A Look Into Hip Hop's Most Anticipated Artists And Projects In 2021

By: James Teague

As we’re gearing up for an amazing new year (and yes it’s still going to be a great year regardless of everything covid-19 related), more new music is on the horizon for this new year to continue serving as our life soundtrack for the year. Even though there were some great gems that dropped last year, music 2020 was said to not really have a lot of impact due to the world getting altered because of COVID-19.

With everything going on whether it was with COVID, the presidential election, or the protests/riots that were all going on in America, I found lots of music lovers were not necessarily keeping up with all the latest new music that released each and every week. Hence why some of the albums released that I thought were going to do well actually didn't due to COVID-19. Luckily this year is a fresh start and we’re starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel with this entire living situation. Here are some of my most anticipated artists that I'm looking forward to releasing new music this year. 

TDE

The current Best Rap Label Top Dawg Entertainment has had a very quiet 2020 for the most part but it appears since SZA dropped her singles, the label is getting up for another busy year. It wouldn't feel right for me if i did each artist alone so i decided to do the entire roster in its entirety in this section. 

• KENDRICK LAMAR  - Between the numerous rumors surrounding his upcoming album, him moving in silence for the entire year and only popping out to the public on several occasions, there is no telling of what's going to happen with this next Kendrick album. What we can all say is that a lot has gone on since his last album DAMN, which was released in 2017, and everybody is wondering what he has to say for this next go round. This is one of the reasons why I'm going to always be excited for a new Kendrick release. 

• SZA - Just like Kendrick, SZA has also been under radar since her debut album CTRL and pops out seldomly. Her two brand new singles “Hit Different” and “Good Day” have me ready and anxious for SZA’s upcoming album. The people have been very very anxious for SZA to release new music and were to the point of frustration where they were taking things out on Punch through Twitter. Between that and watching SZA through her social media living and experiencing life, I expect the new album to be as amazing as her debut. 

• JAY ROCK - The OG member of the label Jay Rock has been quietly working since his last album Redemption dropped in Summer of 2018. Since the pandemic, he’s grown his hair out and looks like he’s been in the zone with making music and living life. I'm interested in hearing what he has to say this time around whenever it's time to release his new album. 

• SCHOOLBOY Q - Coming off his last album Crash Talk, Schoolboy Q has always been staying busy on the feature tip. It’s either the features or social media whenever we see him, whether it's playing the daddy role with his daughter or if he’s out playing golf. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed Crash Talk as an album from front to back, I can also understand why some of the fans felt like they were let down by this album. Q has said sometime after the album dropped that he was already back to work on his next album. From what I’ve heard through the grapevine, I'm hearing that Groovy Q is back on his Blankface/Habits and Contradictions vibes for the next album. 

• ISAIAH RASHAD - I don't have a clue as to why Zaywop is taking forever with releasing his album but he is the only member on TDE right next to Ab Soul who hasn't released a brand new album since 2016 with The Sun’s Tirade. He’s been previewing brand new music here & there on his instagram live. Whether he drops an album this year or not, I'm looking forward to hearing from Zaywop musically soon. He has been away for far too long. 

DRAKE 

The anticipation for his new album Certified Lover Boy is at an all time high right now. Since last year between all of the Drake leaks and his last project Dark Lane Demo Tapes, Drake has really been in his bag on the music tip. It felt like since his last interview with Elliot Wilson on rap radar, it feels like he’s been more focused than ever making sure the new album is quality material. All of the leaks and his last project have shown me that we haven't seen anything yet for Certified Lover Boy. It’s supposed to be coming out sometime this month but we shall see and find out. 

PARTYNEXTDOOR 

It felt good hearing back from Party after releasing his album PartyMobile, after being on a hiatus from releasing new music. Now that we’ve had time to properly digest the new album, I think it’s time for Party to work on a brand new album and the reason that I say that is because since he was away for so long prior to Partymobile, it feels more appropriate that new music should start dropping.

G-HERBO

I've always been a fan of G-Herbo’s music since the beginning of his career back when he was calling himself Lil Herb. But ever since hearing his new song “Statement”, it’s become my 2021 song for the year. It makes no sense how many times I’ve had this song on repeat. Between the Dipset “I Really Mean It” sample and Herbo rapping forreal, the aura of that entire song sounds so refreshing and focused. I'm looking forward to 25 The Album , the title of his upcoming album. I don't know what's going to happen this coming album, but if he has more song quality sounding like “Statement”, then I'm very excited for this brand new album coming.  

K-CAMP

After releasing Kiss 5, one of the better albums of 2020, K Camp made it clear that in 2021 he was coming for the number one spot. Every year, K Camp drops a new project and every year he always has a hit record kept in the tuck. I expect this year to be no different. 

RODDY RICCH 

I'm very interested to see where Roddy Ricch is going to go with his Sophomore Album. Coming off having such an incredible year in 2020 with his debut album, Please Excuse Me for Being Anti-Social,  Roddy has kept himself busy with doing his features while also staying out of the way during this global pandemic. Roddy said earlier that he was in no rush to put out a brand new album and that he likes to take his time with creating his next album. He was able to win a lot of people over with the music that he was making but I'm interested to see what level is going to be able to take when it comes to the sophomore. He strikes me as a young man who is about his business and wants to make sure that he shows up each day as his best self. I'm looking forward to seeing what lemons that life will give to Roddy in order for him to tell his story on the album. 

FUTURE 

Instagram pictures surfaced  of DJ Esco , Metro Boomin, and 808 Mafia all being back in the studio working together which prompted the rumors of Monster 2 possibly being in the works. Now as far as I know, I cannot say if that’s really going to be true. However, I did see that Future deleted all the pictures off of his Instagram page and whenever you see an artist do something of that magnitude, then that means get in formation because it looks like there’s going to be a new album due to us at any given day/moment. 

YOUNG THUG

Even though Thugger is always active on featured guest tracks abd collaboration projects, it almost feels like forever since we've heard a solo album from him. So Much Fun exceeded my expectations and has been in my album rotation for a while still to this very day. It appears Thugger is getting ready for Slime Language 2 with the lead single Take it to Trial Featuring Gunna and Yak Gotti. This looks like this going to be a Young thug and friends album but i'm glad to hear that Thug will be releasing brand new music this year. 

LIL BABY

Cheers to another rapper who had the best 2020 yet in regards to hip-hop music. Lil Baby has done enough hits, songs, features, all for the year to help him get to where he's supposed to be. Having said that, for some reason it feels like some people are still not giving Baby the respect he truly deserves. From the awards show not properly nominating him as one of the better artists whether the nomination is for the album or him as an artist. He’s already closed off on the features and is back in the lab cooking up brand new music from what i'm hearing. Even with all of the success coming to him, Lil Baby is still hungry to show and prove to the real ones that he’s here to stay.

NIPSEY HUSSLE 

Word has got out through J Stone, one of Nipsey’s close friends and collaborators, confirmed that there will be a brand new Nipsey Hussle album that’s going to be released soon. J Stone had revealed on the The Bootleg Kev podcast that there’s so many verses Nip has done where he thought that he's heard everything. For me personally, as long as Nipsey’s team is involved in the process of making this album, then I'm all for this release. It was messed up knowing that he was in work already with his next album and the collaboration project with Meek only for him to pass away unexpectedly. 

PUSHA-T 

Daytona came out back in 2018 and yet it feels like it's been out for almost half a decade. There’s been rumors of a Pusha/Madlib project for a while now that haven't been confirmed yet. However in another interview, Pusha had confirmed his upcoming album so far is produced by Pharrell and Kanye West. He also said that it should be almost done very soon. We’ve only heard about Pusha’s music ever so often lately. The last time we heard from Pusha was about his drake diss verse on Pop Smoke’s Posthumous deluxe album, Shoot for the Star, Aim for the Moon. I'm already expecting the music to be very superior but I'm just ready for a brand new album coming very soon.

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The Most Anticipated Hip Hop Releases Of 2020

By: James Teague

There’s going to be major life changes occurring all around us in this new decade and what better way to help us embrace these changes than through new music releases! New music this year will serve as our personal life soundtracks towards all newfound memories. The 2010’s started out smoking hot and progressed as the years passed. We’ve been blessed with some classic works that will be part of our lives. Even though it personally felt like the music in 2019 was lacking longevity, there were still some solid musical releases I personally enjoyed.

As we’re just now starting 2020, I'm looking forward to some of the artists we haven’t heard from in some time providing us listeners with some new vibes. I’ll be starting my 30’s in 2021 and I'm eager to know how impactful music will be to my taste and my life as I elevate in this new journey. Here is my list of artists whom I’m personally excited about that's rumored to release new music. 

Noname, Smino, & Saba aka “Ghetto Sage”

Back in October, Chicago rapper NoName announced that her, Saba, & Smino had announced that they were forming a rap supergroup called “Ghetto Sage” and went on to debut their first group sound called  “Haagen Dazs”. Each of these artists have dropped great albums at the end of the decade; NoName with Room 25, Saba with Care for ME & Smino with Noir. Even though “Haagen Dazs” is the first debut song for the group, they’ve collaborated 2 more times before becoming an official group. There’s been some talks about the group maybe having a project together but we will see as time progresses on.

The Weeknd 

The last time that we’ve heard from Toronto Native The Weeknd was back in 2016 when he had released his last album Starboy. Since then we’ve gotten sights of Abel doing features for rappers such as Future & Trouble. If we didn’t hear him through music, then we would hear about his personal dating matters on and off. The Weeknd decided to surprise the fanbase by dropping two new singles. His single “Heartless” is produced by Metro Boomin. No information has been released yet for his new album but I’m looking forward to this next batch of new music coming.

Partynextdoor 

These days you can find Toronto native Partynextdoor playing the songwriter role. The last time we heard new music was when he released his project called “Seven Days back in 2017.” Back in August, Drake said for us to expect new music coming soon from Party. In November, Party hinted on his IG that new music was coming out that Friday and proceeded to release two new singles, “The News” and “Loyal” with Drake.  Awhile back before he went behind the scenes, Party mentioned that his next album would be titled “Club Atlantis” but there’s no confirmation on whether or not that album title still stands. For now Party has been teasing us about new music that’s coming. There’s still a special place in my heart for Party’s first two albums and i’m excited to hear what he’s cooking up with this new album at the top of the year.

G-Herbo 

Out of all the acts in the city, G-Herbo is considered one of my top favorite acts to come out of Chicago in the last couple of years. His last collaborative album with Southside, Swervo, is still in my music rotation since the day it released. Before the 2019 ended, Herbo had said he is currently working on his next project, PTSD. He didn’t specify when the album was coming but after surprising his fans with dropping a short but sweet project, Sessions, one can only assume that he plans to release PTSD later on sometime this year.

Tory Lanez 

Even though he just recently just dropped his album Chixtape 5, Tory is always consistently working and releasing new music, whether singles or guest features. Tory has already said that he has some upcoming projects that are in the works. There are currently no release dates assigned to these new projects at this time, however one can hope that maybe Tory could drop a project maybe such as The New Toronto 3. Personally, The New Toronto series is a preferred favorite series out of the others for me.

SZA 

Periodically on Social Media, via Instagram, you can catch a glimpse of TDE songstress SZA out and about living life to the fullest. She has updated us through Twitter that she is currently working on her next upcoming album. The 3 year anniversary of CTRL is around the corner and this album sounds as fresh as it did the first time it was released. No information yet has been released about the album but we’re looking forward to hearing what SZA has to say this following go round. 

Isaiah Rashad 

Recently on Twitter, Isaiah has hinted on being in a better space mentally to release the music that he loves. The last time we heard from TDE’s own was back in 2016 when he dropped his sophomore effort The Sun’s Tirade. It’s clear that Isaiah has been working on music but he’s reportedly said he was having a hard time finding his stride in making the type of music he loves. Recently he’s hinted at finding his stride out and also teased a possible collab record with Schoolboy Q with Kenny Beats on the production side. We don’t have any album information but we’re patiently waiting on Zaywop to bless us with new heat soon.

Migos 

It’s been awhile since we last heard new music from Migos. Following the release of Culture 2, the rap group from Gwinnett County decided to go in a different direction by releasing their solo albums. Even though each of the members have their unique talents, we quickly realize that all three of these members are much better as one unit compared to being solo acts. Culture 3 is currently in the works, and it was mentioned that there was a chance it could be dropping sometime in the first quarter. We’ll stay tuned.

Future 

The Wizard has already kicked off the new year 2 for 2 with “Life is Good” with Drake and “Federal Fed” with Moneybagg Yo. If there’s one thing you can always count on every year is a brand new Future project dropping. Theres no other information on plans of Future’s next album endeavors but with “Life is Good” being released, one can be certain that Future is planning to drop soon at some point. Now whether it’s going to be another Future album or the rumored sequel to “What A Time to Be Alive,” I’m always looking forward to new projects being distributed out by The Wizard Himself.

Griselda (Westside Gunn & Madlibb/Conway) 

The Infamous crew hailing from Buffalo, New York is coming fresh off a great 2019. Members of Griselda; Benny the Butcher, Conway, & Westside Gunn have held their own in each of the latest projects released. Once the group signed with Roc Nation with the help of Jay-Z, the rap group knew what time it was. Two Projects from Westside Gunn and Conway’s collaborative effort with Madlib are planning to drop sometime this year. Westside Gunn ended up making a bold start on the end of year Rap Radar Interview with Elliot Wilson and Bdot by saying Griselda had a much better year in 2019 than TDE and Dreamville.

Rihanna 

These days trying to get a global icon like Rihanna to drop new music is almost equivalent to pulling teeth. Rih has been busy collecting her bag with her company Fenty. There’s not a lot of information that’s out about her album outside of hearing that this next upcoming album is supposedly reggae influenced.

Drake 

Whether you love him or you hate him, Drake always has a way of making the masses remember him, whether through his chart topping hits, gossip blogs/news, or finding him supporting platforms such as Rap Radar and Shop Talk. Drake seems to have moved past all of the ills that occurred from 2018 during the release of his last album Scorpion. In usual Drake fashion, he’s announced via tour that he has been hard at work on his next upcoming album. No telling when this album will come out but I can bet you he will have something out right around the summertime.

J. Cole 

Cole has already confirmed about his next upcoming album following up from KOD titled The Fall Off. He’s already been working on that album. In between time he’s also been busy giving out feature verses to rappers like Young Thug, Royce, Gangstarr, & his Dreamville roster. His team all created a moment by creating and releasing Revenge of the Dreamers 3 compilation albums featuring the members of the Dreamville roster and friends. Cole said that he’s finished with giving out feature verses and has returned back into the lab to finish up on The Fall Off. This album is set to come out sometime this year. 

Kendrick Lamar 

We’re on the cusp of hitting the 3 year anniversary mark of Kendrick Lamar’s last solo album DAMN. Granted he’s followed up with curating The Black Panther soundtrack, its been very quiet for the Compton rapper. Outside of hearing news about him having his first child with his woman, he’s stayed off the scene for quite sometime. Also what’s more telling is how there hasn’t been as many guest verses from Kendrick as before within the last few years. Things have been quiet until this past weekend, Billboard columnist and former editorial director, Bill Werde, took to his twitter and present some interesting news regarding Kendrick’s next coming album. He mentions Kendrick’s next album may be more rock influenced however he follows up clarifying that “just because recording had hit a point where folks believe it may be finished — albums go back to the studio all the time after this point, and for a million different reasons.” At this point, all we can do is just wait until the TDE superstar decides to release his album. All that we can do now is wait patiently until the TDE superstar decides its time for us to hear what he has to say.

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