OOPS! 50 of 2025 #20-16: An Orange, A Thief and Pluto

We are now here! THE TOP 20!!! Pretty soon you will have 100 songs to listen to for 2025. There are some previous list vets here and some new additions. This is also an eclectic entry with one of the most talented artists in music. Enough of my blah blah, let’s get to the music!

20. Blood Orange: Vivid Light

Blood Orange…aka Lightspeed Champion…aka Devonté Hynes has been around for a few years. He has gone from indie rock, to hip hop inspired R&B, to his current sound, which is a bit of a jazz and R&B mix. Much like Steve Lacy, he doesn’t cleanly fit in a genre. Vivid Light shows off all of his talents. There is a soulful vocal surrounded by lush bass beats. He also incorporates some jazz flute and keyboard into the arrangement, which gives the track a bit of warmth and freshness. It’s great to see Blood Orange still making music and experimenting.

19. Big Thief: Los Angeles

Over the last few records, Big Thief has taken on this organic campfire sing along vibe. They have this great loose sound that sounds like they record everything together in the studio in one take. The acoustic guitar gives the track its spine, while background vocals and electric guitar riffs come in and out. Adrianne’s vocal gives the track a great folky vibe and feels like a bit of a throwback to the 90s Lilith Fair movement. I love this track and the band.

18. Jon Batiste: Saint James Infirmary Blues

Batiste originally burst on the scene with some eclectic soul and world music. However, in his last two records he has gone back to America’s blues roots with some stunning Beethoven covers and now a blues record straight out of the 1920s delta. Batiste’s grasp of music is unparalleled and the way he can play, and sing, the blues is powerful and emotional. The gospel backing singers also lends a weight to this epic track.

17. Pluto and YKNIECE: Whim Whammiee

Ok. Sometimes on the OOPS! list a song makes it on…and I can’t really explain why. I think I can understnad every 4th word in this track…with most of them being about celebrating her paper and how great her ass is. The beat is fantastic and much like GloRilla or Sexxy Red, you just need a sexy song from the clubs. When I hear this track I picture women coming out of Ferraris throwing $100 bills in the air. Plus it’s on Motown…love it.

16. Dijon: Yamaha

We talked earlier about Blood Orange being difficult to pin down…Dijon comes from the same genre bending school. Part electro pop, part 90s R&B, part modern pop and a dash of Purple Rain era Prince, Dijon is out there pushing the boundaries of R&B. At times he is very traditional with classic vocals over 4/4 beats, while at other times there is asynchronous electro buzzes over highly produced vocals. He is a unique voice that is worth checking out.

We are in the top 20 now, so no more cute hints…you’ll just have to come back to see who’s next.