tumbling flow, Hurricane Wisdom is rising in the South, flashing his ability to inject deep feeling into his aspirational flexes. A highlight from his Billboard 200-charting mixtape, Perfect Storm, “Drugs Callin‘” perfectly illustrates Hurricane’s yin-and-yang. Bringing a new twist to Future’s classic “Perky’s Callin,” “Drugs Callin” finds the 24-year-old artist working a gently melodic rasp, stringing humble boasts together with finesse: “They say love’s a drug, I don’t wanna take too much from you/Say I do too much, bae, I just do what I can do,” he lilts.
“Drugs Callin” was a breakout hit for Hurricane, racking up over 40 million streams and nearly 20 million views on YouTube. The song’s buzz attracted the attention of Lil Baby, who hopped on the song’s remix, his sighing melodies a perfect complement to Hurricane’s. The music video for the song, which features cameos from Young Thug, G Herbo, and more, immediately shot to #1 on YouTube’s Trending For Music, and the song was a standout track on Hurricane’s recent deluxe, Perfect Storm: Sorry 4 Da Rain.
Rio Da Yung OG defined the sound of Flint rap with hits like “Legendary” and “Movie,” becoming the first rapper from his city to earn a PLATINUM record. Unfortunately, just as fast as he rose, his career took a left turn: Rio was sentenced to a prison term that kept him inside for the entire Biden Administration. In December 2024, Rio emerged from prison ready to work, immediately recording his album RIO FREE, sounding the alarm that he was back to reclaim his throne.
RIO FREE was merely a prelude to F.L.I.N.T. (Feelin’ Like I’m Not Thru), Rio’s debut album, recorded in homage to his hardscrabble hometown, named one of the Best Albums of 2025 by Pitchfork. The first song on F.L.I.N.T. is “Different Music,” an immersive Michigan rap anthem produced by Rio’s frequent collaborator Wayne616. “Different Music” is indicative of Rio’s freewheeling style, whipping from poignant reflections on family and his upbringing (“I’m just a little dirty kid from Flint, I never seen nothin'”) to shocking violence (“Do you really wanna beef ’cause n****s die in war/He was tryna get some chips and died by the store, damn”) to wild punchlines (“You chew a n**** style, I eat Percs, b*tch, we bite different”).
“Different Music” became a fan-favorite from F.L.I.N.T., reaching YouTube’s Top 100 Music Videos chart with over 1 million views in its first week (2.4 million total). Rio performed the song during his 60+-date “Welcome Home Tour,” receiving a rapturous response in markets across the country
The TikTok era taught us that a smash hit can come out of nowhere, but few hits in 2025 were more unlikely than “Now Or Never,” the motivational banger by UK teenager TKandz, which took the internet, and then the charts by storm.
Assisted by producer CXSPER, TKandz went deep into his bag, running roughshod over the beat and kicking off the song with this relatable mantra: “If I can do it, why can’t you?” Just 18 years old, TKandz was somewhat known in UK rap circles for underground hits like 2022’s “No Sleep,” but nothing he’d released has come close to making the impact of “Now or Never.”
Aided by TKandz’s diligent self-promotion on TikTok, “NOW OR NEVER” started to pick up steam on social media in the international sports community, with soccer fans in the UK and Europe adding the song to fan edits of their favorite players and athletes using the song to soundtrack their own highlights and workouts. Quickly, some of the biggest accounts in world football tapped in, including streaming megastar and noted football fan IShowSpeed, who listened to the song on stream two days in a row, Kylian Mbappe, the French superstar who shared the song on his Instagram story to his 127 million followers, and 18-year-old FC Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal (38 million TikTok followers), who participated in the trend.
“Now Or Never” quickly rose from an internet trend to an IRL smash, racking up streams by the tens of millions. The song has over 64 million Spotify streams since its September 15th release, and video creations featuring the song generated more than 1 billion views. The song made an impact on the UK Official Charts, spending 5 weeks on the chart, with a #28 peak, and reached Billboard’s Global 200, peaking at #108.
With a music video (and maybe a remix?) still to come, “Now Or Never” has the potential to grow even bigger as 2025 comes to a close. For 18-year-old TKandz, who is handling his whirlwind fame with aplomb, this is just the beginning.
audio press release | video press release | youtube | spotify |
That Mexican OT‘s Texas twang and tumbling flow made him one of the most promising rap breakouts of recent years. In 2025, OT’s name continued to ring bells outside of the Lone Star State, reaching the ears of Lil Wayne, who gave OT the ultimate co-sign by hopping on “Baby Mad At Me.”
Produced by the hitmaking duo Bankroll Got It (Megan Thee Stallion’s “HISS”), “Baby Mad At Me” is a guitar-driven situationship ballad, in which OT attempts to smooth things over with a woman he did wrong. Leaning into his trademark melodies, Weezy delivers a counterpoint to OT’s story, as he celebrates a partner who will ride for him “’til the wheels fall off.” The song ends with one of Lil Wayne’s signature guitar solos. Racking up over 8 million streams on Spotify alone, the pop-leaning trap ballad was a highlight from Recess, That Mexican OT’s playful 2025 album.
Trippie teamed up with Internet Money hitmaker Nick Mira for “Sketchy,” a song that shows off the rapper’s signature soaring melodies, which he layers into massive harmonies and uses to express playful boasts: “Everybody dead to me, apocalyptic/All of my guns got lasers, they futuristic.” “Sketchy” ends with a stream of consciousness expression of the loneliness and hurt that no amount of money and fame can heal: “My heart filled up with so much pain, don’t have no room for you”
Buddah Bless – “See The World” ft. BossMan Dlow, Big Sean, and 2 Chainz
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