Feb 29, 2016

 

Jan 18, 2016

​

So... 2010, I know Kendrick released music earlier in previous years, however I'm starting off here at the start of a new decade. I didn't know who Kendrick Lamar was in 2010 and didn't start exploring his music that year until years after I got to him. This was the year that he released his mixtape Overly Dedicated on September 14th and also released Kendrick Lamar EP on the last day of 2009.

Kendrick Lamar has came along way from where he was in 2010 to where he is today with a significant increasing amount of popularity which means that not everyone would be familiar with his Overly Dedicated days. OD had many unsung great tracks on it along with a few highly praised tracks such as The Heart Pt.2, arguably one of his greatest songs on that mixtape. A couple of my other personal favourite songs off this mixtape are Opposites Attract, Growing Apart and PP 1.5.

Commercially this year was far from Kendrick's best year, but Kendrick built a foundation in 2010 that gradually grew into bigger and bigger things.

​

This was the year that I discovered the great Kendrick Lamar, I was casually listening to Game's new 'The RED Album' where I came across the song The City featuring Kendrick. Back then I didn't listen to any lesser known rappers at all, but Kendrick's verse intrigued me, he killed it, I had to find more of him. 2011 was also the year he released his debut independent album Section.80. The forums name sake.

Section.80 displayed significant improvement in his music, he whole album was brilliant. Creating songs like A.D.H.D, Ronald Regan Era, The Spiteful Chant and HiiPower, this was the birth of sensational artist. The album didn't quite kick off, but it was later strongly appreciated after future success. Kendrick Lamar also noticeably appeared in Drakes Take Care album with his own interlude Buried Alive. Drizzy does have an eye for talent.

Again, Kendrick wasn't one of the biggest rappers in 2011 but the music he released was quality and is now greatly appreciated.

​

We all know what happened this year, 2012 is a year that Kendrick Lamar would never forget. Upon releasing Section.80 and other songs in the previous year, Kendrick started to gain some popularity which attracted him to some major record labels. And finally picked one, joining a childhood hero in Dr. Dre and signed with Aftermath Entertainment. 2012 was a huge year for Kendrick Lamar, releasing an absolute masterpiece named Good Kid, M.A.A.D City.

GKMC took the whole world by storm. Today this album is easily considered a classic. It's hard to pick standout songs on this album because it's collectively a brilliant cohesive album. But it all started with the release of the single Swimming Pools, one of his greatest commercial singles to date. It lead onto many other great songs including M.A.A.D City, Backseat Freestyle and one of my personal favourites ever: Money Trees. The album didn't quite get the recognition it deserved at a certain award show, but that didn't seem to faze Kendrick in the slightest. Kendrick also featured in a platinum selling single f---in Problems with ASAP Rocky.

This year is in strong contention as Kendrick's best year. It's certainly top 2 and will compete for number 1. Popularity wise, this was probably Kendrick Lamar's greatest year of his career as of yet.

​

After the success of Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, Kendrick was one of the most popular Hip-Hop artists in 2013. While he didn't release a new project in this year, he lived off the success of his last album, releasing singles such as Poetic Justice with Drake and b---- Don't k--- My Vibe. We still saw new music by Kendrick, keeping up with a decent year by featuring on a lot of other songs.

We all knew the nickname King Kendrick and 2013 was the year that Kendrick let everyone know that he knew that he is the mighty King Kendrick. Signing off as the King on a verse in a cypher at the BET Awards he also featured on a loose Big Sean track called Control. That verse got the whole community talking as he name dropped all of the hottest rappers out with brilliantly arrogant lines. Other noticeable features were Love Game off the latest Eminem album, Collard Greens with Schoolboy Q and Forbidden Fruit with J Cole.

Kendrick Lamar still remained hot in 2013 without releasing a project. He was still commercially on top of the game and didn't quite disappoint any of his fans that year.

​

Kendrick took a little break this year and a deserving one as well, even though TDE said at the start of the year that we will see an album from every TDE artists including Kendrick. Instead Kendrick traveled around South Africa learning important values in life. He was also cooking up something really special that we saw in the preceding year. But of course he did feed us a little with a single and a few features, but there was nothing that significant from Kendrick this year.

Towards the end of the year, Kendrick was getting ready for his upcoming album. While he didn't release it that year, he gave us a single off it, that was later changed. The single was i. This spiked some controversy, not many people were interested in the direction this song was going towards the album. I thought it was a solid track, always have. Kendrick featured in a remix of the Imagine Dragons song Radioactive. I didn't hear this song until last year. It was one of those songs where he spazzes out. Killed it.

Quiet year for Kendrick Lamar, he decided to take a little break from music this year, he did help fellow TDE artists with their projects but nothing else that noticeable.

​

Holy s---, 2015... Have we ever seen a Hip-Hop artist get us much critical praise as Kendrick did this year? Kendrick certainly went in this year. The much anticipated second studio album with Aftermath finally approached us. The subject matter and sound of the album split a lot of different opinions among fans and listeners, but it was a very personal album to Kendrick, his fans all appreciate that.

To p---- A Butterfly started with the song The Blacker The Berry, this was a very emotional song, you can feel Kendrick's anger from it. TPAB contained a lot of brilliant songs that were highly praised my many critics. One of them being King Kunta, leaked by our very own Luke. Another single was Alright which might go very well in the upcoming Grammy Awards. Kendrick had also featured in the very surprising Dr. Dre album, where he arguably had the best guest verse of the year with Deep Water.

Section Eighty voted Kendrick Lamar as the 'Artist of the Year' in 2015, he obviously had a very successful year, but was it his best?

I'll let you decide S80.

 

Jan 14, 2016

Here is a link to a mix tape similar to unreleased 1 and unreleased 2.




Unreleased 3:
http://www3.zippyshare.com/v/UCHNbJgr/file.html

Spoiler: Mention List

@EmilChristensen @Flacko @Music @KendrickSXN

 

Dec 17, 2015

News about his next album?

 

Nov 19, 2015

Article Source: Complex - http://au.complex.com/music/2015/11...=facebook&utm_medium=social&sr_share=facebook

BYJUSTIN CHARITY



Now that Kendrick Lamar has concluded his recent Kunta's Groove Sessions tour of his latest album, To p---- a Butterfly, it's unclear whether Lamar will ever perform the new black national anthem, "Alright," in a properly huge arena. “This might be the first and last time I perform To p---- a Butterfly,” Lamar told 3,000 fans in Dallas.

While many attendees have raved about Kendrick's limited run of live performances, the rapper has yet to perform To p---- a Butterfly with the backing of the many stellar musicians—including Robert Glasper, Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, and Terrace Martin—who helped Kendrick craft his masterpiece. We reached out to Kendrick Lamar's producer and go-to saxman, Terrace Martin, to find out whether or not Kendrick is serious about never again performing the album in full. We also wanted to hear a musician's take on the broad acclaim for an album that was nigh exclusively crafted for a black audience.

Terrace Martin also explains how D'Angelo's latest album, Black Messiah, profoundly influenced the later TPAB recording sessions, which were defined by "dark energy" and a previously untold loss.



Were you originally supposed to tour with Kendrick for his Kunta’s Groove Sessions?
I think some of us would’ve done it, but they put that tour together fast. I think one day soon, we’ll all get together and play together on stage. Right now, Kendrick is doing his thing, live, and he’s doing a d--- great job.

Have you gotten to see any of his shows?
I saw L.A.

How was that?
Amazing. I was finally seeing these songs come to life.

What was the crowd like?
It was a mixed crowd. All different walks of life. Kids that would listen to Fetty Wap, YG, Ty Dolla $ign, Jay Z. Kids that listen to Sly Stone, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix. Age 18, 21, 25, 34, 37, 43, 46. You felt the love in the room.

You and I once talked about how the record is crafted for a black audience. Why do you think the album translates so well to a mixed crowd?
Kendrick’s album is definitely from the heart, mind, and soul of a young black male speaking to his people. But also, more than pro-black, I believe this album has become pro-human being, pro-everybody. Playing this music for a mixed crowd is simple because we don’t look at it as a mixed crowd. We look at it as our relatives within the art community, where we don’t experience black and white or none of that bs that the police and the government got us going through as black people. Within the art is a place of safety. A place of love, man.

To p---- a Butterfly is beauty within the problems of our culture and our people. It’s a wake-up call. It’s an audiobook to help get the message out to others, including some allies that can help us. We have allies that understand struggle, but sometimes they don’t know we going through this s---. But I will say it again: To p---- a Butterfly is a black album.

I think the album’s importance was apparent before we even knew what to do with the music. I don’t know another album that’s got that sort of reaction out of my generation. What about you?
It took me five years to fully grasp Makaveli [The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory]. When I was in high school, I heard it the first day it came out, and then I didn’t hear it again until way after that. People think music goes through your ears, but really it hits your spirit first, then your ears. With music, I gotta live with it. I gotta throw it in the car, drive to it, talk over it, eat to it, just have it in the background, not even think about it. I have to really live with the music and the artist before I really grasp it. I’m going through that now with Black Messiah.

That album was one of my biggest inspirations when I was producing on To p---- a Butterfly. Black Messiah was the newest, freshest thing that me, Sounwave, Kendrick, and Thundercat felt we could grasp and believe in. We were fans, and yet we felt like we were a part of it. We wanted to coincide with D’Angelo’s energy.



D’Angelo dropped Black Messiah in December. How deep were you guys into recording at that point?
I was in my hotel room in New York City. We had been flown out to do the Colbert Report. It was me, Thundercat, Anna Wise, Bilal. I had been listening to Black Messiah the whole plane ride. But I wasn’t really listening. I was just living with it. Just having it around.

We did the show. We had a ball. After the show, me and Thundercat met with a friend of mine, Megan, at Zinc Bar, a jazz club in New York. It was a Tuesday night. We’re at a jam session playing jazz, jazz, jazz. And all I could think about was that f---ing D’Angelo record. All I could think about was how they mixed it, how his vocals sound, how the singing made me feel, how the love songs were hitting my spirit. It clicked for me that night in New York. I call Sounwave. I say, let’s go back in, let’s add these other layers. We went back to the studio, and that’s when I started renting and buying other keyboards just to—not to sound like D’Angelo, but to pay homage to D’Angelo with certain songs.

Which songs were you recording at that point?
The end of “Lucy” (“For Sale?”). We put some Sly Stone energy in that MFer. Some Buddy Miles, some James Brown. But don’t forget D’Angelo, boy! After that spark, God was in the room every night.

What’s the difference between the blackness of To p---- a Butterflyversus the blackness of, say, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late? Drake’s sound is built upon Jodeci, Timbaland, Aaliyah, and that’s all black music, too.
It’s all black. I think there’s a small, but huge, difference. Kendrick and Drake are both excellent artists, both amazing, both gifted, both anointed, both prolific—they’re both great.

I need the music to tell me a story just like I need the lyrics to tell me a story. With Drake, musically, it’s hard for me to believe what he says over that particular bed of music because his music doesn’t really breathe. It loops a lot. Which is beautiful, I love it, it’s perfectly fine. But musically, it doesn’t tell me a story that adds another level to the lyricism. I believe that everything as a whole needs to be great, not just the words. That doesn’t mean you have to play jazz or blues, or that you have to add a saxophone. It just means I want more dynamism, musically, because life is dynamic.

I just listened to "Mortal Man," for the first time since it came out, two days ago. I started having flashback to the sessions. Kamasi Washington did the strings arrangement for "Mortal Man." I did the horn. In the L.A. music community—me, Thundercat, Kamasi, Ronald Bruner, Ryan Porter, Brandon Coleman, Taylor Graves, Cameron Graves, Miles Mosley—a very special friend of ours died. A guy who you’d have been hearing about now. He would’ve been on Kendrick’s record, but our friend committed suicide. He was the best saxophone player you’ve ever f---ing heard in Los Angeles, California. He played alto sax. He was our dear friend, Zane Musa.

The day we did the strings for “Mortal Man,” there was a silent, thick energy of loss. Our friend was one of the best saxophone players in the world, and he committed suicide. This album is deeper than what MFers know. There was a dark energy in that studio, we were at Chapman Studios. We kept running out, crying, coming back in. When I was writing the arrangement on the piano, we got so emotional. And I’d hear a chord that was wrong. To me, it was wrong. It was wrong, man! I didn’t even correct it. I didn’t even listen to it again until after we mixed it. When I listen to "Mortal Man" now, it did something to my heart to remind me of my friend. And that was so right. Something so wrong ended up so right when I gave it time to just breathe. This whole record is those experiences. See what I’m saying?

Whoever is trying to analyze it from a pure analytical way, they’ve already lost. But we need critics. We love critics. We keep y’all going, y’all keep us going. When the record companies didn’t really f--- with our kind of music, the blogs and the critics did.

Who wrote the article that caused a big fuss recently?

I wrote the Complex article, and then...
—wait—Justin, did you write that Complex article that caused a big fuss?!

Correct.
You wrote the one?

Yes.
Ha-ha! I love it! Your next article gotta be crazy.

Some people loved the essay. Some readers resented it. Some readers interpreted it as a vendetta against jazz. What did you think?
I’m glad I didn’t know you wrote it. I thought: It’s touched something for this person to even say all of this. That’s all I care about. That’s what it’s supposed to do. It’s a conversation piece.

Did you take the essay as disrespect?
Uh, no. We love that s---. We think everybody lies. We think everybody soft. That album is supposed to stir up how people feel. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. You just gotta be careful as a writer. With that whole crowd that worked on To p---- a Butterfly, we’re all intellect. We all read. We read everything.

What that article did was open up To p---- a Butterfly to the haters. Which was beautiful. I love that. It’s just who it brought out that had me like, "Aw, OK, these d-ck-riding a---, ignorant-a---, wannabe, IQ-of-a-pigeon, fake music MFers. They gotta drink more orange juice and read the Bible, and leave us the f--- alone."

Kendrick has talked about possibly not performing songs from To p---- a Butterfly after he finishes the run of Kunta’s Groove Sessions. Why?
We didn’t do that album for popular culture. We did that album for people who have no way out. We did that album for people who can’t even afford to go to the shows. We did an album for people who need hope. You don’t prostitute that.

People are taking it as a sign that Kendrick is going to start rolling out a new album sooner than we might’ve expected. What new stuff are you working on with him?
We’re not working. We’re just studying. Playing Sly Stone records, Miles Davis, and eating a lot of vegetables.

Is that a euphemism?
No, for real. And praying for a better day. We’re chilling.

 

Nov 12, 2015

Hey,

I'm a musician in a rock band who recently (1-2 years) got into hip hop, and I got very curious about the process behind making an hip hop album. Particularly the complex ones, such as Kendrick's 'To p---- a Butterfly'.

In rock the process is usually quite straightforward - Songwriter writes songs, plays it to bandmates, they rehearse and come up with an arrangement and their parts (sometimes with a producer), than record it, sometimes adding more parts in the studio.

However, I don't quite see the hip hip equivalent. TPAB is such a complex album, with so many precise musical moments, I'm just wondering who's the mastermind here. (I'm using TPAB as an example but it really applies to any album that's more than rap+beat).

I assume it begins with Kendrick writing at home. Does he only writes lyrics? Does he come up with melodies, arrangement ideas as well?

There's could be 10 writers for each song, 'Blacker the Berry' has 8 writers and 3 producers... how does it work? Kendrick writes the basic and a lot of people cowrite? I thought that's those are his personal lyrics...

Each song is produced by someone else - who decides who does which song? based on what? How is it even possible to have like 20 different producers on a record and still make it sound consistent? Who's putting everything together?

Some songs have a live band, some are programmed, who decides who does what? The live band ever rehearse the song with Kendrick? or just record in the studio?

Who comes up with the musical ideas? such as the transposition in the King Kunta verses? The breaks? Who has the final word on how the song is mixed?

I'm honestly curious. I love this record but have no idea how it was made. How big was Kendrick's role in all this? A lot of this is attributed to his personal genius, while in reality there's dozens of producers, writers and players working here. What's the process in creating an album with so many people? who does what?

I'll appreciate any answers/relevant links.

Thanks a lot.

 

Nov 11, 2015

​

By Yoh, aka YohOD, aka @Yoh31 of

http://www.djbooth.net/index/mobile/feature/2015-11-10-kendrick-lamar-overly-dedicated-legacy​

If you didn't know, I f---in love this mixtape. It's the one that got me interested in Kendrick. I had heard a lot of his music bc my boyfriend at the time f----- with Kendrick HEAVY, but I hadn't heard anything i liked from him until...
I remember hearing The Heart Part 2 and my heart instantly melted. I couldn't help but think okay someone is out there making some good s---.

The Heart is so personal for me because I heard it around the time I had really stopped believing in music as an art. I just felt like no-one was making music for the art of making music, it was just to cut a f---in check. After hearing this song I remembered what it was like to ACTUALLY like an artist's music.. I couldn't wait to actually spend my money on an album again, or go to a show...it was that excitement I felt about his music that drew me in closer and solidified Kendricks music in my playlist.

I thought I couldn't relate but I find myself relating and understanding his music better than I thought. And with this mixtape he has tracks that anyone can enjoy regardless of background, age, gender, socio-economic status.

What are your thoughts on this mixtape/article?

...I even hate calling it a mixtape it's just THAT good.

@KendrickSXN

 

Nov 5, 2015

http://2dopeboyz.com/2015/11/05/misunderstanding-kendrick-lamar-microwave-journalism/

The Misunderstanding Of Kendrick Lamar & Microwave Journalism





Andreas Hale
DOPE 36 • • • • • 2 NOPE
43 15 0 0
It was with a raised eyebrow that I read Complex’s column titled “Why Did Everyone Claim to Enjoy Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To p---- a Butterfly.’” In the midst of his "Kunta’s Groove Sessions" run, a couple of stories surfaced suggesting that Lamar was performing in half full arenas to somewhat fan flames regarding how he is received at live shows.

And then this column came nearly eight months after the 28-year-old’s album dropped. The fact that we’re even talking about an album that dropped nearly a year ago should be considered an achievement considering our frighteningly short attention spans that forget an album a week after it drops. But I digress…

It was a strangely titled column with a questionable agenda, to say the least.

But my column isn’t necessarily about whether or not it’s okay to like Kendrick Lamar’s TPAB album. Music is subjective. Like it or don’t. Nobody cares that much. This is more about the s-----y state of journalism that we are currently living in. It’s a state of journalism that is dictated by instant gratification and social media. A state of groupies who became bloggers in an effort to get inside the industry and subsequently strip down their integrity like a stripper’s first day at King of Diamonds in the pursuit of perceived happiness.

The title alone suggests that the author is keenly aware that many music bloggers do not dare to be different because rocking the boat on anything with a social message isn’t fashionable. In so many ways, it also questions their own integrity by suggesting that they wanted to like an album more than they did, but likely went against their better judgment to keep things kosher with their readership.

I don’t know what the writer or Complex’s motivations to publish this particular column were, nor will I spend precious space trying to explain whether or not it teeters into troll territory. However, I will point out a passage that stuck out like a sore thumb and encapsulates the problem with hip-hop journalism today.

I think most fans and critics would agree that Kendrick Lamar's To p---- a Butterfly is, indeed, overwhelming. I reviewed To p---- a Butterfly in about 72 hours. In that narrow band of time, I "got" the album's messages and themes but couldn’t grasp the motivations for the album’s sound. Why, in 2015, would a recently platinum-selling rapper make a jazz album with Lalah Hathaway, Ron Isley, and George Clinton?

On the surface, the paragraph doesn’t seem like much but its layers are extraordinarily deep. Like, Jacques Cousteau deep.

Kendrick Lamar probably didn’t make this album for you; whoever “you” are. Some of the themes and messages simply aren’t meant for “you.” Appreciate? Yes. Empathize with? Perhaps. Relate to? Nah. Kendrick Lamar wasn’t trying to turn you into a pro-black Compton kid with a chip on his shoulder by listening to his album. If its themes didn’t resonate with you, he knew a majority would rest their laurels on the notion of “Boy, Kendrick Lamar sure can rap, can’t he?” You may not completely understand the picture he’s painting, but the talent is undeniable and already proven.

But you know what’s being missed? While both Section 80 and good kid, m.A.A.d city were influenced by legendary emcees including Tupac, Ice Cube and Nas, TPAB’s influences are less hip hop and more social charged spoken word, funk and jazz.

The late Gil Scott-Heron’s unique blend of politics and poetry over soul, funk and jazz wasn’t made for “you.” “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” wasn’t created to go platinum or see the phrase used in advertisements that are counter to what the poet lamented about. Kendrick Lamar’s motivations aren’t necessarily about making his culture popular. Instead, they ended up fitting a narrative on Black America that had been writing itself in blood over the past decade with numerous unarmed black bodies crumbled under the strong arm of the law.

We tend to forget that Public Enemy performed in front of swarms of Caucasian fans that weren’t the intended target for their pro-black message. But that message didn’t change because of the audience. It didn’t need to. Nor should the messenger be ashamed into wanting to shift the narrative.



The seeds of Kendrick Lamar motivation to collaborate with George Clinton, Lalah Hathaway and Ronald Isley were planted well beforeGKMC dropped. Unlike most emcees that drop freestyles over popular production to make a name for themselves, the Compton rapper had a penchant for picking on more obscure beats to rhyme on. I mean, he certainly didn’t select the Foreign Exchange’s “Daykeeper” instrumental for “Vanity Slaves” because he knew the masses would recognize it.

Every success Kendrick Lamar achieved has been in spite of what the culture deems as popular. Nothing on the album is meant for the club. h---, it’s not a “stadium album” like so many artists create with the sole purpose of it sounding phenomenal in an arena.

That was never the point.

There is also an underserviced subplot that peeks between the paragraphs of Justin Charity’s op-ed but the nail isn’t quite hammered through the wood. That wasn’t the focus of the Complex piece, but it’s a significant piece of the pie for this column that you’re reading.

72 hours is not enough to truly digest an album and a testament to microwave journalism.

When I started my career in music journalism, album reviews were something that, at least for me, were carefully crafted after numerous listens. Sure, there was a deadline in place by my editors, but the influence of social media and the god-awful rat race of posting grammatically flawed content without proper checks and balances superseding quality has, essentially, ruined the album review. Writers are more concerned with being first with their scattered think pieces rather than truly digesting an album.

You know how it is, right? You buy an album and have your favorite song for about a week and play it to death. However, three weeks in, another song emerges as your favorite. But how can you properly encapsulate that in a 24-48 hour turnaround from the point when an album leaks? If I wrote a review for Illmatic 48 hours after it initially dropped, I would have failed to document the significance of “New York State Of Mind” because I was so overwhelmed by “Life’s A b----” and “The World Is Yours” that it dominated my initial thoughts and would have driven my review.

Think about it.

How many reviews that drop a day after an album releases still ring true to that writer? I sincerely doubt that every writer who has turned around an album review in a day can look back and stand by every single word he/she said. Not aloud, at least.

But that’s the world we live in.

Another problem is how the Internet has created monsters out of moderately skilled writers. Many are social misfits who use this industry to rub shoulders with celebrities, who just so happen to also possess fragile egos and are in need of constant affirmation. The Internet has essentially shortened the six degrees of separation theory to a single degree – or twitter follower – and created a space where faux friendships are massaged with ulterior motives.

To champion Kendrick Lamar and his avant-garde stance of the art being more important than the image is en vogue for some but entirely too hypocritical for my taste. It’s just like how the Future bandwagon added several rows of extra seats when people didn’t want to be left behind. But these are the very people who ignored what Future had been doing for so long. All of a sudden, now they get it?



It’s so hypocritical to ignore something for so long but then act like you always wanted it. It’s only because it’s the flavor of the month and everybody wants a taste.

Furthermore, TPAB is the quintessential “I-gave-you-what-you-want-so-I’ll-do-as-I-please (and-f----you-if-you-don’t-like-it)” album. It’s his De La Soul Is Dead album that abandons every box you previously attempted to put him in. The weight of the content isn’t comfortable to push up off of your chest but you don’t want to be the one who makes the mistake of not calling it a classic. It takes some work to digest the meal that the artist formally known as K. Dot is offering you. But it is guaranteed to give you food for thought if you are able to devour the three-course meal. And for true food aficionados who don’t pledge their allegiance to Yelp reviews, you can taste every ounce of seasoning and recognize what chefs influenced Lamar’s culinary practice.

Honestly, some people just want McDonalds. Don’t be mad if that’s you and stop fronting like you enjoy fine dining because it feels like it’s the right thing to do. Enjoy your Big Mac and be proud of it. It is what it is.

Now, on to this other qualm that I have with hip-hop journalism and the African American scribes who claim to be the authoritative voice of a culture. It’s fascinating that the most pushback we’ve seen on this album has come from black writers who deem the album as “too black.”

It’s like black journalists are apologizing on behalf of their pro-black peers for being culturally offensive to a kumbaya nation that simply doesn’t exist. They privately whisper “Black Lives Matter” but when push comes to shove they are leading imaginary picket lines waving an “All Lives Matter” flag with a group of people who, in all actuality, are rooting for them to stand in opposition to police brutality.

Tell me, who are you scared of offending?

You know who is scared to talk about race more than white people? Black people. It’s a wild notion when you think about it. With all the casts of color that are being incubated in writing rooms across Hollywood, you would think that that our narrative, which has proven to still be underserviced, would be a welcome addition to the conversation. Instead, it’s like we are trying to silence ourselves while out in the field because we still hope to one day make it inside of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. That may sound harsh but take a look at the landscape of black celebrities and how they deliberately shift their cultural allegiances in an effort to be accepted.

These are the same black folks who ironically use the “N-word” in the presence of white people because a majority of their friends happen to be white. But not because it happened organically, rather, because they purposefully sought to create a melting pot network of friends to show off to their black peers as if it is a badge of honor. That’s fine and all, but why continue to degrade yourself by unnecessarily dropping N-bombs? Do you see the paradox? These are the very same black writers who go out of their way to be the voice of authority on all things black and harshly grade everything in a manner that suggests that they just might be a little self-loathing. The ones who silently panic when there is a room full of black people but are the first to publicly point out that there isn’t enough color on their TVs any given time.

And now you’re ashamed to be too black? Chuck D would be ashamed of your trifling a---.



All this brings me back to Kendrick Lamar’s all-of-a-sudden extraordinarily divisive album.

The Complex column is essentially calling out those who claim they want to wife the real kinky haired sistas with a few stretch marks and a pair of breasts that have a natural droop but drool incessantly over plastic Instagram models that gyrate their enhanced body parts in 15 seconds clips to hundreds of thousands of followers.

Here’s the moral of the story: You don’t have to lie to kick it. But you also don’t have to go out of your way to s--- on something in an effort to gain more traffic.

Stand for what you enjoy and be able to back it up when challenged. That’s the problem with hip hop journalism today. To p---- A Butterflyis a challenging album to defend over time because it sounds like nothing else out there. It’s themes and overall sound pulls from the memory of a long-term music fan but is problematic in a vacuum of short term memory loss.

To be honest, we might all be overthink-piecing-this. But it parallels the American news cycle and presents a much bigger issue in our culture.

It’s not the school shootings (short term); it’s gun control laws in America (long term) that need to be addressed.

It’s not Kendrick Lamar’s album (short term), it’s how we handle these discussions that the album presents.

But I’m just a critic, who the h--- am I?

 

Oct 9, 2015

Old but gold. And done by only one person.

Which tracks are as dark as C&C or are as good but in a different way?

 

Jun 13, 2015

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Mar 14, 2015

Section Eighty | Top 15 Kendrick Lamar Verses

Started this a couple months ago, and postponed completing it until recently. Hope you guys like it, and feel free to post your own lists below! As always, feel free to share it on twitter/facebook/tinder etc.​

Spoiler

@Olorin @swr @Radeem @Meero @Enigma @Koolo @Mike Tyson @Tripstarr @Lubo @Besky @KvB @Jet @LasiK @Swizz @Joshua Smoses @BigCountry @Slyk @coldkick @asvdawg @Mikey1990 @NyKill @M Solo @LukeS80 @Koolo @Jay Daniels @Worm @nogger @the lyricvore @csw621 @Young Sinatra @DJ Lithium @Medici @JCinator @pHiLLip fARkLe @Kendrick Lamar @KenDrake Cole @captain awesome @Grimace @helpmefam @6ixgawd @KendrickLamar @Bot​

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Feb 12, 2015

Notice how in the "The Blacker The Berry" cover shows a mother breastfeeding two babies


Now with "i" we have two opposing g--- members (blood & crip) coming together,
Could this possibly be the two babies/brothers growing up?
The mother raised them as babies, now they look to the streets as their new mother



About Kendrick's brother being a g--- member & incarcerated
Lets go back to Section.80 & GKMC...

On Ab Souls Intro..
"You've ever seen a newborn baby k--- a grown man"

On Hold Up...
"as a kid I killed two adults, I'm too advanced"

On M.A.A.D City...
"If I told you I killed a n----- at 16, would you believe me?
Or see me to be innocent Kendrick you seen in the street"

Now back to the new song...

"Been feeling this way since I was 16, came to my senses"

"So why did I weep when Trayvon Martin was in the street?
When g--- banging make me k--- a n----- blacker than me?
Hypocrite!"

He's saying we need to stop killing our own brothers/people

Notice how "I" is positive while "TBTB" is the opposite point of view



Looks familiar? Two brothers who want the same thing, just approached differently.

This may also coincide with 'Untitled' theme of unity & the fruits of life.

Remember the "One nation under a groove" quote in the beginning of "I" video? Remember how I said he is probably dreaming in the song and in the end he wakes up still surrounded by violence? The end of the music video proved he was dreaming throughout the events when he wakes up still getting his hair braided, & the people who were there before are no longer around.

Remember in the beginning of the untitled performance he said I met this lady "when I went back home" he then goes on to talk about different races bringing them together and shares what he has learned from each.

The end of the song where the Terrace Martin production comes in, it sounds as if Kendrick(or another character) goes into dreaming and is in a different place possibly africa (the sounds give off an african vibe). Maybe on the album he's having reoccurring dreams of traveling around the world meeting new people all while connecting the negative/positive aspects of Compton to different countries and ethnicities.

Update
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Jan 6, 2015

A lot of times in interviews, people ask me things like, “How does it feel now? What have you bought your mom and your pops and family?” Nobody ever really asks about what it’s like trying to adapt to fame and money and how much of a depression it can make for you. How much of a depression it could put you in knowing that so many kids hang on to your words. I can’t make a song like “i” without being in that dark place. “i” comes from going overseas, going to New York, being in L.A. and hearing kids saying, “Kendrick, I was gonna k--- myself last week. Section.80, good kid, m.A.A.d citysaved my life.” Or “I was gonna k--- myself tonight until I came to your show.”

I believe that they are telling the truth. At first I wasn’t so sure, maybe it was just they were excited to meet me. But then they showed me their wrists and had all these different scars from when they tried to take their lives but failed. Or I look into their eyes and their pupils are dilated and they on all these types of meds and drugs, it’s a whole different story to me. That’s when I learned that while I’m making music for myself, drawing from my own experiences and conflictions and battles within myself, this teenager listens to every word I say. And that’s spooky.

I think one of my biggest battles within myself is embracing leadership. You always grow up and you hate the term “role model.” You would say, “I don’t wanna be a role model. I don’t want none of that.” But in actuality, you are the biggest role model. It’s impossible to fight the title of role model. Especially when the type of music I make is so personal. People feel like they can relate to me or that they are me. They feel like they know my whole life story even though we from different worlds. So when I go out and meet them in public, I don’t get a response like, “Kendrick, will you sign this real quick?” Or, “I wanna just take this picture with you.” No, they want to have full conversations. I find out that they live their lives by my music and that right there is something.


When I try to soak it all in, that’s the only thing that kind’ve scare me, feel me? Life is sad in general and I’m meeting these different people every day. It kind’ve snaps me back into reality outside of what I do. Outside of the girls, outside of the cars, the money, it really ain’t that important when you meeting somebody that’s still in the struggle. These the people that live their lives in dark spaces, every day , you know, and they use my music as some sort of tool to keep going, almost like a Bible, you know? These kids feel like they got nothing to believe in but they see me and say, “Kendrick, I believe in you. I believe in your music.” And what happens it puts me in some type of space where it’s almost like some type of worship or responsibility, but I know it. I can see it.

“Anything I say or do, I don’t take back, I don’t regret.”
I think one of my biggest assets is not knowing how famous I am. Or even excluding the word, I hate the word “famous.” I’m aware of it. I know people treat me different because of it. And the more I am aware of that and play into it, the more I become detached from the real world. So it’s really about balance. The more somebody opens the door for me and I walk through without acknowledging that they opened the door for me, the more I become separate from others.

I had a talk with Lauryn Hill and she said, “Try to completely throw away your ego.” How many times can you throw away an ego, you know? It’s tough. It’s something we all battle with. I battle with it all the time and the idea of being in all these places—the big spots, all the events, the lights—it’s all for your ego. It’s all for your own confirmation to be like, okay, I’m somebody. But truthfully, you’ve always been somebody. You don’t need the lights.


Photo Credit: Tom Medvedich

I try to think about that. Also, I like to look at old pictures and think of things from back in the day that kind of draws me back to where I came from. I think a lot of times when artists are in so much of the now, they only think of what’s ahead of them, which is cool. But I look at pictures of the small little apartment that I come from in Compton and things like that. And it always trips me out when I get too far out there where I’m missing phone calls or not responding to text messages on time or my peoples is hitting me, my moms is and I can’t get back to her. Sometimes you on the go and you forget about those little things.

It’s definitely a gift and a curse when you make music as personal as I make it. Of course you get the kids out there that say that they relate to you and this song saved their lives, and you helped them with their assignment for this and that. And then at the same time, your privacy is not respected. And all entertainers go through it, but moreso the ones that make very personal music, because it’s not just me you’re focusing on now when I’m out in public, but also on individual characters that I’m talking about in my music. So that’s a whole other ballgame and it’s just something that I’ve gotta accept.

“When I’m completely drained of inspiration, that’s when I’m finished with the project.”
I think the way it is, the positive aspect of me gaining more listeners and giving them some type of motivation and relatable effect, it’s more than running from somebody snapping a picture of my mom’s van that was on my album cover, that she actually still has. I’d never think that would happen, but it’s happened plenty of times to where she has to hide the van now. She can’t drive that thing no more. And she’s old school, she wanna drive it. But I never want them to be in this type of world, because not everybody can handle it. I think the average person wouldn’t be able to handle the day-to-day. It’s a lot of things you gotta deal with. So me doing that, it’s just a piece of me. I gotta find balance and try not to really get too frustrated over it.

I’d be lying to you to say I knew good kid, m.A.A.d city would be as successful as it has been. In the beginning I was very doubtful. Once I was done, the jitters hit me so fast. I was so confident in making it, because I was like, “This is it, man. Nobody heard this story and if you heard it, you heard it in bits and pieces but I’m finna put it to you in a whole album—from Compton, from the hood, from the streets—it’s a whole other perspective and light, I’ma go back and do the skits just like how Biggie and Dre and Snoop and ’Pac did it. And I’ma tell my story.” Then I wrapped up with it and said, “Man, what’s on the radio right now? I don’t think they doin’ skits and things like that.” I don’t know if the people are gonna understand what I’m talkin’ about on this album because it’s almost like a puzzle pieced together, and albums ain’t been created like this in a long time. Albums that actually still reach the masses, at least.


Photo Credit: Tom Medvedich

My whole outlook on being signed was to have an actual massive commercial successful album. This is what you think as a kid. You don’t know nothing about creative process and things like that. So I didn’t know how blessed I was to actually go and make an album that I can create and control 100 percent. When I was done with it, I was like, “Man, these people believe in me like this? They let me just do this whole thing by myself like this? I don’t know. Y’all sure I’m right?”

I was nervous because I didn’t think the people would understand it. And I get a call from Pharrell. He said he had a copy of the album and it’s amazing. And I was like, that call was right on time because that was when I was feeling super insecure about it. Pharrell said, “Never feel that way again. When that little negative man come behind your head, always follow your first heart, and that was your first heart, to put the album out like this.” This is his words verbatim, he said, “Watch what’s gonna happen.”

“I believe in this theory that when you get success and you get fame and money, it makes you be you times ten.”
When I come up to certain artists, artists that I’ve always looked up to, and they can recite my records that wasn’t the single, that puts me in a space where, okay, this is a person I always respect and to get their respect back was almost like confirmation for me. I always thought confirmation would be having a lot of money, and things I could do for my family. Because that was what we was taught when you come from these urban neighborhoods, you was taught that having money was success and that’s all you see, all you know. So once I got the money and everything else that comes with it, I felt like I wasn’t satisfied. I’m looking around like, this is great security, but I don’t even spend it on myself, I spend it on my loved ones. That makes me feel good knowing I can support somebody that’s in need. But at the same time, I’m feeling like, okay, what’s after this? So what I realized was, my greatest fulfillment of accomplishment was having somebody that I looked up to for so many years and knowing that I put in that same dedication and work and them saying, “Thank you.” And them being able to recite them lyrics.


I think the first time I played “b----, Don’t k--- My Vibe” for Andre 3000 was before it came out. I never share my album while I’m creating. I think that the situation with Andre was one of those things where he was in the studio with Dre and Dre was like, “Play some stuff .” I can’t say no to Dr. Dre. But me creating music, I never really play music for anybody, even people inside the camp because it can almost sway your creative process 100 percent. So along with that, I cut off everything on the radio; I really just duck off from music. Because I’m gonna be influenced and I don’t want to be. That has always been my process. I just feel like, it’s really the only prized possession that I actually can control, you know? It’s selfishness for sure, but it’s my selfishness and I own it.

I know a lot of people that go around and play music to get approval because some are not so confident in the things they do. But with me, personally, I can only speak for myself, this is me. Anything I say or do, I don’t take back, I don’t regret. That’s how I was feeling at the time and that’s how y’all gonna get it, and I own it. Love me or hate me, I own it. It is what it is. And that’s how I look at it.


Photo Credit: Tom Medvedich

From 13 years old to the time I was 21, I was in a mode of mastering how to be a rapper. Like a rapper’s rapper, using my tongue as a sword, a f---in’ barbarian. That’s all it was about, slaying words. So when I turned 21, 22, somewhere around there, I got into a mode where it became more of a writer aspect for me rather than just being a rapper ’cause this is around the same time where cats weren’t putting out mixtapes anymore. They was putting out full bodies of work and wasn’t even signed to a major label. So by that time, that’s when I started developing and actually constructing my music from a writer’s point of view. good kid, m.A.A.d city was probably one of them albums that you could unfold out into a book and read it. And that’s how I treat everything. Everything is critical like that from here on out. It’s the art of writing.

“So you ask yourself in the midnight hour, ‘Who am I? Is this really what I’m supposed to be doing? How did I get here? Why am I doing this? What’s my responsibility?’”
This is more than just music for me. This is actually a piece of me. I’m obsessed with it. And that’s how I take it. When I make my music, it comes from a genuine space where I’m already spreading myself wide to the world. So during my process in creating it, that time is for me, personally. That’s for my heart, those are my memories that helped me up with these lyrics and get inspiration. That was my memories. Taking those inspirations and going into that booth, that’s something that I hold dear.

When I’m completely drained of inspiration, that’s when I’m finished with the project. When I start maybe trying to tamper with things that I shouldn’t tamper with, I’ve already had done, that’s when I’m done and I know I’ve exhausted inspiration. That comes with not wanting to actually rush the process. I always want to put it down to the last idea, and once I’m drawn away from it, that’s when I say, okay, let’s take all these pieces—they might not even be songs—let’s take these pieces and construct it. So what I want to say, and how I want to execute it becomes clear.


Photo Credit: Tom Medvedich

It’s the best part because the things that I say on my records—this is another reason why I don’t just play records for people—you won’t necessarily get it until it’s constructed. I know what type of artist I am. I’m not an artist that’s gonna give you a single and say, “This is what my album’s gonna sound like, go sell it.” That’s not me. I’m just not that artist to give you one or two songs here and there and run with it. Everybody has their own niche. With mine, I just own it, and I know that’s exactly what that is. And I wanna keep that lane. I don’t want to jump in somebody else’s lane and try to do their moves because it may not work for me like it worked for them. So I stay where I feel like I’m inspired.

What’s crazy to me is that I feel the same energy now that I felt before my first album. I know there’s lot of pressure for me on this new album but it don’t necessarily scare me. It’s almost confirmation, like, go in there and challenge yourself just the same way you challenged yourself the fi rst time. Because I remember going to radio stations and them telling me this: “Dr. Dre had Snoop Dogg, 50 Cent, Eminem, you seen what Eminem did, right? Yeah, uh huh. Kendrick Lamar, he from the West Coast, and Compton, too. Dre from Compton, you see the legacy he left. Yeah, so I hope that album is good. Matter fact, you got the weight on your shoulders right now.”

Thank you for that. Let me get in the studio now since you just put the battery in my back.


I thought I was going to win Best Rap Album at the Grammys. I put a lot of work in on my album and the biggest thing for me is knowing that it was basically an underground album. It didn’t have big No. 1 records on it and there wasn’t really any commercial hits. It was great songs and I think the message behind it reached as many listeners and believers as a super mainstream album. So for me, when you’re saying, “rap,” that would be my definition of something that deserved an accolade. Yep.

I found out a lot about myself in these past two years. It’s scary. I know more about myself now than any other point of my life. I believe in this theory that when you get success and you get fame and money, it makes you be you times ten. I was a pretty shy and to myself type of person as a kid. And now 15 years later I’m in front of people every day, tens of thousands of people. So that makes me more of a recluse. That makes me not come outside of my world on the outskirts of L.A. and bounce around different places and things like that.

“What I do is for a greater purpose and we all need money and things like that to survive, but the energy around some of these spaces, it can draw you into a crazy place.”
So you ask yourself in the midnight hour, “Who am I? Is this really what I’m supposed to be doing? How did I get here? Why am I doing this? What’s my responsibility?” It’s a real trippy thing, you feel me? And I think it’s something that nobody can understand; only an artist can. Things change for you with success when you get money. I noticed when people started treating me a little bit different, the people that I cared about the most, my close friends and family. The artist don’t necessarily change, it’s usually the people around them. Their expectations of you can sometimes be out of control. You can do one thing that can trigger something mentally in them that makes them think that you don’t care about them or you don’t f--- with them no more when that’s not the case. You’re just more focused on what you have to do because it’s bigger.


Photo Credit: Tom Medvedich

The moment I start seeing change in people around me, that’s when I know something is a little bit different. Then there’s tension in the air that I probably can’t necessarily deal with at the moment. ’Cause when the industry don’t understand me, and the business don’t understand me, these are the people I can run to. What happens when I can’t run to them?

Artists just get paranoid in any situation and circumstance. I’m always paranoid. I’m already a person who thinks a lot; sometimes I may overthink things or think too much. So when you’re put into a space where you feel like you can’t necessarily trust your close ones, that can do some whole other crazy thing to you psychologically. Seriously. All you got is you and God at the end of the day.

The hard time for me was probably when I was on the road. It’s almost like you go on the road and you’re gone for two years. And this place you’ve known your whole life, these people you’ve known your whole life, everything is different when you come back. And you feel like, d---, your sanctuary is now on that tour bus. That dirty, stinky, smelly tour bus. And that’s one thing, among numerous other things, that have been hard sometimes. To the point where people are pulling for you left and right, where you feel like you don’t have control over your own life. Over your own well-being.

What I do is for a greater purpose and we all need money and things like that to survive, but the energy around some of these spaces, it can draw you into a crazy place. And I’ve seen and heard some of the greats go out because of it. And I’m saying this right now to let everyone know, it’s real and you have to be mentally steady 100 percent in order to keep doing it at a high level and still maintain your sanity.

http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2015/01/writer-war-kendrick-lamar-own-words/

 

Apr 22, 2017

 

Apr 15, 2017

"God" getting a lot of hate from fans in general but I absolutely love that track.

 

Apr 15, 2017

One of the most beautiful things about Kendrick's albums is that once you get a new one and listen to it, you gotta ask yourself "What the f--- can he do next?". We said the same after TPAB and somehow he managed to amaze us again.

 

Apr 15, 2017

How is this album only getting better?:Swaggart:

 

Apr 14, 2017

No BigQuint reaction so far,he may not have survived tru the beat change on DNA.

 

Apr 14, 2017

you know this s--- good if FEEL is the low point