It's impossible to predict where a year is going to go, pop culturally speaking, in January. But we love to do it anyway. Anticipated lists are always a mix of obvious nods to the already-announced, reading the tea leaves, and hoping for the best (plus full-on fan fiction). Then in December, it's always fun to go back and see what was dead on and what was dead wrong.
At the top of 2018, a handful of artists seemed poised to impact the year in a major way. With the year drawing to a close, though, the results are in: 2018 was not the productive year for a few favorites like Rihanna, Rick Ross, and Big Sean. What happened? The factors are endless. Let's look at who surprised us with their absence, and pray for more activity in 2019.