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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