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#14: Artists Need to Relax With The Sequels

#14: Artists Need to Relax With The Sequels

Adam Dash
May 05, 2025

Good morning! Welcome back to another edition of the SoundCentric newsletter!

For the first time ever, Kanye dropped an album when he actually promised. Sadly, it’s also the first time I haven’t cared to listen. But with Donda 2 and Wiz Khalifa dropping Kush + Orange Juice 2, it got me wondering: why are there so many sequels in rap? Is this a sign of a lack of creativity? Or are they just cash grabs?

You could be reading anything in the world right now, and you're here with me. So, I appreciate it.

Let’s get to it!

Deep Dive

What was your favorite movie from 2024? Was it… Gladiator 2? No, maybe it was Bad Boys: Ride or Die. You know what, now that I think about it, it was probably Despicable Me 4. I mean, I know it wasn’t Joker: Folie à Deux. But Moana 2 lowkey kinda slapped. My 5-month-old niece would kill me, though, if I didn’t mention Mufasa: The Lion King.

Ahhh, the remakes (say this in the voice of the narrator from SpongeBob). What an amazing time for creativity. I was going down my usual nightly YouTube rabbit hole when I came across a video breaking down the recent creativity drought happening over at Disney—a drought that seems to be spreading across all of Hollywood. All we seem to be getting these days are sequels, live-action remakes of childhood classics, or complementary world-building films (thanks, Marvel).

This trend is not just limited to movies, though; it is super prevalent in hip-hop too. I’m a sucker for nostalgia just like the next guy, and I’m not saying sequels can’t be amazing. Hey, I think Austin Powers: Goldmember is the best in the franchise—and it’s the third one. But as Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre release a sequel to a classic like Doggystyle with the poorly named Missionary, and Kanye drops a four-year-old album with Donda 2, it got me thinking: do we really need all these sequels in hip-hop?

Series have always been a thing in hip-hop. From Jay-Z’s Blueprint series to Lil Wayne’s The Drought and No Ceilings mixtapes, rap has always been about world-building. I’ve actually got a whole different article about the similarities between hip-hop and comic books—and as I write this, I’m realizing I forgot about that common thread.

The issue with sequels is that, a lot of the time, they feel like a blatant money grab—a bunch of people in suits who’d rather go with what they see as a safer bet than put their faith in something new. I don’t know the intentions of rappers when they try to make a return to the mainstream by reviving a fan-favorite album, but sometimes it just feels like they are running out of ideas.

I don’t hate sequels. Like I said, there have been some amazing ones. (This is your reminder to go watch Shrek 2 tonight.) When it comes to rap, one of the first albums that came to mind was Kid Cudi’s Man on the Moon III: The Chosen. I grew up a huge Cudi Stan. Soundtrack 2 My Life and Ghost! are still some of my favorite songs ever. When Cudi first announced the album, the 13-year-old in me was smiling ear to ear. The 20-year-old who eventually listened to it? Not as pleased.

I was also a massive Logic fan. In high school, I would walk to class scrolling through my DatPiff app (which, sidenote, was terribly designed) and play all the Young Sinatra tapes. Logic has always been an artist who understood his fanbase. When he dropped 2018’s YSIV, I was over the moon. What I didn’t know then was that this album marked the beginning of me slowly falling out of love with his music. I noticed him reusing lines from older mixtapes and albums, and the music started to feel… less exciting.

That being said, sequels are not inherently bad. Wiz Khalifa just dropped a pretty dope-sounding project with Kush + Orange Juice 2. Listening to it felt like a flashback to 2010, bumping tracks off my iPod Nano. But the pessimist in me still wonders: is that all these legendary artists are now? Nostalgia acts who need to lean on past classics just to stay relevant?

The opposing voice in my head might say, “Hey Adam, so that means you like that new Playboi Carti-sounding Logic snippet? You keep saying you want artists to evolve.” And to that, I say: ggs. You got me. Experimenting isn’t always great.

ITS A FEE music video OUT NOW!
— Rap Ron Howard (@Logic301)
4:55 PM • Apr 30, 2025

I don’t think rappers are necessarily doing sequels for the same reasons Hollywood does—but the results are often the same. Sure, there’s always the potential for a great continuation of earlier work, but there’s just as much of a chance that it’ll leave fans wanting more.

So this is my official proclamation: let’s chill with all the sequels in rap.