Complex - The Most Anticipated Albums of 2014

by **fifflaren** » Jan 6th, '14, 22:37

50. Iggy Azalea, The New Classic
49. Jay Rock, TBD
48. Raekwon, Fly International Luxurious Art
47. Azealia Banks, Broke with Expensive Taste
46. Kat Dahlia, My Garden
45. Common, TBD
44. Fabolous, Loso's Way 2: Rise to Power
43. Isaiah Rashad, Cilvia
42. Sampha, TBD
41. Wu-Tang Clan, A Better Tomorrow
40. Solange, TBD
39. Mobb Deep, The Infamous Mobb Deep
38. Ty Dolla $ign, Beach House EP
37. The Lox, We Are the Streets 2
36. Busta Rhymes, E.L.E.2 (Extinction Level Event 2)
35. Young Jeezy, The Statue of Limitations Is Over With
34. The Game, TBD
33. Lily Allen, TBD
32. Mike Will Made It, Est. in 1989 Pt. 3 (The Album
31. Ghostface Killah, Supreme Clientele Presents... Blue & Cream: The Wally Era
30. YG, My Krazy Life
29. Wiz Khalifa, Blacc Hollywood
28. Future, Honest
27. Big K.R.I.T., Cadillactica
26. Run The Jewels, Run The Jewels 2
25. T.I., Paperwork: The Motion Picture [not confimred, Complex lurkin KTT hard lmao]
24. Ab-Soul, TBD
23. Q-Tip, The Last Zulu
22. Joey Bada$$, B4.Da.$$
21. Lupe Fiasco, Tetsuo & Youth
20. Earl Sweatshirt, Gnossos
19. Grimes, TBD
18. Jhene Aiko, Souled Out
17. Jay Z & Kanye West, Watch The Throne 2
16. A$AP Mob, Lords
15. Meek Mill, TBD
14. Action Bronson, TBD
13. Rick Ross, Mastermind
12. Mac Miller x Pharrell, Pink Slime
11. Pharrell, TBD
10. Nicki Minaj, TBD
9. Nas, TBD
8. Pusha T, King Push
7. Lana Del Rey, Ultraviolence
6. ScHoolboy Q, Oxymoron

5. Rihanna, TBD

Label: Roc Nation/Def Jam

And in the eighth year, he gave Rihanna a break. But let's be real, she deserved it. Every year since 2005, the Bajan beauty has put out an album (it was a reissue in 2008, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded) lodging 13 No. 1 hit singles along the way. And she didn't just sell a ton of records, but she also toured constantly while everyone and all their mothers gossiped about her life decisions. Now that she's had a full year off, traveling the world—in a much more relaxed setting than the calamitous 777 Tour—it's time for her to get back in the studio and turn up again. —Claire Lobenfeld

5. Rihanna, TBD
Label: Roc Nation/Def Jam

And in the eighth year, he gave Rihanna a break. But let's be real, she deserved it. Every year since 2005, the Bajan beauty has put out an album (it was a reissue in 2008, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded) lodging 13 No. 1 hit singles along the way. And she didn't just sell a ton of records, but she also toured constantly while everyone and all their mothers gossiped about her life decisions. Now that she's had a full year off, traveling the world—in a much more relaxed setting than the calamitous 777 Tour—it's time for her to get back in the studio and turn up again. —Claire Lobenfeld

4. Chance The Rapper, TBD
Label: N/A

Chance The Rapper’s popularity skyrocketed this year after he dropped his Acid Rap in April. Since then, the Chicago native watched a bootleg version of his Internet mixtape hit the Billboard charts via iTunes and Amazon, appeared on our October/November cover, and won an invitation to tour with Eminem.

With this much momentum behind him, Chance is shaping up to have one of the biggest releases of 2014. He didn’t even consider Acid Rap an album, he said, because he knows he can do better than that. Well, after his recent collaborations with folks like Childish Gambino, James Blake and Justin Bieber, stakes is high. And so are our hopes.

3. Frank Ocean, TBD
Label: Def Jam

Nostalgia, Ultra was the scratchpad of intricate love songs that Frank Ocean wasn't legally allowed to share with us. But he shared it anyway, back in 2011, and it was a stunning success. He trumped that album, which would have been a career-defining work for many singers, with 2012's complex, layered, emotionally and sonically gorgeous Channel ORANGE. He's always advancing the narrative, so—as long as he gets over that scary vocal chord tear without complications—we expect the Odd Future crooner to deliver something even more elaborate in 2014.

2. Kanye West, TBD
Label: G.O.O.D. Music/Def Jam Music Group

Throughout his career Kanye has made a habit of making albums that leave fans picking their jaws up off the floor and wondering how on earth is he going to follow that?

After fusing the hot emotions of personal loss with the cold, spare, autotune synthsoul of 808s and Heartbreak he brought forth the grand-scale, baroque, rap-as-high-art masterpiece, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. After lavishing us in the luxury rhymes and plush production of Watch the Throne (a gazillion-dollar project that somehow, and effectively, came off as a small, self-contained, almost casual effort from the two biggest rap stars in the world) he challenged us to keep listening through the nasty, rage-filled blasphemy and cacophonous squawk of Yeezus—and made it very much worth the effort.

What will he do next? Who knows. But there is no more interesting question in music, or art, or popular culture in general this year

1. Kendrick Lamar, TBD
Label: Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope

Kendrick Lamar’s last album, good kid, m.A.A.d. city, is like a modern day Illmatic. It’s the last straight-up rap album to become a universally acclaimed classic. Funny thing is, although good kid came out in 2012, Kendrick didn’t really solidify his Best Rapper Alive status until last year. He spent 2013 coasting off the strength his major label debut, cruised past a million in sales, and spit a name-dropping, game-changing, earth-shaking verse on “Control.” This year, the ball is back in his court and the pressure is on.

Little is known about his next album, but the snippet we heard in his recent Beats By Dre ad sounded fucking nuts. So if good kid is Illmatic, will his follow-up be an inspired but ultimately disappointing effort like Nas' It Was Written? Or can Kendrick once again outperform expectations? Can King Kendrick Lamar, comfortable on the throne, add another gem to his crown?

http://www.complex.com/music/2014/01/mo ... 4/#gallery

by **King Lance** » Jan 6th, '14, 22:42

2014

Kendrick, Jay Rock, SchoolBoy Q, Ab-Soul

by **yoda you can call me** » Jan 6th, '14, 22:42

No AOTP and Czarface 2

by **Chazi** » Jan 6th, '14, 23:01

Damn many albums I'm looking forward to
Should be a good year.

by **Rafael** » Jan 6th, '14, 23:20

No Love Story..

Proverty list

by **PAINKILLƎR** » Jan 6th, '14, 23:35

N-R-G wrote:No Love Story..

Proverty list

by **Trimss** » Jan 6th, '14, 23:53

N-R-G wrote:No Love Story..

Proverty list

by **Raul** » Jan 7th, '14, 01:00

Top 2 is accurate.

by **fifflaren** » Jan 7th, '14, 02:42

raul-valente wrote:Top 2 is accurate.

by **Notalius** » Jan 7th, '14, 04:31

Aone10 wrote:I'm actually looking forward to A$ap Mob's album... Trillmatic was definitely a great way to spark my interest.

rocky's album was great too

by **The Asshole** » Jan 7th, '14, 04:44

Looking forward to all the TDE projects, Nas, KRIT and Kanye. As for one person in Complex's top 5, why is Chance this high. It might just be me but to me that acid rap mixtape and pretty much any other Chance is just pure recycle bin classics. Don't know if I'm missing something or not.

by **TranSlucEnt** » Jan 7th, '14, 05:57

surprised they didn't put Kanye at #1 :laughing:

by **TranSlucEnt** » Jan 7th, '14, 06:53

Aone10 wrote:
Notalius wrote:
Aone10 wrote:I'm actually looking forward to A$ap Mob's album... Trillmatic was definitely a great way to spark my interest.

rocky's album was great too

Trap Lord > Long Live A$ap doe

That Trillmatic joint was :confusion: