It’s nothing for a rapper to get shelved these days. As albums from top-notch talent continue to collect dust, these ten acts are just the latest in a long line of delays that managed to not drop in 2013.
Whether it’s the industry malaise or Industry Rule #4080, the major label artist still has trouble dictating when the public sees the efforts of their hard work.
Oftentimes, there isn’t a clearly defined hit in the mix, or the public just doesn’t see this act as viable. Other times, the artist just believes that there is some fine-tuning needed before letting it his the airwaves.
Either way, music fans end up on the short stick and miss out on hearing some new music because that project never was given the light of day. Although we were blessed with some incredible albums last year, we were really waiting on these.
So here, we highlight some of the most noteworthy records that were scheduled to drop in 2013, but didn’t. Enjoy!
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Photo: Complex
Photo: Epic
Future – Honest
We start off with a certain ATLien rapper with a penchant for hooks, but not for dropping albums in the present day. The Dungeon Family rapper was a mainstay on the airwaves throughout 2013, but his sophomore effort, Honest, was not on shelves last year. Originally titled, Future Hendrix, the oft-talked about rapper might’ve dodged a bullet by waiting for 2014 to drop his next offering.
Photo: Def Jam
Rick Ross – Mastermind
Say what you want about the guy, but William Roberts’ name was in the press all throughout 2013. No, this wasn’t in service of his Mastermind album. Instead, the Carol City rapper fed the streets and radio with “No Games” and “The Devil Is A Lie,” and hopes that we all forget about the “U.O.E.N.O.” controversy in 2014.
Photo: Def Jam
Jeezy – Untitled
The rapper formerly known as “Young” had retooled his CTE roster and prepared to unleash his fifth studio album. As we embark deeper into 2014, the Def Jam artist has done more threatening than releasing of songs. We hope that changes soon.
Photo: Soul Temple Records
Wu-Tang Clan – A Better Tomrrow
For hardcore Wu fans, the news isn’t shocking, but for others it might be. 2013 marked the 20th year of the Clan’s existence as an entity, but they mostly let the chance to celebrate go by and resorted to nitpicking instead. With a new year comes, pun intended, a better tomorrow, and our hope is that Shaolin’s finest can get it together to complete the album that should’ve dropped last year.
Photo: Top Dawg Entertainment
Schoolboy Q – Oxymoron
For all the hoopla that Top Dawg Entertainment deserves, it hasn’t resulted in more than one major market release. With the company’s CEO promising a batch of new material for 2014, the Groovy Gangster’s Oxymoron was an anticipated effort that got bit by the delay bug pretty hard.
Photo: Def Jam
Jadakiss – Top 5, Dead Or Alive
Mixtapes and features aside, Yonkers’ favorite raspy-voiced MC has been auspicious from the shelves and iTunes list. Sure, you can count The Lox‘s release last month as an album that did drop in 2013, but it wasn’t a ‘Kiss standalone effort. Without any new work to deliver the streets, plenty of attention has fallen upon the Def Jam leading man to finally let go Top 5, Dead or Alive this year.
Photo: Def Jam
Fabolous – Loso’s Way 2
The S.O.U.L. Tape 3 might be blaring out of your speakers right now, but really it’s Loso’s Way 2 you keep wondering about. At least we were, as the charismatic Brooklyn rapper had announced his sixth offering would drop in 2013. Guess he really is going to just drop it when he feels like it.
Photo: Def Jam
Iggy Azalea – The New Classic
Down Under’s Hip-Hop wonder has been touting her album, The New Classic, since aligning herself with T.I.‘s Grand Hustle Records. Slated for an October release, Iggy blamed her delay on the “Mrs. Carter Show” world tour as the reason why it didn’t meet deadline. With March 2014 perceived as the new date, we’re hoping that 86th Academy Awards is enough to put her career in fifth gear for good.
Photo: Instagram
Ab-Soul & JMSN – Unit 6
The Internets are still clamoring for this project in some corner of a chatroom somewhere. The two popular indie acts had proposed to combine their talents for Unit 6, but management for both couldn’t see eye to eye. With this in the vault somewhere, we hope that this is one of those six releases “Top Dawg” let’s go in the new year.
Photo: OkayPlayer
Jay Electronica – Act II: Patents Of Nobility (The Turn)
Rap fans remember the fanfare offered when Jay Elect signed on to the Roc. The Mountain Dew commercial pegged him as the next in line to offer vivid 16’s to the masses. And yet, here we are in 2014, still with no Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn) to speak of. Will the NOLA rapper emerge to explain what’s the hold up? We hope so.
What rapper do you think will sit on the shelves in 2014? Speak your piece below.
