My Top 10 Songs of April 2025

Disclaimer! - I am a playlist junkie and Spotify makes it easy for me to make hundreds of playlists with just a few taps. Ever since February 2019, I started a monthly playlist called “Current Phazr.” The original title was supposed to be Current Phases but evidently, I couldn’t type it correctly and I just went with it. Every month I would make a new one and fill it with music I have been listening to hence the word current. From new releases from favorite or new artists, old songs I forgot existed, old songs I didn’t know existed, and everything in between. My only requirement for each playlist is that there is no overlap. Any song that is on a previous playlist can’t be added to a different one. All new and fresh songs for me. Although there have been a few exceptions very rarely do I even think of doing it. I will give an example if it's not clear enough yet, “Dead Bent - 12” Version” by MF Doom is a song off an album released in 1999 which was before I was even born! I came across this song in 2024 and therefore it is on a playlist. Like everything related to music taste, it's all objective. It's a feeling thing if I choose to add a song to the playlist. If it’s not on any other Current Phazr playlist before it then it is eligible to be on a future playlist.

Honorable Mention - Vuelva A Ver Remix by Dalex

Alright, I guess we are starting off with honorable mentions this month. After much deliberation, it was really about 2 minutes, I decided to add my 11th and 12th top songs to this list. The gap between honestly 15 to 9 is minuscule at this point, so even making two honorable mentions was a small challenge, but here we are. Vuelva A Ver Remix was an instant addition to all Latin-themed playlists for me. Another remix that doesn’t disappoint. To be honest, I haven’t even heard the original, but I’ll tell you I would be shocked if it's better. Latin artists can elevate their remixes because it's undoubtedly better, something I have discussed before, but I will bring it up again. Pop music and Hip-hop need to learn a thing or two from it. Every time a Latin artist hops on a remix, they are just having a good time. Bringing their bravado and voice to an already dope song. That's all you can ask for in a remix. Don’t do too much, just bring yourself and actually like the song you're on. This month's batch of songs was just too good for me to pick my top ten, especially towards the top of the order, or is it the bottom of the order? You know, I could never figure that out; a Latin remix kicks off my Top 10 Songs of April 2025.

Honorable Mention - untitled 02 by Kendrick Lamar

I have a very specific yet very vague memory of listening to Kendrick’s slew of uncut raw songs off his project “untitled unmastered” during COVID when I flew out to Arizona. It was the start of the pandemic and flights were never cheaper. “untitled 02” wasn’t a memorable song when I listened to it but as I have previously mentioned in another list, my taste has drastically changed or you could even say elevated, since then, if you're being nice about it. My taste in 2020 is not what it is now. I remember not thinking much of this album, I merely did it for the sake of doing it. Coming across this song and enjoying it as much as I did, I now feel it is a service to at least check out this album again. This pocket of Kendrick, where it's more of a trap banger, isn’t used as much and isn’t something I have truly appreciated about Kendrick until recently. This song doesn’t disappoint in its production, coupled with Kendrick’s passionate lyrics in a way that only he can portray. He does his patented voice switch to a higher pitch, but not in an auto-tuned sort of way. I am not musically proficient enough to accurately describe it, but if you listen to his music, then you know what I am trying to convey. I hear other artists try to emulate it, and it comes across as just not Kendrick enough. When he switches up to seriousness towards the latter half of the song, it’s a chef's kiss. You may see more of this project in next month's list if I get to it. For now, it leads off as just missing the cut into the Top 10.

10 - Happier by Olivia Rodrigo

Sure, it's fair to say I only like Olivia Rodrigo because I want to be different and it's a palate switcher compared to other songs and genres that I enjoy; heck, just take a look at the rest of this list. You got a 90’s classic, some Drake, reggaeton, and some more reggaeton, with some CCM mixed in there. To start, yes, I only tried her out and convinced myself to like her music for that aforementioned reason. But now I am so inside of her, wait, pause. I mean, I am so into her music that it's more than just a flex if it is even one. Wow, you listen to Olivia Rodrigo as a Christian straight male. Now I am sure I am not the only dude to like and actually listen to her and others like her, but we aren’t exactly putting out there that we listen to sad pop music. Anyways, the song itself is off her first album, a song I must have skipped past after my first few listens, but I came across it again and it sounds as good as others on the album. Like Favorite Crime and Deja Vu, among others. While I don’t think Happier is better than those two, it is up to par with them. I don’t really care that it is not different as much as it should be. It works for her and it works for me to start off the official list now at number 10.

9 - No Diggity by Black Street ft. Dr.Dre, Queen Pen

I hope you're getting used to the abstract memories I have of a random assortment of songs. From where I first heard them, or what they remind me of. “No Diggity”, a classic song, right? Well, I admittedly first heard this song and now associate this song with the movie Pitch Perfect. Don’t crucify me, please! Now I am not a hundred percent sure about it, but I do know I think of the movie every time I hear this song. While it's not a bad movie, and is a guilty pleasure of mine and my family and I have watched the Pitch Perfect franchise quite a few times, the first two I believe we watched in theaters. Again, enough of the random fact of what this song means to me, the song itself is an absolute classic banger. Back then, I didn’t have a mature enough brain to fully encapsulate the gravity of how good this song was and is. It is a feel good, Saturday barbeque with the people getting hungry, but pop this song on and they forget about that for a minute type of song. Forget the cares of the world and be free for a couple of minutes.

8 - You Broke My Heart by Drake

The way I would describe why I like this song and where it is on the list is more of a cultural thing. I, in a weird and hard-to-understand way, feel obligated to like this song. Its content and theme are something I share no resonance with. Maybe the same desire and passion portrayed in the song is something I share, but in terms of the breaking of hearts and blowing up of cars as shown in the music video featuring Morgan Wallen of all people, I share no relatability. Again, another song where I recall randomly a memory associated with this song. I’m pretty sure this memory wasn’t the first time I heard this song, because I am about 90% positive I listed to this album when it came out, but such is a common theme and is why i am a firm believer of relistening to albums and songs, this one didn’t stand out to me to the point I don’t even remember how it went. I remember coming across a basketball edit on either YouTube or Instagram, probably Instagram, of SGA, a guard for the OKC Thunder, singing and acting out this song during pregame shootaround. It was the part towards the end of the song, the crescendo, if you will, stripping down to the strings singing his heart out as only the Six God himself can do. As much as I have tried to hate on his music and his overall musical talent, he sure knows how to pick good songs. I find his personality and his antics amusing, and he has transformed himself into a living meme. I once described Drake to someone who knows of him but doesn’t listen to rap or Drake, that Drake is the type of guy who thinks we're laughing with him, but we're laughing at him. But when you make as much music as he does, he is bound to have some slappers. This is a classic loverboy Drake song and is one I bump even though I have never gotten my heart broken.

7 - Balance by Maluma

The best song off the album. Period. Maluma is in his element with this one. He tried to start his 2023 album “Don Juan” with some pop stuff, but man, was it terrible and the mixing wasn’t all that great either; I could barely hear him. Then, after a few duds, he came back to earth and gave us this song. Everything you want from a Maluma song, even with a kiss sound at the end. The trick I have noticed and this goes for all of reggaeton music, is to have the same baseline as everyone else but be slightly different from others, whether that be in delivery, features, or different samples in production. The beat and pattern aren’t going to change; it's what makes Reggaeton, but it's like adding spices and different sauces to the same dish. You gotta mix it up just a little. You have this chicken to work with, how are you going to make it taste good this time? I believe with some layered samples, yet keeping with the same tried and true basics, it can work and did on this song.

6 - Thank God by Travis Scott

A solid buildup that doesn’t take too long and rewards us for waiting. The steady build and yet the release doesn’t last all that long, granted, “Thank God” isn’t all that long. I still haven’t listened to his album yet and I have procrastinated on it ever since it was released, but maybe I will get to it eventually. Travis is more of a sometimes artist for me. He is not on my list of required listens. I like a few songs and get vibey with him on some songs, but he isn’t someone I go back to all that often. You may be thinking, 6 is awfully high for a sometimes artist. I have come to that same conclusion, but there is something else that I use to rank these songs: how much I listen to them. “Thank God” is a vibey rap song that I have higher thanks to the variety in my music and my daily listens and what I gravitate to. My listens have to have some credence in the decision-making process, not just solely base songs on which is better, that would be a whole different list.

5 - Chainbreaker by Zach Williams

There is no way that during the time of this song's release that I haven’t heard of it. It was a mainstay in the CCM space. It was all over the radio. This was around the time when I stopped listening to the radio for good. 2017 to 2018 is when I ventured completely into my own musical tastes, leaving behind the relic of the past. This song was one of the last CCM songs I have heard on the radio and I wouldn’t be surprised if it's still on the radio, as they tend to play the same five songs.  Let's just say there isn’t much to do with variety on K-Love or Family Life Radio. Simple yet impactful. While the message is always the same and rightfully so, you can only do so much to combat the corny or tacky labels that culture presents you with. You just have to take those pins and wear but understand you can still make dope music and it shouldn’t be put to the wayside and understood as it's just non-Christians who don’t like this music.don’t. No Christians have put that label on them and are looking for better in their music, which goes beyond just if you said Jesus in the song or not. Anyways catchy song that I didn’t think would impact me as much as it has. A good choir backing with great vocals and runs from Zach Williams. A classic CCM song, simple yet effective.

4 - WASH2 by Jon Bellion

I want to petition for more artists to strip down their songs. There is so much to be had in terms of musical quality and giving the true fans something to enjoy without having to release a new song. I am not saying it as a cash grab, no more so as a service to the culture as well as the fans. Jon Bellion has and continues to do a marvelous job at this, the passion in his eyes and voice is evident with these acoustic versions and even in the behind-the-scenes that he tends to do as he brings us the fans into the space of musical creativity. In a way, it is its own song as the melody and the riffs woven in are different than its original. For the longest time, I wasn’t a fan of artists or even covers of different songs changing the structure of the original. But I have come to appreciate it when it is done well and Jon hasn’t disappointed me yet with any rendition he does to his music. WASH2 captures the essence of WASH but, with addition by subtraction, takes away the powerful drums and lets the lyrics do most of the heavy lifting. A great companion to the original, but it can also stand on its own. With a different flow pattern, Jon makes this a complete song worthy of top 5 consideration for me. If you like WASH, you will love this version as well.

3 - Dallax by Feid ft. Ty Dolla Sign

This wouldn’t be a top ten if Feid didn’t make an appearance on here. When I saw that it was featuring one of, if not the best, featured artists you could get on a song in Ty Dolla Sign, I had the highest of hopes for this song. My expectations were met, maybe not exceeded, as they were on the level that it was going to be the best song of the year for me. While it wasn’t quite on that level, it is in its own right a banger and does what it sets out to do. A summer hit for Feid and another dope feature from Ty Dolla Sign. While there is nothing new in terms of performance or structure from Feid, the addition of Ty Dolla Sign really gave it that punch that this song needed to take it over the top. I found it hard not to put it number one, but with the quality and substance to think about, besides how much I play it, I realize with good conscience, 3 is as high as I can place it.

2 - The Blood by Housefires ft. David Funk

I believe music has the ability, just like with any form of art, to speak the unspeakable to know the unknowable. The things we have trouble feeling out and yet when we listen, we don’t try to comprehend, we just listen and be filled, or emptied. No witty one-liners or complex double entendres. Just the truth. That's this song. Truth-filled grace. There is not much I could say about this song. It has been my go-to worship song and has been a song of praise and also a song of reverence and submission. A reminder of how much I am loved regardless. That's it. Regardless, if you trust Him, nothing else changes his mind about you. Nothing can put you further or farther from his Love, from his blood.

1 - WASH by Jon Bellion

I knew I was going to love this song from my first listen while hitting chest at the gym. This was before I was thinking of making my next monthly playlist, so out of respect and having this ideology of overplaying songs before I can add them to the playlist. I like to give my monthly playlist a time to breathe and be present with it before I venture into thinking about next month's playlist. That was the main reason I didn’t gravitate to this song on release and that Spotify doesn’t do a great job of telling me that my favorite artists have dropped. It does a great job at recommending me songs of artists I have never heard of or barely play, so thanks, Spotify. I digress back to the song. Those drums and bass guitar at the beginning of WASH provided the baseline for the entire track, made it really difficult not to just add it to March’s playlist, that's how good it was. It was everything I came to expect from a Jon Bellion song: gorgeous instrumentation with beautiful vocals and a hook that sank its teeth into my soul. If this song is a prelude to his upcoming album, oh, I don’t think my heart and soul are ready for what is coming on June 4th. But right when I decided to make my next playlist, I immediately came to this song again. Listening to it literally on repeat. I believe that as of making this top 10, it is already in my top 50 songs of all time in terms of streams. If you know anything about me, to have a song that has only been around for a month to be that high and continuing to climb is something that doesn’t come around all that often. I don’t search for songs like this, I let them come as naturally as they can. But this song has top 10 potential, perhaps of all time for me. Another perfect song from Jon Bellion. Welcome back Jon, we missed you.