2016 was an incredible year for music (if not for anything else), and 2017 is already shaping up to be just as impressive. Check out my 15 most anticipated albums of the next year below, but fair warning: most of these albums don’t have release dates, and several don’t even have titles yet, so it’s anyone’s guess which ones actually make it to the shelves in the next twelve months.

Childish Gambino & Chance the Rapper – TBA

A collaborative EP from Chance and Gambino has been in talks for years, but as time went on it always seemed like less and less of a possibility. Since touring together and releasing several collaborations (“The Worst Guys”, “Favorite Song”, and “They Don’t Like Me”), both artists have gone in very different directions, both sonically and in their careers. Gambino, in particular, took a left turn into total funk music with last year’s “Awaken, My Love!” and has both his television show, Atlanta, and numerous upcoming movie roles to occupy his time. Recently, however, the rumours of a collaboration seem more solid: in a Reddit AMA last May, Chance admitted that a joint project does exist. Earlier today, Chance posted a photo of the two on Instagram, captioning it “Hawaii then LA, back to work. #roscoeswetsuit”. The hashtag is a reference to the advertising campaign and accompanying screenplay for Gambino’s 2013 album Because the Internet. Gambino was a major factor in Chance’s ascension to fame, and the two have always been more than successful in their previous collaborations. This is also exciting for the fact that it promises a return to actual rapping for Gambino, something he’s neglected to do in the past couple years.

Father John Misty – TBA

Father John Misty’s sophomore album, I Love You, Honeybear, was one of the best albums of 2015. Since starting out under the name J Tillman in 2007, Misty has only managed to become better and better over the years, and his last two albums under the FJM moniker have been his most accomplished work yet. Honeybear featured incredible writing, narrative storytelling, and lush instrumentation, and hopefully his as-yet untitled followup continues his upward progression.

Freddie Gibbs & Madlib – Bandana

When legendary producer Madlib connected with Indiana rapper Freddie Gibbs for a series of EPs, that eventually became the album Piñata, the unexpected duo wound up making one of my favourite albums of all time. Piñata featured some of Madlib’s best production since Madvillainy, and Gibbs’ raps have never been better. Last year, Madlib stated that the beat he provided for “No More Parties in LA”, off Kanye’s last album, was only one of many beats the producer had submitted to Kanye back in 2010. In total, Kanye has six beat tapes of unheard Madlib beats, and late last year it was announced that the beats would be given to Freddie Gibbs, to be released on a sequel album titled Bandana. It’s beyond exciting that this unlikely duo will be releasing another project; as Gibbs stated in a recent interview, working with Madlib was a “challenge” but resulted in a record that will “stand alone in rap” and resulted in an album that’s incomparable to any other project. A second collaborative project should be just as original and exciting.

Recently, it was also announced that Freddie Forgiato has a collabroative EP with Curren$y on the way. Gangsta Gibbs fans are eating this year.

Gorillaz – TBA

Gorillaz have been teasing their triumphant return to music for the past few months ago, with a series of in-character interviews with the band’s cartoon members, Instagram stories detailing where they’ve been since Plastic Beach, and several playlists of music that influenced the upcoming album. Snoop Dogg, De La Soul, and Vic Mensa are already confirmed features for the new project, but other than that, not much is known.

Jay Z – TBA

Jay Z has been promising a new album for a while, and many expected it to drop soon after his wife’s latest project, Lemonade, publicly eviscerated a spouse for an infidelity that may or may not be autobiographical. Rumours abounded about Jay Z’s followup, whether it would be an alternate perspective on the affair, a collaboration with Beyoncé, or simply a new album from the rap veteran. No matter what we get, the prospect of a new Jay Z album could never not be exciting; hopefully, however, he manages to produce something more interesting than Magna Carta… Holy Grail.

Jazz Cartier – Fleurever

Toronto’s Jazz Cartier has been on a role over the past few years, with Marauding in Paradise in 2015 and Hotel Paranoia in 2016. This year, he’s set to drop his fourth album, Fleurever, and he’s already teased its release with “Tempted”. No word on whether some of his other recent singles (“Lil Wayne”, “Pree”, “Just In Case”) will be on the record, but either way expect another excellent new album from the up-and-coming Canadian rapper.

Joey Bada$$ – AABA

Since receiving massive acclaim after dropping his 1999 mixtape at 17 years old, Joey Bada$$ went from underground sensation to becoming one of the East Coast’s biggest new verses; the release of his 2015 studio album, B4.Da.$$, only added to his growing fame. After dropping two incredible singles, “Ready” and “Devastated”, he announced that he had a new album dropping in 2017, and only revealing the acronym of the album’s title: AABA. Bada$$ described the album as “hella vegetables”, so get stoked for whatever that means.

Kanye West – Turbo Grafx 16/Cruel Summer

Is Turbo Grafx 16 actually happening? Is that really the album title? Is it going to be video game themed? Nobody really knows what’s going on with Kanye West, and after a controversial year and a public mental breakdown, it’s impossible to tell what 2017 has to offer for the superstar artist. An album that does seem possible, however, is Cruel Summer, a GOOD Music compilation album that would be a sequel to the label’s 2012 album Cruel Winter. The album’s first single, “Champions”, was a triumphant posse cut featuring West, 2 Chainz, Big Sean, Gucci Mane, Travis Scott, Quavo, Yo Gotti, and Desiigner. It was announced last year that Scott would be helming the project as executive producer, and according to GOOD Music’s twitter, the label’s premiere artists are West, Q-Tip, Big Sean, Desiigner, Kacy Hill, Teyana Taylor, John Legend, Pusha T, and Tyga; so expect features from these artists, and more, on Cruel Summer.

Lorde – TBA

Lorde blew up the airwaves in 2013 with Pure Heroine, an instant pop classic and one of the greatest debut albums of all time. Since then, she’s been fairly quiet, engaging intermittently with social media and promising to drop an album when she’s ready. Last year, the Australian singer/songwriter announced that she’d been busy in the studio, and her long-awaited sophomore album would be released in 2017. Hopefully, four years of patience pays off.

Nas – TBA

Nas hasn’t dropped an album since 2012, but he announced that he had completed the followup to Life is Good in the most straightforward way possible: naming his track on DJ Khaled’s last record “Nas Album Done”. That track was one of Nas’ best in years, flipping an excellent sample of a Fugees classic into a perfect backdrop for the rap veteran’s remarkable delivery. Maybe a new album will break a spell of mediocre releases from one of rap’s most accomplished lyricists.

Nav & Metro Boomin – TBA

The last time Metro Boomin teamed up with a new artist for an album (21 Savage’s Savage Mode) it produced a platinum single in “X”. This year, Young Metro’s teaming up with Nav, a Toronto artist who recently started blowing up due to his placement on Travis Scott’s “Biebs in the Trap” and Belly’s “Re Up”. Nav has a few songs on his Soundcloud, but this collaborative project will be his first full length. The up-and-comer seems poised for a big 2017, especially given the recent upsurge in the non-OVO Toronto rap scene thanks to artists like Jazz Cartier, Sean Leon, and Shan Vincent de Paul.

Pusha T – King Push

Many expected King Push to drop last year, but it appears to have been held up due to his new position as president of GOOD Music and his attempts at breaking out Desiigner as more than a two-hit wonder. His last album, 2015’s Darkest Before Dawn, acted as a prelude to King Push, and certainly set the tone for the former Clipse rapper’s new music. The single’s Pusha’s released so far have all been incredible: “Circles”, “HGTV”, and, most notably, the Jay Z-assisted “Drug Dealers Anonymous” are among his best work to date. Expect more high-quality coke raps and sophisticated production, and, if we’re lucky, some more high-profile features.

Sampha – Process

A full-length project from Sampha has been a long time coming. The British singer has graced tracks by Kanye West (“Saint Pablo”), Drake (“The Motion”), Solange (“Don’t Touch My Hair”), and Frank Ocean (“Alabama”), and solo tracks like “Blood on Me” and “Timmy’s Prayer” have been incredible examples of his heartfelt, soulful vocals. The elusive artist has been drawing more and more attention in recent years, and 2017 seems likely to be the year he reaches much-deserved mainstream attention.

SZA – A

A few days ago, Anthony ‘Top Dawg’ Tiffith announced what many TDE fans had been hoping for: SZA’s proper studio album debut is set for a release in 2017. Following up her last two EPs, 2013’s S and 2014’s Z, many are expecting the album to finish up the trilogy with A. TDE’s been notoriously bad at keeping its artists happy lately, with release dates being constantly pushed back; Ab-Soul had a few well-publicised words to say on Twitter when Do What Thou Wilt. was held back, and SZA recently announced on Instagram that label issues had her tempted to retire from music entirely. Top Dawg is finally making good on putting out the New Jersey songstress’s long-awaited album. SZA hasn’t released a lot of music lately, but singles like “Sobriety” and her cover of PARTYNEXTDOOR’s “Come and See Me” indicate great things for A.

The xx – I See You

British ambient indie/electronic trio The xx received massive acclaim for their past two albums, 2009’s XX and 2012’s Coexist, but decided to lay low for a few years. Their third album, I See You, is dropping January 13th, and early singles “On Hold” and “Say Something Loving” are stellar previews to the much-anticipated project. The group’s DJ, Jamie xx, released a phenomenal solo album in 2015 with In Colour, so expectations are high for his contributions to the British trio’s upcoming project.