Getty Image/Merle Cooper
The arrival of spring doesn’t just mean the awakening of nature (and the loss of an hour of sleep), it also brings the recording industry back to life. While the early months of Q1 can generally be a little sleepy — with a few exceptions, of course — as the weather creeps back toward the warmth of the summer, we can expect more new releases from some of the biggest names in music.
These days, it can be a little tricky to anticipate which artists are aiming for a spring release, though. Album release cycles have gotten shorter and shorter, and in hip-hop especially, new projects can fall out of the sky with little to no warning. With that said, we’re going to do our best to run through the most anticipated hip-hop releases of the season, under the assumption that most if not all of the artists named here would like a dominant run thoughout the summer — or at least, some new material for the festivals. Let’s start with the ones we know:
March 2024 Hip-Hop Releases
March 14: Kenny Mason — 9
Atlanta rapper Kenny Mason is easily one of the hottest names simmering just under the radar thanks to his distinctive, grungy style and high-profile co-signs from the likes of Denzel Curry, Freddie Gibbs, and JID. 9 will be his second album after 2020’s Angelic Hoodrat. He just released a pair of singles that suggest his unique blend of shoegaze, grunge rock, and screamo-rap is primed for its next evolution.
March 15: Tierra Whack — World Wide Whack
Fans of the Philly battle rapper turned whimsical mad scientist have been waiting for a proper album for going on six years now. Her 2018 EP Whack World introduced listeners to a fantastical approach toward genre and subject matter that established Whack as one of the most intriguing names in hip-hop, and her debut album — which she announced this January — will give her the opportunity to expand on that foundation.
March 22: Future & Metro Boomin — We Don’t Trust You
It’s only been two months and some change and already a pattern is beginning to develop. If you’re going to release an album fans have been waiting for for years, it seems, you might as well turn it into multiple projects with release dates scattered across months. Kanye (sorta) did it, and now, Metro Boomin and Future are following in his footsteps, announcing that their heavily anticipated joint album will be released in two parts. The first arrives in March.
March 29: Rico Nasty & Boys Noize — HVRDC0RE DR3AMZ
On Leap Day, Rico Nasty announced that her ongoing chemistry with German DJ Boys Noize would bear another new fruit in the form of a joint EP. After teaming up on “Girl Crush” and “Money,” two of Rico’s more intriguing songs of the past few years, it’ll be fascinating to see her step more into her collaborator’s world on the EP, following a number of peers in blending hip-hop with various styles of EDM.
April 2024 Hip-Hop Releases
April 12: Future & Metro Broomin — We Still Don’t Trust You
The second of Future and Metro’s collaborations will arrive just two weeks after the first, an impressive turnaround time that has paid dividends for the Atlanta rapper in the past. Future’s 2017 albums Future and Hndrxx were released just a week apart and both halves of the pair went No. 1, while the first spawned the massive hit “Mask Off” — which was, of course, produced by Metro Boomin. Their creative chemistry is certainly something to look forward to.
April 26: AG Club – BRODIE WORLD
The Northern California rap clique shook up the world in 2020 with the release of their breakout hit “Memphis,” and has kept up a steady stream of releases ever since. With each, they grow a little more polished and a little more experimental, growing into their group name (Avant Garde Club) a little more. BRODIE WORLD will be their first proper release since 2022’s Imposter Syndrome, which is exciting because there’s a lot of growth that can happen in two years.
2024 Hip-Hop Albums Release TBA
Here’s where we start speculating. A large number of rap’s biggest names are set to release albums this year, many of whom will be returning from multi-year hiatuses, making the products of their time away all the more tantalizing. Below are just a few.
ASAP Rocky — Don’t Be Dumb
Rocky’s last album was 2018’s Testing. That’s a long time to go without hearing a new full collection of music from the haute couture Harlemite, who’s been busy with fatherhood (and some ill-timed legal trouble). His album has supposedly been done since 2022, so it’s only a matter of time until he gives listeners a release date; here’s hoping it’s sooner rather than later.
Baby Keem — Child With Wolves
Baby Keem made a huge splash in 2021 with his electrifying debut The Melodic Blue, and recently began teasing a new era after releasing the album’s companion film late last year.
Cardi B — TBA
Let’s say Cardi finally kicks her rollout into high gear after releasing two singles in six months, “Bongos” and “Like What,” and teasing another. It seems she keeps dipping her toe back into an album cycle, but a mean case of imposter syndrome combined with impossibly high standards has made determining if she’s really shooting her shot or just pump-faking again almost impossible to determine. She’s fortunate to be one of the few artists who can keep getting away with this pretty much indefinitely, but I’d like to hope she’s accepted the fear of potential failure and just goes for it. (Or pulls a Kendrick Lamar in 2014 and goes full avant-garde with it, scaring the hoes and making herself pretty much untouchable for the foreseeable future.)
Flo Milli — Fine Ho, Stay
Announced in October 2023, Flo Milli’s second album has the potential to turn her into a household name — especially with the ongoing and growing success of its single “Never Lose Me.” If she wants to strike while the iron is hot, a spring release might be her best bet to maintain momentum.
GloRilla — TBA
Big Glo has a lot of buzz around her name right now, both for her hard-hitting new single “Yeah Glo!” and an oopsie moment on Instagram thanks to her unfamiliarity with her new endowments. Might as well capitalize ahead of the summer, right?
Ice Spice — Y2K
TikTok star and current rap it-girl Ice Spice has been sneakily rolling out her debut album over the past few months, beginning with flying a flag at her label headquarters, dropping another catchy single, and announcing that her album is finished recording. There’s no time like the present, and with her penchant for dropping summertime-dominating tracks, an April or May release would give her plenty of lead time to once again take over the hottest months.
J. Cole — The Fall Off
The only other rapper whose album has been consistently sought after since 2018 (mostly by his own design), J. Cole could overtake friendly rivals Drake and Kendrick Lamar in the conversation if he manages to beat them both to market this year.
Rapsody — TBA
Poor Rapsody. If you happen to follow the North Carolina rapper on social media, you’ve probably seen her repost the near-constant stream of pleas from fans for a follow-up to 2019’s Eve. She’s been promising an announcement is coming imminently, and considering the curtailed album cycles of the current climate, if she does make that announcement in the next few weeks or months, that would almost certainly mean an album is following relatively quickly after.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
