What to Look Forward to in the World of Music

Perry Jamail, Reporter

2017 was an interesting year for music: hip-hop/rap music passed rock as the most popular music genre for the first time in history, marking a shift in the music consumer culture in the U.S.

As further assurance that hip-hop has shifted to the role of the most prominent music genre in America, these artists dominated the top music albums of the year with seven appearances in the top 10 list. Pop music also performed well in the charts during 2017 with Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift leading the way, securing two spots in the top 10 music albums list. This shift in the popular music vote from rock to hip-hop/rap signifies the start of a new era of music, and 2017 was just the beginning.

Keeping that in mind, here are a few highly-anticipated music albums to look forward to in 2018:

  • “Culture II” – Migos

Although this one has already released in late January, I’m still going to include it in this list due to its massive popularity. Quavo, Offset and Takeoff release the highly-anticipated sequel to their 2017 album “Culture,” which was nominated for best rap album of the year for the 2017 Grammy Awards. Many fans of the trio can’t wait to get their hands on this album, so be sure to check it out to see why many rap fans are calling Migos one of the best in the genre.

 

  • “Man of the Woods” – Justin Timberlake

Switching to a well-known pop artist who has been making chart-topping hits since 2002, a new Timberlake album is always something to look forward to if you’re a pop music fan. Following up 2016’s “The Book of Love” original motion picture soundtrack collaboration with Mitchell Owens, “Man of the Woods” is sure to be a pleasant gift to start off the year for any fans of Justin Timberlake.

 

 

  • “Little Dark Age” – MGMT

 

An EDM/electronic pop-rock superpower, MGMT is finally releasing another album after fans had to endure the long wait from 2013’s self-titled “MGMT” album. Despite their well-known hits and widespread success across the globe, MGMT is a fairly young band with “Little Dark Age” being only their fifth full-length studio album. This factor makes me excited to see what they have in store for fans in their 2018 release because of the unpredictability of where the band will go with their music next.

 

  • “Always Ascending” – Franz Ferdinand

Last but definitely not least on this list are rockers Franz Ferdinand (whose name is based off of the historical Hungarian Archduke of the same name). Coming out swinging with the iconic 2004 hit “Take Me Out,” on their self-titled debut album, Franz Ferdinand has been producing major rock hits since their beginning. Similar to MGMT, Franz Ferdinand has also kept its fans waiting on a new album since their 2013 release “Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action,” so finally receiving a new album from this group is highly anticipated among fans of the band.

 

In no way is this list complete, nor did I cover every major future album release of 2018, but these were just a few albums that are coming up in the new year that might be worth checking out. Many artists have yet to announce the future release of an album in 2018 and many more have yet to put release dates on said album releases as well, so be sure to keep and eye out for your favorite artist in 2018. Hopefully this list made you aware of upcoming albums in 2018 and gave you a few options as to who you might want to listen to in the new year.