There are numerous artists with some highly anticipated upcoming albums this year, and plenty of hype has been building around them. However, many of these artists have big and/or well-received past discographies, so let’s preview the new albums from some big artists, then highlight some of their old work . . .

Lana Del Rey

Upcoming Album: The Right Person Will Stay

Past Highlight: Honeymoon

Lana Del Rey is one of the biggest pop artists in the world, and her career dates back to 2012 (when considering albums on streaming). She’s got a pretty big discography, but the biggest highlight from it is her 2015 album Honeymoon. It’s a great listen from front to back with no real misses. It has some big hits like “Art Deco,” but also some great underrated songs like “24,” “God Knows I Tried,” and “Terrence Loves You.” It’s a really good album, and having listened to most of hers, it’s her best as well.

Her upcoming album is titled “The Right Person Will Stay,” and it’s currently without a definitive album cover yet. It’s slated for a May 21 release, so it just might get covered in the last new music article of the school year!

Black Country, New Road

Upcoming Album: Forever Howlong

Past Highlight: Ants From Up There

An unpopular opinion is that this album isn’t all that. Now, I can certainly appreciate what they’re trying to do and say with this album, but it’s just not my cup of tea. The only song that stands out significantly is “Chaos Space Marine,” and it isn’t anything insanely special. It is only their second album of two currently released, so maybe they’ll take their sound a different way on this upcoming record, but as I haven’t listened to the new single yet, I’m not sure.

I’m trying to avoid the single despite its good reviews because I’d like to listen to the new album in full, fresh. Despite not liking their hit album all that much, I’m still looking forward to their newest record April 4.

Playboi Carti

Upcoming Album: I AM MUSIC

Past Highlight: Whole Lotta Red

Honestly, I don’t see the hype around Playboi Carti at all. The autotune is bad, the vocals are worse, and he’s not really saying anything meaningful. Some of the beats and production have some addicting riffs and moments, but other than that, there’s not too much good to look for elsewhere. Its popularity is disappointing, but maybe I AM MUSIC will be an improvement.

Carti’s new album isn’t dropping anytime soon because he has said that he was going to drop it multiple times to no avail at this point. It’s called “I AM MUSIC,” but it’s probably going to be a while before anyone hears anything definitive about it.

A$AP Rocky

Upcoming Album: DON’T BE DUMB

Past Highlight: Testing

Honestly, “Testing” is impressive, and I really liked Rocky’s style on the record. There’s obviously the big hit, “Praise the Lord (Da Shine),” which is one of the better songs, but there’s some other great songs on the album. It’s a cool experimental album, and it’s unfortunate that he hasn’t released any full-length projects since. It also feels relatively modern and holds up well for being a 2018 release.

Rocky is just as bad with dropping his new music. His last album was about seven years ago, and there’s no release date for this one yet. It’s supposed to be releasing sometime this year, but aside from a few singles, which have been pretty good, Rocky’s been a bit silent on this one. This might have to do with his court case, though.

Freddie Gibbs

Upcoming Album: Montana

Past Highlight: Alfredo

Alfredo is a pretty solid album, but I don’t understand the very consistently high ratings as it’s not amazingly special. The Alchemist crafts some good beats, but they’re nothing above pretty good, and Freddie’s rapping is solid but a little repetitive in style. The features are pretty good, but again, simply solid and nothing more.

I’m pretty excited for “Montana”, mainly because Freddie’s collaborating with Madlib, a well-known and highly respected producer who has worked with many respected rappers and groups such as MF DOOM, MED, and Talib Kweli. He has also worked with Freddie twice in the past on albums “Bandana” and “Piñata,” which both did very well and are considered great projects. There’s no release date for “Montana” yet, but it looks like a 2025 release window.