2021 Musical Predictions
by Andrew Bowman
The pandemic has been a tumultuous time for everyone, including your favorite musical artists. But with so much time off from touring, you might wonder if they have had time to work on new material during the lockdown. Though for some artists it is most opportune to release new music after the lockdowns have been lifted and the pandemic has subdued, many artists have hinted at new music for 2021.
So let's look at what artists might be dropping new music in 2021. A few things we can look at to predict which artists may be dropping in 2021 are, first of all, if they teased new music through a social media post or a new single.
Another predictor we can use is looking at an artist's album cycle. How many years has it been since their last release? How many years usually come between their albums? These are the factors that contribute to whether an artist is likely to drop.
The third predictor I will be using is artists that I personally hope will drop music this year either because it's been a long time since their previous release or I think it is somewhat probable they could release good music this year.
Let's start with the artists that have teased a new project, first of all being Drake. Though not a personal fan of all of Drake’s music, his upcoming album Certified Lover Boy is supposed to release sometime this month.
After releasing the single Good Days, TDE artist SZA is likely to drop a new record in 2021, seeing that she hasn’t released an album since 2017’s CTRL. This new track is massively popular currently sitting at #2 on the global charts. With a massive success like this, it would be opportune for SZA to drop a new album sooner rather than later because she currently has the global spotlight.
Rumors of a new project by GOOD Music rapper Pusha T produced by none other than Pharrell Williams and Kanye West is circling the internet. Pusha also hinted that the album would be released within the first 90 days of 2021. Though there is not an urgent reason for this album to be released, I would predict that if it ends up not coming out by March, then it will end up being released once touring is an option again.
Now we get into some artists that haven’t teased music but are coming up on their cycle or are past the number of years it usually takes them to release an album. One of these artists is the rapper, singer, and songwriting legend Frank Ocean, who has yet to follow up his 2016 project Blonde. Though Ocean is infamously slow at releasing projects, it has been more than the 4 years between his last and his 2012 release Channel Orange. It is honestly unlikely that Frank Ocean will drop before the end of the pandemic, all we can do is hope.
Rihanna has been rescheduling her ninth album since 2019, but maybe 2021 will be the year. Though she has started some non-music projects such as her skincare line FENTY, she definitely has some unreleased music to be dropped at the right time.
Let's get into a few of my personal wishes and predictions. First of all, Kendrick Lamar. His previous album Damn. was released in 2017 and since then, he has worked on the Black Panther-themed TDE album but other than that, he has been virtually silent since 2018. Lamar will definitely wait for the best time to drop this album he’s been working on. Let's just hope it’s some time this year.
A Noname album by the title of Factory Baby has been hinted at, and one of my favorite artists, Björk, is coming up 4 years since her last release as well. Danny Brown, another personal favorite, hinted at new music on Twitter as well. Tragically, rapper MF DOOM recently passed away, but some of his friends and collaborators such as producer Madlib said there were many MF DOOM projects nearly done at the time of his death, so a posthumous release is not out of the question, though I would hope it is done respectfully and not too quickly as to capitalize on the tragedy.
Those are my 2021 musical predictions. I hope that 2021 is a big year for music, even if there are no music festivals or concerts. One thing that we can still appreciate from home is art, whether it be new music, movies, or anything else. It also helps people feel together, so at a time where we are all stuck at home, I hope that some new music will be on the way to brighten our days.
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