5 Reasons Why Meek Mill is Losing His Beef With Drake

Unless you've been sleeping under a rock for the last two weeks, you've probably heard about the beef between Meek Mill and Drake. Meek Mill aired out his displeasure with Drake for not tweeting about Meek's new album, and said that Drake used a ghost writer for his verse on "R.I.C.O.". Since then, the beef has blossomed into an array of diss tracks, shade, and memes. But while Meek Mill started this beef, he has already lost it. Here's why.

1. Meek should have released "Wanna Know" right after "Charged Up"

During the OVO Sound Radio on Apple Music, Drake released "Charged Up". It was billed as diss track, but it's another one of many songs that Drake has made addressing anonymous haters. Since the public took this as the first diss track leveled against Meek, he should have taken this opportunity to drop his own diss track "Wanna Know". This would have given him the upper hand in the beef, even though "Wanna Know" isn't that fantastic of a diss track.

2. Meek isn't taking the beef seriously

One of the ending lines in "Wanna Know" is "you let Tip homie piss on you at a movie theater". If that's true, that's hilarious, but not exactly a very strong diss. Meek also announced he would be releasing "Wanna Know" on Sunday, July 26, but instead posted an Instagram video of him screaming. Every time Drake has fired back strongly at Meek, the Philadelphia rapper has responded via Twitter or Instagram. While the Internet age has certainly revolutionized feuds between rappers, joking captions on Instagram can't take the place of serious shots and hard-hitting songs.

3. Drake is having a more successful few weeks than Meek Mill

In the time since Meek Mill alleged that Drake uses ghost writers, Drake has released four singles, hosted the sixth annual OVO Fest, and was rumored to have donated a recording studio to Meek Mill's old high school. In the same time, Meek Mill has just been on tour with Nicki Minaj... and that's about it. In the midst of the beef, Drake is doing better than ever, which weakens Meek's claims

4. Meek Mill's timing is dreadful

As I said before, Meek Mill waited until Drake released not one, but two diss tracks before Meek released his own. The second track from Drake, "Back to Back" was filled with gut-punches, with lyrics like "trigger fingers turned to Twitter fingers, you're getting bodied by a singing n***a" and "is that a world tour or your girl's tour?". But beyond waiting, Meek also made the mistake of starting this beef just weeks before Drake had his own OVO Fest. It was a slaughterhouse for Meek, as Drake performed behind memes making fun of Meek and making a mockery of Meek the entire time. It was the final nail in the coffin. 

5. No one really cares if Drake uses ghost writers

What's been interesting about this beef is that the initial allegation that Drake used ghost writers in many of his hit records has been an after thought. Drake hasn't really addressed it, and both Funk Flex and Meek Mill have released reference tracks of "10 Bands" and "Know Yourself". So there is a very good chance that Meek is right, and Drake does use ghost writers, but no one really cares. Drake's lyrics have never been ground-breaking or thought-provoking, but he excels at making insanely catchy and listenable music. Drake's sound, not his lyrics, are why people love him, and not that many people care how real either are. If a renowned lyricist like Kendrick Lamar was found to be using ghost writers, that would be a different story, but the fact that Drake very well might be using ghost writers changes little. 

MusicBenLikes Picks for 2015 XXL Freshmen

Every year, hip-hop magazine XXL awards ten to twelve up-and-coming rappers, and last year singers, as XXL Freshmen. This is one of the biggest honors a new hip-hop artist can receive. Official voting for the 2015 Freshmen will begin on March 16, but before then I decided to create my own Freshman List

1. Mick Jenkins
If you haven't heard of Mick Jenkins yet, you will. The Chicago rapper is following the same path of last year's freshmen picks Vic Mensa and Chance the Rapper, and is pushing past the drill sound of Chicago to the national spotlight. His latest project, The Water[s] is nothing short from fantastic, and I've been listening to it more than anything else from 2014. Jenkins spits every conscious verse with passion, has an array of original flows in his pocket, and a knack for lush and polished production. Don't sleep.

2. Vince Staples
I'm very surprised that Staples wasn't awarded last year. He's been steadily increasing his lyrical prowess, and is a force to be reckoned with. He's worked with everyone from Earl Sweatshirt to ScHoolboy Q to Common, and his West Coast sound deserves to be awarded

3. Raury
Raury only has one project under his belt, but that one project was great. He sounds like a more rock-oriented Andre 3000. XXL might not award him since his sound doesn't perfectly fit with hip-hop, but to me, that ability to push the boundaries of a genre is something fantastic.

4. GoldLink
Another musician with only one, unique project, GoldLink crafted a brand new sub-genre: future bounce. It's basically a mix of hip-hop, lounge music, and EDM. GoldLink doesn't have the greatest lyricism, but his flow and new sound are tremendous.

5. Young Thug
I mean, how can you not award Young Thug. The dude is everywhere. I don't need to explain who Young Thug is, you know who he is. The only way he would be awarded is if he's just too big.

6. Rome Fortune
Rome Fortune is another eccentric artist from ATL. But what makes Fortune stand out is that he can rap over basically any beat, and while some ATL rappers can just be too much, almost everything that Fortune drops sounds good. Just look at his Soundcloud, he releases a new project almost every month and each one is good.

7. OG Maco
OG Maco took probably the most basic production, and turned it into the monstrous banger that is "U Guessed It" (Rome Fortune is the guy with the blue beard in the video). But Maco has become more than just a one-hit-wonder. He's been steadily working and has, like Fortune, released many solid projects. One of the most notable is his "Breath EP", a small project about race and politics, that actually brings up a lot of very good points.

8. Fetty Wap
I'm gonna be honest, I have really listened to any song besides "Trap Queen", but oh my god that song is amazing. "Trap Queen" should win a damn Oscar.

9. Bas
Signed to J. Cole's Dreamville Records, Bas has one of the most mature sounds of everyone on this list. His most recent album Last Winter sounded extremely polished. I don't think Bas is the most original artist in the game, but he raps extremely confidently.

10. Bishop Nehru
Bishop Nehru is signed to Nas's label, and had a collaborative album with MF Doom last year. If these two greats support him, you should too. He's only 18, but Nehru raps well past his age.

11. SZA
The TDE songstress broke through last year with her amazing EP Z. She's perfected the neo-soul sound. Be on the lookout for her next project A, which will be dropping very soon.

12. BJ The Chicago Kid
You may not recognize his name, but you have definitely heard him. From Kendrick Lamar to Joey Bada$$ to Big K.R.I.T. to Chance the Rapper, BJ The Chicago has worked with everybody. He's an expert at the classic r&b sound, and is moving to a more pop sound. This up-and-comer definitely deserves more recognition.

An Analysis of the 2015 Grammy Awards

The 57th annual Grammy Awards are currently underway. As I'm writing this, AC/DC is giving an awkward opening show that shows how old they are. I'll be explaining, reviewing, and attempting to understand this year's Grammys, with a focus on hip-hop and R&B winners.

First, we should go over how exactly the Grammys work. There are nearly 80 awards given, from basically all music genres. From rap and country, to gospel and urban contemporary (the most recently added category), the Grammys cover basically all contemporary music. Besides the genre-specific awards, there are four general categories: Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year. The winners are decided by a panel of music experts, who are about 150 people who are either musicians, producers, composers, or anyone who has worked on at least 6 commercially released songs. The judges, as well as record labels can submit recordings for consideration. Each judge can vote for any of the four general awards, and nine of the genre-specific awards. Five finalists are chosen for each category, and then the judges again vote for the four general categories, and eight genre-specific categories. The judges are asked to vote in their own genres, but don't have to. Music released between September 30, 2013 and October 1, 2014 are eligible for awards this year. Historically, the awards usually go to artists who are the most popular and sell the most records. Pop music usually wins the big awards, and smaller genres (especially hip-hop) usually gets snubbed. Often, the Grammys are more of a popularity contest than a showcase of true talent.

Unsurprisingly, Sam Smith is winning big. Less than 40 minutes into the awards, and he's already won Best Pop Vocal Album and Best New Artist. Pharrell is also pulling ahead, with Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Urban Contemporary Album. This is a bit of a shock, since Beyonce and Sail Out were both nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album, and Taylor Swift, John Legend, and Sam Smith were all also nominated for Best Pop Solo Performance. Last year's Forecastle headliner Beck won Best Rock Album, and Beyonce wins Best R&B Performance for "Drunk In Love". In general, the live performances have been pretty toned down. Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande, Kanye West, and Ed Sheeran all sung fairly slow songs. I'm about to go to bed, but keep watching for performances by Common & John Legend, Kanye West, Rihanna, & Paul McCartney, and Sam Smith.

There is a double-edged sword concerning hip-hop at the Grammy's today. Last year was pretty pitiful for major rap releases, and many people were concerned that Iggy Azalea would win the Best Rap Album award. But Eminem took home the award instead for The Marshall Mathers LP 2. This was the best selling rap album of all the nominees, and while I think Oxymoron, Nobody's Smiling, and Because the Internet were superior albums, I can easily see why the didn't win, and at least Wiz and Azalea didn't win. Also, Kendrick Lamar finally took home a Grammy, two in fact. He won both Rap Record of the Year and Best Rap Song of the Year for "i". The judges agreed with me on that one. But, none of these awards are televised. All of the hip-hop winners were announced before the ceremony, and as of 10:00 EST, there have been no rap awards given in on live television. This is an even bigger snub than last year, when Macklemore took home the Best Rap Album award over Kanye, Kendrick, Drake, and Jay-Z. Rap is a huge part of contemporary music, and it's ridiculous that they won't even mention the rap awards on television. Rap is one of the newer categories in the Grammys, but it's still been recognized for almost 20 years. I am about to go to sleep, so they may show the rap awards later on, and I'll look like an absolute fool, but I don't think that will happen. Yet again, the Grammys have snubbed an entire genre of music, a genre that is expanding and refining itself every day. It's truly a shame that after almost 20 years this is still happening.    

Another Crazy Connection in Gambino's Videos

A few months ago, I posted an article about some very strange connections between Childish Gambino's music videos. And today, Gambino posted another video, which seems like further proof that he's an alien.

We left off with the "Telegraph Ave" video. It's filmed in Kauai, and features Gambino and Jhene Aiko just hanging out having fun for most of the video, until the end. Gambino gets hit by a truck in the last minute of the video, and two armed men come out and try to attack him. But Gambino is wounded, and out of his damaged body come tentacles, that kill the two men. His next video is "Sober", which is off of his EP Kauai, which is a notable connection.

"Sober" is entirely shot in a small dinner, just like the "Sweatpants" video, but the only occupants are Bino and a girl. Bino tries to hit on a girl by dancing to the song, and she seems to find it funny, until she gets her food and leaves. But in the beginning of the video, Bino's dancing is very odd, and at times he looks like a zombie, and definitely not human.  He doesn't really speak either, and just creepily looks at the woman. She gets annoyed and moves to a different table, so Bino starts to dance more normally. But this dancing still isn't very normal, as he moves at times unnaturally, without really moving his feet, like at 1:54 and 2:59. Also during the beat change of the song, the lights begin to flicker and Bino starts getting more concentrated in his dancing. He does slip the girl a note saying he's high, but that doesn't really seem true considering his behavior.

I think this video comes after the "Telegraph Ave" video in the storyline. Jhene Aiko, who Bino is in love with, probably left him after seeing he's a murderous alien between the two videos. I also think that the alien has a larger control over him now, seeing as he talks very little and moves so strangely. But Bino is still trying to find love, and shown throughout his album, EP, screenplay, and videos, so he tries to "flirt" with the girl at the diner. Of course, this could all be wrong, as I've said before, but I will continue to update this site when more information is available.

Vine Stars Make Horrible Music

The popular social media platform Vine has created many "stars" who post funny or interesting videos regularly. While many of these Vine "stars" have millions of followers, many can't capitalize on their six seconds of fame. Some attempt to try their hand at making music. But for most of them, they fail miserably. 

One such "star" is Brent Rivera. This kid makes vines that feature his extremely high voice, and cliche scenarios. He's pretty awful. And he just released a pretty awful song. "Doubt Your Doubts" is his newest single, and the song is just as bad as the title. Rivera sings cringe-worthy lyrics over a basic guitar and whistling production. Rivera begins the song by saying "We all fall down, but we get back up again, get back up again". He then tries to almost rap for about twenty seconds. "Doubt Your Doubts" is too cheesy to even be an early 2000's Disney song. I would link the song, but it's just too bad.

Another person famous from Vine Bryan Silva. The tattoo-clad, ex-gay porn star became famous for posting shirtless Vines of himself gloating about money, guns, and violence. These Vines sounded like a knock-off Chief Keef, and Silva eventually did get into the rap game. He has released a few songs on Vine and Youtube, and even an album entitled All I Know. Silva is the worst rapper I have ever heard in my life. His songs, which are usually only about a minute long, and feature him stumbling over productions that sounds like it was made in a basement in less than ten minutes. Silva has absolutely no flow at all, a lazy delivery, no rhyme-scheme to speak of, and lyrics only about drugs and violence. He sounds like (and probably is) he's high off of lean on all of his songs, and often sounds like he's just talking over a beat. I struggle to classify Silva as a rapper.

Lastly, The duo Jack and Jack have ventured from Vine into creating music. They create pop-rappy music, with an EDM influence. They actually aren't too bad. They have professional production, and some well-created music videos. But, their themes and lyrics are all pretty basic and have no substance or originality at all. Their latest single, "Wild Life" actually made it to the Billboard Top 100, peaking at 87. This is probably due to the tacky EDM-esque production, and general popularity of the duo, but none of the songs they have put out have commendable lyricism or flow. Basically, Vine "stars" should stick to six second videos.  

The Incredibly Convoluted Connections Between Childish Gambino's Recent Videos

For the last year or two, Childish Gambino has been creating very weird music, videos, and a movie script. Most of them seem like deranged projects with no connection or relevance, but he's stated on his Twitter account  they're connected. He's dropped few hint, but they still seem completely random. But, I think I have figured out possibly what is going on with all of his work, and its pretty insane. Keep in mind, Gambino's plot may not be over yet, and my idea could be completely wrong. Also, a thread on Reddit has helped me with this idea, so I can't take full credit for this hypothesis.

What I'll be concentrating on is the music videos. In the last year, four songs from Because the Internet have been made into music videos: "The Worst Guys", "3005", "Sweatpants", and "Telegraph Ave". Each video is pretty strange, and for a reason. Basically, Gambino is showing in his various videos that an parasite-like animal has taken control of his body, and by the year 3005, has spread and taken over the world.

 "The Worst Guys" is the very first video released. In the video, Bino and some of his friends spend a day at the beach. The entire video is upbeat and happy, except for one scene. At the 1:47 mark, for a split second, Gambino is seen limping with a giant gash on his leg. This is extremely odd for such a happy video, and I think it's because at this moment, an aquatic alien attacks Bino, and buries itself into him.

The next video released was "3005". The video features Gambino and a large teddy bear ridding on a Ferris Wheel. It's a very basic video, but there are some very interesting details if you look closely. Near the beginning of the video, everyone on the and nearby the Ferris Wheel seem fairly young, in their 20's. But as the Ferris Wheel spins and the video progresses, everyone gets older. The riders and guests of the theme park all look like they're in their 60's or 70's. And the teddy bear with Gambino gets more and more deteriorated as the video moves forward. I think this is to show that years have passed during the duration of the video, but Gambino doesn't age. This could be evidence that he's an alien.

The third video is one of the weirdest videos. "Sweatpants" shows Gambino walking into a diner, sitting with his friends, leaving the diner, and then checking his phone. This repeats throughout the video, but with a twist. Each time Gambino enters the diner, more and more of the patrons become clones of Gambino, and they become more aware of him. By the end of the video, every single person in the diner is a clone of Gambino, and they are all staring at him. These clones are other people that have been infected by Gambino, and are now quasi-aliens themselves.

The most recent video has the most proof for the theory, and was the reason for the theory. "Telegraph Ave" opens up with Gambino hanging out with his muse Jhene Aiko. The video takes place in Kauai, and Gambino seems to be very happy with Aiko, a detail missing in most of the other videos. But in the last scene of the video, Gambino is hit by a car. Two armed men come out of the car, and pull Aiko away, telling her to leave and that she is in danger. Gambino was hurt by the car, and most of the left side of his body was bloody and cut open. Spilling out of his wound was a moving red and purple growth with large tentacles. The tentacles quickly grabbed and killed the armed men, and the video ends with the Gambino/alien staring at Aiko.

The order of the videos doesn't make a ton of sense in the order they were released, but make more sense when placed in order of how they appear on the album. "The Worst Guys" is the fifth track, and this is where the alien attaches to Gambino. The seventh track is "Telegraph Ave", and this is where Gambino is revealed to be an alien. "Sweatpants" is the next track, and it shows Gambino spreading the alien to the general populace. And the final track, "3005", shows Gambino as the alien, living for many years unchanged as everyone else ages

There are various other works that fit into this theory. Most of the songs past "3005" on Because the Internet seem to strengthen the idea. The song "no exit" feature the lyrics "please don't run away, I'm a murderer, what can I say?". These lines seem to be directed at Aiko, asking her to not leave him although he's a murdering alien. In the next song, "Death By  Numbers", Gambino says "No one has to know, so let it slide baby", which again seems to be directed at Aiko, asking her not to tell people that he's an alien. The song "Flight of the Navigators" features lyrics about flying overhead, like a spaceship would, and contains the lyric "We became the same", possibly referring to the "Sweatpants" video. And in the song "Urn", Gambino croons "I watched them all pass by the moon and stars". This song is at the end of the "Sweatpants" video, and the scene shows Gambino standing in a field with a large green light overhead, another huge clue that Gambino is an alien.

There are various other pieces of evidence woven in Gambino's other works, such as in the screenplay, "Clapping for the Wrong Reasons" short film, and the STN MTN/Kauai mixtape/EP. The latter features a hidden track, which is a remixed version of "3005", where Gambino laments about how in the year 3005, everything that he once loved is gone. These works are extensive, and I haven't had the time honestly to figure out how they all fit in. This entire theory could be wrong, or mislead, or missing facts, and it probably is. If you have any opinions or add-ins, let me know.

UPDATE:

Gambino has posted a new video, for the song "Sober". I believe it fits in the storyline, and I've written an article explaining the connections here.

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What Ever Happened to Rapper Beef?

Feuds are a staple of rap. Violence, boasts, and narcissism has historically lead to rappers beefing with other rappers. Beef came from competition, threats, and broken promises/misunderstandings. While it may seem like a hindrance, beef has historically produced gold. Nas and Jay-Z's beef gave birth to the best diss track ever, "Ether", followed by "The Bitch in Yoo", Common's diss to Ice Cube. Kanye West's feud with 50 Cent led to largely publicized album releases, which boosted both of their sales. And the beef between the Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac epitomizes the East Coast vs. West Coast rivalry of the 90's.

But where is beef now? Since Jay-Z and Nas squashed their beef in 2005, there seems to be little feuds of any importance. Of course, there are still vendettas between rappers, but this is often between less successful rappers vying for attention, or related to rival gang allegiances. Rappers today seem to be more eager to squash even rumored beefs, than to carry them on. There are few publicized feuds I can think of this year. Jay-Z (again) traded small-time shots at Drake for the past year, but it hasn't amounted to anything yet. Freddie Gibbs dropped "Real", which attacked his ex-labelmate Jeezy, but Jeezy downplayed and quite frankly squashed the beef with "Holy Ghost". The quasi-beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake (again) seemed to have the most potential, but it never really had much of a basis, and was mostly kept alive by the media. "Control" seemed like it could reignite feud-culture, but in my opinion didn't really create much change. The only people who responded were usually unknown rappers, and after about a month no one cared much about the verse. Also, Lamar wasn't really calling anyone out, since every single rapper he named he had previously worked with, and virtually all of them took no offense to the verse.

Many people cite the 1990's as the "golden age" of hip hop, partly due to the competitive nature of prevalent feuds. But the age of feuds seems to have ended, but I think a new era is upon us. Lately, the number of collaborative tracks, mixtapes, and albums has increased significantly. While feuds create rivalry that promotes more quality music, the absence of feuds allow for rappers to work together like never before. There seems to be very little regional conflict anymore, so you see rappers from the East Coast, West Coast, Midwest, and the South all working together, which hasn't happened on a large scale for years. And the sheer number of new rappers on their come up leads to increased competition. The rise of collaboration may lead to a whole new golden age of hip-hop.  

Who is BJ The Chicago Kid?

The Chicago music scene has been buzzing lately. While Los Angeles, New York, and more recently Atlanta have all been giant rap hubs, Chicago has been on the come up recently. After spawning legends like Kanye West, Common, and Twista, a multitude of new rappers have been getting the spotlight in the last few years. Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, Rockie Fresh, are all talented spitters from Chitown, all without even an album out yet but major national attention. Additionally, a new genre of street rap has been born in "Chiraq": drill music, which is headlined by artists such as Chief Keef, Lil Durk, Fredo Santana, and Young Chop. But very little attention is on the singers of Chicago, and one of the newest and best out of the city is BJ the Chicago Kid. There is a very good chance you have heard him at some point. He's been featured on tracks with Kendrick Lamar, Big K.R.I.T., Ab-Soul, Ty Dolla $ign, Jay Rock, Vic Mensa, Freddie Gibbs, Chance the Rapper, and most recently, ScHoolboy Q's overly blatant sexual single. But who is this guy? In short, what Joey Bada$$ has been doing for classic East Coast rap, BJ is doing for old school Motown music. He blends hip hop elements with beautiful harmonies and slow, instrument-driven production.

But BJ The Chicago Kid is more than just a feature artist. His online-only album, Pineapple Now-Laters was one of the best albums of 2012, and included a moving story on "His Pain II" with Kendrick Lamar. One way that BJ separates himself from other R&B artists is his perspective on women. He doesn't call them "bitches", but instead croons about their love, beauty, and perfection. BJ falls closer on the spectrum to John Legend than the Weeknd or Ty Dolla $ign. BJ the Chicago said last year that he was gearing up to release a proper debut album, through Motown Records, actually. And in the last month, he has unexpectedly dropped six individual songs. Most sound like the gorgeously crafted tracks BJ crafted on Pineapple Now-Laters, but a few, such as "Go Girl" seem a bit too poppy, and sound somewhat tacky and cliche. All the songs are free, and can be found on www.bjtck.com. Keep a look out for BJ The Chicago Kid's debut, and definitely don't sleep on the Chicago crooner.

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Sorry Everybody, Tupac is Probably Dead

On September 7th, 1996, Tupac Shakur was shot multiple times on a Las Vegas road, and died a few days later. For most of his fans, that was the end of the road. The king of West Coast rap was dead, and few people would ever be able to match his prowess. But, some people believed, and still do believe that Tupac is alive. No one was caught for the murder, and Tupac's remains were cremated, which led many to believe that he wasn't dead at all. There have been reported sightings of Tupac in South Africa, and even in other rappers' music videos. Even Suge Knight, who was in the car with Tupac when it was shot up, claims that he's still alive. But one of the most interesting theories is the Makaveli Theory. Tupac changed his rap name to "Makaveli" for his last album, and many believe that this is a sign that he's still alive. The real Makaveli, author of The Prince, suggested that faking one's death is good move to gain power, and Makaveli did this, and then revealed himself eighteen years later. Many theorists believe that Tupac would do the same, and reveal that he has been alive for the last eighteen years. This September marked eighteen years since Tupac's death, but as far as I'm aware of, Tupac didn't return. This seems like the final nail in the Tupac conspiracy's coffin. Sorry everyone, but it's October 1st, and Tupac hasn't returned.

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.