10 artists we would like to see an album by in 2022

In order to stay relevant these days, artists have to release new music on a weekly basis, preferably as a single with hit potential or a crisp EP. The zeitgeist of the streaming market often nips creative ideas and unconventional formats in the bud, as musicians hardly have the time to let a project mature over a long period of time. This musical blitzkrieg really doesn't have to be. On the other hand, there are also enough acts that completely escape the hustle and bustle and make themselves rare. Below we have compiled a list of 10 artists from whom we urgently wish an album in 2022 - and hope that we will be heard.

Peter Fox

Peter Fox is unique in the German pop landscape. After all, he has released no less than one album in his entire solo career – but what an album. "Stadtaffe" was released in 2008 and consisted exclusively of hits. Whether it's "Alles Neu", "Haus am See" or "Schwarz zu Blau", Peter Fox's songs still sound fresh a decade later and inspire enthusiasm across generations.

Since the release of Stadtaffe, Peter Fox has stayed away from the limelight, focusing instead on his band project, Seeed. Most recently, the group from Berlin released their album "Bam Bam" in 2019, proving that Peter Fox still has this talent for writing timeless songs. And who knows, maybe he'll use this ability again for his solo career in the future. After all, he repeatedly shared pictures and clips from studio sessions on Instagram last year – even without his band. So maybe a hint at a new Peter Fox album in 2022?

rihanna

Since the late 2000s, Rihanna has been at the forefront of pop stars. The list of their hits is seemingly endless: "S&M", "We Found Love", "Diamonds" and "Work" only mark the tip of the iceberg. But since the album "Anti" from 2016 it has become quiet about the singer - at least as far as her musical output is concerned. Because Rihanna has by no means been idle in recent years. With her brand Fenty, she is successfully involved in the cosmetics and fashion business, and she can also be seen time and again in film productions such as Donald Glover's "Guava Island". Rihanna is becoming more and more noticeable in her public appearances: the former pop star has grown up. But how does this mature Rihanna sound on a musical level? Maybe in 2022 there will finally be an answer to this question.

Pashanim

Ever since he appeared on the German rap scene, Pashanim has managed to evade the growing interest in him. With songs like "Shababs Botten", "Airwaves" or "Sommergewitter" the newcomer from Berlin-Kreuzberg landed one hit after the other - despite this, he keeps a low profile when it comes to his music. Pashanim does without boldly produced music videos and stays with his closest friends. The rapper is rarely active on his social media channels, and when he shows up, it's with iPhone snapshots of everyday things instead of playing in the big promotional circus. The mystery surrounding Pashanim makes him a phenomenon, but in order to be able to play in the music industry in the long term, this magic has to be broken at some point. He became tangible for the first time at his concert in the Columbiahalle last November - now the only thing missing is an album on which we have the chance to really get to know Pasha for the first time.

Charlie XCX

Charli XCX has had an eventful career. Even her breakthrough album "Sucker" gave an idea that there was more to this artist than the sweet pop punk she was delivering here. No sooner said than done: in the years that followed, Charli rose to become a figurehead for the emerging hyper pop scene. In cooperation with the PC Music Camp around AG Cook and Sophie, Charli further developed her new sound and turned up all the controls. Their music became even more catchy, more electronic, more radical.

With each subsequent album, Charli explored new ideas and collaborated with a diverse range of artists, from the Haim sisters and Carly Rae Jepsen to Dorian Electra and Kim Petras. Most recently, in 2020, she released the lockdown album "how I'm feeling now", which she produced in live streams together with her viewers. Since then, two new singles have been released, which suggest that Charli is already working on new material again. "Good Ones" in particular sounds surprisingly conventional, so it could be that Charli XCX for her new project ignores the futuristic aesthetics and thinks back to her roots in classic pop.

whoops

In 2022, female hip-hop in Germany will probably be more popular than ever. From Badmómzjay and Shirin David to Haiyti and Nina Chuba, German rap is still discovering exciting female artists who are just getting started or are already established. However, we haven't heard from one of these rappers who has been in the game for quite some time: Juju.

Whether as part of the now dissolved duo SXTN or as a solo act - Juju is a hit guarantor, as she recently proved with "Vermissen", her collaboration with Henning May. "Missing" was a single from Juju's debut album "Bling Bling" - but it's been three years since it was released. In the meantime, things have been rather quiet about the rapper from Berlin, even though she has repeatedly appeared on features with colleagues. This year would be a good time to come back with a new album. German rap is at an all-time high and has long been ready for new music from Juju.

power club

Felix Kummer announces the end of his career as Kummer in 2021 and wild speculations about a possible return from Kraftklub are romping about in the comment columns on social media. With their wild mixture of indie, punk rock and rap, the Chemnitz band has rocked almost every festival stage in the country since their debut album “Mit K” in 2012. With “shots in the air”, “songs for Liam” or “I don't want to go to Berlin”, Kraftklub have released a number of important songs for their generation.

After their last album to date, "Keine Nacht für Jeder" (No Night for Nobody), the quintet took a creative break in 2017 to give singer Kummer the freedom to start a solo career. It was extremely successful with songs like "Bei Dir", "Der Rest meine Lebens" or "How much is your outfit worth", but it had an expiry date from the start. After the first and only album "KIOX" (2019), the rapper officially ended his solo project at the end of last year with "The Last Song". Perfect time to get back into Kraftklub, right?

A$AP Rocky

By the early 2010s, the whole hip-hop world could agree on one artist: A$AP Rocky. This Harlem beau naturally combined high fashion with street culture and brought a breath of fresh air to the scene with his A$AP Mob. A few years have passed since then. Most recently, A$AP Rocky released his album "Testing" in 2018 - a project that lives up to its title. The rapper has never been so eager to experiment and interested in new sounds. There were collaborations with Frank Ocean and electronica legend Moby, Kodak Black contributed a part via prison phone and with UK rapper Skepta A$AP Rocky landed one of the biggest hits of his career in the form of "Praise The Lord".

But where is the result of this "testing" phase? Which sounds did Rocky finally arrive at? Because as exciting as the last album was, it was also mixed and bulky at other points. "Testing" was a test workshop to find the future A$AP sound. Now Rocky must follow suit and present us with the distilled essence of his experiments.

Frank Ocean

On the night of August 19-20, 2016, Frank Ocean released sketchy video album Endless and sibling project Blonde in one fell swoop. After this acclaimed double release, the musician has disappeared from the scene. For five years now, he has only sporadically given signs of life via Instagram. Now and then there were isolated singles like "DHL" or "In My Room", but on the whole it remains quiet about Frank Ocean.

Then, in August 2020, there was a fatal break in the singer's life, which abruptly silenced the constant rumor mill about a new album. Ryan Breaux, Frank's younger brother, died in a car accident. If Frank Ocean previously had a new album in the works, chances are he scrapped it in the wake of this incident and started from scratch. Only recently, Frank Ocean devoted a separate program of his radio show "Blonded" to dealing with loss, in which he also presented new music, among other things. For fans it means one thing above all: have patience. If experience has shown one thing, it's that Frank Ocean doesn't play by the rules of the game of the industry - but we still hope for new material in 2022.

beat steaks

It's been five years since the Beatsteaks' last album, Yours, celebrated its release. Five years in which it was more than quiet around the punk rock band, which can count itself among the most successful in Germany. Because the long player was followed by three long years of complete radio silence. Then the five Berliners reported back in 2020 with the EP "In the Presence of", on which they covered songs by well-known colleagues (!) such as Lesley Gore or Hildegard Knef. This was followed last year by the re-release of the "Wohnzimmer-EP", another collection of cover songs, which the band played live in 2002 in the Columbiahalle in Berlin. Both great works, but even if you can still enjoy timeless tracks like "I Don't Care As Long As You Sing" or "Hand In Hand": Slowly it's high time for new musical stuff from the Beatsteaks.

Lizzo

In 2019, Lizzo catapulted herself to the top of the music industry with her album "Cuz I Love You" and has since been considered one of the most famous singers and rappers of our time. With songs like "Juice", "Good As Hell" or "Truth Hurts" she made it to the top of the international charts. "Rumors" was the next super hit with Cardi B last summer after a two-year break. A foretaste of a potential fourth album by the singer? That is unclear at this point. But the fact is that a new album would be a nice surprise in 2022. Because the big hallmark of Lizzo's music is the pure positivity with which she approaches her songs - exactly what we can all use right now.