Image via Complex Original
It was obvious 2014 was bound to (no pun intended) be a barren wasteland for hip-hop by the time we got midway through 2013. At that point, A$AP Rocky dropped an impressive debut, Kanye went head-to-head with J. Cole, Jay Z announced a new album then dropped it two weeks later, and Drake and Pusha T were scheduled to impact the fall. And that's just a concise summary of what was indeed a bountiful year. Despite unpredictably exciting offerings from a seemingly endless parade of randos and one-hit-wonders, 2014 lived up to its bleak predictions, at least album-wise. Now that hip-hop's earth is scorched, with a new year brings an inevitable period of rejuvenation, no?
Drake, Kanye, Wale (with Seinfeld!), Big Sean, A$AP Rocky, Kendrick, and Meek Mill are all due. Pusha T, too, probably. Rick Ross could fuck around and drop three projects this year to one-up himself. Jay Z might do...something. Jay Electronica will continue to tease an album of increasingly mythical proportions, just to keep things even. With an added bout of fresh-faced January-flavored optimism, 2015 is looking aces. It's going to be a great year. Probably.
Allow yourself, if you dare, to venture down a dark wormhole of pessimism with me. Even the best laid plans can go horrifically awry—just ask any of the dozen dead good guys on Game of Thrones. Just ask any Lil Wayne fan who's been expecting Tha Carter V since last May. Shit can go way left, very quickly. Here are just a few of many probabilities in which hip-hop can totally squander all of its 2015 promises. Happy Friday, though!
Tha Carter V isn't worth the wait.
Lil Wayne's 11th album went from highly anticipated victory lap (he claimed it would be his last) to a linchpin object of custody in one of the game's saddest falling outs. The album that should've been coasting on strong singles the likes of "Believe Me," "Krazy," and the underrated "D'usse" instead got bogged down in an increasingly sloppy rollout of random songs and pushbacks. Wayne albums almost identifiably have like three hard release dates before they actually drop, but this time things are really up in the air. Shit might not even be on Cash Money when the dust finally clears. And while Weezy was on fire for the first half of 2014, his 17-track profuse apology was frustrating. Distressing, even. Which begs the question: Why is Birdman holding on to it in the first place? Is it for good reason that he lost faith in his "son"? Is Tha Carter V actually...trash? Weezy haters would rejoice, but for real, it'd be the saddest anticlimax if after all the disputes, drama, and dissolving of one of hip-hop's longest partnerships, the album straight up sucked.
Hit-Boy really goes into retirement.
The man behind some of the most crucial beats of the decade so far let this mystifying and abrupt tweet go last fall and no one really knows what it means, still. Presumably it's just a dramatic way for Hit to declare he's saving all his time, energy, and focus for his label HS87, home to Audio Push, K. Roosevelt, Bmacthequeen, etc. Read: cool artists with potential who are otherwise monopolizing hot beats from one of the freshest producers in the game. There's a wealth of production talent from up-and-comers and those who had a few hits over the past few years and are still rising. But if Hit-Boy is really over-focused on building up his team and like-minded young shooters like OverDoz, and done with lacing the A-listers with the likes of "Trophies," "Cold," or "SomewhereInAmerica," it'll be the biggest cheat of the year.
Kendrick catches the (major label) sophomore slump.
The signs of eventuality are already there. The culture is still split right down the middle in terms of polarizing lead single "i," which immediately rendered anticipation into nervous uncertainty. good kid, m.a.a.d city is an agreed-upon classic album, so the stakes for its successor were always going to be unfairly high. Now, a good portion of the rap audience isn't even sure what it'll sound like let alone if they'll even like it. Meanwhile, Kendrick has said the song he performed on the Colbert Report finale may not even make the cut. The fog surrounding the next album from Mr. Control (is it his sophomore, or does that descriptor technically go to good kid because of .Section80? Who really knows? Does it even matter?) is more dense than ever, but the mystery is starting to make everyone anxious instead of excited.
Empire releases a soundtrack full of original music.
FOX's Empire is a fun guilty pleasure, in all its dated 2006-era music industry melodrama glory (it's actually set in present-day), but good God does the in-series music suck. No shots at Timbaland, collecting a cool steady check as the show's music supervisor, but if the success of this show—and with week two and three ratings that rose higher than its debut, boy, is it a success—depended on actually believing Terrence Howard and his artists were actually good rappers then it would've been canceled mid-pilot. Forget about sounding current, these "hit songs" that catapulted Lucious to music-mogul status would sound trash in any era. And yet, it's a big giant hit. It's only a matter of time until the suits at FOX manufacture more ways to squeeze blood from the stone, and a soundtrack of original music just has to be option No. 1. Envision a world where an original Empire Records soundtrack featuring Kid Ink-lite songs from the likes of Hakeem is No. 1 on iTunes, thanks to sales from an audience that largely, doesn't know any better.
Meek Mill misses again.
Meek Mill is one of the best rappers out right now, and he has been for the last few years. Which might explain why everyone is still reeling from the disappointment of his debut album, which, admittedly timelessly classic intro track aside, left a lot to be desired and played like a series of checked-off MMG album guidelines instead. With the Philly spitter fresh out of the bing, probably dating Nicki Minaj, and dropping furious freestyle bars off with Funkmaster Flex, all eyes are on him to do it right this time and deliver the great album we know he has in him. But who's to say history won't repeat himself, and Dreams Worth More Than Money ends up as yet another sleepwalker with like six hot songs and no need to ever be listened to from top to bottom more than once.
Chet Haze becomes America's new favorite pop rapper.
Do you follow Chet Haze (nee: Chester Hanks, second son of prolific actor Tom) on Twitter? If not, you totally should. When he's active, he's hilarious in a rich white kid wannabe hard type of way, but even more so because he's self-aware about his shtick. He even follows and retweets his own parody account. I wish his actual music held the same entertainment value, but alas, he's no Colin when it comes to talent. But he's still an aspiring rapper and son to one of Hollywood's reigning veterans. Sooner or later a single is going to pop, and then we could really be in for it. You thought Macklemore and Iggy Azalea were bad? Wait until your boy Chet Haze is sweeping nominations and "changing hip-hop" off of pure, unstoppable white privilege velocity whether he wants to or not. See you at the 2016 Grammys!
Drake throws up his first brick.
A blockbuster mixtape and three major releases later, Drake has never made a project that isn't worth your time. But all reigns come to an end, right? If 2013 saw Drake ascend to the full height of his powers, then 2014 saw rap's undisputed reigning overlord...coast. For every "Draft Day" and "0-100," songs so good that to give them out for free and with no album to live on seemed like insanity, there was a reheated cruise control throwaway like "6 God" or an otherwise uninspired guest verse. Now fam's apparently throwing out a new mixtape before the Views From the 6 album he's been teasing for almost a year. Imagine: The tape is cool but ultimately OVO oversaturated, and by the the time VFT6 drops, people are so tired of OB O'Brien ad-libs (not to mention the term "six") that they barely register a care that the album is merely OK, not "whoa this Canadian simp from Degrassi might be the best rapper alive!" like his last three.
Kanye quits music and commits to fashion.
We all expected Yeezus 2 or whatever the hell it's called last year and it didn't drop. It's 100 percent coming this year, and it's Kanye so like, naturally it'll be a B+ album at absolute minimum. I'm going to pretend like the recent "FourFive Seconds," borne out of Ye's much-hyped sessions with Paul McCartney, and seemingly ready-made for a Grey's Anatomy musical montage, doesn't have me worried. I'm actually fucking terrified that Happy Father Yeezus is coming with an album you can cop at the register after ordering a venti mocha frappucino, but it's downright ungrateful to behave as if dude hasn't earned more than a little bit of trust. But there's still potential for a dark turn of events in the wake of its release: What if the rumors of Yeezy going full fashion are actually true. Last year also should've featured his highly anticipated, top-secret adidas collaborations. What if Kanye is working super hard to reclaim the top radio spot he vacated to Drake, only to gracefully bow out? Are you ready for a world in which GOOD Music grinds to a halt while Papa Kanye makes fire fabrics and more babies with Kim? There's already a word for a potential future devoid of new Ye sounds: apocalypse. Is 2015 year zero?
Jay Z doesn't drop new music.
This is pure bias and also 100 percent genuine. No troll. Any 12-month period that doesn't see new music from the God MC is truly a barren year, bruh. Magna Carta ... Holy Grail was B+ fire, in my esteemed opinion. Last year was a well-deserved break, par for the course even—gone are the days when we could bet on a new Jigga LongPlayer every 10 months or so. But as brief but welcome cameos like the "We Made It" freestyle or "Seen It All" prove, there's still enough spark in there to let some more fire go. Jay Z hair-watch begins...now. *Cue bout of depression when it's December 2015 and the most the year has seen from Hova were two guest verses and one tossed-off hook feature*
