2020 Music Wishlist
- Jan 13, 2020
- 7 min read
As the first chapter of the brand new decade, 2020 will reel in a slew of new releases from music’s biggest names. Just like the beginning of every decade, artists will be eager to separate themselves from the pack and create the next big wave. Just think back to 2010 - we received masterpieces such as My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Man on the Moon II, and Friday Night Lights.
It gets even crazier when you consider how many beloved musicians are overdue for their latest installment. Some artists, such as Playboi Carti and Lil Uzi Vert, have been teasing fans with their forthcoming projects for well over a year now. Adored artists such as Tame Impala, Rihanna, and Frank Ocean are going into the new decade after many years without a full-length release, while hip-hop heavyweights such as Drake and Kendrick Lamar have extended their hiatuses longer than usual.
A handful of albums have already been confirmed for the year, but it’s safe to say that most are still TBA. For us music junkies, this is the fun part. January of each new year is always full of hope and speculation, which means that the first January of the new decade is even more electric.
Amongst all of the excitement, I’ve enlisted fellow Burbs music enthusiasts Marty Gross, Carter Ferryman, and Jon Serrano to create our very own 2020 music wishlist.
SIDE BAR: If you cop a Burbs hoodie, all of these artists will drop.
The Lil Uzi Vert and Playboi Carti Unreleased/Leak/Not Friend Saga To Come To an End:
Unless you’re not deep in the weeds searching for Uzi and Carti leaks, you’ve barely heard any new music from the two stars in 2019. Aside from a few guest appearances (“100 Racks” and “Earfquake”), we haven’t heard anything from Carti going on 2 full years now. Uzi dropped a few singles (“Sanguine Paradise”, “That’s a Rack” and “Futsal Shuffle 2020”) after the never-ending story of his album Eternal Atake being shelved.
Fans don’t care what’s going on in their favorite artist’s personal lives. They want music and they want the music now, which led to numerous leaks throughout 2019 for Uzi and Carti. Uzi has a history of label drama and being benched for a while now. Uzi took to Twitter to explain his personal trauma with his grandma being sick. It could explain the lack of music or any developments on an album, which makes digging for leaks feel very wrong.
The least we can do as fans is to just respect the process and not leak unfinished materials. Not to mention, leaks just suck. We as fans build up these song snippets we hear at concerts, IG stories or anywhere else. A recent example is Travis Scott’s "Highest in the Room". Months of build-up from hearing the track at shows garnered the hype around an average-at-best song. Sometimes, fans build up this privileged attitude that they deserve new music all the time from their favorite artists, which in turn leads to these leaks.
Stop being a fucking crybaby and just wait like the rest of us.
Uzi went on tweetstorm this past year and tweeted out that he and Carti are not friends currently. Rap needs this duo together forever. Collabs on “Shoota”, “*wokeuplikethis*”, “Left Right”, “Of Course We Ghetto Flowers” and “Lookin” are classics and staples in both of their discographies. The two even hinted at a collab album at one point called 16*29, so it’s sad to see the two are not on friendly terms anymore.
We want Whole Lotta Red to drop.
We want Eternal Atake to drop.
We want leaks from crybaby fans to stop.
We want Uzi and Carti to be BFF’s again.
-Jon Serrano
Drake’s Return to the Throne:
Don’t get me wrong - Drake never really left the throne.
However, Scorpion and his latest singles have missed the mark for many fans and critics. I personally enjoyed most of Scorpion, but you can’t deny that Drake sounded burnt out compared to his past works.
Drake’s low-fuel level on Scorpion likely explains why he held himself back from releasing a studio album last year. Instead, he gave us Care Package - his compilation of previously unavailable fan-favorite cuts from over the years. He also celebrated the historic Raptors chip with his two-track The Best in the World Pack, boasting a memorable Ricky Rozay feature on “Money in the Grave”. He capped off the year with “War”, his single that has arguably received more mixed feedback than anything he’s put out in years.
It might sound like 2019 was a busy year for Drake, but it’s not much for the level of dominance and presence that he’s established in the game. However, workaholic Drake doesn’t understand the concept of taking an extended break. He was certainly in album mode all last year, regardless if we were aware of it or not. Considering that his 2019 singles were met with mixed reviews, he likely just tossed us the scraps from his forthcoming album. The real gems are hopefully still safely tucked away in the OVO vault.
After absolutely dominating the past decade, I have no doubt in my mind that he will come back stronger than ever to set off the new decade. I don’t know what to expect sonically, but that’s the most exciting part. I personally hope that he finally ditches the whole accent/cultural fusion flow, but I won’t lie - I’ll still eat it up regardless.
P.S: BONUS POINTS FOR WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE 2.
-Evan Linden
The Return of Kung Fu Kenny:
Out of all of the artists on this wishlist, I don't really think there's a conceivable outcome that involves a "bad" 2020 release from rap's conceptual king. That being said, it's highly exciting speculating what we'll receive from Kendrick Lamar.
As much as I enjoy seeing artists progress sonically, Kendrick is a rare example of an artist that, just a few albums into his career, has mastered his sound - or THE sound for that matter. For this reason, I want and expect an album that tells a story in whatever fashion that may be. Additionally I'd be shocked if Kendrick's potential upcoming project didn't focus on a number of socio-political topics; which in today's climate would be expected from a rapper who uses issues like these as lyrical fuel.
All in all, I really have no "wants" from K-Dot: he's graced the music world with a number of timeless compositions, and I expect his next body of work to fit right into the role of yet another cultural staple.
Just give me a little "u" here, a little "DUCKWORTH." there, mix in a pinch of "Kush & Corinthians" and add a dash of "Money Trees" - I know that sounds oddly specific, but trust me when I say you could literally choose any grouping of songs and end up with a delicious result.
Just do you, Kendrick. Thanks.
-Carter Ferryman
Just to be Frank...
After releasing one of the best albums of our time and vanishing from the face of the Earth shortly after, Frank Ocean fans have been eagerly awaiting his full-length return to music for over three years now.
Despite dropping a fairly-consistent string of singles and donating a handful of features since Blonde, it still hasn’t been enough to fill the void for most listeners. In fact, his singles and features are more of a tease than anything. We know that Frank is up to something crazy; we know that what he’s giving us is only the bottom of the barrel. Frank even hints at this himself on the recent “DHL”:
“N****s think it’s new, it ain't new
Old files just turned two, yea it flew, yea
Still sound like it's coming soon”
With his recent singles “DHL” and “In My Room” embracing a more rap-heavy sound and a more effervescent feel than we’ve become accustomed to, fans are especially intrigued to experience his next work of art. While there’s currently no definitive information on the release of his forthcoming album, it is likely to surface before the year ends. At least, I really fuckin’ hope it does.
Seriously. I don’t know if I can survive this drought much longer.
-Evan Linden
Isaiah Rashad:
As year three without a single SONG has passed, I hope I don’t continue my misery in 2020. The Sun’s Tirade dropped on September 2nd, 2016 and the world has been hungry ever since. Isaiah has been known to drop thought-provoking and cohesive albums that make the listening experience not just beautiful, but an elegant journey. A journey of a man struggling with drug addiction, motivational techniques, and becoming a proud role model to his son.
Over these past few years, Isaiah has been threatened to be dropped from one of the finest record labels in existence (Top Dawg Entertainment) due to his drug addiction. Sadly, great music often comes out of dismal experiences that artists have lived through. Isaiah is one of the greatest lyricists of our generation and has a beautiful production team around him, so I can only see poetic, phenomenal music in the near future.
There is a reason this album has been taking so long; I feel that he is crafting his music delicately and spending hours sifting to conceive musical masterpieces. If 2020 brings any Rashad, it will be amazing.
-Marty Gross
A$AP Rocky:
As I am not expecting an album (however, I would be super okay with one), I do hope that Rocky drops a few new songs or an EP. LONG.LIVE.A$AP and AT.LONG.LAST.A$AP delivered New York classics and truly established the dominance of Rocky. He gave us a crazy mix of dense lyrics and psychedelic beats; it was the first time New York hip-hop collaborated with psychedelic rock and subsequently created one of the coolest subgenres of rap.
Testing saw a much different style. Rocky seemed to stray away from hip-hop and go deeper into the realm of EDM and warped instrumentals with a touch of rap and alternative. It was an evolution that went in a direction that I had never expected, but was intriguing.
I am lost on the direction of Rocky’s music career, but I am so anxious to get new music from him. I want to see how he directs his musical genre. I sense that he will continue to push the boundaries of hip-hop and create awesome music in the process.
-Marty Gross
Keep up with Burbs all 2020 for coverage on these artists and their hopeful releases.
Keep running up the articles and keep copping the goods; we appreciate the support more than we can express.
Thanks for reading. Here's to a spectacular year of music.
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