Let’s do this!
With 2020 now off and running, the spotlight has quickly turned back to the charts and namely in hip hop circles, whose sounds are going to further permeate the mainstream. In 2019 we saw the emergence of a new breed of hip hop star (Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, the late Juice WRLD), blending hip hop and rap with pop sensibilities that brought them further into the broad public scope.
Three (of the many) artists positioned to drop big records this year are below – who have you got your money on?
Megan Thee Stallion
Having generated huge hype around her Fever mixtape last year, the Houston bred artist quickly became the face of ‘Hot Girl Summer’, all the while getting her college education on. The release of Fever made the #10 spot on the Billboard 200, while the release of ‘Hot Girl Summer’ (featuring Nicki Minaj and Ty Dolla $ign) gave hip hop fans a bonafide summer anthem leading into 2020.
No one is touching Meg when it comes to widespread appeal at the moment, so with a debut full-length project expected to surface this year, we can only imagine what the response will be when she comes through. She’s definitely proven her worth as a deft lyricist and rapper, but a full studio album will give us an insight into how much she can actually flex on record when given the room to do so.
Run The Jewels
It’s been four years since we’ve heard from El-P and Killer Mike. Considering the first three Run The Jewels albums were released within two years of one another, safe to say I’m beginning to feel a lil impatient. The duo have been keeping their release plans pretty closely guarded, which tells me something good is potentially on the way to crack open a new decade.
Still, it’s not like Run The Jewels have been resting on their laurels. Killer Mike’s 2019 Netflix show Trigger Warning with Killer Mike brought in a whole new audience, while El-P has been working steadfastly on music behind the scenes too. Run The Jewels are on the Coachella line up for 2020 too, so fingers crossed we hear some more from them in the lead up.
J. Cole
It was a big year for J. Cole last year. The release of Revenge Of The Dreamers III under the Dreamville label banner saw Cole and his crew go straight to the top (his sixth #1). It didn’t take long for J. Cole to announce his next moves either, revealing that 2020 would be seeing the release of a new record, set to be titled The Fall Off.
No date has been announced for the release yet but we can’t wait.
