New Delhi, Dec. 27 -- 2025 felt like a year where popular music was in transition, with many of the big, established stars either choosing not to release an album or dropping proper clangers (looking at you, Taylor Swift). Hip-hop, once an utterly dominant force on music charts, also had an off year, with only a handful of releases moving the pop culture needle.

The space thus ceded allowed for some truly wild, innovative and ambitious records to occupy centre-stage. You had Geese bringing Brooklyn hipster art-rock back from the dead, Rosalia blending pop music with classical concert music, and Bad Bunny returning to the top of the charts with politically-charged musica urbana. Closer home, Indian hip-hop leaned further into regional sou...