The biggest and best surprises of 2018 music: Cardi B, Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande and more

To some extent, we all knew kinda what to expect from the music world in 2018. Beyonce would continue to reign – which she most certainly did, with her Coachella headlining performance, On The Run II tour with Jay-Z and her surprise new album. Drake would have a big summer, like he has the past few years – and that also came true, with his various singles from his “Scorpion” album ruling the airwaves this summer into fall. And, Kanye West would continue to be unpredictable – which definitely happened, from his roller coaster of political involvement to his musical output, including his seven-song album “Ye” and his surprise hit single “I Love It” with Lil Pump.

It was the other acts this year that kept things interesting, from surprise rising acts to pop stars that released career-best albums or shone even brighter than we expected. Read on for a list of acts that pleasantly surprised us in 2018.

More: Here are USA TODAY’s best albums of 2018

Cardi B

After breaking through last year with “Bodak Yellow,” Cardi B was one of music’s biggest question marks this year, concerning whether she’d be able to follow her hit single with something similar and how she’d continue to build on her success. As it turned out, Cardi fans had nothing to worry about – the rapper more than exceeded expectations with her stacked debut album “Invasion of Privacy,” which charmed critics and spawned a number of successful singles, including “I Like It,” which racked up the kind of numbers to outperform “Bodak Yellow,” a feat that naysayers never would’ve believed last year.

Since the release of “Invasion of Privacy,” she’s remained one of the most visible stars of her genre, contributing one guest feature after another to both hip-hop songs and Spanish-language tracks. All this, and she gave birth to her first child, daughter Kulture, in July.

More: Cardi B’s unapologetic pregnancy deserves to be celebrated

Review: Cardi B is a star on debut album ‘Invasion of Privacy’

Ariana Grande

Let’s start with what wasn’t surprising about Grande this year: that she released one of the year’s best pop albums, “Sweetener,” since anyone who’s been following the singer’s career would know that she’s capable of producing excellent work. What was surprising were Grande’s creative choices, the most interesting of her career, which she continued to pull off even as she survived yet another incredibly rocky summer. Last year, she persevered after the tragic bombings at her Manchester concert, her struggles of that period helping to inspire the material on “Sweetener,” on which she recruited Pharrell Williams to help take her sound in a newer, weirder direction.

Then came this summer’s death of Mac Miller and her breakup with Pete Davidson, which she addressed with her No. 1 single “Thank U, Next,” a song that managed to graciously thank her exes and also serve as her public statement of perseverance. Grande was always one of pop’s most talented stars; in 2018, she emerged as one of its smartest, most fascinating and all-around best.

Review: Ariana Grande’s ‘Sweetener’ reconciles the saddest, happiest events in her life

Lil Wayne

The 2018 release of “Tha Carter V”, the rapper’s endlessly-delayed fifth album, is surprising enough. Even Wayne’s most die-hard fans have to admit that the rapper hasn’t had the strongest few years of output recently, which along with his various health issues fueled speculation that “Tha Carter V” would never see the light of day. But “Tha Carter V” didn’t just see an official release date this year but flourished, debuting at No. 1 and winning over skeptical critics who never thought they’d hear Wayne rap at that level again.

The big talker of the album was “Mona Lisa,” a hip-hop opera condensed into a few minutes of music, featuring Kendrick Lamar playing multiple characters and adopting a series of wild voices, with Wayne holding his own through it all. Even without “Mona Lisa,” “Tha Carter V” is a feat that shows the danger of ever counting him out of the music race.

‘Carter V is Everything!!!’: Twitter completely melts down over Lil Wayne’s new album

Ella Mai

2018 had many breakout stars, but the 24-year-old singer was one of the year’s sweetest surprises, with an underdog story worth rooting for. After a failed audition for “The X Factor” and an EP that didn’t make waves, Mai began posting clips of her singing to Instagram, where she was discovered by megaproducer DJ Mustard, who signed her to his label and released a series of EPs in 2016 and 2017. Her breakthrough single, “Boo’d Up,” came out in February 2017 but steadily gained traction and finally took hold in early 2018, where it became one the year’s most memorable songs of the summer. Follow-up single “Trip” came next, as did her self-titled debut album in October and an “SNL” performance in November, with her success showing few signs of slowing down for now.

‘Boo’d Up’: How newcomer Ella Mai made the most swoon-worthy love song of the summer

Review: The five best songs from Ella Mai’s new album that aren’t ‘Boo’d Up’ or ‘Trip’

Taylor Swift

She finally did it. Taylor Swift, famous for keeping politics out of her well-curated public image, finally broke her silence in October to endorse Democratic political candidates in Tennessee during the 2018 midterms. It was a move that many Swift fans had been hoping for – and one that some of her conservative followers didn’t exactly appreciate. Yet detractors aside, her public statement was the right move for a star who’s vocally supported women’s issues and LGBTQ rights, proving that she’s willing to work toward advancing those causes by publicly supporting candidates who’ve backed those policies.

And ending her year with news of her new record label deal with Universal Music Group, in which she lobbied for the label’s artists to receive fair compensation should UMG sell its Spotify shares, gave Swift fans further faith that their idol is fighting the good fight.

More: Taylor Swift’s political statement is a redeeming moment for the star

Read on: Taylor Swift reveals she signed a new record deal and used it to boost other artists’ pay