TLDR - this thread is a brief recap of the most anticipated albums that dropped recently, and some that we can expect to drop later this year

I also wanted to see what's been everyone's favorite so far (and if they were worth the wait), because we've gotten a few already

The Big Steppers (2022)

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers releases May 2022.
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Outside of his soundtrack for Black Panther, this would be the first solo release from Kendrick since DAMN in 2017.

The album would deal primarily with personal trauma as well as his experiences living in a post-COVID world.

More than 1800 days went by before the next mainline release in his discography.

Although the album received a mixed reception online, the tour for the album was widely acclaimed and is still ongoing internationally.

Renaissance (2022)

Just a month after Kendrick released The Big Steppers, Beyonce announces and releases her new single Break My Soul. The single would coincide with a new album releasing in July.

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After a 6 year hiatus, Beyonce reinvents herself and drops a dance / house oriented album to worldwide acclaim.

Outside of her collab album The Carters + her soundtrack to the The Lion King, this would be her first solo release since Lemonade in 2016.

The Renaissance World Tour begins May 10 in Stockholm, Sweden.

SOS (2022)

To close out the year, after constant delays and a stressful back and forth with her label TDE, SOS by SZA finally drops in December 2022. It would be her first release on the label since CTRL in 2017.

The album would top Billboard and spawn five singles including Shirt, Kill Bill & Nobody Gets Me.

The time between her albums was so long that CTRL would have its 5 year anniversary before SOS released.

The SOS Tour started February 21 in Columbus, Ohio.

Quest For Fire / Don't Get Too Close (2023)

At the start of the year, Skrillex announces two new albums nearly 10 years after his last release Recess in 2014.

On the day of Quest For Fire's release, he performs alongside Four Tet & Fred Again in Times Square.

The crowd becomes so large that the city shuts down the show.

The next night, they play a 5 hour sold out B2B2B show at Madison Square Garden. Don't Get Too Close releases midway through the set.

Quest For Fire / Don't Get Too Close is out now and features appearances from Chief Keef, Justin Bieber, Yung Lean, Missy Elliott + more.

This Is Why (2023)

After a 6 year gap between their previous album After Laughter, Paramore return and reinvent their sound once again.

Pushing away from After Laughter's bright new wave and synthpop inspiration, Paramore instead opt for a darker alternative sound on This Is Why.

The album is out now and features 4 singles including The News & Running Out Of Time.

The This Is Why Tour begins May 23 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Janelle Monáe, Album 4 (2023)

Janelle Monáe is no stranger to taking extended breaks between her albums. The time between her first 3 projects was 3 years each - with Metropolis, The Archandroid and The Electric Lady coming out in 2007, 2010 and 2013 respectively.

Since then, we've seen her take longer breaks in between projects, with Dirty Computer taking 5 years before releasing in 2018.

Outside of music, she's starred in multiple films since then including Welcome To Marwen, The Lady & The Tramp, Antebellum and most recently Glass Onion on Netflix.

Her new single Float is out now, with the expected album release to be sometime in Spring/Summer 2023.

Utopia (2023)

Travis Scott is finally gearing up to drop his next album.
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Outside of a few songs being previewed live, not much is known about the project other than the title being Utopia.

Apart from his label project in 2019, this will be his first release since 2018's Astroworld.

Astroworld Festival 2021

At Astroworld Festival 2021, a fatal crowd crush at the concert left ten people dead and more than 300 being treated for injuries within the festival grounds.
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Despite LiveNation having a long history of safety violations, Travis was caught under heavy fire by the media for his history of recklessness when it came to crowd control and safety.

After the festival he started Project Heal, an initiative focused around event safety. Project Heal also led to expanded funding for Cactus Jack Foundation's HBCU scholarship fund, while also expanding their youth design center in Houston and making mental health resources more readily available to low income and minority youth.
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With a large part of Travis Scott's brand being centered around his live show, it's unclear how much these initiatives will help how he is perceived by the public and media.

Dystopia

In 2021, fans theorized that a mixtape titled Dystopia was going to drop before the album. The mixtape would've potentially featured the songs Mafia & Escape Plan.
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This project has seemingly been shelved after Astroworld Fest.

The first draft of an A24 film script (seemingly titled "Utopia" or "Dystopia") was teased in late 2021, but it's unclear if this project was also shelved.

June 2023 Release Date

Epic Records CEO Sylvia Rhone has confirmed that Utopia is scheduled to release in June 2023.

Frank Ocean's 4th Album (2023)

In late 2022, Frank Ocean launches Homer Radio, a new radio show on Apple Music.

The show is described as a "one hour window into what plays around our office after hours."

Months after that, Frank releases two double-sided posters titled Thinkpad & The Chairman. When connected, the posters gave more information into his rumored 2020 dance project that was shelved due to COVID-19.

The project was to consist of singles (like DHL & In My Room), while being supported by growing underground parties and raves around the world.

After connecting the posters, the message read that Frank is no longer interested in this model and would prefer to drop an album.

Frank Ocean is announced to headline Coachella 2023.

Bonus: Jai Paul (2023)

Jai Paul was also announced to play at Coachella 2023. It will be his first live show.
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Coachella will also fall on the 10 year anniversary of the original Bait Ones leak.
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I guess we'll see what happens.

TLDR: Kendrick, Beyoncé, SZA, Paramore & Skrillex already dropped - Frank, Janelle, Travi$ & more coming soon. Potential landmark albums of the early 2020s

Carter 6

think you forgot Lorde potentially releasing AOTY this year. good post apart from that.

great post

one artist i'd add is Jamie xx, hist last album is from 2015 and he recently confirmed he finished the new one

Curious lack of The Cure & Everything But The Girl.

Add Rihanna

Great thread tho

Great thread just for none of these to drop

beautiful thread. frank ocean will be taking over the year.

This year been getting better finally but only like 2 artists in op have contributed

At least we got jai paul at coachella