It’s become an anomaly, picking rappers that are going to have big years. In 2012, we knew Nas was making a comeback, Rick Ross had been planning God Forgives, I Don’t for over a year, and Meek Mill was expected to make his formal entrance, but Kendrick Lamar, 2 Chainz and Game ended up stealing the show. Every year, we expect some inkling of information leading to an official release date for Detox, or a Cassidy comeback, or an Andre 3000 solo LP, whatever gets your juices flowing, but by the end of it, the ledger generally skews far from its originally slated position. Rather than try and predict who’s going to have a big year, we decided on a slightly different route. This list explains why these ten rappers absolutely need to have a big year, whether you think it’ll happen or not. Some choices are obvious, others maybe slightly more subtle, but we know this much. If these guys don’t bring home the bacon this year, they might be wearing Peyton Manning struggle faces by Christmas.
