10. Migos – Culture III
Migos has not released a project as a duo since 2018. The trio, which consists of Quavo, Offset, and Takeoff spent 2018 releasing solo studio albums. Offset released Father of 4 in February 2018, Quavo released Quavo Huncho in October 2018, Takeoff released The Last Rocket in November 2018. These 3 albums generated some solo success but nothing compared to the success they have seen as a group. The first Culture album was released in January of 2017 and Culture II was released in January of 2018. Offset has said on Twitter that Culture III would be released on the “next year anniversary” of the first two projects which means a January release of the project is very possible.
9. Big Sean – Detroit II ?
It has been just over two years since Big Sean has released a studio album. In 2017 he released I Decided and a collaborative album with producer Metro Boomin entitled Double or Nothing. Both albums were just ok in my opinion. Big Sean will be looking to put out one of his best projects in 2020. In early 2020, we all found out that Big Sean will be performing at Coachella this year. The festival takes place in April so he announced will be using this as a deadline to finish his upcoming album.
Based on an IG Post from YK Osiris, it looks like we could be getting a follow up to Big Sean’s critically acclaimed Detroit mixtape which was released in 2012. If Detroit 2 is half as good as the first Detroit was then 2020 will for sure be a great year for music.
8. Tame Impala – The Slow Rush
In October of 2019, Tame Impala announced their next project will be coming in February of 2020. The Australian psychedelic rock group, led by Kevin Parker, has not released an album since Currents was released in 2015. Tame Impala has a cult following that has been patiently awaiting the group’s next release. We will all get to enjoy Tame Impala’s next album, The Slow Rush, on Valentine’s Day 2020.
7. Kid Cudi – Entergalactic
Kid Cudi has not released a solo album since Passion, Pain & Demon Slayin’ in 2016. In my opinion, that album was a very underrated project that showed flashes of the early Kid Cudi that fans grew to love in 2009 and 2010. A couple years later, Kid Cudi went on to have a huge 2018 when he released the massively successful Kids See Ghosts album with Kanye West.
In 2019, Kid Cudi announced that he will be releasing his next album, Entergalactic, which will be based on his upcoming Netflix animated series for adults. Cudi also said that the album will largely be told from the perspective of his character in the show. I anticipate we will get the Netflix series and new album sometime in Summer 2020.
6. Cardi B
Cardi B’s first studio album, Invasion of Privacy, was massively successful. As of January 2020, the album has become the longest charting debut album for a female rapper on the Billboard 200. This surpasses the record set by Lauryn Hill’s 1998 album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which spent 92 weeks on the Billboard 200 charts. Cardi B has been quoted as saying her next album will be “spicy” and “controversial” and that she won’t be following many of today’s trends. Either way, Cardi’s 2020 album will almost certainly break even more records.
5. Drake
Unlike many of the other artists on this list, Drake has given us a steady dose of music over years. More specifically, Drake released a project in 8 out of the 10 years during the 2010’s decade. The only years in which Drake didn’t release a new album during that span was 2012 and 2019. In 2019 though, Drake gifted his fans by releasing to streaming services his 2009 mixtape So Far Gone and Care Package which is a collection of older songs that weren’t on albums or never got an official release. Drake has already confirmed that a 2020 album is coming. He let the world know during a Dababy show that he is in the process of finishing up his next album.
4. Justin Bieber
A lot has happened since Justin Bieber’s last studio album in 2015. Purpose was a huge success both commercially and critically. It contained the singles “What Do You Mean?”, “Sorry”, and “Love Yourself”. In the 4+ years since his last album, Bieber got married and has been featured on a few songs here and there. He has started off 2020 by releasing “Yummy” which is the first single for the new album. We are all interested to see what is in store for JB in 2020.
3. The Weeknd – Chapter 6 ?
The Weeknd finished 2019 strong by releasing two new songs called “Heartless” and “Blinding Lights”. His last project he released was an EP in 2018 called Call Out My Name which largely dealt with The Weeknd’s past relationships. The last studio album by The Weeknd is Starboy which was released in 2016. The pinnacle though of The Weeknd’s commercial success came in 2015 with the release of Beauty Behind the Madness which has sold over 3.6 million copies worldwide. That album featured “Earned It”, “The Hills”, and “Can’t Feel My Face” which are some of the biggest songs released in the last decade. Right now, The Weeknd has been referring to his next album as “Chapter 6”. In 2020, The Weeknd will look to build on that success with his next project.
2. Rihanna – R9
Rihanna has her fans feening for her next studio album. It has gotten to the point where people don’t want to see her doing anything else that is not related to her next project. In 2019, Rihanna starred alongside Childish Gambino in his musical film, Guava Island. This film entirely featured music from Childish Gambino. Rihanna also spent much of the year expanding on her successful Fenty Beauty cosmetics line. Rihanna’s next album is being called R9 which signifies her ninth studio album. She has hinted that the album is completed. In today’s streaming era, the album could literally be released at any time.
1. Frank Ocean
Frank Ocean releasing an album in 2020 is purely speculation. He actually hasn’t announced an album at all as of yet. But hear me out; there are many factors that indicate that we could be getting a new Frank Ocean project this year. The first indicator is that he released two new songs in 2019 so he is obviously working on new music. “DHL” was released in October 2019 and “In My Room” was released in November 2019. The second indicator is that Frank Ocean will be headlining Coachella in April of 2020. I find it hard to believe that Frank Ocean will headline this event without a new album to perform. Headlining Coachella without a new album is not unheard of though. Childish Gambino headlined Coachella in 2019 without a new album. Gambino performed some of his older tracks but also performed some brand new songs that have yet to be released. My third and final indicator is that Frank Ocean has released his albums exactly 4 years apart. Channel Orange was released in July of 2012 and Blonde was released in August of 2016. Following that trend we should be getting a new Frank Ocean album in 2020. He also has released an album during the last two Summer Olympics. So with the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on the horizon, we should have some Frank Ocean to jam! That last point is completely random and possibly coincidental lol.
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