Another new year, another bounty of blockbuster albums and buzz new artists… So what can fans of R&B and hip hop legit look forward to in 2018? And who are the artists to scope? OG Flavas has it covered.
THE BLOCKBUSTERS
Some of urban music's biggest names are expected to drop albums in 2018. The first will be… Justin Timberlake, with his peculiar Man Of The Woods out early next month. According to the (meme-rable) trailer, it will have a 'rustic' Americana feel – the Southern white boy stopping short of doing a Miley Cyrus and abandoning R&B for country by recruiting old allies Timbaland and The Neptunes. Confusingly, the lead single, Filthy, is electro-boogie that might slip between Bruno Mars and Daft Punk. But will Timberlake ever match 2006's FutureSex/LoveSounds?
In April, Beyonce will headline Coachella after postponing 2017's fest appearance due to her pregnancy. Speculation is that Ed Sheeran's Perfect Duet partner will stealth-release an album prior. Could it be that long-fielded collab project with hubby JAY-Z? Also reported to have an album in 2018 is Rihanna – the Bajan's last outing, ANTI, her boldest artistic statement. She recently graced N*E*R*D's Lemon.
Inherently reclusive, Frank Ocean was surprisingly prolific in 2017. He savoured a mega-hit, Slide,with electro-house DJ Calvin Harris (and Migos) – and aired solo jams such as Chanel. The illwave auteur has teased an album by way of oblique Tumblr posts. But, then again, he's known to keep devotees on hold.
Former One Directioner ZAYN Malik recorded sublime alt-R&B for 2016's Mind Of Mine, teaming with Ocean's producer Malay. His sophomore will contain more sanguine radio songs – like the Sia-blessed hit Dusk Till Dawn. Malik has also worked with Timbaland.
The music world is eagerly awaiting another gamechanging album from Kanye West (the mythic Turbo Grafx 16?). Yeezy took it easier in 2017, focussing on his mental health and family. But will he respond to Taylor Swift's diss Look What You Made Me Do? Meanwhile, that omnipresent Canadian Drake should release the official follow-up to VIEWS.
A$AP Rocky hasn't yet succeeded 2015's At. Long. Last. A$AP. However, in 2017, he made countless cameos – even showing up on Lana Del Rey's Lust For Love twice. Happily, the Harlemite has initiated a viral campaign for album three on his Insty. The Texan post-rapper Travis Scott and Migos' Quavo stealthed a collab album, Huncho Jack, Jack Huncho, at Christmas. This year Scott will drop AstroWorld – if he's not in the maternity award with rumoured baby mama-to-be Kylie Jenner. Today Post Malone is hip hop's most polarising act. Nonetheless, the rockstar rapper/singer – who just headed FOMO – has delayed a soph, Beerbongs & Bentleys, because his Stoney-era material is still charting. Chicago's cred Chance The Rapper has built a career with free mixtapes like the Grammy-winning Coloring Book. But he's indicated that 2018 may reveal an official retail album.
The year's #1 debut will surely be that of Cardi B – who ruled 2017 with Bodak Yellow. The charismatic Bronx MC continues to bring bangers like Bartier Cardi, featuring 21 Savage (and she shines on a remix of Bruno Mars' Finesse). Can she carry an album, though? Lastly, we can count the days to the blockbuster soundtrack accompanying February's Marvel movie Black Panther – it's being curated by Kendrick Lamar and Top Dawg mogul Anthony Tiffith.
COMEBACKS
Hip hop has a high-turnover. Yet rappers, like singers, are beginning to enjoy sustained careers. And everyone loves a reinvention – or comeback. This is what the hip hop scene is hoping will be the case for Nas. The GOAT hasn't had an album since 2012's Life Is Good – trolling us with 2016's DJ Khaled-helmed cut Nas Album Done. Conceivably Nas' UK counterpart, Plan B has actually confirmed an album. The East London MC/singer/poet has long oscillated between social rap and vintage soul. Scheduled for April, Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose will be R&B – cue the single In The Name Of Man.
Will 2018 be the year hip hop's female MCs run the game? Nicki Minaj has been hyping up her first album in four years. Possibly she will re-embrace her zanier side. Minaj's seasoned nemesis Remy Ma, signed to Columbia, is releasing 7 Winters & 6 Summers – her first solo LP since 2006 (!) and an extended jail bid. The Terror Squad member is joined by Lil' Kim on Wake Me Up – a streetwise '90s throwback.
The UK's Rita Ora is routinely mocked Stateside for being more of a celebrity, or brand, than an artiste – despite Prince's support of her. (Gauging by online comments, Ora's Kosovar-Albanian ethnicity baffles Americans.) In the years after 2012's debut, Ora, the star battled her label, JAY-Z's Roc Nation. But she's maintained her profile as a TV personality and actor (playing Mia Grey in the Fifty Shades Of Grey franchise). Now on Atlantic, Ora returned triumphantly in 2017 with the Ed Sheeran-penned Your Song – a hit here. And, for Ora, 2018 looks auspicious – the divette duetting with Liam Payne on For You from the Fifty Shades Freed OST.
THE NEWCOMERS
Who are gonna be the year's break-out stars? Check English soulstress Jorja Smith – recipient of the 2018 BRITs Critics' Choice Award (Rag'n'Bone Man won the year before). Still unsigned, she has disseminated an EP and several singles – like the cult garage On My Mind with Preditah. Smith was a prominent guest on Drake's 'playlist', More Life.
Fuelling the media's new artist mania every January is the BBC Music Sound Of… poll. The 2018 fave? Billie Eilish – a Californian teen singer/songwriter signed to Interscope. Eilish cuts electro-pop with an urban sensibility. She latterly unveiled &burn with Vince Staples. Catch her at Laneway. Mabel, the daughter of Neneh Cherry and legendary producer Cameron McVey, has been generating momentum for three years. In 2017 she crossed over in the UK with the quiet storm groove Finders Keepers (featuring Kojo Funds) from her Bedroom EP. An album is in the pipeline. Eminem may rail against mumble rap – but it's not about to fade. If Lil Yachty peaked in 2017, then 2018 will be all about Lil Pump – the flamboyant cloud rap prodigy from Florida. In October he issued an eponymous mixtape via Warner, spawning a hit with Gucci Gang.
HOMEGROWN
In recent years the Australian urban scene has expanded, and diversified – with a fresh wave of individualistic talent. Listen for the industry rave Jesswar – a Fijian-Australian rapper based in Brissy. Signed to the Hilltop Hoods' Golden Era Records, she's unleashed the single Savage – with strident lyrics and a sleek video. She'll have an EP mix-year. Hailing from Darwin via Arnhem Land, Baker Boy (aka Danzal Baker) is Australia's hottest rising Indigenous superstar. Baker raps in his Yolngu Matha tongue in addition to English – and hybridises dub, electro, hip hop and traditional music. Late in 2017 he followed his break-out Cloud 9 with the festive Marryuna (featuring Yirrmal). Last year Sydney's avant 'n' B OKENYO – on the Elefant Traks roster – issued an empowering feminist hip hop anthem in Woman's World. Zindzi Okenyo is balancing a music career with acting roles (she's playing in Bell Shakespeare's Antony And Cleopatra). But she'll finally yield a debut EP in 2018.
