How Music This Fall Should Redeem the Lousy Summer

Yesterday marked the official end of the summer of 2014, and for music, it was one of the worst. Last summer, Mac Miller, J Cole, and Kanye West released astounding albums, up-and-coming rappers Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper released mixtapes that catapulted their careers, and Kendrick Lamar dropped his infamous "Control" verse.

This summer was unmemorable, to say the least. Few projects dropped, and few rap songs (other than "Fancy", which sucks) were heard on the radio waves. The only notable releases I can think of were from Common, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Travi$ Scott, and Jhene Aiko. Usually, summer releases dominate over winter/spring drops, but earlier in the year we saw impressive projects from Pharrell, Schoolboy Q, Isaiah Rashad, Vince Staples, SZA, Mac Miller, Rick Ross, Sam Smith, and YG. For music, this summer was a failure.

But, this fall may redeem the summer's releases. A huge amount of debuts, sophomore albums, and anticipated projects are slanted to drop before the year's end. Joey Bada$$'s B4.Da.$$, Action Bronson's Mr. Wonderful, Vince Staples's Hell Can Wait EP, and Logic's Under Pressure are all supposed to be released this fall. While most of these debuts don't have official release dates yet (Under Pressure is being released on October 21st), they all have already released singles for their projects; Bada$$'s "Big Dusty", Bronson's "Easy Rider", and Staples's "Blue Suede". For sophomore releases, A$AP Rocky posted an Instagram post earlier this year saying he was nearly finished with his album, Jay Rock and Big K.R.I.T are supposedly releasing projects by the years end, and Killer Mike + El P's joint effort Run The Jewels 2 is being released on October 28th.

Many other albums are also rumored to be released this year. While Frank Ocean has been near mute for the last two years, his new album should be released soon. Nas rapped on his "Studio" remix that he has finished an album, and should be dropping it soon. Kanye West may be releasing a follow-up to Yeeus, as well as a second joint album with Jay-Z. A$AP Mob's compilation album and Pusha T's album were both supposed to be released earlier this year, but no release date has been mentioned yet. And hopefully, we'll see the return of Boosie Bad Azz. If all of these releases are true, 2014 may be a great year for music after all.