In the world of surprise album drops, it's often hard to nail down a release date for new projects, especially with stars as big as say, Rihanna. It's still possible to speculate, though, so here's a list of 10 musicians who could release an album this year.

1. Ariana Grande

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Ariana's last album was 2016's Dangerous Woman, but she's had a singularly awful time since then — her May 2017 concert in Manchester, England was the site of a terrorist attack that killed 23 people. She hosted a benefit concert less than a month later, and has since been in the studio. At the end of 2017, she posted a snippet of new music on Instagram with the caption, "See you next year," and according to People, she recently previewed new songs for her label. Start saving up for those VIP packages, Arianators.

2. Kanye West

Back in February 2016, just a couple of weeks after releasing The Life of Pablo, Kanye tweeted that his next album would be titled Turbo Grafx 16. Occasional photos of him in the studio appeared on social media, as did reports that he was working with Kid Cudi and Migos, but as yet no album has materialized. More recently, Talib Kweli posted a photo of Kanye (above) with the caption, "2018 is looking good," leading to more speculation that Turbo Grafx 16 is happening soon. In any case, it's time — Kanye's longest break between albums so far is the one between Yeezus and Pablo, which lasted a little more than two and a half years.

3. Nicki Minaj

Nicki stays so busy between albums that it's sometimes to hard remember that she hasn't put out her own full-length in a while, but it's been more than three years since she released The Pinkprint. Last September she told Dazed that she's been "swamped" working on the next chapter of her career. "I've made it my business with this album to not even put a date or a deadline on it," she said. "I can't say if I'm 50 percent, 80 percent, or 10 percent done, because I don't know. Tomorrow, I might walk into the studio and decide that I don't like anything I've done in the last six months." She's also been uncharacteristically silent on Twitter and Instagram since December, which could mean that she's (1) working hard in the studio and/or (2) prepping some sort of surprise Lemonade-style rollout.

4. Cardi B

Cardi B became a household name in 2017 and dominated the charts with "Bodak Yellow," so it's no surprise that her fans are eager for her to release her debut studio album. She's given plenty of quotes about it, but none of them are super helpful if you're trying to pin down a release date. In November: "I'm going to take my time till it's right." In February: "I will drop my album soon." Just this week, replying to an Instagram comment that said she was "waiting" for Nicki to release hers first: "Imma release my shit very, very soon." Constant vigilance it is, then!

5. Zayn

Hard to believe that's been almost three years since Zayn left One Direction and struck out on his own, but it's true. It's also been almost two years since he released Mind of Mine, and given last year's release of "Dusk Till Dawn," it seems possible that #Z2 is imminent. "This record, I've kind of finalized it," he told The Fader in September. "I'm looking for pretty soon, man, next couple months [for release]. I don't know. That's the beauty of the word 'soon' — it's open to interpretation." Such a tease.

6. Louis Tomlinson

Though Louis has released a handful of singles and collaborations in the past year, details on what must be shaping up to be a full-length album are still scarce. In January, he tweeted, "Getting in the studio again this month, let's get this album finished!" but no release date has been announced. Previously, he'd said that it was taking so long because he's a "perfectionist" and wanted to make sure it was as good as it can possibly be, which makes sense given that it's the first one with only his name on it.

7. Liam Payne

Like his fellow One Directioner Louis, Liam has released a few singles but hasn't yet announced a title or release date for a full-length. He claims this is his fault, and said in December that it was almost done until he decided to "push the boundaries." He said he'd met some new collaborators and was working on something with more of a ballad feel, and if you've heard "Bedroom Floor" and "Strip Down," then you know that is indeed a change of direction.

8. Tinashe

Tinashe's Joyride seems to be stuck in label hell; it's been in limbo since November 2015 and keeps getting pushed back. She hasn't stopped releasing music, though, and earlier this year released "No Drama" with Offset and "Faded Love" with Future. In February, she said that the album is done and being mixed, so maybe an official release is finally happening.

9. Selena Gomez

Between having a kidney transplant and getting back together (or maybe breaking up again) with her notoriously fickle ex, Selena's been going through it, so you can forgive her for not releasing an album since 2015's Revival. That said, the time is now, and her string of recent singles — "Bad Liar," "Wolves," "Fetish" — indicate that she has been spending quite a bit of time in the studio. In October, she said she has two albums worth of material ready, and in December, she posted an Instagram of herself in the studio with a caption saying that's where she'd be till this year (above). In an interview with Zane Lowe, she said it would be finished "very soon," but in February she told Harper's Bazaar that she's still not "confident" about where the music is at right now. At least you can obsess over Jelena photos while you wait.

10. Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae's 2015 album E•MO•TION remains a masterpiece as does the follow-up EP E•MO•TION Side B, but it's been a while and the world could really use another hit of her effervescence. Back when she was giving interviews about E•MO•TION she said that she'd written more than 200 songs for it, so lord only knows how many she's got in the can for the follow-up. She's said that she plans to go in a "disco" direction for her next album, and in February she changed her Instagram bio to something that fans believe might be new song lyrics.

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From: Cosmopolitan US