Spring Music Preview 2024

Rico Nasty Thinks Rage Rap Is ‘F****** Boring’ So She’s Shaking Off The Anger With ‘HARDC0RE DR3AMZ’

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Rico Nasty 'HARDC0RE DR3AMZ' Interview
Getty Image / Derrick Rossignol

Rico Nasty is constantly evolving. When the world first met the Maryland rapper, she was hip-deep in the “sugar trap” subgenre she’d invented — think Lil Uzi Vert’s woozy cloud rap with much more saccharine sounds. Then, she broke out with the fist-pumping rage rap anthem “Smack A Bitch.” But just when fans began to define her by that sound, she shifted again on each of her last two albums, Nightmare Vacation and Las Ruinas.

She’s doing so again on her latest project, HARDC0RE DR3AMZ, a joint EP with German producer Boys Noize. After previously working with Boys Noize on tracks like “Girl Crush” and “Money” with Flo Milli, Rico is leaning all the way into the producer’s EDM trappings on her latest, as seen in the EP’s first single “ARINTINTIN.”

And while her pivot to EDM is only a piece of a larger reclamation of the form by Black artists like Cakes Da Killa, Channel Tres, Duckwrth, and Leikeli47, Rico is naturally going to do things her own way. Uproxx reunited with our first-ever cover star via Zoom and as we vibed like a family reunion, she gave us her take on EDM, traveling, and why rage rap is now “really f*cking boring.”

Is there anything you would like for me to know about HARDC0RE DR3AMZ going into it? I would love to know how this one advances you guys’ previous collaborations, how it builds on those.

Our first song was “Girl Crush” and it was some really cool UK grime mixed with German techno. That was my first experience with Boys Noize and just dance music in general. After that, we did “Money” with Flo Milli, and obviously we did songs in between that never came out. It was super fun watching him go out and perform the song, as well, for hella people. And then it was also fun performing the song and barely have been performing the song and everybody knows it because he’s played it so many times.

I met Alex or Boys Noize through Kenny Beats, which was how I got introduced to the EDCs, the Hard Fest, going to Berlin, going to raves. And early on I tried to incorporate that into the relationships that I have with my fans, how the rave kids be like Blur and shit like that. The rave culture is all about looking out for one another and loving one another. So I try to incorporate that with the moshing and all the other shit that I do. Now, I travel a lot and do a lot of shows overseas and they still love to dance out there, so I just wanted to do something that I never did before and really dive into what that could sound like.

I’m interested to see how your fans react to it because obviously you’re known more for the thrash rap, screamo, sugar trap, that sort of thing. And this is a left turn.

Yeah, but we always do that. I mean, when everybody thought that I was sugar trap, I went rage, and now I just keep growing and liking different stuff and literally f*ck anybody who’s expecting me to make something like “Smack A Bitch” anymore. It’s been years, bro.

One thing I hate the most about music is that everybody thinks you’re just going to drop this project and never drop music again, and they don’t allow you to be an artist anymore. I’m an artist. I want to try sh*t. I want to do stuff I never did before. I’m living my life. I’m going places I’ve never been before, eating sh*t I never ate before. I’m around people I’ve never been around before. Of course, sh*t is going to be different. Because I’m a rapper, I’m going to rap, but sometimes a girl wants to have fun. Sometimes I just want to make music that’s c*nt. What’s wrong with that?

Absolutely. And you know what I think is genuinely interesting about you coming around to EDM is that I’ve noticed an industry-wide thing: Black people have come back to EDM. EDM and hip-hop have always been kind of interconnected.

Yeah. ASAP Rocky and Skrillex.

Even before that …here comes old Uncle Aaron. I’m going to tell you there was a group called the Jungle Brothers back in the ’80s. And they were mixing house in with the hip-hop, and they had a song, “I’ll House You.” And people were like, “What is this?” But hip-hop was so new, it wasn’t like, “Oh, you can only do this anymore. You can’t smile, you can’t dance, you can’t have fun.”

I think it’s the energy of it, man. Truly. Black people have been at the forefront of almost every genre. When you look back on electronic music… like, I said that ASAP Rocky song because I remember being on YouTube really heavy. That was the beginning of shit going viral. And I remember it being like two worlds colliding because at that time it was like electronic music but it was called dubstep at that time.

It’s also weird because I hear so much dubstep influence in hyperpop now. There’s a lot of young Black artists that are in hyperpop and I feel like hyperpop is damn near an art version of electronic music.

I do love the way it’s a conversation. It’s like we start something, it changes, but then when we come back to it, it’s like, “Ah, nah, we going to-

Make something new.

Yes, absolutely. With that being said, what was the criteria for the songs that made it onto this EP as opposed to ones that maybe you held onto or just cut entirely?

I feel like they had to sound like I was making dance music and not too much rapping or too wordy with lyrics to where people can’t … It’s not fun to dance to when you’re thinking so hard. I wanted catchy stuff. “Vvgina” is my favorite song on there because I always wanted to make a really, really sad song a happy song, and that’s what that is.

It’s one of those sneaky ones.

The “Pumped Up Kicks.”

Some Rico Nasty lore that we explored the last time we talked was how much we both loved anime growing up, and I had been working on this piece when Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball, died. And I wanted to get you on it so bad and I just didn’t have the time to get you on it.

That would’ve been insane.

I’m just going to ask you a question that I asked everybody. If he was here, what would you want to say to him right now?

He’s a bad bitch. The baddest bitch.

So what’s something that you want people to take away from HARDC0RE DR3AMZ when they listen to it? Like the main idea?

I want them to take away that we’ve become f*cking boring. Everything is so f*cking boring, y’all, and I feel like if you’re going to have fun, whether it’s in the car by yourself or you’re going to have fun, I’ve always provided that space for us to have fun. And I feel like somewhere along this road that I’ve taken with my fans, everything just became being angry. We’re so f*cking mad all the time. We’re screaming. We’re doing all this. It’s like, “Why the f*ck? Why do I have to be like that forever?” That’s what I want them to take away from it. Let’s just vibe, man. Just vibe. Let me cook. Period.

HARDC0RE DR3AMZ is out 3/29 via Sugar Trap/Atlantic Records/Big Beat.

Rico Nasty is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Tyla’s Freeing Self-Titled Debut Is A Pulsating Party That Puts Amapiano On The Global Stage

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Tyla 'Tyla' debut album review RX
Epic Records/Merle Cooper

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

With sizzling flair and a seductive strut, Tyla arrives on the Gunna and Skillibeng-assisted “Jump” from her debut album with a bold declaration. “They never had a pretty girl from Joburg,” she quips, saluting her hometown of Johannesburg, South Africa. “See me now, and that’s what they prefer.” In just a year, Tyla went from a relatively unknown singer carving out her lane in amapiano to a Grammy winner with eyes on being a global pop star. She achieved this without a proper introduction – a showcase that dropped the curtain on a captivating performance Tyla has been itching to debut for the world.

This proper introduction arrives through her self-titled debut album and it injects a new flavor into the pop world that it has not seen before, at least the way Tyla is doing it. The DNA of the South African singer’s music is amapiano, a house music subgenre that originates from her home country. Key elements in its sound include the “log drum,” a bold, speaker-rattling bass that quite literally serves as the heartbeat of amapiano, pumping life into its listener who catches a groove at either a dance party or the comfort of their own home. Then comes high-pitched piano melodies and other percussions like a hi-hat or a deeper bass. The genre has slowly increased its presence in mainstream African music spaces thanks to ambassadors like Uncle Waffles. Records like Wizkid’s “Bad To Me,” Davido’s “Unavailable,” and Asake’s “Amapiano” have adopted the South African genre, the latter two also receiving Grammy nominations. With all eyes on her Tyla, assumed the role of the genre’s ambassadors with the goal of elevating its appeal, something she achieves with Tyla. Tyla perfectly soundtracks the party we all need as summer nears

Tyla’s push of amapiano to the world pre-dates the arrival of “Water,” her Grammy-winning hit record. The first clues that pointed to Tyla being a force to reckon with came with her previous singles “Been Thinking” and the Ayra Star-featured “Girl Next Door.” The former bubbles towards a climactic hook that opens the floodgates to a tide of head-over-heels feelings Tyla pours out to a crush. “Girl Next Door” turns down the temperature with burning pleas of desire, as Tyla and Ayra reserve hope for a waning love.

“Breathe Me” labels a kiss from Tyla the source of life her companion needs to continue onward. It’s equal parts inviting and daring, seductive and tempting, making for a fascinating love affair. “Jump” brings the heat and pulls bodies, burnished with sweat, closer together. “On My Body” positions Tyla and Becky G as dominating damsels, corralling their love interests and reeling them in for a showstopping presentation. Dancefloor lights bounce on their bodies and the percussion syncs with rising heartbeats.

However, Tyla is more than just a party — it’s a declaration of the singer’s pop stardom. For Tyla, it’s the start of a new chapter, one where she breaks free from past limitations and trades in co-dependency for autonomy. On “No. 1,” Tyla and Tems bask in the warmth of freedom. With “Priorities,” Tyla rescues herself from the neverending freefall of people-pleasing. The self-prioritizing also spills in “Truth Or Dare,” a dazzling single that sees Tyla mock and brush off an ex who returned to re-establish their relationship after the singer’s rise in popularity. She

Tyla lives at the cusp of the climax. Whether it’s on the dancefloor, in her love life, or in her music, Tyla is a dominant force. Step aside and allow her to operate or dare to step in the spotlight with her and complement what she brings to the table. “Water,” at both its surface and its deeper, suggestive center, is the daring request to be that adequate complement. The single is the perfect representation of who Tyla is and what it’s like to be in close proximity. As for the album, it’s a free debut that uses a pulsating amapiano party to put the genre on the global stage and set Tyla free into an era where she dominates for the foreseeable future.

Tyla is out now via FAX Records/Epic Records. Find out more information here.

Gunna is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Future & Metro Boomin’s ‘We Don’t Trust You’ Is Too Good To Get Overshadowed By Petty Rap Beef

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Future & Metro Boomin 'We Don't Trust You' Review
Merle Cooper / Future / Metro Boomin

The RX is Uproxx Music’s stamp of approval for the best albums, songs, and music stories throughout the year. Inclusion in this category is the highest distinction we can bestow, and signals the most important music being released throughout the year. The RX is the music you need, right now.

“Rap is fun again” was a common sentiment that appeared on social media in the wake of the release of Future and Metro Boomin’s new album, We Don’t Trust You. Unfortunately, fans asserting as much were referring less to the album itself than to one of its features. On the song “Like That,” Kendrick Lamar makes an unlikely appearance with a fiery verse seemingly calling out the two rappers he’s most commonly compared to, Drake and J. Cole.

That’s kind of a shame. Not only has rap been fun for a really long time outside this album and any attendant potential “beef,” but the album itself deserves more than being overshadowed by the shade K. Dot directed at his ostensible rivals. The reason We Don’t Trust You was so heavily anticipated in the first place was the track record of quality chemistry between its principals. Future and Metro have collaborated frequently in the past, and the results have often been stellar, delivering some of the biggest standouts in the rapper’s catalog (the producer’s is another story).

Take “Mask Off.” Aside from being Future’s highest-charting single from 2017-2020 (peaking at No. 5 on the Hot 100), it’s become nearly ubiquitous in popular culture; its titular catchphrase was used as recently as a couple of weeks ago as the title of a profile of Tierra Whack for Vulture. Incidentally, it’s also still Future’s highest-charting solo single; it was supplanted in 2020 by “Life Is Good,” which peaked at No. 2, “Way 2 Sexy” in 2021, and “Wait For U” in 2022. The latter two both hit No. 1; all three songs feature Drake, which is… interesting, in light of recent developments.

Meanwhile, “Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” from Metro’s last official solo album, 2022’s Heroes & Villains, was the second highest-charting song from the album despite not being released as an official single like “Creepin’,” the only better-performing song from the album. Both were the only two songs from Heroes & Villains to appear in the top ten (“Superhero” at No. 8, “Creepin’” at No. 3). It seems safe enough to say that among Metro’s most prolific partnerships, Future is the one that gets people going the most — aside from Drake, who now appears to be on the outs with both.

I’ve now gone four paragraphs and mentioned Drake three times, which feels instructive of the point I’ve been trying to make. Future and Metro should be the focus, and they’ve let themselves get backburnered on what was expected to be one of the standouts of either artist’s career. Even worse, We Don’t Trust You absolutely clears that benchmark, offering some of the most innovative beat work the St. Louis producer has turned in lately — which should be doubly impressive, considering his recent output includes not only Heroes & Villains but also the excellent and versatile Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse soundtrack and much of Young Thug’s Business Is Business jail album, along with a much-improved deluxe re-sequencing thereof.

Likewise, Future, whose last few solo projects prompted somewhat lukewarm responses (including from this publication), sounds more focused than he has since 2017’s Future/Hndrxx double release. Tracks like the titular intro, “Magic Don Juan (Princess Diana),” and “Everyday Hustle” crackle with the duo’s unique chemistry as Future reels in the more maudlin reflections prominent in his prior work to boast and threaten like a kingpin. “Got that sniff on me, that white shit like I’m Tom Brady,” he gloats on “Magic Don Juan.” “I’ma put a sports car on two wheels like it got hydraulics.”

Even on “Like That,” the beat pulls one hell of a sample — Rodney-O & Joe Cooley’s ’88 Uncle Jamm staple “Everlasting Bass,” in the style of Three 6 Mafia’s “Gotta Touch ‘Em (Pt. 2)” — to bolster Kendrick and Future’s nose-thumbing. “Runnin Outta Time” is cinematic, “Fried (She A Vibe)” lives up to its parenthetical, and “Everyday Hustle” is a masterclass in soulful street rap. (Sidebar: Anyone who says Rick Ross sounds “revitalized” here has missed Rick Ross’ last three projects.)

While the album drags on the backend (trap albums remain too long), and, like much of the overall trap oeuvre, can sound a bit repetitive, it more than lives up to its hype. It just sucks that modern audiences are so inundated with new music that the only thing they’ll get excited for is drama, beef, and gossip. Rap has been exciting — We Don’t Trust You is a fine contribution to that tradition — but if all anyone cares about is who dissed who and only gets fired up for guest rappers hijacking the conversation, then no wonder they’re so bored with the music of late. Maybe when We Still Don’t Trust You drops, the actual music can share the spotlight.

We Don’t Trust You is out now via Freebandz/Boominati/Epic/Republic. Get it here.

Mahalia Is Honest, Bold, And A Joy To Watch On The ‘In Real Life’ Tour

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Mahalia concert review
Getty Image/Merle Cooper

Four years, at least two relationships, and a global pandemic. That’s just a few of the things that Mahalia went through between the release of her debut and sophomore albums. At its end, the world received IRL (In Real Life). The 13-song album, released in the summer of 2023, boldly declared the new independence that now rules her life. IRL bears the honesty that you can only appreciate from an artist putting their art into the world to be perceived and reacted to. Mahalia accepts the value of vulnerability and employs it in her music to let her audience know that her f*ck-ups are just like ours. Fame doesn’t make it any easier or better and the task of recovering from them is just as tall.

St. Patrick’s Day marked not only a national holiday that injects more green (and alcohol) into a room than a Boston Celtics game at TD Garden, but also the New York stop for Mahalia’s In Real Life North American Tour. On stage at Manhattan’s Irving Plaza, Mahalia joked about using the holiday to her advantage. “It’s St. Patrick’s Day so half of you are drunk anyway,” she said joking about the comfort she has in detailing her f*ck-ups through a number of the songs she performed. Before that came the promise to perform records from IRL and her 2019 debut Love & Compromise rather than producing a setlist that leans heavily on the most recent body of work as artists tend to do on a tour that follows an album.

The In Real Life Tour proves that Mahalia is an entertainer by all standards. Her stellar live vocals and choice of songs would’ve made for a great show by themselves, but the addition of her charisma and cheeky commentary with the audience added to the night by offering a wave of comfort rarely felt at concerts. Think of the energy that’s felt during a kickback with friends, except this time it’s a sold-out audience at Irving Plaza. Where artists who truly put on a show may use dancers as companions to their performance to captivate an audience, Mahalia opted for a simpler element: humor. She introduced songs with personal anecdotes told with a comedic spin that effortlessly won the audience over. It added more context and flair to her performances and left the crowd wanting to hear more from Mahalia – in terms of both her music and her stories.

Before singing “Plastic Plants,” Mahalia recalled a moment when her father was left to console a crying young Mahalia after they both watched High School Musical because she was sure she’d “never find a husband like Troy Bolton.” The memory also came after she admitted that America’s “f*cked up movies” about love have ironically inspired a number of her records. Later on in the night, she crowned herself a romantic and unproblematic girl. She then theorized that in order to be unproblematic, you must first be problematic, a conclusion that earned a laugh from the crowd moments before she worked into a glimmering performance of “Letter To Ur Ex.” Pairing her problematic theory with “Letter To Ur Ex” was perfect as the song is one Mahalia wrote after a fight between her and her partner sparked by the latter receiving a text from their ex. “You think you know all about me, huh?” Mahalia sings on the record. “You’ve never been me, but I’ve been you, girl.” Like Mahalia said, to be unproblematic, you must first be problematic.

With that being said, it wasn’t only jokes for Mahalia at Irving Plaza. A performance of “Isn’t It Strange?” is introduced with its backstory of Mahalia’s early struggles with finding a middle ground in her artistry between her small city roots in her hometown of Leister and her big city experience with her current time in Los Angeles. She tells the audience about creative struggles at one point in her career and how “In My Bag” helped her get out of it before singing it. She later confesses to being cheated on at 17 and how she wrongfully believed she could hurdle its effects. It led to a rendition of “Cheat” which was accompanied by the admission that being cheated on brought on more damage than she initially believed, leaving her to find a way to recover from the traumatic experience. This honesty seemed to be the theme of the night as Mahalia’s opener, Montreal singer Alicia Creti, also shined through her set with a story of heartbreak and self-discovery supported by songs from her recently released Self/Less EP. By the end of the night, through stories of tragedy and comedy, both Mahalia and Alicia allowed the audience to appreciate them more both for their music and for the humans that created them simply by being vulnerable with their fans.

The storytelling element, and the charisma that came with it, are really what stuck with me by the end of her performance at Irving Plaza. There were no doubts about Mahalia’s live singing abilities, and despite that, she continuously earned roars from the crowd as she belted out the lyrics to records like “Do Not Disturb” and “Cheat.” The applause was just as loud as she performed fan favorites like “Grateful,” “Terms & Conditions,” and “I Wish I Missed My Ex.” Mahalia was honest, bold, and fun for her New York stop on the In Real Life North American Tour. Her latest era produced a singer more comfortable in her skin, her past downfalls, and a story that isn’t the prettiest from start to finish. It was a joy to watch the artist who combined those things in a way that benefitted her the most and made for a night to remember.

IRL is out now via Atlantic Records. Find out more information here.

The Most Anticipated Hip-Hop Albums Of Spring 2024

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Anticipated Hip-Hop Albums
Getty Image/Merle Cooper

The arrival of spring doesn’t just mean the awakening of nature (and the loss of an hour of sleep), it also brings the recording industry back to life. While the early months of Q1 can generally be a little sleepy — with a few exceptions, of course — as the weather creeps back toward the warmth of the summer, we can expect more new releases from some of the biggest names in music.

These days, it can be a little tricky to anticipate which artists are aiming for a spring release, though. Album release cycles have gotten shorter and shorter, and in hip-hop especially, new projects can fall out of the sky with little to no warning. With that said, we’re going to do our best to run through the most anticipated hip-hop releases of the season, under the assumption that most if not all of the artists named here would like a dominant run thoughout the summer — or at least, some new material for the festivals. Let’s start with the ones we know:

March 2024 Hip-Hop Releases

March 14: Kenny Mason — 9

Atlanta rapper Kenny Mason is easily one of the hottest names simmering just under the radar thanks to his distinctive, grungy style and high-profile co-signs from the likes of Denzel Curry, Freddie Gibbs, and JID. 9 will be his second album after 2020’s Angelic Hoodrat. He just released a pair of singles that suggest his unique blend of shoegaze, grunge rock, and screamo-rap is primed for its next evolution.

March 15: Tierra Whack — World Wide Whack

Fans of the Philly battle rapper turned whimsical mad scientist have been waiting for a proper album for going on six years now. Her 2018 EP Whack World introduced listeners to a fantastical approach toward genre and subject matter that established Whack as one of the most intriguing names in hip-hop, and her debut album — which she announced this January — will give her the opportunity to expand on that foundation.

March 22: Future & Metro Boomin — We Don’t Trust You

It’s only been two months and some change and already a pattern is beginning to develop. If you’re going to release an album fans have been waiting for for years, it seems, you might as well turn it into multiple projects with release dates scattered across months. Kanye (sorta) did it, and now, Metro Boomin and Future are following in his footsteps, announcing that their heavily anticipated joint album will be released in two parts. The first arrives in March.

March 29: Rico Nasty & Boys Noize — HVRDC0RE DR3AMZ

On Leap Day, Rico Nasty announced that her ongoing chemistry with German DJ Boys Noize would bear another new fruit in the form of a joint EP. After teaming up on “Girl Crush” and “Money,” two of Rico’s more intriguing songs of the past few years, it’ll be fascinating to see her step more into her collaborator’s world on the EP, following a number of peers in blending hip-hop with various styles of EDM.

April 2024 Hip-Hop Releases

April 12: Future & Metro Broomin — We Still Don’t Trust You

The second of Future and Metro’s collaborations will arrive just two weeks after the first, an impressive turnaround time that has paid dividends for the Atlanta rapper in the past. Future’s 2017 albums Future and Hndrxx were released just a week apart and both halves of the pair went No. 1, while the first spawned the massive hit “Mask Off” — which was, of course, produced by Metro Boomin. Their creative chemistry is certainly something to look forward to.

April 26: AG Club – BRODIE WORLD

The Northern California rap clique shook up the world in 2020 with the release of their breakout hit “Memphis,” and has kept up a steady stream of releases ever since. With each, they grow a little more polished and a little more experimental, growing into their group name (Avant Garde Club) a little more. BRODIE WORLD will be their first proper release since 2022’s Imposter Syndrome, which is exciting because there’s a lot of growth that can happen in two years.

2024 Hip-Hop Albums Release TBA

Here’s where we start speculating. A large number of rap’s biggest names are set to release albums this year, many of whom will be returning from multi-year hiatuses, making the products of their time away all the more tantalizing. Below are just a few.

ASAP Rocky — Don’t Be Dumb

Rocky’s last album was 2018’s Testing. That’s a long time to go without hearing a new full collection of music from the haute couture Harlemite, who’s been busy with fatherhood (and some ill-timed legal trouble). His album has supposedly been done since 2022, so it’s only a matter of time until he gives listeners a release date; here’s hoping it’s sooner rather than later.

Baby Keem — Child With Wolves

Baby Keem made a huge splash in 2021 with his electrifying debut The Melodic Blue, and recently began teasing a new era after releasing the album’s companion film late last year.

Cardi B — TBA

Let’s say Cardi finally kicks her rollout into high gear after releasing two singles in six months, “Bongos” and “Like What,” and teasing another. It seems she keeps dipping her toe back into an album cycle, but a mean case of imposter syndrome combined with impossibly high standards has made determining if she’s really shooting her shot or just pump-faking again almost impossible to determine. She’s fortunate to be one of the few artists who can keep getting away with this pretty much indefinitely, but I’d like to hope she’s accepted the fear of potential failure and just goes for it. (Or pulls a Kendrick Lamar in 2014 and goes full avant-garde with it, scaring the hoes and making herself pretty much untouchable for the foreseeable future.)

Flo Milli — Fine Ho, Stay

Announced in October 2023, Flo Milli’s second album has the potential to turn her into a household name — especially with the ongoing and growing success of its single “Never Lose Me.” If she wants to strike while the iron is hot, a spring release might be her best bet to maintain momentum.

GloRilla — TBA

Big Glo has a lot of buzz around her name right now, both for her hard-hitting new single “Yeah Glo!” and an oopsie moment on Instagram thanks to her unfamiliarity with her new endowments. Might as well capitalize ahead of the summer, right?

Ice Spice — Y2K

TikTok star and current rap it-girl Ice Spice has been sneakily rolling out her debut album over the past few months, beginning with flying a flag at her label headquarters, dropping another catchy single, and announcing that her album is finished recording. There’s no time like the present, and with her penchant for dropping summertime-dominating tracks, an April or May release would give her plenty of lead time to once again take over the hottest months.

J. Cole — The Fall Off

The only other rapper whose album has been consistently sought after since 2018 (mostly by his own design), J. Cole could overtake friendly rivals Drake and Kendrick Lamar in the conversation if he manages to beat them both to market this year.

Rapsody — TBA

Poor Rapsody. If you happen to follow the North Carolina rapper on social media, you’ve probably seen her repost the near-constant stream of pleas from fans for a follow-up to 2019’s Eve. She’s been promising an announcement is coming imminently, and considering the curtailed album cycles of the current climate, if she does make that announcement in the next few weeks or months, that would almost certainly mean an album is following relatively quickly after.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.