In the two short months of 2016, the music world has been on fire. Beyoncé performed at her second halftime show at the Super Bowl, Kanye West released an album that failed to chart on the Hot 100 due to being a Tidal exclusive and Rihanna gave away 1,000,000 free copies of her long-awaited album “ANTi.” Although the radio has been blessed with great jams like “Formation” by Beyoncé and “Pillowtalk” by Zayn Malik, the upcoming releases of 2016 will only add more heat.
During the Grammys on Feb. 15, Gwen Stefani premiered her music video of “Make Me Like You,” her latest single. The video, sponsored by Target, was aired live during the award show’s commercial break. The “Rich Girl” singer revealed on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” that the song is about her new romance with Blake Shelton. Stefani’s tracklist for the album reveals that many of her upcoming songs will be about love and heartbreak, with song titles such as “You’re My Favorite” and “Me Without You.” On March 18, “This Is What The Truth Feels Like” will be available for purchase. This is her third solo album; her last one was released 10 years ago.
The year 2006 seems to be making a comeback as well, with Fergie apparently planning new music. Though we have not heard anything from her directly, her husband Josh Duhamel let the cat out of the bag during his interview on “The Rich Eisen Show.”
“She’s got an album coming out in about a month,” Duhamel said about his wife. “I think they’re calling it ‘Double Dutchess.’” Fergie seems to be drawing inspiration from her debut album “The Dutchess,” which gave her three number-one singles.
Beyoncé may be planning another album release as well. While she hasn’t officially revealed anything, the “Queen Bey” announced her Formation World Tour earlier this month. In the past, she has released new music while touring, so it’s a possibility she could drop a new album before her first tour date. Concrete details around her albums are generally unknown due to tight security. However, if the album is anything like “Formation,” a trap and electro hip-hop sound can be expected as the general vibe.
Malik, whose hit “Pillowtalk” debuted atop the Hot 100, performed his second solo song, “It’s You” on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” on Feb. 17. With these two singles in tow, the artist will be releasing his first solo album on March 25. His album is called “Mind of Mine,” and although his former band One Direction makes pop music for the masses, Zayn seems to be going with a more R&B sound for his introduction.
Ariana Grande’s next studio effort is titled “Dangerous Woman,” according to her Snapchat story; Grande snapped a picture of her album title and the first track “Moonlight.” In an interview with MTV, Grande said her new album sounds nothing like the lead single “Focus.” Though there is no official release date, Grande is performing on “Saturday Night Live” on March 15 and could possibly perform new material.
Other artists such as Lorde, Frank Ocean and Lady Gaga have all been hinting at new music as well, yet they have not revealed any details — except Gaga, who is working with Mark Ronson. But, with the new trend of surprise albums, there’s no telling what the music industry will deliver this year.