"Jesus Is King" Will Never Come Out: A List of Hip-Hop Albums That Never Dropped
With Jesus Is King's release date changed once again to this Friday, let's take a look at hip-hop's other infamous releases that never materialized.
Chances are October 25 will come and go without a new album from Kanye West.
We've come to expect being disappointed by Kanye. And despite his recent official "announcement" about the release of his album Jesus Is King via Twitter, fans were quick to troll and dismiss the tweet as a false promise. It's been a rough road for Kanye fans in the last year. His recent "Sunday Service" performances have disturbed the masses. Some believe they affirm Kanye's long-held God complex, while others view his latest post-MAGA obsession to be more of a manic episode. Some believe he's simply spreading the gospel and that he's truly been "saved." Regardless, it's all cast Jesus Is King in a puzzling light, and fans truly don't know what to expect, or whether to expect anything at all. The one thing we know for certain is that the guy is a total pr*ck to his wife these days.
Will Jesus Is King become the next Fear Inoculum? Probably. It would be quite like Kanye to be his own hype beast. In the meantime, let's take a look back at a few of hip-hop's other notorious unreleased projects, all of which are, honestly, more likely to be released in 2019 than Jesus Is King.
MC Hammer and 2Pac's "Too Tight"
MC Hammer signed with Death Row in 1995, but his highly-anticipated label debut, Too Tight, never saw the light of day. The project was much anticipated because of Hammer's alleged collaborations with Tupac Shakur on the project. The former left the record company shortly after the death of the latter. He later explained in an interview his concerns over the circumstances surrounding Tupac's death. He spoke to the rapper right before he died, and he was in Las Vegas the night of the shooting. Hammer later released "Too Late Playa," which featured the late Shakur as well as Big Daddy Kane and Danny Boy.Too Tight probably would have been amazing.
▲Ghostface Killah and MF Doom's "Swift and Changeable"
Ghostface continued to assure fans up to 2011 that Swift and Changeable is still very much alive and well and that the project's 4-year-delay was due to a holdup on Doom's end. But in 2019 the project is still nowhere to be seen. The duo, now known collectively as DOOMSTARK, did release 2 tracks in 2011 and 2016, and they were great, but fans still want that promised full-length.
▲Rick Ross and Drake "Y.O.L.O."
Before the phrase "Y.O.L.O." was turned into a bastardized acronym that pertained to excessive drinking, the slogan served as a pending title for Drizzy's still-unreleased collaborative mixtape with Rick Ross. From "Lord Knows" to "Made Men" and, most recently, "Money In The Grave," the duo has a unique chemistry, and an album together would dominate the Hip-Hop world. But though it was announced in 2011, the project has yet to appear due to scheduling conflicts and the like. A track allegedly from the project eventually appeared online as part of a J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League mixtape in 2016, but since then, neither emcee has spoken on a release date.
▲Nas and AZ "The Essence"
In a 1999 interview with Rap Radar, Nas confirmed that a collaboration between the two emcees probably wouldn't happen. "So if it happens in the future, man, that's all good," said Nas. A collaboration between The Firm emcee's was highly anticipated due to their legendary chemistry on Illmatic's "Life's A B*tch." Meanwhile, Nas is busy pumping up Dave East and showing overall disdain for his acclaimed debut. "I'm tired of celebrating it," he recently said in an interview with Haute Living. "I'm grateful, but it has started to take on a life of it's own." This all but confirms The Essence will never see the light of day.
▲The Fugees Third Album
What we wouldn't give to hear Wyclef and Lauryn Hill battle it out once more. Perhaps Wyclef misspoke or got over excited when he initially promised a third Fugee's project back in 1999, but alleged bad blood between the trio quickly dissipated any hope for a third album. Not all hope is lost, as Lauryn Hill is set to release her first solo record in 5 years, Wyclef Jean recently returned to music as well, and several years ago Pras even said he'd be open to a reunion. It would be amazing if the trio could clear the air with one last project.
▲Dr. Dre's "Detox"
One of the most coveted unreleased projects in hip-hop history, Dr. Dre's highly anticipated sequel to 1992's The Chronic has rivaled Fear Inoculum in terms of scale and anticipation. The unreleased album was recently a talking point on HBO's The Defiant Ones, and it's safe to say Detox will never see the light of day solely because of Dre's perfectionist tendencies. "His standards wouldn't allow him to put it out," said Snoop Dogg. Another Dre collaborator adds simply, "I don't know what he's looking for."
▲Jay Electronica's Debut Album
One of the most enigmatic rappers ever, Jay Electronica has yet to release a full-length project. Back in 2011, the rapper announced via Twitter that his debut album, Act II: Patents of Nobility (The Turn), was complete, and he released what was assumed to be the project's lead single, "Call of Duty" featuring Prodigy from Mobb Deep. He leaked a track list for the project a year later, then went quiet until 2014, when he released "Better In Tune With The Infinite." In 2015, he released "Road To Perdition" featuring Jay-Z, after signing with the latter's Roc Nation imprint in 2010. He has since exclusively released tracks on Tidal but still no project, despite endless teasers. He now claims his debut project will be a joint album with Jay-Z.
▲Jay-Z and The Notorious B.I.G. "The Commission"
"Love The Dough," "Brooklyn's Finest," "Young G's?" It's hard to think that a collaborative album between these two legendary artists would have been anything other then critically acclaimed. Between 1996-97 the album was looking more and more likely, but when Biggie was killed, Jay-Z, Diddy, Charli Baltimore, Lil Cease and Lane "Un" Rivera all went their separate ways.
▲Chance The Rapper and Childish Gambino's Mixtape
To be fair, this album may still be real. Just a year ago, Chance confirmed that he had indeed "recorded some tracks" with Donald Glover. But then again, a lot happened in a year. The amount of projects Glover is involved with seems to be never ending, and Chance The Rapper is still riding high off the release of The Big Day. Even just an EP would suffice, guys.
▲Andre 3000's Solo Album
After being seen in the studio with Mike WiLL Made It in 2013, it was rumored that Andre 3000 may finally be working on solo material. The report was dismissed, until new music was posted to his Soundcloud in 2018. The rumor mill is still circulating around this album, and we hope this one eventually comes to fruition.
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