9 Rappers Slated for a Summer 2020 Takeover

With the COVID-19 Pandemic affecting the world in a multitude of ways, musicians and recording artists are advised to postpone, delay, and even cancel concerts, tours, and music festival dates for the foreseeable future. Just like every other civilian around the world, artists are highly recommended to stay at home and practice social distancing until herd immunity or a vaccine is achieved and distributed to a majority of the world population. Although artists are inhibited to express their musical talents in front of a sea of fans via public and large gathers, vocalists are finding innovative ways to stay creative and expand their discography as 2020 continues despite a universal, albeit, informal quarantine. Artists like Drake, The Weeknd, Gunna, NAV, and Dababy have released full-length commercial projects amidst the North American Stay-at-Home order which commenced in mid-March.

Summer is seen as the primetime season for rappers and vocalists within hip-hop to dominate and breakout in the music scene as the temperature rises and the youth escape from academic obligations. Despite the absence of hallmark tours, backyard pool cookouts, and intoxicated nightclub outings, summer is still the time to shine for hip-hop artists this year. Here are 9 rappers looking to capitalize and establish their presence among hip-hop royalty during the first summer of the new decade

Vince Staples

Last Solo Project: FM! (November 2018)

Vince Staples started his career with a strong following from his affiliation with fellow Los Angeles based rapper, Earl Sweatshirt. His strong ties to the now disbanded hip-hop collective, OFWKTA, gave Staples a platform to express his Long Beach based lyricism, crip-blue wordplay, and bass-heavy style production within the hip-hop landscape. 

Mr. Ramona Park broke out with the release of his first EP, Hell Can Wait (2014), in addition to the release of his first studio album, Summertime ’06 (2015). Both projects featuring an innovative fusion of West Coast Gangster rap percussion and Rock-n-Roll tempo. Staples established himself as being one of hip-hop’s powerhouse rappers in the next generation of talent. 

Fast forward to his latest project, Staples collaborated with hot and trending producer, Kenny Beats, for his third studio album, FM! (2018). The project schemes around local Los Angles radio show, Big Boy’s Neighborhood, which was the former morning programing for radio station, Power 106, and currently the mid-day broadcasting for Real 92.3. The album features vocals from a number of west coast based artist including Kamaiyah, Tyga, Earl Sweatshirt, Jay Rock, and Kehlani. The album comes following the death of his close friend and fellow rap contemporary, Mac Miller. Although FM! does not directly address his relationship with Miller through its lyrics or melodic construction, Staples with adamant in addressing his gratitude and admiration for Miller as he performed with a number of artists at the tribute concert, Mac Miller: A Celebration of Life. 

FM!, although his third studio album, has quite a short runtime, clocking in at under 23 minutes. As a matter of fact, despite the album having eleven tracks, FM! is comparable to his previous EPs in length. A strategic move by Staples in order to keep his listeners hungry and anxious to see what he will contribute to his promising career. With the length of his last album, in combination with the near two year gap of no solo project release, a lot of anticipation has been brew for the Long Beach artist to deliver in his next full-length calculate.

A$AP Rocky

Last Solo Project: Testing (May 2018)

In recent news, A$AP Rocky has been flying low in the hip-hop public following his injustice he faced in Stockholm Sweden in June of 2019. Rocky was convicted of assault in an altercation with a civilian unreasonably stalking and harassing the Harlem based rapper. Although found guilty by the Swedish Justice System, Rocky was fortunate enough to not pay any time in prison due to his impact to the music world and the aid from the United States president. 

His presence in the booth can be equated to his time in the general public as Rocky has been radio silent in promoting a new project. Just days following his international case, Pretty Flacko released “Babushka Boi”. 

The A$AP Mob leader’s latest project came in the form of an album, Testing (2018). The album garnered mixed reviews from loyal A$AP followers as the project featured experimental sounds that seemed inconsistent to place in a cohesive project. Nonetheless, Rocky’s album performed fairly successful as it featured British collaborators such as Skepta, FKA Twigs, and Blood Orange, as well as fellow American artists such as Frank Ocean, French Montana, Juicy J, and Kodak Black.

Rocky hasn’t completely disappeared from the music scene as he has recently featured in Lil Yachty’s latest album, Lil Boat 3 (2020).

The A$AP Mob have recently been riding the energy from the album release of A$AP Ferg’s Floor Seats (2019), a nine track album that also features Pretty Flacko on the song, “Pups”. Floor Seats stays true to the East Coast, New York sound which propelled the A$AP Mob into hip-hop royalty.

A$AP Rocky has stockpiled a lot of attention in the hip-hip community wondering when his next project will release. It will be interesting to see when Rocky will give us new content, and how he will address certain questions fans have about his legal life, as well as his relationships with artists from his A$AP collective, Tyler, The Creator, and other musicians. The world is exponentially more interesting, more polarizing, and more weird when the Pretty Motherfucker is relevant in hip-hop.

Joey Bada$$

Last Solo Project: All-Amerikkkan Bada$$$ (April 2017)

Joey Bada$$ has found himself in a good light recently. Earlier this year, Joey donated $25,000 to help provide food and shelter for homeless students in New York City during the COVID-19 pandemic. A quite philanthropic act of justice to relive the adversity of inner city demographics struggling to survive during a time of crisis. 

Joey is coming off a strong 2019 as a member of the Brooklyn supergroup hip-hop collective, Beast Coast. Beast Coast consists of three different rap collectives: Flatbush Zombies, The Underachievers, and Joey’s collective Pro Era. Beast Coast released their first, and possibly only studio album Escape from New York (2019), a thirteen track project that showcases the varying styles, deliveries, and flows of Brooklyn hip-hop. The diverse and versatile cadences from all three collectives make from an amalgamation that perfectly compliments every artists style and personality.

Rewind almost two years prior, Bada$$ released his second studio album titled, All-Amerikkkan Bada$$ (2017). The LP’s was a major success as it addresses the injustices of police brutality and racial discrimination against African-Americans in urban settings. The album lived up to its labeled genre, conscious hip-hop, with powerful features from ScHoolboy Q, J Cole, Kirk Knight, and Meechy Darko, as well as islander influences from Chronixx throughout the project.

Joey Bada$$ has attracted a lot of anticipation and excitement from the hip-hop community in hopes that he will release a solo project after three years of his last. Joey has made a number of radio show appearances expressing his political and societal opinions through is stellar freestyling ability on the mic. All eyes are on the leader of Pro Era.

Kendrick Lamar

Last Solo Project: DAMN. (April 2017)

The great Kung Fu Kenny, like most of the lyricists on this list, has kept a relatively low profile following the release of his Pulitzer Prize winning album, DAMN. (2017). The masterful project racked up a number of accolades included a Grammy for Best Rap Album, and a Grammy nomination for Album of the Year. 

DAMN. creatively challenges the varying principles that persist in everyday life. Kendrick’s portrayal of a number of characters enhances the storytelling aspect of his tracks as he maneuvers through the values of life through the lens of the hip-hop centric Black American. A revolutionary body of work that rivals all other hip-hop albums proceeding it, as well as possibly being Lamar’s greatest album to date.

Following the release of DAMN. K.Dot was chosen to construct an original soundtrack album for the superhero film, Black Panther (2018). Kendrick played the role of executive producer as well as the lead vocalist for the album which included a star-studded catalog of artists, producers, and musicians. The fourteen track album features vocals from TDE signees Jay Rock, Ab-Soul, ScHoolboy Q, SZA, Reason, and Zacari as well as hip-hop veterans like 2 Chainz, Vince Staples, Anderson Paak, Swae Lee, Khalid, Travis Scott, and The Weeknd. It would be a travesty to not mention breakout performances from singer Jorja Smith and rap group SOB x RBE as both showcased their vocal and lyrical talents in the culture breaking film’s soundtrack.  

Kendrick’s selflessness and desire to share his limelight with other artists is one of the many reasons why many listeners are anxious to see what K.Dot can bring to the forefront. In 2019, Kendrick featured in TDE labelmate, SiR’s lead single, “Hair Down”, promoting his soulful and heartwarming album, Chasing Summer (2019). 

Ever since the one verse appearance on SiR’s project, Lamar has gone quiet. However, tweets have surfaced from the TDE camp that Kendrick will return in the near future with a new project that will yet again shift the culture. Let’s hope it comes sooner rather than later.

Big Sean

Last Solo Project: I Decided (February 2017)

Another rapper who has had a quiet 2020. Sean Don has yet to release any new content other than feature verses for other artists. One feature that is most notable is his verse to close out the track, "None of Your Concern”, off of Jhene Aiko’s project, Chilombo (2020). 

Other than that sole feature, Sean has been leaving his fans in the dark after a trio of singles in 2019, “Overtime”, “Single Again”, and “Bezerk” featuring A$AP Ferg. 

The D-Town based rapper has always delivered with his cheeky wordplay, catchy one-liners, and memorable hooks matched with his sticky production to create hit after hit. His latest solo project, I Decided (2017), was a coming-of-age album that address Sean’s challenge in balancing his career and his personal life with family, accomplices, and adversaries. The album showcased an experimental side of Sean that was never seen to that extent. Although not as strong of a performance as his past projects, Sean did have some high moments with singles like “Bounce Back” and “Moves” as his lead singles of the album. 

Just months after the release of I Decided, Big Sean teamed up with superstar producer Metro Boomin on a joint album titled, Double or Nothing (2017), another project to polish up on the illustrious career of the Atlanta based beatmaker. Sean’s versatile repertoire of smooth and aggressive deliveries, paired with the bass driven instrumentals of Metro ending up pairing well as Sean was able to successfully release two projects in the same year.  

Fast forward to 2020, and rumors have circulated that Sean has something special cooking up in the studio. The rumored project is a sequel project to one of his earlier projects, Detroit (2012). The mixtape followed his origins as a kid growing up in the crime ridden city and his admiration for influences such as Kanye West and Eminem. A career defining project amidst a golden year in the digital mixtape era, Big Sean’s Detroit 2 (2020/TBD) will most certainly emulate the feel and attitude of the original Detroit mixtape, and can very well make a lot of noise this upcoming summer.

Isaiah Rashad

Last Solo Project: The Sun’s Tirade (September 2016)

Probably the most muted out of every rapper on this list, Isaiah Rashad has had fans of TDE asking: “What has Zay been doing?” The pride of East Chattanooga has had a silent couple of years rounding out the second half of the decade as the rest of TDE has delivered in banging projects. 

Artists like SZA, Reason, and SiR have emerged as the label’s new blue chip talent, while powerhouses like SchoolBoy Q, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Kendrick Lamar have continued to further the brand’s legacy as the face of West Coast hip-hop. All having released projects in 2017 and later. 

The Sun’s Tirade (2016) was Rashad’s latest solo studio album in Isaiah’s short discography. The project highlighted the pitfalls and demons of adulthood as Isaiah addressed his handling of his own depression and mental anxieties. The Sun’s Tirade fuses the soothing melodies of jazz and funk with aggressive, eerie, and head-knocking bass. A classic combination for any TDE album, The Sun’s Tirade was successful and interesting take following Rashad’s groundbreaking studio debut, Cilvia Demo (2014).

A year following the release of The Sun’s Tirade, Zay had a memorable feature with fellow TDE sensation, SZA, off her studio album, CTRL (2018). His contribution on “Pretty Little Birds” featured a distorted sonic presence that showcases how unique, how versatile, and how much potential Rashad has to become a high execution, supremely versatile artist. 

Nearly 3 years following his appearance on CTRL, Rashad released a single titled “Why Worry”. A soulful sample paired with a rambunctious and chaotic flow, Zay really has people anticipating something astronomical to come from in the form of a solo project, or a group TDE album. 

It was already been rumored by TDE camp that Zay’s newest solo release will be titled The House is Burning (2020/TBD), but a release date has yet to surface.  

J Cole

Last Solo Project: KOD (April 2018)

The leader of Dreamville is back, but not in the form many would expect. Following the infamous killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in May of 2020, Cole and a number of NBA stars decided to march with fellow African-American protesters back in his hometown of Fayetteville, North Carolina. His genuine and authentic credibility as a man of the people was on full display as Cole shared personal and intimate conversations with protesters fighting for the nonexistence of minority oppression in the United States of America. Cole’s activist agenda may very well delay his release of his rumored solo project, The Fall Off (2020/TBD), which is slated to release sometime this year. 

Cole is coming off a strong two years. The release of his latest solo studio album, KOD (2018), was an introspective journey that emphasized on Cole’s past, present, and futures struggles and an adult while displaying his maturity as a man. The album addresses the topics of various addictions including money, drugs, sex, anger, and overcompensation, highlighting the pros, cons, and varies ways of handling these demons. An impactful set of messages behind the project, the album includes the track, “1985”, which sidebars a parenthetic message stating that this song is the intro to Cole’s next album release, The Fall Off. Upon the release of KOD, and the listening of “1985”, fans started to thirst for more J Cole content as “1985 “was considered the most aggressive track on the entire project, anticipating for more on his next solo recording.

The following year, Cole orchestrated the production and artist collaboration with the  the joint album, Revenge of the Dreamers III (2019), as a member of Dreamville. The album featured vocal performances and production credits to a plethora of rappers, singers, musicians, and producers from all over the hip-hop world to create this superteam of a project while provided a creative and exhilarating experience. Cole was responsible for putting his touch on eight tracks of the expansive project. The collaboration was a big success, and an ethereal experience to say the least. Seeing artists from different corners of hip-hop collaborate and experiment with varying sounds not only was refreshing for the culture, but was a new form of inspiration that is hard to replicate today.

The “Revenge Sessions” are still more important than many value. In a span of 10 days, over 343 artists were invited to contribute to the experience in Atlanta, Georgia which approximately over 142 songs recorded. We have to anticipate that some on those 142 tracks will be on The Fall Off. Or maybe not, given Cole’s repeated history of stick true to the “solo mentality” as he has yet to provide a feature from a guest artist in any of his last three solo studio albums. Nonetheless, Dreamville’s font will be all over the internet and social media once the prophet comes back in the headsets around the world.  

Reason

Last Solo Project: There You Have It (May 2017)

The freshest meat and newest of addition of TDE has the labeling feeling like the future of West Coast rap is in good hands. Reason has been subtly yet explosively been dabbling in the rap game with a plethora of bars over the past year. The Carson based rapper has released a trio of singles in this first half of the year alone following a number of appearances on the collaborative masterpiece Revenge of the Dreamers III (2019), led by Dreamville. 

Reason was the sole representative vocalist of TDE within the Dreamville tape. Although he only contributed to three out of the massive 30 track listing, Reason’s presence on “LamboTruck”, “Still Up”, and “Revenge” illuminated his promise and sheer untapped potential that TDE has in their arsenal of lyrical gunslingers. 

Reason’s last studio project was a project that helped plant his seeds into the rap game. There You Have It (2017) was initially released in May of 2017 before being released again in September 2018 following the release of the Black Panther Album (2018), and Reason’s signing to the TDE label. It was his verse on the Black Panther Album’s “Seasons” that opened the door for Reason to deliver on his first solo studio project.

There You Have It became a standout project in the fall of 2018. Following a summer filled with hyped bangers from artists like Drake, Travis Scott, and YG, fall become open season for artists in the rap game to make something refreshing. There You Have It is in a way, an extension of summer 2018 in the sense that the aggressive street persistence shines through despite the soulful, reminiscent, and conscious production. With no TDE features throughout There You Have It, Reason performed with a painful and hungry cadence that few share in today’s generation. 

With summer 2020 approaching quite quickly, al eyes are set on TDE and the talent surrounding the kingpin of the label, Kendrick Lamar. With that being said, Reason’s release of singles, “Might Not Make It” and “Pop Shit” have TDE stans wondering who they should be most excited for. The three horse race between Isaiah Rashad, Kendrick Lamar, and Reason has now been tighter than ever as Reason’s rumored project, New Beginnings (2020/TBD), can very well make this year TDE’s flagship year. Similar to their rivals from Dreamville.

Amine

Last Solo Project: OnePointFive (August 2018)

It has been nearing 2 years since the release of Amine’s playful yet serious mixtape, OnePointFive (2018). The albums features an array of intoxicating instrumentals with certain tracks showcasing Amine’s charismatic demeanor, and others displaying his fears, demons, and struggles with himself as an evolving figure. The mixtape is a spotlights Amine’s wide range of lyric skill and vocal experimentation throughout the thirteen track recording. 

Prior to the mixtape release in 2018, Amine released his first studio album titled, Good For You (2017). A far more humorous record compared to his later released mixtape, Good For You truly showcases Amine’s playful personality as he plays off influences from hip-hop, trap, r&b, and pop genres. He addresses his childhood being raised by a set of immigrant parents as well as the love he has for his hometown of Portland. It was here where we obtain the moniker, Banana Boy.  

Amine’s creativity and artistic mastery through his music has helped him gain features from hip-hop’s old generation such as Nelly and Charlie Wilson, as well as hip-hop’s new generation including Kehlani, Gunna, G Herbo, and Rico Nasty. His “off the wall” approach to hip-hop has made him a clear cut fan favorite as the weirdo of rap without being too foreign and indigestible by hip-hop purists. His ability to be familiar yet creative also explains his ability to work with hip-hop hook masters like Ty Dolla $ign while still being rebellious enough to work with indie hip-hop groups like Injury Reserve. 

Amine’s 2019 was however a quiet one to say the least. With no real controversy mentioned in the public news stream, Amine was out touring and sporting his OnePointFive mixtape across the United States and Canada. The Banana Boy did release a heartfelt single titled “Places + Faces”. 

Earlier this year, Amine released a potential lead single, “Shimmy”, to a possible project that can slated to release later this year. The single pays homage to the late-great Wu-Tang cornerstone Ol’ Dirty Bastard, and his solo career-defining record, “ShimmyShimmy Ya”. Taking a more serious approach to the sample, Amine has made it clear that something big is being constructed in his workshop with the standout lyric of the single: “Lets not front, this my year my N*****”. Fans can only wait and see what Amine has in store for 2020.