2026 Music Predictions

 

Welcome to jgtv, today to kick off 2026, I want to do something that I’ve never done before and that’s is I’m going to make some prediction on what trends will occur in 2026. This was originally going to be in video format, however, time constraints prevented me from doing that. So I'm making this a blogger exclusive. This may or may not become a common thing for 2026, but again we have to wait and see what this year brings. There’s a lot that could happen but I hope things go better this year than last year.

2026 Predictions

1.    R&B will continue it’s quality

Despite 2025 many musical faults, R&B was one of biggest highlights. We saw songs like MUTT, Folded, Man I Need reach the top 10 I believe I’ve been scratching the surface. Also Mariah the Scientist, Chris Brown (for better and worse) also have good 2025 I honestly don’t know what caused the spikes. I think R&B is going to carry over to 2026, one of the big reason is the fall emergence of Olivia Dean. She released her album Art of Loving in September and it’s one of the best of 2025. Man I Need already seen the top 4, but So Easy reached the top 20 and Couple Minutes, Nice to Each Other, Let the One You Love all made appearances on Billboard. Who do I think going to breakthrough? We’ll see but R&B hopefully continue it’s momentum in 2026.  

2.    R&B/Hip-Hop collabs will have a resurgence

I’ll say this Rap had a good year in the underground, not much can be said about the mainstream. Rap for the first time in over 30 years did not reach the top 40 at some point. Everyone was freaking out and panicking that rap was dead, rap is done, rap is on  in life support. But in my opinion, I think to help save rap, they (rappers) need to start teaming up with the R&B singers. You saw "luther" become one of the top songs of 2025 and I already mentioned that R&B is going to continue it’s momentum but they need to carry hip hop to help it 2025.

3.    KATSEYE will take the next step

We saw KATSEYE breakthrough in 2025, whether or not made Gnarly bad on purpose to gain attention can be debate but their next single Gabriela was a radio breakthrough giving their first top 40, with the group being nominated for two Grammys. Because of this, KATSEYE will take that next step to conquer the world. On what that’s tricky. It could be that they’ll get a full length album, that’s possible. They could go on a singles run and make waves worldwide. They could continue doing what they were doing in 2025. KATSEYE could go in any direction, they have great personalities. I do think the music needs to improve if they want to keep this up.

4.    An unknown girl group is going to breakthrough on the Hot 100

KATSEYE might’ve started something with the girl groups because I feel like these girl groups are popping up my feeds from out of nowhere. XO, XG, Siren Society, 3Quency, Girlset, I could me missing some but Camryn did a video highlight the girl group boom, ya'll should check it out  but I think one of these groups are going to find a way and chart. I do want to highlight GIRSET as their song “Little Miss” has been a guilty bop.

5.    Harry Styles, Bruno Mars or Jhene Aiko will make a comeback

This might be the biggest prediction in 2026. One of these threes is going to make a comeback because they are past due for a comeback. From Harry, the last time his name was mentioned was the Grammy stage when he won Album of the Year for Harry’s House (somehow). He’s been quiet ever since outside of tribute post to Liam and becoming a marathon runner. For Bruno, there have been hints that he’s making a comeback as early as 2024. He rode the collab train in 2024-25 with Die With a Smile and APT being global smashes, and Fat Juicy and Wet being not. His last project was the Silk Sonic movement that was a critical darling that had me wanting more. His comeback is highly anticipated one and will do numbers if it occurs. Finally Jhene Aiko, she hasn’t dropped an album since 2020 Chilombo which was a critical darling but has been remote quiet. Granted she has been dealing with personal issues. While she has been away, R&B has been seeing a rise in the decade thanks to SZA. A Jhene comeback would be great for R&B. But one of these three going to have a massive comeback and it could take over 2026.

6.    Country will have a plateau

Country has had a run from 2021-2025. Was it healthy for mainstream? Debatable but I do think it has a place in the mainstream. But I think we reached it’s limits with country music in 2025. One of the biggest reasons why I think country is going to plateau (not quite fall off a cliff) is Billboard. They are changing it’s formula that going to emphasize streaming and country is super radio dependent. Also country has been kind of slipping a bit. Morgan Wallen fatigue might be the main reason for country dipping. Hell this formula might not change a thing but streaming is going to have a bigger weight in 2026. Rap might be a benefactor but country is the genre mostly affected by this change.

7.    Taylor will drop her thirteenth album on December 11, 2026

This originally said this was going to happen on December 13 but I thought that December 13 was on a Friday but that is on a Sunday, but what I am trying to say is that Taylor is going to drop album 13 sooner rather than later. This is a huge album for her, if you know anything the number 13 is an important number for her. Given that Showgirl album wasn’t well received despite massive sales and records being broken. I think if Taylor cares about quality, she’ll drop album 13 then go into true hiding with Kelce. All in all, Taylor needs a rebound but to everyone saying Showgirl album is a bad album, keep that same energy when the VMAs and Grammys 2027 take place. All I'll say.


That concludes my predictions that I want to see in 2026. Tell me what you think in the comments below. Please subscribe to my YouTube Channel. Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time. 

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