New Music Releases – May 2015

Artists are still announcing release dates less than two weeks in advance of their albums dropping. That doesn't seem like it's stopping anytime soon, as Tyler, The Creator and Young Thug both pulled it off in April.

Will May yield the same surprises? Perhaps, but for now, the biggest release slated for the month is A$AP Rocky's sophomore LP, At.Long.Last.A$AP. The effort feels like something of a do over; his debut Long.Live.A$AP was leaked more than a month before its release date and achieved mostly mixed reviews.

The stakes are higher for At.Long.Last.A$AP. The hip-hop world took a shock when A$AP Yams, A$AP Rocky's "Yoda" and close friend, died of an "accidental overdose" in January.  Still mourning, Rocky made it clear that he meant business with his sophomore effort.

"I'm claiming ownership of my legacy. Look at it: At.Long.Last.A$AP. A-L-L-A. Like slang for 'Allah.' It's the return of the god MC. I'm named after Rakim, and I'm finally facing what it means: I was born to do this s**t. And I hope I get to do it for a very long time," Rocky told Billboard.

A.L.L.A, which is executive produced by Danger Mouse and Juicy J, is set to drop on May 12.

There's also new Snoop Dogg coming the same day. He's linked up with Pharrell Williams to drop Bush, an album that features throwback, summery funk, which has sort of been in both artists' lane recently. Bush will be Snoop Dogg's 13th studio album.

Then we have Ciara, who's coming out with Jackie -- the title is named after her mother. The album will probably be a switch up from her prior efforts, as Ciara has entered motherhood and experienced a huge break up since her self-titled 2013 album.

Check out the most notable May releases below.