This week, I spun just some of my favorite songs released by artists based around metro Detroit and all across the state of Michigan. Emphasis on some, hah! Because there’s just so many to choose from and, for me, so difficult to narrow it down, but I did my best.

I’ve been covering the local music scene for 20 years, and more than eight of those years have been here on WDET. Each year I’ve found myself giving a similarly-worded year-end appraisal: more and more (and more) amazing music keeps coming out of Detroit! Music that is engaging, experimental, impressively produced, catchy-as-hell, and frankly, inspirational!

Spin the episode above to hear more of my thoughts, and look below to find a list of my top 10 favorite songs of the year!

Fav Songs of 2025!

1.) The Bloodletting – Phabies

2.) Jesse – Danny VanZandt

3.) The Middle – Na Bonsai

4.) Fearless & The Pure – Elisabeth Pixley-Fink

5.) Black Cat Operator – Rogue Satellites

6.) Wildflower – Nancy Friday

7.) Fast Food Napkin – Low Phase

8.) Looks Like We’re Alive – Spencer LaJoye

9.) Do It All – The City Lines

10.) Anymore – Mirror Mask

And stay tuned for two more episodes of MI Local in the year of 2025: 

Tuesday, Dec. 23: Highlighting original holiday music by local artists, plus in-studio guests include members of local rock groups Strange Witch and The City Lines, both of whom will perform original Christmas music and a classic cover!

Tuesday, Dec. 30: I’ll run through a bunch of great songs released during the year of 2025 that I nearly missed, plus in-studio guests Emily Rose and Audra Kubat will hang out to perform some original songs live, as well as a cover of Auld Lang Syne!

Happy New Year & Happy Holidays! Thanks for listening!

Few voices are as deeply woven into Detroit’s musical fabric as Ann Delisi’s. A trusted presence in Detroit radio for decades, Ann brings her unmatched perspective and curiosity to In the Groove with her Best of 2025 selections.

As a longtime champion of artists across genres and generations — from Detroit innovators to global icons — Ann’s picks reflect a career spent listening closely, asking questions, and shaping how this city hears music. Her Best of 2025 continues that legacy, highlighting the records and artists that resonated most with her this year.

Check out Ann Delisi’s full Best of 2025 playlist below, and listen to In the Groove to hear her selections and insights from one of Detroit radio’s most essential voices.

• “Midnight Marauders” – Don Was
• “Stealing A Kiss” – The War and Treaty
• “Gunslinger” – Natalie Bergman
• “No Rain, No Flowers” – The Black Keys
• “Flower Moon” – Durand Jones & The Indications & Aaron Frazer
• “The New Normal” – Sheryl Crow
• “Rollin’ B-Side Blues” – The Muggs
• “Midnight (feat. Keezy)” – Brother Thunder
• “Sober” – Bartees Strange

Tune in Friday, Dec. 12 – Friday Dec. 19 on 101.9 WDET FM, stream anytime at wdet.org — and follow along online for daily Best Of playlists and reflections from our music hosts.

See the Best of 2025 playlists »

Alternate Take host Liz Warner brings her deep listening and lifelong passion for music to In The Groove with her Best of 2025 selections, offering a genre-spanning look at the sounds that shaped the year.

An award-winning audio journalist, DJ, writer and longtime WDET voice known for exploring music and art that shapes Detroit’s culture, Liz highlights the tracks that stood out to her from both established innovators and exciting new voices.

Check out the playlist below for Liz Warner’s top 10 songs of 2025, and listen to the full show above for two weeks after it airs.

• “And Nothing Is Forever (Cosmodelica Electric Eden Remix)” – The Cure
• “cosa rara (feat. David Sylvian)” – Lucrecia Dalt
• “baby” – Gabriel Jacoby
• “Neon Grey Midnight Green” – Neko Case
• “Backwards” – Idle Ray
• “I Wish I Didn’t Waste Your Time” – Thundercat
• “Gadabout Season” – Brandee Younger
• “Babystar” – Matthew Herbert & Momoko Gill
• “Shapeshift (Radio Edit)” – HAAi

Tune in Friday, Dec. 12 – Friday Dec. 19 on 101.9 WDET FM, stream anytime at wdet.org — and follow along online for daily Best Of playlists and reflections from our music hosts.

See the Best of 2025 playlists »

Three straight hours of music released in 2025—the best of the best. Lots of my picks and lots of yours! Thanks to everyone that left a message on the In The Groove hotline with your picks; they were absolutely lovely and mixed right in with the show!

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for December 11, 2025

• “Save Me” – Emma-Jean Thackray

• “Si Chomphu” – Salin

• “SNC” – DARKSIDE

• “YUKON” – Justin Bieber

• “Found A Light (Beale Street)” – BADBADNOTGOOD & V.C.R

• “S.O.T.H.” – Sault

• “Be A Witness” – Lady Wray

• “Sad Makeup” – Yukimi

• “What It Gave Me” – Jordan Rakei & Jalen Ngonda

• “Constellation” – The Circling Sun

• “Puaj” – Salin

• “Alone (Four Tet Remix)” – The Cure

• “Angles Mortz” – Nightbus

• “Listen2me” – Foxwarren

• “The World’s Biggest Paving Slab (Daniel Avery Remix)” – English Teacher

• “Hit My Head All Day” – Dry Cleaning

• “Belong To You” – Cut Copy & Kate Bollinger

• “I’m Not Ready For The Change” – Nation of Language

• “Mercury” – Automatic

• “You got time and I got money” – Smerz

• “Lo Life” – Antibalas

• “Treat Yourself” – Franc Moody

• “Nobody New” – The Marias

• “Garden” – Maria Somerville

• “To Be A Rose” – Jenny Hval

• “Power of the Moon” – Ezra Furman

• “Sugar in the Tank” – Julien Baker & TORRES

• “Elderberry Wine” – Wednesday

• “..THUS IS WHY ( I DON’T SPRING 4 LOVE )” – SAYA GRAY

• “It’s A Mirror” – Perfume Genius

• “Elegantly Wasted (feat. Leon Bridges)” – Hermanos Gutiérrez

• “Waves” – ISTA

• “Lecker Song” – Yin Yin

• “Stone Shadow” – Glyders

• “Take My Hand” – El Michels Affair & Rahsaan Roland Kirk 

Friday, Dec. 12, 2025

We played three more hours of your top songs and mine on Friday to officially kick off the “Best Of” week of listening. 

Follow along with what our hosts are highlighting as the defining tunes of this year and listen to all of our picks in one place on the Best Of 2025: The WDET Playlist page. 

Check the playlist below and listen to the episode for two weeks after it airs using the player above.

In The Groove with Ryan Patrick Hooper playlist for December 12, 2025

• “GOOD LUCK” – KAYTRANADA

• “Another Baby!” – Dijon

• “Rush” – Gerald Clayton

• “Red Moon” – Tom Misch

• “Survivor” – Chronixx

• “Carry Me Away” – El Michels Affair & Norah Jones

• “Heaven” – Yeek

• “SPIDERS” – Lola Young

• “SOS” – Jadu Heart

• “Believer” – Annahstasia

• “Left For Tomorrow” – Perfume Genius

• “Better” – SPRINTS

• “Man Made Of Meat” – Viagra Boys

• “High Vibrations” – Theo Croker, Malaya & D’LEAU

• “Sad Piano House” – Daphni

• “Babystar” – Matthew Herbert & Momoko Gill

• “Eye To Eye (Live From The Royal Albert Hall)” – Jordan Rakei

• “The Seize” – Jordan Rakei

• “N8 Medley (Live at Audio Gold)” – Lawne

• “Nubian Lady” – Don Was

• “Dumb Feeling” – Mei Semones

• “Animaru” – Mei Semones

• “Need To Run” – Matthew Herbert & Momoko Gill

• “Invocation (feat. Onipa, Jupiter & Okwess, Otim Alpha, Damon Albarn & Joan as Police Woman)” – Africa Express

• “MISK” – Roundabout

• “DON’T LISTEN” – corto.alto

• “Coltrane (Crooked Man Remix)” – Cymande

• “Ibiza” – Butcher Brown

• “Road To Nowhere” – Roge

• “Boste” – Oreglo

• “Uno Punto Uno” – Women In Jazz & Rosa Brunello

• “SPOTTIEOTTIEDOPALISCIOUS” – Kassa Overall

• “2close2farr” – Momoko Gill

• “All That We Were” – Georgie Sweet

 

Listen to In the Groove with host Ryan Patrick Hooper weekdays from noon-3 p.m. ET on 101.9 WDET or stream on-demand at wdet.org.

Beginning Friday, December 12, Ryan Patrick Hooper kicks off a week-long celebration for the best music of 2025 on In The Groove.

Each day, a different WDET music host will join Ryan to share their favorite releases of the year and reflect on the artists, albums and sounds that shaped 2025. From jazz to hip-hop, indie, electronic and beyond, experience the full spectrum of the music that defined the year, all through the ears of WDET’s trusted music hosts.

• Friday, Dec. 12: Ryan Patrick Hooper from In The Groove noon to 3 p.m

• Monday, Dec. 15: Liz Warner from Alternate Take 2–3 p.m.

• Tuesday, Dec. 16: Ann Delisi from Ann Delisi’s Essential Music 1–2 p.m.
• Wednesday, Dec. 17: Rob Reinhart from Rob Reinhart’s Essential Music and Acoustic Café noon to 1 p.m.
• Thursday, Dec. 18: Jon Moshier from Modern Music noon to 1 p.m.
• Friday, Dec. 19: Kaleigh Wilder from Visions 1–2 p.m.

Tune in »

 

A year of community and creativity

2025 was a year of remarkable community commitment for WDET. When government funding for Detroit Public Radio was cut, our listeners showed up in force. We reached our fall fundraising goals and welcomed more than 250 new members in the first week of December alone. Detroit once again demonstrated that this community stands up for independent media, storytelling, music and culture when it matters most.

And let’s be honest — Detroit is a music city. As global audiences released unforgettable work across every genre, Detroit’s own music scene continued to thrive, innovate and put out some of its strongest recordings yet. From celebrated artists to emerging talent, the city’s creative energy remains unmatched.

Celebrating sound together

In The Groove is rooted in no genres — just good music, and this year’s “Best Of” series is a celebration of the artists, recordings and musical moments across the full spectrum of sound that moved us in 2025. It’s a musical reflection of the year we just lived through and a reminder of the power of music to connect and inspire us.

And the celebration wouldn’t be complete without you! Let us know your favorite songs of 2025, and we’ll share your picks on the air. Leave us a message on the Groove Hotline at 313-577-3414, or use the “Open Mic” feature in the WDET mobile app before Dec. 19 to be included.

Join us all week long as we honor the art, artists and listeners who made 2025 unforgettable.

See the Best of 2025 playlists »

Listen to the full playlist:

Tune in starting Friday, Dec. 12 on 101.9 WDET FM, stream anytime at wdet.org — and follow along online for daily Best Of playlists and reflections from our music hosts.

See the Best of 2025 playlists »