'Billboard' shares 10 best R&B albums of 2025, naming Leon Thomas' 'Mutt' #1

Leon Thomas has topped Billboard's year-end chart for the 10 Best R&B albums of the year with his album Mutt. Staff writer K.D. praised the way the album "strings together old-school balladry ('Answer Your Phone'), delectable bites of contemporary R&B ('Yes It Is'), and guitar-shredding rock ('Dancing With Demons') that truly flaunts his eye-popping range and versatility" as he discusses romance in the social media age, singlehood and more.

Mutt is followed by Tems' debut album, Born in the Wild, at #2. The third-best album is Revenge by Muni Long, highlighted for its "replay value" and Muni's "relatable storytelling, vocal raw emotion and sharp intuition when it comes to love and relationships."

Rounding out the top five are Ravyn Lenae's Bird's Eye and PartyNextDoor's PartyNextDoor 4.

The next five albums on the list are respectively Gap Year! by Laila!, Why Lawd? by NxWorries, Casablanco by Marsha Ambrosius, Bryson Tiller's self-titled album and 11:11 (Deluxe) by Chris Brown.