2018 was a great year for music, so it will be hard to top. However, if it wants a chance to top last year, here are two things I would like to see in 2019, as well as three things I hope I don't see. I'll start with the three "don't"'s and end on a positive note.
DON'T want to see -- #1: A new Drake album This may seem weird, considering I'm a Drake fan. In fact, Drake is my favorite artist. However, Drake has come out with a lot of music recently. Many fans, myself included, believe his last great project was his 2015 surprise mixtape If You're Reading This It's Too Late. It was something we hadn't heard from Drake before; it was this brash, confident mix of in-your-face bangers over mostly trap beats, proving that those types of beats weren't just viable for use by Southern artists. He sounded motivated, which is simply something Drake has not sounded like since. What A Time To Be Alive was a collaboration mixtape with Future, and while it mostly sounded like some throwaway singles, it was made in six days and I'm sure they could do better if they actually took time. Views was very disappointing however, as the hype of IYRTITL and the win in the Meek Mill beef gave this album tremendous hype. While not a bad album, the project reeked of repetitive content and Drake refusing to evolve in his music. Instead of building on one of his three great albums (Take Care, Nothing Was The Same, or IYRTITL), it was mostly uninspired trap and bland dancehall. There were a few great songs, which was arguably more frustrating than anything, as it proved Drake can still make great music. His 2017 "playlist" More Life was slightly better, as even though it was too long at 22 tracks, calling it a "playlist" allowed Drake to give different artists the spotlight at times and try some different things with his music. In fact, I think "Do Not Disturb" is the best track Drake has dropped in the past five years. The project had 10-12 pretty good songs but the other half or so was mostly bland. Scorpion was another step up and Drake sounded pretty confident on the first twelve songs in an attempt to prove himself after the Kanye/Pusha feud. Again, the tracklist was a concern, as well as the songs not really having a common theme or anything tying them together. Even on these mediocre projects, Drake always manages to have several great songs that show everything he can do as an artist. We have enough Drake music to last us for a long time. I think Drake should take 2019 off, maybe drop a single or two, and make an album in 2020 that is condense (15 songs maximum) and maybe seems him go back to his old days where he was more vulnerable and emotional. One more great album would put Drake in the same conversation as Kendrick Lamar. DON'T want to see -- #2: A Mac Miller posthumous album I wish I could have appreciated Mac Miller's music more when he was alive. I was never an active hater of him by any means, but I never found anything special in his music. But in an age where seemingly every Caucasian rapper strives to be like Eminem, Mac Miller did his own thing, which I give him endless props for. He could make upbeat and positive music while also make music that took you into his messed-up world of depression and substance abuse. Swimming, his final album released during his lifetime, sent mixed emotions. While having a very serious and mellow overtone to it and being incredibly introspective, it also sounded a little bit optimistic and showed how he was healing and growing from previous experiences. Unfortunately, he overdosed on September 7th of last year and passed away. Many artists have died and had content of theirs released after death. In particular, XXXXTentacion's posthumous album from last year (SKINS) was unfinished, had no overlying theme or concept, and just sounded like a cheap cashgrab and a slap to the face of everybody close to him. I don't want Miller's reputation tarnished in any way with the release of additional music. He has enough music for his fans to remember (5 albums and 12 mixtapes) and the optimism of Swimming is a good way for his career to end and be remembered why. Sure, money is nice. But you can't buy respect. Labels, please keep your hands off of anything Mac Miller-related. DON'T want to see -- #3: A Kendrick Lamar album "Wait, Rogan doesn't want an album by either of the two best rappers alive?" Chill, let me explain. Again, Kendrick Lamar is an incredibly talented artist. Good Kid, M.a.a.D. City is almost like a movie with how all the skits and the themes of the songs are able to tie together into one mini-documentary into Kendrick's life as a teen in Compton. To Pimp A Butterfly touches on so many themes and experiments with many different genres, like jazz, soul, and funk. It's widely considered the best rap album of the decade, and I can easily see why. One of the reasons why both these projects are so good was because Kendrick dropped them three calendar years apart (GKMC was 2012, TPAB was 2015.) DAMN was only released two years after TPAB. I like the album for the most part, as Kendrick is able to show many different emotions he's felt in the rap game and also show his versatility by singing and rapping on trap beats: "I can be you, but you can't be me!" However, some of it felt overly pop and it sounded like Kendrick was trying to appeal to the radio. While we didn't get a true Kendrick album last year, he still gave us some new music by his contributions to the Black Panther soundtrack. Math almost never fails, and the math says when Kendrick takes three years, the results are quite fabulous. Not only would it be good for Kendrick's music if he delayed his project by a year, it would help the people on his label. Kendrick is a part of Top Dawg Entertainment, a label that has several quality artists asides from Kendrick who have simply been hiding in his gigantic shadow (not by choice). If Kendrick isn't taking up the spotlight, then it would open up an opportunity for one (or multiple) of his artists to potentially have a more successful roll-out. They would be their own artist, and not simply Kendrick's sidekick. Speaking of someone on Kendrick's label... DO want to see #1 -- an Isaiah Rashad album Isaiah Rashad is one of my favorite new school rappers. His music is very mellow and explores themes like depression and loneliness in a very concise manner. His previous two projects, Cilvia Demo and The Sun's Tirade, were both met with critical acclaim but didn't do great on the charts. It's now been over two years since Tirade came out in 2016. Every year sees a few artists break out from being known by mainly just hip-hop fans into the mainstream music world; in 2018, Travis Scott emerged into a superstar while Lil Baby also made himself known. Rashad is signed to Kendrick Lamar's Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) label, and his music sounds sonically similar to Lamar's. I am not saying Rashad is going to be the next Kendrick, as Kendrick has always been someone with better songwriting skills and easier for him to make a hit. But with proper advertising and a few guest features, that could generate enough buzz for Rashad to sell about 75,000-80,000 copies first week and put himself in the company of rappers that aren't superstars, but are well known enough. People like Tyler The Creator, Earl Sweatshirt, and Big KRIT, who have sold well but not at the level of people like Drake and Nicki Minaj, could be people Rashad could find himself in the company of. With many huge artists releasing music in 2018, there are less anticipated albums for 2019 and Rashad could capitalize on that and use the scarce releases to have a better chance of succeeding. His music is very open and biographical, and more people need to hear it. Rashad dropping an album this year would definitely help him become more mainstream. DO want to see #2 -- a Kid Cudi album Kid Cudi was someone very important for the late 2000s/early 2010s landscape of hip hop. His view of the world through a stoner's perspective and his ear for a catchy tune allowed him to blend rapping and singing and depict these internal struggles that he manages to face. Man on the Moon is one of my favorite albums ever, and its sequel is also pretty good. Unfortunately, after that was when Cudi started to not be quite as good. Indicud was a very drastic and disappointing turn from his older music, and Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven was his attempt at rock and it was flat out a miserable failure. But Cudi sounded his best in almost a decade on his collaboration project with Kanye West, titled Kids See Ghosts. He wasn't trying to experiment with all these different genres; he got back to the old version of himself that people grew to love. He had introspective rhymes about his demons and how he has overcome them, including depression and substance abuse. Also, he had better flows and some witty wordplay, showing he has improved as an MC. Hopefully Cudi can take the musical route he took on KSG and build on it with a solo album that comes out this year. He's had over two years off to try and pitch ideas together for one cohesive record; he is the opposite of worked out. We don't need him to try and be experimental or different, but just hearing 14 or so songs similar to his 2009 and 2010 music (a mix of alternative rap and pop) while continuing to use those spacey and hypnotic beats and show the growth regarding his skill as a rapper, it could be a pleasant ending to the comeback story that he's been working on the past couple years.
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