In the world of hip-hop, delayed albums are just a part of the game. While accepting that as a reality, some of the albums that get held back end up being quality projects. If your music is fire enough, fans will let go of how long it took for the album to actually drop and more about whats actually going on with the music itself.
Jay Electronica had one of the longest running sagas behind a debut album ever. All of that came to a close when he dropped his debut album, A Written Testimony, in March of 2020, after a nearly 13-year wait. While that's quite a lengthy period, his fans took to it and gave it plenty of spins, along with positive reviews. With such a delay on a debut album, things went as well as they could have.
There are also some albums here that were hung up due to record label issues. Lil Uzi Vert's highly anticipated sophomore album, Eternal Atake, was stuck in label limbo before finally being released last March and topping the charts. Azealia Banks couldn't see eye to eye with Interscope Records on her music's hit potential, so they entered somewhat of an impasse over her debut album, Broke With Expensive Taste. Clipse had their sophomore album, Hell Hath No Fury, tied up in label politics, too. Lil Wayne also had very public issues with Birdman due to the Cash Money Records hold over delaying the release of Tha Carter V.
While some albums were tied up due to external or internal label issues, some just dropped at a point when rappers felt that the timing was right. Fans had to wait a whole four years for 21 Savage and Metro Boomin to drop a Savage Mode sequel, but it doesn't seem like there was any drama involved with that. It just dropped when it dropped, and fans were happy. Dr. Dre waited seven years before he dropped his The Chronic sequel, 2001, in 1999. Obviously, that only made the fans enjoy it more when it arrived and lived up to expectations.
XXL takes a look at hip-hop albums that were worth the wait. Check the gallery below to see for yourself.
See Hip-Hop Albums That Were Worth the Wait