Dan Hughes, better known to the world as Radikal Hughes, released one of the most impactful albums in Christian Music History at the end of 2015 called Radikal Nation, and then in 2016, Hughes followed up that historic album by disappearing completely from the national music spotlight. His abrupt and unexpected five-year sabbatical from the music industry, have left many within the industry scratching their heads wondering what triggered this abrupt disappearance to occur from Radikal Hughes.
It should be mentioned, that before taking his unexpected sabbatical, Radikal Nation was considered by many within the industry as stylistically ahead of its time and considered a prolific album that was inundated with very high profile collaborations, such as two-time Grammy-nominated duo GRITS, Grammy-nominated artist Da’ T.R.U.T.H., Grammy-nominated producer Rey King, and many other high profile and popular artists like Christon Gray, Dee -1, Seckond Chaynce, Bizzle, Sevin, and Datin.
Despite the numerous years of silence and speculation, Hughes has never stopped being active in his ministry efforts. After witnessing the massive impact that his album was having within the lives of millions of listeners worldwide, Hughes quickly turned his attention to find ways where he could mentor his fans in an organic way and create a space where true relationships could transpire. Hughes wasted zero time and started engaging with his fans in a very transparent way, by streaming live daily on apps such as Facebook and Periscope to speak into his listeners’ lives. These live streams created phenomenal engagement between the fans and the artist, which organically developed into an online global community of believers which is now famously known as Radikal Nation.
With the incredible impact that this Radikal Nation Movement has made throughout the world today, along with the massive amount of support Hughes receives from them, music insiders have speculated that now, might very well be the perfect time for Radikal Hughes to come out from amongst the shadows, and release what would guarantee to be his most celebrated album of his career yet. With the world experiencing multiple global crises, there have been numerous rumors as of late swirling, that Radikal Hughes has already been contemplating making a return to the music scene to release what would be his third album of his decorated career.
With two albums under his belt, and a plethora of perspectives, tragedies, and life experience, some closely connected to the rapper have already hinted that another album may certainly already be in the works, and could very realistically be released as early as the end of 2021, or even the early part of 2022. No official album title was mentioned, however, the album is presumed to be named something very controversial, due to it rumored to focus on both religious and controversial political issues such as, cancel culture, social justice, free speech, organized religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, economic equality, immigration rights, women’s rights, and so much more.
When Radikal was asked a direct question by a fan in a recent live stream if Hughes would ever record music again, Hughes grinned and smiled and said “you never know.” Hughes went on to say that he still had at least one more album in him. “If I feel that me returning to music helps me make a bigger impact on society then I’ll do it. What I don’t want to do is just make music to make music. I’m just not in that place anymore, I’m not trying to be liked, or be famous, if I do this thing and make another album, then I’m going all out to bring to light some things that nobody wants to talk about. I would be doing it to massively impact and influence culture. What I can tell you is that this world is a mess, the church is a mess, and the real global pandemic that we are facing as humanity isn’t just a Covid-19 virus, but it’s way more than that, it’s a complete identity crisis of humanity. If I do come back and make this third album, which I may possibly do, because I do feel like I have one more album inside of me, then I can promise you that it will be the most controversial album Christian Music has ever heard and I’m okay with that.”
It should also be mentioned that instead of collaborating with strictly American artists like Hughes has done primarily in the past, this time around Hughes is rumored to seek to collaborate with some of the rising international talents, to further expand his reach and impact. It also has been rumored that Hughes is considering releasing his next album in both Spanish and English, as Radikal’s music and fanbase have spread all over Latin America since his Radikal Nation release.
If Hughes does make a return to the mic at the ripe age of 35, Radikal Hughes would still undoubtedly be in the prime of his career to deliver upon that culture-shifting album that he promised. Returning to the music scene to release his third national release, would unequivocally be met with high expectations, much anticipation, and of course no lack of controversy.
Learn more about Radikal Hughes on his official website or listen to his music on Spotify and Apple Music. Also, be sure to connect with Radikal Hughes on social media, and follow him on his Instagram and subscribe to his YouTube Channel.
