The 2015 calendar year looks to be a good one in the hip-hop industry, as many of today’s most prominent artists are planning to release studio albums.

2014 was seen by many as relatively disappointing in the hip-hop music industry. In a year where Iggy Azalea and Wiz Khalifa received Grammy nominations, the public should be expecting a big bounce-back year in 2015.

Aubrey “Drake” Graham, Kendrick Lamar, and Jermaine Cole (J. Cole) are considered by many to be “leaders of the New School”; in other words, they are the future faces of hip hop. The music label GOOD Music, lead by Kanye West, believes it will see an increase in popularity after the success of Big Sean and Kanye’s future album release.

DRAKE

With the release of his mixtape, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, Drake has not-so-secretly fulfilled his four-record contract with Birdman’s Cash Money Records. After feeling that the group held his potential back, both in reputation and earnings, Drake can now focus on promoting his own record label, OVO (October’s Very Own). Drake supports a lot of up-and-coming artists such as PartyNextDoor and ILoveMakonnen, who’s known for the catchy single “Tuesday”. His fourth studio album, Views From The 6ix, is still being worked on and is expected to be released sometime during the spring of 2015.

KENDRICK LAMAR

Standing at just 5’6”, you wouldn’t expect Kendrick Lamar to be one of the biggest artists in the music industry today. On March 23, his newest studio album, titled To Pimp A Butterfly, will be released to the public. Highly regarded as the greatest lyricist in modern rap, Lamar hopes that the prolonged release of his third record will be well-received. He has worked greatly with the highly successful music producer Dr. Dre in order to produce an album that will capture the nation’s attention.

KANYE WEST

The famous rapper Kanye West plans to release an album titled So Help Me God sometime during 2015, which will be his eighth since his debut album in 2003. He has recently been working with his usual associated acts like Big Sean and Rihanna, but has also been working extensively with Paul McCartney . His most recent single, “All Day”, received many positive reviews and has been on top of the charts. West is known for producing his own beats, something that separates him from his competition and sparked his rise to fame due to his work on Jay Z’s hit album The Blueprint (2001). His previous album, Yeezus, was denounced as disappointing by a number of critics, which may have had something to do with its dark nature, something West doesn’t promote very often. Based on various interviews, West appears that he will be heading back to his upbeat, radio-savvy ways.

BIG SEAN

On Feb. 24, 2015, “Big” Sean Anderson released his third studio album, Dark Sky Paradise, featuring artists like Drake, Kanye West, and his significant other, Ariana Grande. Big Sean is signed to West’s GOOD Music label, which also hosts John Legend and Pusha T. The album itself is very ominous, which the cover art and music videos do a great job of portraying. After managing to sell 139,000 copies in the first week, Dark Sky Paradise became the number-one album on the Billboard 200 chart for the first time in Big Sean’s career.

J COLE

On Dec. 9, 2014 (although this was released last year,  his songs have risen in popularity in the 2015 calendar year), the rapper J Cole released his latest album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Like Big Sean, the album became his first to reach the top spot on the Billboard 200. J Cole is known for his laid-back and casual rhyming style. The album talks about his childhood and how far he has come since his days growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina.