Nas, 2018

Nas

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Nas Dropping New Album In June, Produced Entirely By Kanye West

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The album announcement adds to a stacked lineup of forthcoming new albums produced by West, to be released consecutively over five weeks
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Apr 23, 2018 - 12:32 pm

June 2018 will official mark the welcome return of Yeezy Season. After returning to Twitter earlier this month to spout philosophy and finally announce new music, GRAMMY-winning rapper/producer Kanye West still had one more bombshell to drop on his salivating fanbase: a new album from legendary New York rapper Nas, produced entirely by West himself.

The upcoming, as-yet-untitled Nas album will be the Brooklyn rapper's 12th studio LP, but his first release since 2012's Life If Good, ending the longest creative hiatus of his career since first releasing Illmatic in 1994.

For his own part, West seems intent on making up for lost time, as he has now announced a total of five albums, including his hotly-anticipated eighth solo album and a new surprise collaboration with Kid Cudi as Kids See Ghost, for which the Chicago native assumed all production duties. The albums are set for release once a week for five consecutive week throughout late May and on through June.

Altogether, fans can expect new music from Pusha T on May 25; the new, still-untitled Kanye West album on June 1; Kids See Ghost with Kid Cudi on June 8; Nas on June 15; and Teyana Taylor on June 22.

Details on all five albums, including first audio teases, remain forthcoming.

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Kanye West

Kanye West

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Kanye West's Wyoming Sessions Output Lands Him Atop The Charts

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As promised, June is unfolding an important body of work for a rediscovery of "the Kanye West sound of production"
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Jun 13, 2018 - 3:49 pm

Kanye West's new album, Ye, as well as others he produced during his recent "Wyoming Sessions" are striking a chord with critics and persuading listeners and buyers to press play. For the June 16 Billboard charts, Ye is at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — West's eighth in a row — and for the first time since the chart's 2014 launch, the Billboard Artist 100 has West at No. 1.

All seven of Ye's tracks are in the Top 40. But the bigger story — and a gratifying surprise for some — is what Pusha T predicted in Rolling Stone on May 25 when his West-produced album Daytona came out. "I feel like through this whole month of June you're going to rediscover the Kanye West sound of production," said Pusha T. And that's exactly what's happening.

Ye was released on June 1. On June 8, West's birthday, he released the self-titled album by his new rap superduo, Kids See Ghosts, with his long-time collaborator Kid Cudi. Three albums with seven tracks each, released by a creative giant intending to prove once again his enormity. In an uncharacteristic use of superlatives, Allmusic.com's review of the album Kids See Ghosts said it "not only emerges atop the Wyoming Sessions ranks, but also as a top release in either artist's respective catalogs." The announcement of the two albums was considered hype, and once again the power to follow hype with art is inherent in West.

But the story is still very much in progress. On June 13, West posted the tracklist — 7 again — for the Nas album he produced, due out June 15. There is no title yet but there is high anticipation. Superheroes have their alternate universe, but our rap universe is real, expressing the extraordinary from within. For many fans of both artists, it may seem unlikely the Nas release will disappoint. The mounting possibility of a four-by-seven epic would border on the type of takeover Pusha T predicted — or at very least would be a powerful demonstration.

So there's no pressure on Teyana Taylor, right? Her West-produced release is expected on June 22. The epic saga continues and she might look like the new face in this still-changing story, but this is someone who Pharrell Williams first signed more than 10 years ago, before she began to work with West in 2012. Will all the starpower behind the Wyoming Sessions be a build up to West unveiling his secret weapon, a new star? This is a rap serial drama centered on a big and growing pile of art. Either way, Kanye West's prolific June 2018 is likely to be remembered.

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Kanye West, 2016

Kanye West

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Kanye West Sets Internet Afire By Announcing Release Of Two New Albums

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Yeezus returns with release date announcements for a new solo album and a new collaboration
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Apr 19, 2018 - 2:47 pm

Amid Kanye West's ongoing social experiment that's seen him writing a book on philosophy by tweeting it one post at a time, the GRAMMY-winning rapper has ignited a firestorm by apparently announcing the release dates of not one, but two new albums, both set to drop during the first week of June.

Kanye West Wins Best Rap Album

Following a lengthy hiatus from social media – during which he ostensibly retreated to the mountains of Wyoming to begin crafting his latest opus with the help of Kid Cudi, Nas, Travis Scott, Drake, and others – Yeezus resurrected his Twitter account, previously dormant for 11 months, and began hurling psalm-like advice and other inscrutable tweets into the social ether.

During a recent interview with his interior design collaborator Axel Vervoordt in The Hollywood Reporter, West expounded further on his newfound Zen, saying "We do these sneakers that sell out and [people say], 'Oh, this is the number one brand' ... and I don't wish to be number one anymore, I wish to be water."

Over the days since the April 13 interview, West has continued his enigmatic tweets, trading deadpan assertions such as "trend is always late," and "stop lyin about s***. Just stop lyin" with longer missives like, "let's be less concerned with ownership of ideas. It is important that ideas see the light of day even if you don't get the credit for them. Let's be less concerned with credit awards and external validation."

All of which brings us finally to today, where just hours ago West dropped the bombshell(s) across a rapid-fire series of four tweets:

And, of course, the web immediately lit up with speculation.  Already the unofficial Kanye West subreddit has a stickied thread titled ALBUM HYPE, and articles are likely being written or already live on every major music publication as we speak.

According to Pitchfork, West filed trademark paperwork for "Kids See Ghost" for, "coverage of everything from merch to streaming services to films and TV shows," leading us to question whether West's plan for his collaboration with Cudi will come as a follow-up of sorts to his previous GRAMMY-winning supergroup-style teamwork with Jay-Z as heard on Watch The Throne.

Details on official titles for both West's new solo album and his forthcoming matchup with Kid Cudi remain forthcoming, but at the time of this writing, West has also revealed that a long-awaited new album from Pusha T and new music from Teyana Taylor will be released on May 25 and June 22, respectively.

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Nas

Nas

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Nas' Latest Kanye West-Produced Album 'Nasir' Is Here

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The GRAMMY-nominated rapper's 11th studio album features Kanye West, The-Dream and 070 Shake
Renée Fabian
GRAMMYs
Jun 15, 2018 - 2:36 pm

Rapper Nas has been musically quiet since his 10th studio album, 2012's Life Is Good. He broke his silence on June 15, however, with the release of his latest solo album, Nasir.

Nasir is the result of album producer Kanye West's recent production stint in Wyoming. Like the other albums that have come out of those sessions, Nas gifts us with exactly seven new tracks, including "Not For The Radio" with 070 Shake, "Cops" featuring West, "Everything" with West and The-Dream, and "Simple Things."

Nas unveiled his latest rap masterpiece at a listening party in Queens, N.Y., that streamed live on YouTube thanks to host Mass Appeal. A star-studded crowd turned out for the event, with Pusha-T, Mobb Deep's Havoc, West, Jadakiss, Kim Kardashian West, Swizz Beatz, and Chris Rock all making appearances.

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Drake, 2017

Drake

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Drake Reveals Upcoming Release Date For New Album, 'Scorpion'

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The GRAMMY-winning rapper has officially begun promoting his next album release
Brian Haack
GRAMMYs
Apr 16, 2018 - 3:55 pm

Fresh off of dethroning himself from the No. 1 slot atop the Billboard Hot 100, replacing his own single "God's Plan" with the smash hit "Nice For What," and becoming just the 13th artist in history to replace their own No. 1 single atop the chart, GRAMMY-winning rapper Drake has begun to drop hints about his forthcoming fifth album Scorpion.

Celebrating his chart win, Drake hopped on Instagram on Monday to drop some good news for all the fans who've been patiently waiting for the Toronto native's next official LP release sing 2016's quadruple-platinum-certified Views.

 JUNE 2018

A post shared by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on

 JUNE 2018

A post shared by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on

While the pair of IG posts, both captioned "JUNE 2018," are the first tease of the album's title and release date, Drake did drop some additional hints during his appearance at a Toronto Raptors game in March, telling the hometown crowd at halftime, "I love each and every one of you …I’m happy to be home. I’m working on this new album for the city."

Details on the specific date in June when Scorpion will drop are still forthcoming.

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