EDIT (mid-week update) :

With Yeezus projected to open with 360-380K, was his strategy successful? How will other artists judge Yeezus' chart performance? Will it still grow or not?


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At the very least, this is a growing trend in hip hop with Kanye West's Yeezus & Jay-Z's Magna Carta Holy Grail. Kanye announced the album a month before release but did not release a single & did not even do an album cover. He just did some performances & some projections. Jay-Z has only done a commercial & his album comes out in 2 1/2 weeks on July 4. I doubt there'll be a single.

I've been waiting for this trend for a long time. I always thought it was ridiculous for artists to release singles anymore than 2 months before their album. Especially artists that went to 4+ months between the first single & album release. So I'm lovin it. Strike the iron while it's hot! I think hype is more high sooner after an album release than later.

Do you think this is a hip hop exclusive trend for now? Will other hip hop artists start doing this? Will other genres start doing this type of thing? Pop artists, maybe?

Do you like it?

I love it. I love when new music is just dropped.

I don't care for any sort of 'hype'. The worst was those HIAM snippets for 2 weeks before the video. How ridiculous.

Its a game changer. I love it.

I doubt pop artists will do it. We'll see how Jay & Kanye's albums sell, but remember that for pop artists their label's goal is to maximise profits.

The Pop girls wouldn't be able to do this, because Pop isn't as hype-based as Hip-Hop is.

I think it can be a trend in Hip-Hop though. Drake would've been a good artist to also do it, but his album is coming August 27th, six months after his lead single dropped.

Some artists can pull it off and some can't. We'll see how it all works out.

But I like the stages before the album drops. (Releasing lead single, music video, album title, album cover, tracklist, etc.) That's what makes stanning fun.

I love this! I wish Drake would've pulled a stunt like this.

We'll see how Kanye's album sells... Something tells me it's gonna flop.

Kanye basically did release a single with New Slaves. SNL performance and worldwide projections.
He may not have released a lead single in the traditional sense, but it's silly to imply Kanye is dropping this album without some form of a promo track.

Tell me about it. Like 6 months between the lead single and the album release for this year's Avril release, then also a second single before the album drops. I don't think it's cute but I'm not completely bored musically so I can wait.

Some rappers can't do it. Drake & Nicki appeal to two/three genres. If the projects is all hip-hop like Willy stated, it can be done.

But not for pop. That's why Nicki usually releases 2 singles before the album.

It's sort of like "relying solely on a name to generate hype" and it works. Truthfully, I love it when artists don't count on their singles to generate hype and it all dials down to them and their popularity. Although, it does look a smidge egotistical, it's worth it if it works!

Eminem will be the next Hip-Hop artist to do this.

There's no way it's gonna flop.

It's stupid.

So what happens when the album is out? Do they then try to push singles or no?

Isn't that what Rihanna did with Diamonds? IMO, if the single/album is so good and will cater to what people expect then why not?

I don't think pop artists could get away with not releasing a first single, especially to radio. They would start flopping. I do believe they could get away with releasing one single just a month before the album release & still get those great sales at album release week & beyond with longevity.

Hip hop artists should continue this trend, like Eminem. Drake shouldn't because all of us are thirsty for a follow-up to SFtB tbqh.

R&B artists couldn't pull it off either. I think with the state R&B is in, they need a lot of pre-release hype.

If it were to flop, the leak would be the main reason.