diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 150261690b..72d7a127c2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,17 @@
+## v2.1.0-rc.0 / 2021-05-20
+
+* [FEATURE] Add support for native TLS #1354
+* [FEATURE] Add wildcard option to metric-labels-allowlist #1403
+* [FEATURE] Add build info metric #1332
+* [CHANGE] Add "uid" label to every pod metric #1304
+* [CHANGE] Add resourceVersion to CronJob metrics #1447
+* [CHANGE] Update go version and dependencies #1474
+* [CHANGE] Bump client-go and friends to v0.21 (Kubernetes v1.21) #1463
+* [CHANGE] Replace deprecated use of ioutil #1458
+* [BUGFIX] Fix builder.Builder WithMetrics signature #1455
+* [BUGFIX] Fix pod-metric missing reasons #1287
+* [BUGFIX] Fix multiListWatch resourceVersion mismatch if watch reconnected #1377
+
 ## v2.0.0 / 2021-04-13
 
 * [CHANGE] Update go version and dependencies #1440
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 537fe917ea..1ea63ac48b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -68,9 +68,9 @@ At most, 5 kube-state-metrics and 5 [kubernetes releases](https://github.com/kub
 
 | kube-state-metrics | **Kubernetes 1.17** |  **Kubernetes 1.18** |  **Kubernetes 1.19** |  **Kubernetes 1.20** |  **Kubernetes 1.21** |
 |--------------------|---------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
-| **v1.8.0**         |         -           |          -           |          -           |          -           |          -           |
 | **v1.9.8**         |         -           |          -           |          -           |          -           |          -           |
 | **v2.0.0**         |         -/✓         |          -/✓         |          ✓           |          ✓           |          -/✓         |
+| **v2.1.0-rc.0**    |         -/✓         |          -/✓         |          ✓           |          ✓           |          ✓           |
 | **master**         |         -/✓         |          -/✓         |          ✓           |          ✓           |          ✓           |
 - `✓` Fully supported version range.
 - `-` The Kubernetes cluster has features the client-go library can't use (additional API objects, deprecated APIs, etc).
diff --git a/VERSION b/VERSION
index 227cea2156..c612927e4c 100644
--- a/VERSION
+++ b/VERSION
@@ -1 +1 @@
-2.0.0
+2.1.0-rc.0
diff --git a/docs/node-metrics.md b/docs/node-metrics.md
index 448e836f41..961beeaef1 100644
--- a/docs/node-metrics.md
+++ b/docs/node-metrics.md
@@ -11,5 +11,3 @@
 | kube_node_status_allocatable | Gauge | The allocatable for different resources of a node that are available for scheduling | byte |`node`=&lt;node-address&gt; <br> `resource`=&lt;resource-name&gt; <br> `unit`=&lt;resource-unit&gt;| STABLE |
 | kube_node_status_condition | Gauge | The condition of a cluster node | |`node`=&lt;node-address&gt; <br> `condition`=&lt;node-condition&gt; <br> `status`=&lt;true\|false\|unknown&gt; | STABLE |
 | kube_node_created | Gauge | Unix creation timestamp | seconds |`node`=&lt;node-address&gt;| STABLE |
-
-
diff --git a/examples/autosharding/cluster-role-binding.yaml b/examples/autosharding/cluster-role-binding.yaml
index 8768b9f6c2..49a0f7b0b3 100644
--- a/examples/autosharding/cluster-role-binding.yaml
+++ b/examples/autosharding/cluster-role-binding.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: ClusterRoleBinding
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
 roleRef:
   apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
diff --git a/examples/autosharding/cluster-role.yaml b/examples/autosharding/cluster-role.yaml
index c4e7536aa2..2ebf8cf5b2 100644
--- a/examples/autosharding/cluster-role.yaml
+++ b/examples/autosharding/cluster-role.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: ClusterRole
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
 rules:
 - apiGroups:
diff --git a/examples/autosharding/role-binding.yaml b/examples/autosharding/role-binding.yaml
index 2d6e7b12b7..f27d4beb1e 100644
--- a/examples/autosharding/role-binding.yaml
+++ b/examples/autosharding/role-binding.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: RoleBinding
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
   namespace: kube-system
 roleRef:
diff --git a/examples/autosharding/role.yaml b/examples/autosharding/role.yaml
index e4483fd6a2..aadda3f23f 100644
--- a/examples/autosharding/role.yaml
+++ b/examples/autosharding/role.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: Role
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
   namespace: kube-system
 rules:
diff --git a/examples/autosharding/service-account.yaml b/examples/autosharding/service-account.yaml
index 34004276de..b8b1edfd45 100644
--- a/examples/autosharding/service-account.yaml
+++ b/examples/autosharding/service-account.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@ kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
   namespace: kube-system
diff --git a/examples/autosharding/service.yaml b/examples/autosharding/service.yaml
index 589d2977be..a1e94dbcf2 100644
--- a/examples/autosharding/service.yaml
+++ b/examples/autosharding/service.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: Service
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
   namespace: kube-system
 spec:
diff --git a/examples/autosharding/statefulset.yaml b/examples/autosharding/statefulset.yaml
index 463d7e2ded..0fbcfeef86 100644
--- a/examples/autosharding/statefulset.yaml
+++ b/examples/autosharding/statefulset.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: StatefulSet
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
   namespace: kube-system
 spec:
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-        app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+        app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
     spec:
       containers:
       - args:
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ spec:
           valueFrom:
             fieldRef:
               fieldPath: metadata.namespace
-        image: k8s.gcr.io/kube-state-metrics/kube-state-metrics:v2.0.0
+        image: k8s.gcr.io/kube-state-metrics/kube-state-metrics:v2.1.0-rc.0
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
             path: /healthz
diff --git a/examples/standard/cluster-role-binding.yaml b/examples/standard/cluster-role-binding.yaml
index 8768b9f6c2..49a0f7b0b3 100644
--- a/examples/standard/cluster-role-binding.yaml
+++ b/examples/standard/cluster-role-binding.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: ClusterRoleBinding
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
 roleRef:
   apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
diff --git a/examples/standard/cluster-role.yaml b/examples/standard/cluster-role.yaml
index c4e7536aa2..2ebf8cf5b2 100644
--- a/examples/standard/cluster-role.yaml
+++ b/examples/standard/cluster-role.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: ClusterRole
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
 rules:
 - apiGroups:
diff --git a/examples/standard/deployment.yaml b/examples/standard/deployment.yaml
index f7ead25689..e88f4c4d58 100644
--- a/examples/standard/deployment.yaml
+++ b/examples/standard/deployment.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: Deployment
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
   namespace: kube-system
 spec:
@@ -15,10 +15,10 @@ spec:
     metadata:
       labels:
         app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-        app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+        app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
     spec:
       containers:
-      - image: k8s.gcr.io/kube-state-metrics/kube-state-metrics:v2.0.0
+      - image: k8s.gcr.io/kube-state-metrics/kube-state-metrics:v2.1.0-rc.0
         livenessProbe:
           httpGet:
             path: /healthz
diff --git a/examples/standard/service-account.yaml b/examples/standard/service-account.yaml
index 34004276de..b8b1edfd45 100644
--- a/examples/standard/service-account.yaml
+++ b/examples/standard/service-account.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@ kind: ServiceAccount
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
   namespace: kube-system
diff --git a/examples/standard/service.yaml b/examples/standard/service.yaml
index 589d2977be..a1e94dbcf2 100644
--- a/examples/standard/service.yaml
+++ b/examples/standard/service.yaml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ kind: Service
 metadata:
   labels:
     app.kubernetes.io/name: kube-state-metrics
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.0.0
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: 2.1.0-rc.0
   name: kube-state-metrics
   namespace: kube-system
 spec: