The Albums We're Looking Forward to in 2021
A look at the next year of music. From the records we know are dropping (Drake, Lana Del Rey) to the ones we’re anticipating (Lorde, Kendrick Lamar, Father John Misty), here’s all the info on the albums we’re looking forward to in 2021.
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What We Know | A Look at the First Quarter
Drake Certified Lover Boy
January
The long-awaited sixth LP from Drake could easily be the highest selling album of the year, even if he claims that people will “hate on” it as much as Views. It’s hard to imagine Drake breaking any more of his own streaming records, but the success of “Laugh Now Cry Later” suggests he really might do it again in January. Like him or not, the music world is waiting to see what the biggest artist of the 2010s will do in 2021.
Madlib Sound Ancestors
January
In mid-December, English electro pioneer Four Tet announced his role in a new project called Sound Ancestors by the legendary hip-hop producer Madlib. The record has reportedly been in the works for years and will feature a collection of standalone hip-hop/electronic instrumentals sampled by Madlib and arranged by Four Tet.
Jazmine Sullivan Heaux Tales
January 8
Jazmine Sullivan’s new album will mark her second return to music. The Philly R&B singer has been around for almost two decades, first signing with Jive Records at age 15 in 2003, but has taken two substantial breaks from recording throughout her career. Although she hasn’t released an album in five years, she’s garnered some newfound attention on TikTok with the “Jazmine Sullivan Challenge,” where singers try to mimic her vocal run on “Insecure.” We can probably expect some big guest appearances on this one.
Listen: “Pick Up Your Feelings”
Lana Del Rey Chemtrails Over the Country Club
First quarter
Lana Del Rey revealed that she’d been working on another project before 2019’s Norman Fucking Rockwell even came out — an album already dubbed one of the greatest of all time by critics. After being delayed due to COVID-related production issues, she officially announced that Chemtrails Over the Country Club’s lead single would roll out on January 11th, 2021.
slowthai TYRON
February 5
British rapper slowthai made some noteworthy waves with his debut There’s Nothing Great About Britain. The grime/UK rap project was met with widespread critical acclaim and was later nominated for the UK’s prestigious Mercury Prize. The brash emcee’s highly anticipated follow-up record is set to feature A$AP Rocky, James Blake, Skepta, Dominic Fike, and Denzel Curry. Its lead single, “feel away,” was one of our Best Rap Songs of the Year.
Ashnikko Demidevil
February 19
Ashnikko’s debut mixtape is make or break. Singles like “Stupid” and “Daisy,” one of Off-switch’s best rap songs of the year, put her genre-bending sound in the all-powerful TikTok spotlight, but Demidevil will most certainly tell us if Ashnikko has legitimate starpower, or if she was just another trend lost in the madness of 2020.
Julien Baker Little Oblivions
February 26
Slowcore indie rocker Julien Baker announced her new album with the release of “Faith Healer,” a breathtaking single that showcases a far more dynamic sound than her previous records. It will be her first official release since 2018’s boygenius - EP with Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Little Oblivions will most likely be a staple in 2021’s alt-rock scene and has some serious GRAMMY potential come 2022.
What We Want | The Most Anticipated Albums of 2021
Travis Scott Utopia (Tentative)
2018’s Astroworld solidified Travis Scott as one of the most iconic rappers of our generation — full-fledged rockstar status. He’s landed some of the biggest brand deals rap has ever seen, and he’s pioneered the psychedelic trap scene, so much so that even Kid Cudi, one of Travis’ biggest influences, can’t help but sound like him now. Maybe “Franchise” wasn’t his best, but a feature from the elusive MIA certainly keeps the intrigue alive about his mysterious fourth LP.
Lorde TBA
After being robbed of Album of the Year at the 2018 GRAMMYs, Lorde took a trip to Antarctica and set her sights on crafting a photobook about the life-changing experience. In May 2020, she revealed that she’d been back to her reserved life in New Zealand and had begun work on her next LP with super-producer Jack Antonoff. Later in the year, Lorde encouraged her fans to vote in the NZ election with a cryptic message, writing, “Do it for our beautiful country and for me. And next year I’ll give you something in return.” It’s been a long three years since Melodrama was released, but it looks like we’re finally getting a new Lorde album in 2021.
Denzel Curry Melt My Eyez, See Your Future
Denzel Curry made some recent headlines with a string of tweets declaring that he’s “the greatest to ever do it” and further calling himself one of “music’s greatest influences.” This might be a little much, but there’s no denying his track record. Between his definitive Florida-rap debut (Nostalgia 64), a flawless fourth LP (ZUU), and his chameleonic Kenny Beats collab, (UNLOCKED), Denzel Curry hasn’t missed in a while. On November 27th, he announced that he’s working with his dream producers on a fifth studio album due sometime next year.
Billie Eilish TBA
While we don’t have any concrete details, Billie Eilish essentially confirmed her next album on December 22nd. She took to Instagram live and told fans she’d be ditching the green hair after her new documentary airs and preparing to release some new music in 2021. It’s not known if her latest single, “Therefore I Am,” will be on the follow-up to 2019’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, but from the track’s familiar sound, we can assume that whatever she releases will be equally inventive.
SZA TBA
SZA went from a low-key Top Dawg Entertainment signee to a modern pop/R&B queen in a matter of weeks, but it’s been almost four years since her masterpiece debut CTRL dropped. She was notoriously critical of TDE’s “patient” approach to releasing that record, and things aren’t much different this time around as she recently called the relationship “hostile.” Despite the frustration, the Christmas release of her dreamy single, “Good Days,” is a reassuring sign that SZA’s sophomore LP is coming in the near future.
Rihanna R9 (Tentative)
One might think that Rihanna would’ve dropped the follow-up to ANTI already, so there’s really not much to count on here, but her social media has made things look promising for 2021. So far, she’s posted an Instagram story recording with The Neptunes, told Vogue it would be “reggae-inspired,” and has been seen with collaborators like Diplo, Skylar Grey, and PARTYNEXTDOOR. In her own words: "I’m not just gonna put it out just because people are waiting. It’s taken this long, I’m gonna make it worth it."
Father John Misty TBA
Since adopting the Father John Misty moniker, former Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman has released music consistently every 2-3 years, so some healthy speculation suggests we’ll see his fifth solo LP in 2021. Even though the only “confirmation” we have is a picture of a recording setup hashtagged #FJMLP5, almost every Father John Misty album has come out in the second quarter, so it’s likely we’ll see some singles from the indie folk icon roll out early next year. Check out one of his only releases of 2020 above.
Danny Brown XXXX
XXXX pic.twitter.com/YhzOEluySb
— Danny Brown (@xdannyxbrownx) October 22, 2020
In late October, the Detroit underground king hinted at a potential sequel to his groundbreaking 2011 mixtape, XXX, in a cryptic tweet accompanied by a 30-second audio clip. The unmixed snippet features Danny floating over a smooth Knxwledge beat in his newly adopted calm voice. He’s been known to drop albums on a three year cycle, but hopefully we’ll hear whatever he was previewing sometime in 2021, and like all of his projects to date, it should be an interesting ride.
Kendrick Lamar TBA
In mid-2020, TDE CEO Anthony Tiffith tweeted, “Stay patient king Kendrick will return soon” in the midst of another fan attack accusing him of unnecessarily delaying his artist’s albums. Later that year, a few unmixed Kendrick demos leaked, fueling fans’ fire even more and upping the anticipation for his fourth solo LP. Regardless of the accusations, TDE knows what they’re doing, and a Kendrick album dropping once the pandemic eases up is almost a definite.
St. Vincent TBA
St. Vincent confirmed the follow-up to the GRAMMY award-winning MASSEDUCTION on December 15th. In a subsequent interview with Stereogum, she elaborated: “I was interested in going back to the music I’ve listened to more than any other — Stevie Wonder records from the early ’70s, Sly And The Family Stone. I studied at the feet of those masters.” There’s a high chance that this will be a GRAMMY contender in 2022, so it’s definitely something to be excited about.
Snail Mail TBA
Rolling Stone described Snail Mail’s debut, Lush, as “the work of an indie rock prodigy.” At only 19 years old, frontwoman Lindsay Jordan burst out onto the indie scene with a project that drew on her 90s influences with a sharpness just barely beyond her years. She’s claimed to be working on new music multiple times since its release and was recorded playing a stunning new song in mid-2019. The pressure of cyclical releases should land us a sophomore Snail Mail project before the end of the year. We’ll see if it lives up to its predecessor.