20 Most Anticipated Albums of 2014

Who: Andre 3000/Outkast Album Name: Unknown When: TBD Andre 3000 has given us two decades of knowledge as one half of OutKast, but he's never ventured on his own for a full-length release. Word is this will be the year for his debut. If we're lucky with might even get a new OutKast music. The duo is set to reunite at Coachella this year. This year marks Outkast’s 20-year anniversary, so it will be great for fans to celebrate the reunion during this special time. And the time could be a lot more special to fans, as it is also rumored that Big Boi and Andre 3000 have been working on a new album as well. Who: ScHoolboy Q Album Name: Oxymoron When: Feb. 25 ScHoolboy Q will be the first of the Black Hippies to step up to the plate following Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city — a year and a half later. But when we’re talking about a rapper as forward-minded as Quincy Hanley, the wait is forgiven. Though his activity was sporadic, the 27-year-old had a solid 2013, starting with the incantatory “Yay Yay”, continuing with the paleontological rumble of “Collard Greens”, and then capping things with the November sleeper “Man of the Year”. But, according to the increasingly trustworthy Mac Miller, among enthusiastic others who have heard Oxymoron, “It’s better than Kendrick’s album,” so we can expect that another wave of listeners will flock to Q soon. Who: Dr. Dre Album: Detox When: TBD This one is a bit iffy. Dr. Dre's "Detox" has been in the works since 2001; way back in 2007, the good doctor claimed that "Detox" would be his final album, telling the Los Angeles Times "it's time to move on" and rapping is a "young man's game." Apparently, Dre isn't ready to move on yet, because here we are approaching 2014 and "Detox" still hasn't materialized. The album is so legendary, it's even spawned its own blog, Detox-DrDre.com, billed as "the blog for the most-anticipated rap album ever." Yet even that blog is short on details on exactly what's happening with "Detox" and when it might appear. Who: Future Album: Future Hendrix to Honest When: First quarter Future has that Kanye-like creative genius, where he can make a whole song called "Honest" while crooning on the track with Auto-Tuned vocals. That kind of irony makes only more curious about what the Freebandz CEO has to say on a full-length LP of the same name. Who: Lil Wayne Album: Devol When: TBD When Lil Wayne was locked up, he wrote a bunch of love songs. But they're not typical love songs, they're Lil Tunechi love songs. He's going to give them to us via an album called "Devol", which is "loved" spelled backward. Or, as he said, "It's not what y'all expecting." Who: Jay Z & Kanye West Album: Watch the Throne 2 When: TBD Jay Z and Kanye West, two of the hardest-working men in show business, are reportedly planning to release a second part to their 2011 collaboration. Back in June, producer Mike Dean said the second set was on its way, but Hova and 'Ye were both extremely busy in 2013, with new albums, tours and fatherhood. And West seemed to put a damper on any immediate plans for a second Throne set in a November interview with Philadelphia's Power 99. "We’re constantly working," West said of himself and Jay Z. "We haven’t made any songs for it yet." Mariah Carey Album: Unknown Date: TBD Her Miguel collabo "#Beautiful," gave the former Idol judge her biggest hit since 2009. Despite a successful kickoff, details are sparse on the full LP. While the empowering, gospel-tinged title track is another R&B gem, the album boasts a diverse list of rumored collaborators: From R&B producers Bryan-Michael Cox and Jermaine Dupri to R. Kelly to dance floor maestro David Morales. Still, it's unclear who will end up on the album. Mimi revealed on New Year's Eve that a new single would be released on Valentine's Day. Who: Maxwell Album: blackSUMMERS'night When: Feb. 14 blackSUMMERS'night is the second of a trilogy he began in 2009 with BLACKsummers'night (the third will presumably be titled blacksummers'NIGHT). "It has that bittersweet feel to it," Maxwell told Billboard. "I don’t like things to be too happy." Given the album title, you would expect a SUMMER'S release, however the album is reportedly set to drop on Valentine's Day. Who: Kendrick Lamar Album: Unknown When: TBD Kendrick Lamar’s last album, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, sold well over a million records, was nominated for seven Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, and is widely considered to be a universally acclaimed rap classic. It’s hard to imagine how the young emcee will top that. Little is known about his next album, but the snippet featured in a recent Beats By Dre ad sounded incredible. Between Lamar’s next album and ScHoolboy Q’s Oxymoron, it’s shaping up to a be a big year for their Top Dawg Entertainment label. Who: Kanye West Album: His as-yet-untitled follow-up to 2013's smash Yeezus When: TBD What We Know: Fans would probably have been satisfied if Kanye took the next five years off considering the success and critical appeal of his 2013 release, Yeezus. But Yeezy is right back at it, working again with Yeezus producer Rick Rubin and longtime collaborator Q-Tip. He told Rolling Stone that fans can expect another short album: "I think my next album is going to be eight songs. It's just reducing down the amount of information that you need." Who: Nicki Minaj Album: Unknown When: TBD We don’t know too much so far, but Nicki recently told Power 105.1 (via NME) that she has begun recording new material. "It's very different from anything I've done, which I'm surprised about. I'm not feeling like I did this. I feel like this is next level." She also told MTV that's she’s working with brand-new collaborators, though she wouldn't mention any names. But she did say "2014 definitely!" Who: Pusha T/Clipse’s What: King Push When: TBD. What We Know: Following up one of the best rap records of 2013 is certainly no small task, but Pusha hardly seems scared of the challenge. In fact, he's already begun work on what we expect to be the furthest thing from a sophomore slump. Additionally, with news that the 20-day recording project he's just embarked on with The Neptunes is actually the makings of a new Clipse album, it's safe to say King Push has given us more than enough prospective material to be excited about this year. Who: Nas Album: TBD When: TBD Life is good, the stars are aligned and it's all full circle for God's Son. The year 2014 is not only the 20th anniversary of Illmatic, it's the year he's releasing his final album with Def Jam. Early last year, Nas teased the announcement of his 12th album title but never followed through because the timing wasn't right, he explained. "I got a little busy, and I wasn’t sure it was really a real fit for the record," he said in an interview with the Huffington Post. "It felt like I came up with it too easy. And I like that because Life Is Good came up on its own. It just popped in my head. So the next title came up in a similar way, but it was probably too early." Who: Pharrell Album: Unknown When: TBD Fresh off a monster year dancing to "Blurred Lines" and "Get Lucky," Pharrell's ready for his return to center stage as a singer/rapper. Revealing to Fuse News that he hasn't given up rapping, the 40-year-old N.E.R.D frontman signed a deal with Columbia Records to drop his sophomore studio LP sometime in 2014. His Despicable Me 2 soundtrack single, "Happy," will be on the tracklist, but that's about all we know so far. Who: Rick Ross Album: Mastermind When: March 4 Rick Ross is undoubtedly one of the hottest rappers in music over the last few years, so it’s no surprise that fans have been eagerly waiting his delayed sixth solo LP: "Mastermind". However fans may not have to wait much longer as Ross released a video teaser, produced by Hype Williams, for the new album confirming on Diddy’s Revolt TV that March 4 is the new date. Rozay’s "Mastermind: album was originally supposed to be released on Dec. 17, but he delayed the album because he needed to perfect it before putting it out. Ross has also called in some big-name favors to help out with album. His second single, “Devil Is A Lie” features another classic Jay Z collaboration. And Diddy has also been hired to mix the album as well. Who: Chris Brown Album: X When: First quarter This one was supposed to come out in July, then August, then November. Much like its creator, it seems to have a troubled life. With Brown's seemingly endless stream of legal troubles and court dates, perhaps his handlers are waiting until Brown is clear of such problems before dropping this album. It's already spawned the Top 10 R&B/hip-hop hit "Fine China" as well as "Don't Think They Know," featuring Aaliyah, and "Love More" with Nicki Minaj, so it's got to come out sooner or later. Or maybe Brown will just stick with singles. Who: T.I. Album: Paperwork:The Motion Picture When: TBD T.I.'s got a new deal for his Grand Hustle with the house that and Beyoncé helped build (Columbia) and he's got a new album to go along with it: Paperwork: The Motion Picture (formerly known as Trouble Man II). We can only imagine what the southern king has to say after all the drama he went through last year, the sudden death of one of his Grand Hustle signees, Doe B, and a successful year for another, B.o.B Who: Common Album: Nobody Smiling When: TBD The veteran Chicago rapper is planning to release his tenth studio album Nobody Smiling. Similar to his 2011 release The Dreamer/The Believer, the project will be entirely produced by close friend and collaborator No I.D. Common says Nobody Smiling initially started out as an EP, but he and No I.D. both latched onto a theme early on that they plan to tackle on the upcoming project. "We came up with this concept 'nobody's smiling.' It was really a thought that came about because of all the violence in Chicago," he says. Who: Q-Tip Album: The Last Zulu When: TBD As previously reported, Q-Tip has been planning The Last Zulu since late 2010, and has potentially been recording the set since February 2011. He has reportedly been in the studio recently with Rico Love, Marsha Ambrosius, Kendrick Lamar and Fiona Apple. The album is expected sometime in 2013. The Abstract Poet had previously hinted that the disc could feature some old-school flavour, comparing his work to "When Flash and Bambaataa was throwing on them hard beats. It's going to have a lot of that energy, and it's going to feel really big and anthemic. It's going to be unlike anything I've done before." Who: Frank Ocean Album: TBD When: Summer After pulling out of a mini Australian tour after tearing a vocal cord last summer, Frank Ocean has had a lot of down time to work on new material. He's also kept relatively quiet after his parking lot scuffle with Chris Brown, but he did tell Tumblr that fans can expect new music "when summer comes around again." We're waiting...

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