Many other genres seemed to fall by the wayside as hip-hop artists filled the music scene with new releases and top hits last year. But now that 2016 has ended, it’s time to take a look at some of the albums that are set to be released in the upcoming year as well as some albums that are rumored to be in the works.
One of the most highly anticipated records that are rumored to come out this year is Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter Five. Although the record was originally set to be released in 2014, Wayne’s label Cash Money and co-founder Birdman has refused to do any such thing. As the two parties have been at a standstill since the record’s announcement, infamous entrepreneur Martin Shkreli has supposedly gotten his hands on Weezy’s long-awaited record. In a live video announcement on Periscope, Shkreli played a short clip of the record. Despite only being a 30-second preview, this is still a huge step in the record’s release battle. All of this suggests that 2017 might finally be the year fans get to hear Wayne’s long-awaited record. 
As artists like Major Lazer and the Arctic Monkeys stuck to traditional album promotion to disclose their 2017 releases, others took to social to announce their new records.
ScHoolboy Q, Lorde and the Gorillaz all used Instagram to inform fans of their 2017 musical releases. While Lorde and the Gorillaz have been awfully quiet since their last releases, ScHoolboy had an active year. Which is why he surprised fans when he revealed he was headed right to the studio after finishing Blank Face in December.
Following her hit debut album Pure Heroine, Lorde’s fans pestered her about new material enough that they actually solicited a response from the New Zealand superstar. Although the date of her record is still unknown, Lorde has confirmed that her sophomore record will be coming out this year.
The British virtual rock band the Gorillaz brought back one of its old fictional characters to help announce its 5th studio album. There was speculation that the new record would come out last year, but it was pushed back after an apparent hold up with the studio. Pending any further setbacks, the album should be out in early 2017. 
As many artists announced their solo records set to come out in the coming year, there’s also a slew of collaborative records that are rumored to be in the works. While there’s a lot of speculation surrounding upcoming releases from these artists, there is no concrete evidence that these records will come out in 2017.
At an OVO Festival concert in Toronto last summer, Kanye West joined Drake onstage, and West egged on the audience by asking “Are ya’ll ready for this album?” There has been hype for a collaborative album since the single “Forever” was released in 2008, but it is yet to be seen if 2017 will be the year that fans finally hear a full Kanye-Drake album.
Bigger acts aren’t the only artists dominating potential album headlines this year.
Travis Scott and close friend Quavo have reportedly hit the studio together. The two are known to have a good history working together after collaborating on the track “Oh My Dis Side” for Scott’s debut record. 
Other artists who have been spotted in the studio working on joint albums together include Anderson Paak. and producing legend Pharrell Williams as well as Chance The Rapper and Childish Gambino. Ever since appearing on his mixtape Acid Rap in 2013, fans having been dying for more music from Chance and Gambino. 

Gallery • 1 Photos

Album speculation for 2017: What’s known, what’s expected