Music / May 4, 2022

Here’s the albums dropping in 2022 you need to know about

Moonchild Sanelly, credit: Onkgopotse May
Music / May 4, 2022

Here’s the albums dropping in 2022 you need to know about

Words: Dylan Murphy

Kendrick put to bed years of speculation with his new album announcement, but he’s not the only big hitter with a record on the way.

May is usually BUSY for new album releases. Acts head into festival season armed with new music and throw their hat in the ring for the sound of summer in the process. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that so many artists have either revealed new release dates or announced forthcoming projects in the past few weeks. We’ve rounded up the ones we are most excited for.

Jpegmafia and Danny Brown – TBC

In what feels like project dreamed up from the deep corners of hip hop Twitter’s deepest imaginations, JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown revealed over the weekend they have a joint album dropping shortly. Performing a track from the project at The Smokers Club, the pair extended a working relationship that has already saw JPEGMAFIA provide production on the Detroit rapper’s uknowhatimsayin¿ in 2019. While there is no name or release date as of yet, with two of rap’s resident cultural disruptors joining forces, this promises to be spicy.

Calvin Harris – Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 2 – TBC

Slide’ is the ultimate poolside song. In a time where trap music fatigue was at an all time high and Frank Ocean was about to go into hiding again, Calvin Harris pulled both acts out of their usual lanes and got them collaborating on the sound of the summer. Five years later he’s promising the second edition of Funk Wav Bounces.

IDK & KAYTRANADA – Simple. – May 6

KAYTRANADA is a cheat code for rappers, so it’s surprising that until now, he’s never worked across a full album for one. A couple of weeks ago, Maryland rapper IDK shared ‘Taco’ and announced he and the Canadian producer were teaming up for a full album Simple. They quickly followed up their single with another featuring Denzel Curry in a no messing rollout that is due to end just in time for bbq season.

Knucks – ALPHA PLACE – May 6

For anyone paying attention to UK rap right now, Knucks is the guy. Sure, Dave is pushing into unchartered territory and for better or worse, UK sample drill is a viral hit machine. But in a busy jazz rap scene, Knucks has been in a lane of his own, producing some of the most vivid storytelling to come out of the UK in the past 5 years. With Stormzy, Lex Amor, M1llionz and more set to feature on APLHA HOUSE and a huge festival season ahead, it could be a breakout moment for the London spitter.

Leikeli47 – Shape Up – May 13

With the final piece of her trilogy landing this month, there’s still little more known about Leikeli47 outside of what’s revealed in the masked rapper’s music. It means that every release is treated as a precious part of the story and tracks like ‘Money’ and ‘Chitty Bang’ have us hooked and ready for the full record.

Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers – May 13

Is there much to be said that hasn’t been parroted already about Kendrick Lamar’s next album? Having revealed the name Mr. Morale And The Big Steppers a few weeks ago, he just took to his Oklama.com website to hint at a double album sparking speculation that one will come on TDE and another will arrive through his own pgLang. Your guess is as good as ours on who will feature on the record(s?), but make no bones about it, this is set to be the biggest album of the year.

Obongjayar – Some Nights I Dream of Doors – May 13

It’s impossible to pin down Obongjayar’s unpredictable sound. Varying release to release, his Message in a Hammer is one our favourite releases this year and ahead of his debut album he teamed up with another of London’s most exciting prospects in Jeshi on ‘Protein’. All signs are pointing towards a special record.

Ravyn Lenae – Hypnos – May 20

It’s been 4 years since Ravyn Lenae’s Steve Lacy-produced EP Crush. So it’s only right she kept that winning combination going by teaming up with him again on ‘Skin Tight’. It comes ahead of her long-awaited debut album Hynos.

Moonchild Sanelly – Phases – June 17

We first became familiar with Moonchild Sanelly after her arresting feature on Ghett’s ‘Mozambique’. The South African shapeshifter teamed up with him again on ‘Strip Club’ and earlier collaborated with Sadnight Dynamite during a run that’s proving she’s one of music’s most distinct voices right now.

Elsewhere on District: Ranked: The 25 best Neptunes beats of all time.