Before releasing an album, a musician must go through a laundry-list of exhausting tasks, including shooting music videos, promoting singles, announcing album cover artwork, agreeing to interviews, and many more things. Traditionally, it's the only way they could build up hype around their upcoming album, and in return, hopefully, the album would do well on the market.
However, these popular superstars have proved to be the exceptions. Their recognizable names and the quality of their records speak for themselves, as they do not need any other type of promo to market themselves. From Eminem and J. Cole, to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, here are the top ten musicians who surprise-released albums.
10 Eminem - 'Kamikaze' and 'Music To Be Murdered By'
Following the public's lackluster reception of Revival (2017), Eminem believed the best way to do things was to surprise-release his album so no one could form their opinions before the tracklist dropped. The result is Kamikaze, 45-minutes of braggadocio rhymes where Em verbally attacks his nemeses, just like the good old times.
Furthermore, the Rap God followed the same trajectory with the album Music to Be Murdered By and its Side B companion.
9 Beyoncé - 'Beyoncé' and 'Lemonade'
Who needs promotional coverage when you're Beyoncé Knowles? The powerhouse singer shook the world in 2013 when her self-titled album was a surprise release. The album was so good Rolling Stone listed it on its 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Furthermore, Queen B sought the same strategy with Lemonade, although it wasn't really that much of a "surprise" because a minute-long teaser was officially released on HBO a week prior to the album drop.
8 Taylor Swift - 'Folklore' and 'Evermore'
After years of experimenting with pop tunes, Taylor Swift made a wholesome comeback to her dreamy-pop and rock-country roots with her eighth studio album Folklore. With this album, which was created during COVID-19 quarantine, Swift scored a Guinness World Record for the biggest opening day on Spotify for a female artist. She later released its companion, Evermore, in late 2020.
7 Hayley Williams - 'Flowers For Vases'
Hayley Williams of the alt-rock band Paramore released her sophomore album, Flowers for Vases / Descansos, in February 2021.
"The meaning of the album as a whole is maybe entirely different from diving into each song in particular. For me, there’s no better way to tackle these individual subjects other than holistically," the singer says in a press release.
She also released her debut album as a solo artist, Petals for Armor, last year amidst Paramore's hiatus as a band.
6 Drake - 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late'
Canadian rapper Drake is undoubtedly one of the biggest cash-pulling rap stars out there. It's not surprising to know that his 2015 surprise mixtape, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, was a massive success with almost 500,000 copies of first-week sales. With this mixtape, the God's Plan rapper broke Spotify's first-week streaming record with over 17.3 million streams in the first three days.
5 Radiohead - 'In Rainbows'
This list wouldn't be complete without mentioning Radiohead's 2007 album In Rainbows. The English rock band is often cited as the first act to ever surprise release an album. It was also a self-published record where fans were free to choose and pay for whichever track they liked from the album instead of purchasing it as a whole.
4 Frank Ocean - 'Channel Orange'
While it wasn't exactly a surprise album, Frank Ocean's Channel Orange is worth mentioning on this list. The album was released a week before its official release date. At that time, the R&B singer was inspired by Jay-Z and Kanye West's decision to advertise a false release dates for their collaboration Watch the Throne.
3 Miley Cyrus - 'Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz'
Miley Cyrus became a controversial figure after she shed the sweet persona of Disney's Hannah Montana. Her fifth album, Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, was the testament her new outlook on life. In this record, she embraces her youthful exuberance filled with bad decisions. The singer released the album independently, as she announced while hosting the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards.
2 U2 - 'Songs Of Innocence'
Although U2 hadn't been as popular in the 2010s as they were in the 2000s or the 1990s, the Irish rock band still managed to pull in crazy numbers with their 2014 surprise record, Songs of Innocence. At that time, the band teamed up with Apple to exclusively release the album for 500 million iTunes customers, which Apple CEO Tim Cook hailed as "the largest album release of all time."
1 J. Cole - 'KOD'
Lastly, there's J. Cole's magnum opus Kids on Drugs (KOD). In April 2018, the rapper took to social media to announce a surprise listening session for the album, and revealed the track listing a couple of days later. The album itself explores heavy themes of substance use, depression, greed, gang culture, and addiction.