For some, 2014 was the most disappointing year for hip-hop ever, with a lack of breakthrough solo albums being held up as a tell-tale sign of a slow 12 months. But with some of the genre’s biggest stars preparing returns in 2015, we look ahead to five of the year’s most potentially potent magna opera.
Kanye West
Kanye West is going to do whatever Kanye West wants to do, be it push sonic boundaries (Yeezus) or dispense magical earworms (everything pre-Yeezus). Though as on Yeezus he worked with Rick Rubin for his upcoming work, who knows what will emerge from that collaboration?
The same is true of the songs he made with Paul McCartney, though we do have ripe fruit from their collaborative single Only One, on which the former Beatle plays keys. It’s a magnificent lullaby to West’s daughter North, which he says was channeled through him from his late mother. It certainly recalls 808s & Heartbreaks, which was released after his mother died, but also has the heft of My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy tracks like Lost in the World and Runaway. Personally, Only One gave me goosebumps like nothing West has released since Runaway, and suggests the new work might set aside Yeezus’s abrasive textures in favor of something more, well, Beatles-esque. The one person who does know is Seth Rogen, for whom he played the album in a van recently. (BW)
Kendrick Lamar
Like Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar is one of the few top-tier hip-hop artists who doesn’t answer to anyone; besides, his aspirations go beyond commercial success. Unchecked creative freedom isn’t always a good thing, but Lamar is so totally in the zone right now that expectations couldn’t be higher for his upcoming, yet-untitled third album. 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city was a once-in-a-lifetime achievement, a personal chronicle of childhood with near-universal appeal. Not much is known about the new work, other than that its first single, self-empowerment anthem i (Love Myself), is a monster, cracking the Pazz and Jop top 5 despite being released late in the year.
He’s also been collaborating with jazz and soul artists including, Los Angeles bassist Thundercat, and has a bunch of tracks with Dr Dre, though it’s always been somewhat unclear just how influential the LA gangsta godfather is on Lamar, and who knows if their songs will see the light of day. No matter. No one in the game is as inspired and hard-working as Lamar right now, and his new work is as close to a sure thing as one gets. (BW)
Earl Sweatshirt
One reason to love LA collective Odd Future is their approach to self-promotion; they’d often rather troll you than take your money. So when Earl Sweatshirt, an oddball among oddballs and arguably the most talented in the crew, announced in October that he’d “been sitting on a completely finished album since June just shut up and wait”, his followers felt nothing but tingles.
He’s since released a smattering of tracks, including the bittersweet Knucklehead with Chicago rapper Lil Herb (which Earl produced), a short track called 45, apparently produced by Alchemist, and, most recently, five new songs at a Santa Ana concert. These are a bit hard to sort through because of the video’s audio quality, but they show a performer who is growing increasingly comfortable with his voice and his stage presence. New cut Hell is a banger – “If that’s on you/ Then that’s on me, too!” he chants. Who knows which of these songs, if any, will be on his new work (Hell appears to use the beat for A$AP Rocky’s Brand New Guy, for one thing), but there seems to be every reason to think his new album will be even stronger than 2013’s Doris. (BW)
Lupe Fiasco – Tetsuo & Youth
A group of hackers might turn out to be the best A&R men Lupe Fiasco could’ve hoped for. One faction of the Anonymous collective, who’ve earned online fame for bringing down government and company websites, are claiming responsibility for pressuring Atlantic Records into confirming Tetsuo & Youth’s release date (it came out on Tuesday).
Fiasco’s had a mixed couple of years since putting out Food and Liquor II: the Great American Rap Album in 2012, so a triumphant return wouldn’t go amiss. He’s endured emotional Twitter spats. He’s been chucked out of an event for ripping into Obama. And, crucially for an artist all about the music, he’s picked up fairly flat reviews for Food and Liquor II. Still, Fiasco’s bars brim over with clever wordplay, and he isn’t afraid to clash socially aware lyrics with pounding dancefloor-ready beats – it looks like he’s ready to revive his The Cool-era insight and catapult back into the headlines for the right reasons. (TM)
Chance the Rapper – Surf
Hustling for a record deal is no longer the primary route to critical acclaim, as Chicago’s unsigned Chancelor Bennett proves. He self-released the sonically diverse Acid Rap mixtape in 2013 under his Chance the Rapper moniker, and has apparently been splitting his time ever since between a house-share with electronic beatmaker James Blake and work on upcoming album Surf. Not bad for a 21-year-old who provoked the wrath of internet commenters with a cartoon theme tune cover. We expect his raspy vocals to creak over yet more lush instrumentation on the album, which is set to be one of several put out by members of the Social Experiment band this year. Bennett and the band have tinkered over Surf in LA, with the likes of beardy producer/guru/Justin Bieber father figure Rick Rubin, Odd Future’s Frank Ocean and Versace lovers Migos. If he keeps his left-field jazz influences and steers clear of Migos-style dumbed-down lyricism, this should be a delight. (TM)
