Stick to the Date
Graphic by Jonah Weintraub
By: Jake Delforte
Every week, the moment that Thursday night bleeds into Friday at midnight, I stay up and monitor my Apple Music for the newest hip-hop releases. Personally, I enjoy tracking projects I am excited about during the weeks up until release; being surprised by an unannounced project at midnight makes me feel like an industry insider getting an exclusive first listen. All in all, the wee hours of the morning on Fridays are a magical time for hip-hop fans to explore new music from our favorite artists… until our favorite artists leave us empty-handed with no explanation or update on the status of their project, and this is a trend that needs to stop.
One of the biggest stories in hip-hop this summer started to form when Drake announced his new album, For All the Dogs, in conjunction with his first poetry collection on June 24. Throughout his summer tour, Drake promised fans that the album would be coming soon. By the end of July, Drake was seen wearing a dog mask in public, increasing anticipation for the album through the stratosphere.
The month of August presented some promise to fans. However, after the official birthday of hip-hop on August 11 and an MSG run at the end of the month, fans were still not delivered an album despite being promised sounds for the summer.
Then, following an updated September 22 release date, Drake pushed back the album AGAIN to October 6. We ultimately got the long-awaited LP on that final date. Yet, now that we are months removed from the initial hype of the release, my personal excitement for the project was zapped.
Sadly, this isn’t exclusive to just Drake. A$AP Rocky, another powerhouse name in hip-hop, has been teasing an upcoming album for quite some time. Fans have been eager for Rocky’s follow-up to 2018’s Testing over the course of multiple years and album name changes. Rocky claimed that, in May 2021, his upcoming album, originally titled All Smiles, was 90% complete.
Fast forward to December 2022. Still no album. The fans, however, were about to receive a massive ray of sunshine from Rocky in the form of a tweet: “Album’s finished. Don’t Be Dumb. Let’s Go.”
It wasn’t until July that Rocky dropped a highly anticipated song and video titled “Riot (Rowdy Pipe’n).” Alright, we all thought, this rollout is back on track! Then, on the first day of August, we received a very cryptic tweet from Lord Flacko: “AWGEST.” What could this mean? Would this be the month we get the album? Another single? The tracklist? The album cover?
No. None of these things. The questions that swirled around that tweet would never be answered. And this brings us to now. October 2023. Still no album, single, or tracklist. C’mon Rocky, don’t be dumb, let’s go.
This delaying of projects has become a plague that reaches even less mainstream figures in the genre. Initially teased for release during Paris Fashion Week over the summer, we can now expect Westside Gunn’s & Then You Pray For Me on October 13. Benny the Butcher’s Def Jam debut, Everyone Can’t Go, was slated for release on August 11, but that day has come and since has been long gone with no word of a new date. Redman’s highly anticipated sequel, Muddy Waters 2, has been pushed back to 2024! (At least Redman has been releasing music in the meantime; check out his Jack Boi Beats series.)
I understand that life happens. Rappers have to adhere to their labels, get samples cleared, and go on tour during the album creation process. But continuously promising a product that is not delivered gets old quickly. My point is this: If Amazon promises delivery by Tuesday, however, every time you order a package, it gets delivered on Friday, you would probably stop using Amazon. Moving forward, rappers need to either prioritize their release dates or simply give themselves more time during the creative process.