OOPS! Top 50 of 2025: #35-31: An Alt Country Pioneer, Rap Royalty and a Genius

Today’s OOPS! block will be a lot of artists who made lists in the past that I just lost track of. No one to blame here but me…these are all great artists who have been on lists before. Sometimes we get into a great band and they just drift off the radar…this is a drift off the radar entry for me. But that’s why we make the OOPS! list. So, let’s dive into some great music.

35. Jeff Tweedy: New Orleans

One of the rare triple records. You do not see a lot of triple LPs. The Clash went down the triple LP road, but not many others. With his sons Spencer on drums and Sammy on syth, this track is a real family project. Jeff’s unique writing and vocal style, made famous with Wilco, is in full effect with a slight weathered rasp. This is a scaled back track about mortality and the importance of music in his life as he envisions his final parade down New Orleans. Jumping back and forth from acoustic guitar to electric might sound like an odd choice, but when they come together with the background singers…it’s amazing.

34. Perfume Genius: It’s a Mirror

I remember listening to Perfume Genius for a previous OOPS! list and thinking…this is an artist on the rise that I need to keep my eye on…OOPS! His twangy 70s singer/songwriter esque vocal is full of emotional charge and urgency. The track itself is about how a relationship has broken down and how he is afraid to leave the house and be judged by others…mainly men. Perfume Genius is an openly gay artist and this track fits into his themes about identity. It is a beautiful song about love, fear and hope for a better future.

33. Noname: Hundred Acres

Noname came onto my radar a few years ago and made a top 50. Since then I heard her feature on some other tracks, but lost track of her solo career. I was very happy to find a new release with all the exquisite wordplay as her previous tracks. She is a bit of a throwback to Digable Planets with her jazzy beats and jazzy vocal delivery. This is a fun track with great rhymes, sexual innuendo and references to both Poseidon and Johnny Bravo…love it.

32. Mobb Deep: Against the World

Last we heard from Mobb Deep was 2020, so I was quite surprised to see a new release. Against the World kicks the album off and sets the stage for more than a comeback…this is a manifesto for world dominance. They are not pulling punches and calling out all their haters as they show that they still got it. The beats are quite stripped back with a single trumpet, which really has their vocals at centre stage. The bars are so surgical and unrelenting on this track, and the record, that it is almost a hip hop horror movie. I love it.

31. Little Simz: Thief

The UK rapper has made the list in the past, but I kind of fell off of her work and decided to check the new record…wow. Most of this track is Simz spitting crazy bars to a drum kit and some crazy jazz guitar. I love it. She is stripping back hip hop to its bare essentials…beats and bars. There is no elaborate sampling or crazy synth bass lines…just Little Simz going 100% and really bringing it. More importantly, this is about how an abusive man has stolen her life…he was the thief who stole her sense of self and emotional wellbeing. This makes this track part hip hop art and part Simz reclaiming herself.

Next block will feature some mud, an alchemist and a machine….