Kesha
“While writing my new album, I seemed to lose track of all of my fucks,” says Kesha of her next full-length. She didn’t have many left to give on her last: 2017’s searingly personal Rainbow was a triumphant return from a half-decade hiatus, caused in part by a bitter and still-ongoing legal battle against her former producer, Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald. (A trial date has not yet been set.) A departure from the giddy electro-pop that first made her a star, Rainbow’s mix of country, hard rock and piano balladry earned Kesha her first two Grammy nominations and a No. 1 album on the Billboard 200.
For its follow-up, she has brought in producer Jeff Bhasker (Harry Styles, Bruno Mars) for the first time, as well as erstwhile Macklemore cohort Ryan Lewis, who co-wrote Rainbow’s top 40 hit “Praying.” Meanwhile, Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds, Justin Tranter, Tayla Parx and fun.’s Nate Ruess all appear in the writing credits. While the as-yet-untitled album is rumored to be more uptempo and reminiscent of her “TiK ToK” days, Kesha -- who also announced a second Weird & Wonderful Rainbow Ride cruise for fall 2020 -- will only say, “I have danced a lot while making this one and cried some tears. I’m not sure what genre it is. Y’all will have to tell me.” -- JASON LIPSHUTZ
Major Lazer
In September 2018, Diplo announced that the next album from Major Lazer, his dancehall-focused side project with Walshy Fire and Ape Drums, would likely be the last. “I think so,” the producer said, “because I got [these] other side projects, like LSD with Sia and Silk City [his duo with Mark Ronson].” But the group will release one more album, Music Is the Weapon, before its cartoon namesake rides off into the technicolor sunset. Recent singles -- May’s soaring anthem “Can’t Take It From Me,” featuring Skip Marley, and June’s “Make It Hot,” a collaboration with Brazilian vocalist Anitta -- hint that the forthcoming LP should sound like classic Caribbean-, South America- and Africa-inspired Major Lazer. (The group recently worked with Shatta Wale and Beyoncé on “ALREADY,” a track from the latter’s The Lion King: The Gift project.)
But expect some fresh influences from the trio’s newest addition, Miami-based producer Ape Drums, who replaced longtime member Jillionaire earlier in 2019. “We all text and talk about the album coming out, talk about ideas of how we’re going to do it,” Ape Drums told Billboard in July. “I’ve been trying to dig deep in my brain every day to come up with new, fresh ideas.” The first official single from Music Is the Weapon drops in early September, with the full project planned for release on Diplo’s Mad Decent label by year’s end. -- KATIE BAIN
Missy Elliott
It has been 14 years since her last studio album, but affection for Missy Elliott hasn’t waned. In June, she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame with a ceremony that featured tributes from Lizzo and Michelle Obama; on Aug. 26, she’ll receive the Video Vanguard Award at the MTV Video Music Awards. The only person who didn’t get the memo, it seems, was Elliott herself: “For so long I was hesitant to put out music in fear no1 would get it because people said music has changed,” she tweeted last fall. Now, after releasing a handful of singles through the years -- including the Pharrell Williams team-up “WTF” in 2015 -- Elliott has confirmed she’ll release a new body of work by year’s end.
Already she has tweeted about a new track with Lizzo, whose “Tempo” she guested on this year; posted dispatches from the studio with longtime collaborator Timbaland, describing a song called “Summer” as a throwback to their ’90s work; and shared a snippet of a feisty club-banger titled “Cool Off.” But don’t be surprised if she keeps much of the project under wraps until it’s ready. “My fans are crazy ... if you tell them a date, you better stick to it,” she told Billboard last December. “For this album, I’m just trying to make sure I give the best me that I can possibly give.” -- NOLAN FEENEY
A version of this article originally appeared in the Aug. 24 issue of Billboard.