WOP Exclusive: 22 Albums We Can’t Wait to Hear in 2022
This year, new albums from artists like Kendrick Lamar, SZA, Freddie Gibbs, and Normani are expected to drop. Here are the most anticipated albums of 2022!
If 2021 proved anything, it’s that planning is a practice of our pre-pandemic lives, and with a new COVID-19 variant putting up record numbers across the globe, it seems the release calendar is damn-near the only thing we can count on in regards to 2022.
Luckily, there are plenty of artists ensuring the vitality of this year’s rotations. Some are readying their second, or even third, drop since we all went into on-again-off-again hiding.
So to keep you grounded, we’ve done our best to compile a list of the projects that we know are on the way in 2022, as well as the ones we’ve been waiting on since well before Omarion had to distinguish himself from a potentially fatal strain of the virus.
Scroll on for a scan of our most anticipated confirmed and long-rumored albums of 2022.
Earl Sweatshirt
Title: SICK!
Release Date: January 14, 2022
Just over two years (depending on whether you count the deluxe edition) since the release of FEET OF CLAY, Earl Sweatshirt is set to deliver his fifth studio album this Friday. Led by a trio of reflective singles and quite a bit of guest-work in the years between drops, SICK! is definitely a welcomed full-length return from the LA rapper.
EARTHGANG
Title: Ghetto Gods
Release Date: January 28, 2022
Following a streak of one-off singles and tributes to luminary R&B figures, EARTHGANG is set to release their sophomore album, Ghetto Gods, in just a few weeks. The project was announced late last year with a trailer narrated by fellow ATLian, 2Chainz (who is also set to release a new album by the end of the month.) “American Horror Story,” a stirringly soulful lead single from the duo marked a first glimpse at the album. Hear it below and hold tight for the release of Ghetto Gods in the weeks to come.
Aaliyah
Title: Unstoppable
Release Date: January 2022
After decades of setbacks, it appears the first posthumous Aaliyah album will, in fact, be released at some point this month. Though he was careful not to reveal a precise release date, the late singer’s uncle Barry Hankerson (who is also administering her estate) confirmed the album, Unstoppable, would arrive in January with features from Snoop Dogg, Future, Ne-Yo, and Drake (but suspiciously no one who actually worked with her when she was alive.) “Poison,” the first single and proof-of-concept for the album, is a duet of sorts with The Weeknd. Listen below.
2 Chainz
Title: Dope Don’t Sell Itself
Release Date: January 2022
2 Chainz will be getting his year started with Dope Don’t Sell Itself, which he claims to be his final trap album. You read that right. The man who once referred to himself as “Trap-a-Velli” is hanging up the trilling hi-hats and booming low-ends for something he hasn’t quite articulated just yet. But a preview of his “new and exotic” phase may have come in the way of his latest single, “Million Dollars Worth of Game,” which was released last week. Now although a firm date of release has yet to be revealed, it shouldn’t be too long now
Saba
Title: Few Good Things
Release Date: February 4, 2022
Nearing four years since his breakout album, Care For Me, Saba is set to return with his third studio outing, Few Good Things, next month. Based on the two lead-up singles, “Fearmonger” and “Stop That,” the Chicago rapper’s next chapter will be a dynamic one, equally comfortable rhyming over icy loops and bright funky vamps.
Robert Glasper
Title: Black Radio 3
Release Date: February 25, 2022
Robert Glasper‘s third installment of Black Radio is finally just around the corner. Initially announced in early 2021 with the single “Better Than I Imagined,” the album is now three previews deep and already has one of the most impressive guest lists one could conjure. With the release of “Black Superhero,” Glasper adds Killer Mike, Big K.R.I.T., and BJ The Chicago Kid to a sequence that will also feature H.E.R., Meshell Ndegeocello, Tiffany Gouché, and D Smoke. Hear the latest single from Black Radio 3 below and pre-order your copy of the album today in a number of vinyl packages.
Ghostface Killah
Title: Supreme Clientele 2
Release Date: February 2022
Late last year, Ghostface Killah offered an all-caps update on the long-awaited sequel to his classic sophomore album, Supreme Clientele. On Reddit, of all places, Ghost claimed his next project was not only arriving in February of this year, but it would be executive produced by Kanye West and Mike Dean, a pair of elite beatmakers he hadn’t worked with in over a decade. Now, it’s unclear whether this will go the way of the mythical DOOMSTARKS album, but we could be looking at a full-chested return of Ghostdini next month. But we suppose we’ll have to wait and see.