It was a blockbuster year across genres, but only a few could make the AP's list of best albums:
- Génesis, Peso Pluma. The year belongs to regional Mexican artists, who brought their banda, norteño, mariachi, sierreño, and more to geographies well beyond Mexico and the southwest US. Leading the charge is Peso Pluma, whose third studio album, Génesis, became the highest-charting regional Mexican album of all time. Across 14 tracks, Pluma marries contemporary swagger with traditional corridos tumbados, bringing the colorful and once-maligned music to the masses—and making it all his own in the same breath.