Artist We Need To Hear From In 2021

It is common for artists to wait about 1 to 2 years before releasing new projects. I'm sure we can agree that some artists are a bit more highly-anticipated than others. After some intense consideration, here are a few artists that I would be beyond excited to hear from in 2021.

Isaiah Rashad (TDE)

To be honest, Isaiah Rashad has been very disrespectful with the amount of time it's taken for him to get a new album out, and he knows this! Rashad released his last album The Sun's Tirade in 2016. I was still in high school, and now I'm preparing to graduate from college. Disrespectful! The TDE artist has been very open with fans about the progress of his upcoming album The House Is Burning, tweeting when he receives guest verses at the last minute, recording while sober, sharing music on IG live, and more. Hopefully, we hear from him soon.

SZA (TDE)

CTRL is still on repeat 4 years later. SZA's album took over in 2017 and continues to hold a place in many people's top albums. However, we have no idea when we will get another album from the TDE first lady. In September 2020, SZA released "Hit Different" with Ty Dolla $ign and production by the Neptunes. It was the first sign of musical life that we've heard from her in quite some time. The singer released "Good Days" in January 2021 and the song has taken the world by storm, staying in the Billboard 100 and recently going platinum! Tik Tok has also taken a snippet of a song called "T-Shirt" and turned it into the smoothest Tik Tok dance. She knows we're waiting for more, so hopefully, this is the year.

ScHoolboy Q (TDE)

I am a huge Schoolboy Q fan, so this may be a random choice to some. ScHoolboy Q released CrasH Talk in 2019 and has been pretty silent ever since. The TDE rapper featured on labelmates Reason's single "Pop Sh*t" in May 2020 with the gritty sound and in-your-face lyrics that we love. ScHoolboy Q was hit hard by the death of rapper and friend Mac Miller in 2018. Could that be a reason for his hiatus? I wouldn't be surprised. As the rapper mourns the death of his friend and spends time with his daughter I hope he has found inspiration and uses music as his outlet. Whether we hear from him in 2021 or years after, I have full confidence that whatever he puts out will be fantastic.

Ari Lennox (Dreamville)

The queen of Dreamville almost quit on us in late 2020! Lennox is still riding the wave of success from Shea Butter Baby. She has released a few singles here and there like "Chocolate Pomegranate" and "If You Want Me To Stay" ft. Hamilton's Anthony Ramos. However, she was feeling uninspired and frankly, was tired of singing about men and failed relationships. Her latest collaboration with Jazmine Sullivan, "On It," has received praise from all corners of the Internet. Hopefully, their session together inspired Ari to get back in the studio with Ron (iykyk).

Cardi B (Atlantic)

Cardi B is back and better than ever! She released her debut album Invasion Of Privacy in 2018 with hits like "I Like It," "Bodak Yellow," and "Be Careful." Many fans, myself included, saw the album as a solid 10/10 with no throw-aways. It's hard to beat that especially when it's your first album, but she's managing to set the tone for whatever she has coming next. Cardi shocked the world with her single WAP featuring Megan Thee Stallion. The accompanying music video was the topic of conversation for several months and made its way to Tik Tok for a fiery dance craze. In February 2021, Cardi released her newest single "Up" and a video for the single. Once again, everyone is in love with the stunning visuals and catchy chorus of the track. Hopefully, these are signs of a new album from Cardi comparable to Invasion Of Privacy.

Brent Faiyaz (Lost Kids)

Oh, Brent Faiyaz. One of my favorite voices who manages to hurt my feelings every time I pay attention to his lyrics. His 2020 project F*ck The World was a hit with leading singles "Rehab" and "F*ck The World." It's only 2021, so it feels like this may be too quick of a turnaround for him to release another project just as good. True, but the singer is definitely in the studio. Since the album, he's released two official singles and three unofficial singles. His official tracks "Dead Man Walking" and "Gravity" featuring Tyler, the Creator it seems are on constant rotation, not only by myself but also by others. As for the unofficial singles, the singer released the three tracks via social media in a dropbox link. The next day, fans saw a video for one of the singles entitled "Circles." The hope is that the trail of new music doesn't stop and leads to an album at the end.

Brockhampton (RCA)

I think the Brockhampton boys are cooking something up. The collective released a series of obscure singles via YouTube over the summer and said nothing of it. However, I feel like that's in typical Brockhampton fashion. Brockhampton's last official project, Ginger (2020), portrayed a group of friends struggling through a very tough time together with the loss of former member Ameer Vann. After iridescence (2018) wasn't received too well, the boys got back in the studio to create something a bit more candid and stripped back. I think 2021 will be the year we hear from the group again and possibly in a vein closer to the Saturation trilogy (2017) that put them on the map.

The Obvious Choices

I feel like the following artists could all be clumped into the same category because the following artists are always at the top of anyone's "need to hear" list.

Beyonce is busy promoting her Ivy Park brand, so it is unlikely that we will hear from her. However, Queen B always manages to surprise us.

Rihanna knows what we want. However, with the success of Fenty Beauty and Savage X Fenty, the singer has her hands full. Hopefully, she's had time to work on R7, but if not, we'll keep waiting.

Kendrick Lamar has been pretty quiet since releasing DAMN. He curated the soundtrack for Black Panther, yes, but it's not the album we're looking for from him. Hopefully, he has something on the way.

Frank Ocean has been known to keep fans waiting for music (he made us wait 4 YEARS for an album!). For a second, I thought we may be hearing from him soon, but after hearing about the death of his younger brother, I think it'll be a minute before we hear from him again. I offer my continued condolences to the singer.

Comment your thoughts below! Who are you waiting to hear from in 2021?