5 Artists Whose Second Albums Were Better Than Their First

“The sophomore slump” or “sophomore curse” refers to artists who have a killer first album, but a second album that doesn’t quite meet the hype.

While the curse is super common, it doesn’t fall upon quite everybody. Clearly the second time’s the charm with these ladies. Here are five artists whose second albums were just as good or better than the first.

1. Adele

Even though Adele is now a household name, many people in the US had never heard of her until October 2010 when “Rolling in the Deep” bum rushed our lives. Before her Grammy Award winning album 21, there was 19, which actually debuted at #1 in the UK back in 2008. 19 gave us goodies like “Chasing Pavements” and “Make You Feel My Love” but 21 is what catapulted Adele to super stardom. “Turning Tables,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” along with the massively popular “Someone Like You” are now considered to be Adele classics…as well as karaoke staples.

2. Little Mix

Little Mix broke onto the scene in 2012 after winning the UK version of the X Factor. Their first album, DNA, was fresh and r&b-esque; it even featured hip hop legends Missy Elliott and T-Boz from TLC, but their second album played around with sounds from this millennium. These women channeled their English girl group ancestors (the Spice Girls, obvi) and honed in on the girl power. Singing about kicking ass and taking names mixed with the perfect amount of self-reflection and vulnerability is the masterpiece known as Salute.

3. Tinashe

I’m sure we’ve all spent our fair share of time dancing to Tinashe’s “2 On” and “All Hands on Deck” from her first album Aquarius, but with her second album, Nightride, she dove deeper into her introspective side. It’s one thing for an artist to create a banger, but it’s another to see them open up about things that make them human.  It also seems as if Tinashe took a few pointers from the Knowles sisters and attempted to make Nightride a cohesive piece of work, telling a story.

READ ALSO: Beyonce Just Announced She’s Pregnant With Twins

4. Carly Rae Jepsen

Carly Rae Jepsen blew up overnight with her song “Call Me Maybe,” and we thank God for it everyday. Her first album, Kiss, demonstrated that she can write one hell of a pop song–her skills rival Taylor Swift’s tbh. But her second album, EMOTION, shows pop in a different, more mature way. It was a hidden gem that was quietly released in June 2015. This album has an 80’s theme so heavy it honesty makes us wants to pull out our scrunchies and fanny pack.

5. TLC

TLC debuted in 1992 with their album Ooooooohhh… On the TLC Tip and kept strong up until the death of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes in 2002. Their first album was a mixture of a lot of different sounds at the time, actually being classified as the genre New Jack Swing. As ground breaking as that was, when CrazySexyCool was released, TLC had hit their sweet spot. It was a coming of age record that spoke true to life and sexuality. Even though it had hip hop, r&b, and pop elements; they kept to the same tradition of incorporating different sounds, which lead the women to be among the few artists to have a Diamond Certified album. 

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