Top 5 Scrapped Albums That Hip-Hop Needs To Hear
Graphic by Jonah Weintraub
By: Noah Weinberg
Rap is a never-ending hype train of lengthy rollouts, teases, and announcements from every prominent artist. While most of these highly anticipated drops eventually end up seeing the light of day, there are still far too many coveted records closed off from the public. That’s why I took it upon myself to rank the top 5 scrapped albums the genre needs to hear. If any of these projects dropped (they won't), it would undoubtedly throw the whole genre into a frenzy. So, without further ado, let’s get into the list.
5. Chance The Rapper and Childish Gambino’s collab album
Chano and Gambino are a musical match made in heaven, and a track like “Favorite Song” off of Acid Rap teases the spectacle that a full-length album could provide. The possibilities for this project were nearly endless, and when the two teased it several years ago, hip-hop’s anticipation reached monumental heights. The details around this elusive album have been incredibly sparse, and it appears as if both artists have creatively gone their separate ways. Both rappers aren’t ready to admit that this album isn’t going to drop, but at this point, I’ll believe it when I hear it.
4. Yandhi by Kanye West
Kanye’s crazy ass is known for announcing albums only to not follow through on his promises, and no project of his garnered more hype only to not release than Yandhi. Although some of the tracks got turned into music for Jesus Is King and Donda, respectively, diehard Ye fans still clamor for the release of this album. Even though every song has been leaked and made available to download, Yandhi still gets brought up as one of the most notable albums that rap has yet to hear.
3. Detox by Dr. Dre
More myth than actual album, Dr. Dre’s Detox has technically been in the making for over 20 years. Yet, I think the sun will probably explode before our ears get a taste of Detox. There’s a lot to say about this mysterious monumental album? Would it have dropped if numerous leaks hadn’t derailed Dre’s creative process? Possibly, but Dr. Dre has always been known to take absurd amounts of time to perfect each release. Some fans still hold out hope that Dr. Dre will return to dominance with the greatest album in the history of mankind, Detox. But I hate to break it to you- the album is never going to drop.
2. Andre 3000’s solo album
Outkast’s better and more prolific half has discussed the prospect of his own solo album for over a decade now, but conventional thinking says it will never come. 3 Stacks has been fairly open about the unrealistically high pressure and expectations from a solo release, contributing significantly to this never-ending delay. The Love Below is basically an Andre solo album, but god damn it, I want the real thing. This album will never leave Andre’s hard drive. But my goodness, I do believe that an Andre 3000 solo album has the potential to solve something significant like climate change or world hunger… because he’s just that good.
1. The Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole collab album
I hate to say it, guys, but we got absolutely blue-ballsed on this one. After the Black Friday two-pack dropped from Kenny and Cole, where each artist rapped over the other’s instrumental, I felt sure that this Shaq-and-Kobe-level project would drop sometime in 2016. Seven years later, I think it’s safe to say that this album is permanently shelved. The project would have been a true blessing for any conscious hip-hop fan, especially as the two artists were fresh off dropping their most critically acclaimed albums to date. If Kendrick and Cole surprise-dropped this project today, it would send the music industry into an unprecedented batshit-crazy-level mode. Unfortunately, we just don’t see two rap titans at the peak of their popularity collab on an album anymore. Sadly, I don’t think this album ever gets released.