You may have noticed, there are many big names that are supposed to drop this year, but no release dates have been scheduled. I think that if somebody can drop within the next two months, they could potentially be the biggest seller of the year. As time goes on, the more likely that other people will drop albums, especially during the summer. However, with the next couple of months still open, whoever is the first to drop will basically have it to themselves.

50 Cent has announced that he will drop sometime in May, but in this time where it is almost cool to have an album pushed back (why is EVERYBODY'S album pushed back?) who knows if it will actually happen. He has also said that Eminem will end up dropping before him, but I don't know how likely this is, being that he is still getting the finishing touches done to his album and he will need at least a month or two to promote, so he's racing against the clock if he's going to drop before May in order for 50 to drop. Not to mention that 50 said Dr. Dre is finishing up on Em's project before he finished up on his, meaning that if Em doesn't drop before May, 50 will be pushed back once again.

Anyway, I said all that to say that it's looking like the next couple of months are still wide open, even though 50 has made his announcement to drop. I know that Joe Budden has dropped recently, but I don't know how much he'll be able to sell because his following, for the most part, is only online. I really wish that he would big numbers, but I just don't know how possible it is without any commercial marketing.

All those that have announced albums for this year (most of which were supposed to drop last year) are Jay-Z, Dr. Dre (we've been waiting FOREVER for that), 50 and Eminem as I mentioned, and both members of Outkast. Andre 3000 said that there was a chance that he was going to drop in December of last year, but that obviously never happened. I haven't heard much since, but I'm sure people have been waiting for that. Big Boi has dropped and leaked a few singles, as well, but his album has been pushed back a few times as well. He probably won't be the biggest seller of this year regardless, but he could deinitely do numbers if he was to drop sometime soon. I don't think he will be dropping until closer to summer, though. Even Lil Wayne's rock album has had rumors of being put on hold indefinitely. Of course we all know what he did last year, so if he was able to drop again and capitalize on that, it would be a really good move. But it looks like that won't be happening either.

So, who's going to capitalize? It's really hard to tell at this point. I think that everybody is going to end up dropping around the same time, making consumers pick and choose who's album they're going to buy. If that's the case, I would assume that we would see either Dr. Dre or Eminem sell more than anybody else. People have been waiting for a LONG time for both of these albums. This could have a negative effect on the response it gets, though. People may have lost interest, but I think that they'll both still have pretty high sales. Until that time, let's just hope that Joe Budden can get some good sales numbers.

Anyway, what's your thoughts on the topic? Who do you think will be the highest seller of the year. Do you think there is any possibility that somebody might benefit from nobody dropping right now? Comment or email (straightouttahiphop@gmail.com).


Peace.


Update: Eminem has announced that the release date for Relapse will be May 19. If this date sticks, not only will he benefit from being the only big name artist to come out in recent months, but this may also affect 50 Cent's sales. 50 claimed that he would be dropping in May also, but with Em dropping in the middle of that month, is really going to want to compete? Nowadays, consumers can't go out and buy two and three cds at a time as they used to. Let me hear some thoughts.