Tag: kendrick lamar
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In time for the weekend, Kendrick Lamar, Terrace Martin, and Wiz Khalifa bring us into the club. This track has a nice vibe and some trippy visuals to go with it.
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Kendrick Lamar Opens up about 'Section 80,' rumored Collaboration Album with J. Cole, and his next Solo Project (Video)
In hip hop we have characters, gangsters, lyricists; we have fads, trends, mainstays; only occasionally are we blessed with storytellers capable of carrying an entire generation. Enter Kendrick Lamar. We cover him on this site as often as possible for good reason. One of the most personable, respectable, level-headed, philosophical, all the while, fire-breathing, artists hip hop has seen, Lamar, just 24 years-old, represents hip hop in its most purified and capable form. This interview displays all of that promise, and also provides some terrific information and insight. A Lamar/Cole album is on the horizon, as is Lamar's first studio album release for Top Dawg Entertainment. In the Interview, Lamar reveals the content and aim of his first major label drop, due out in 2012.
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Kendrick engages the crowd at Sneaker Pimps, incorporating story lines into his show and hyping the crowd as he performs A.D.H.D and P&P. This clip does a good job of showing the passion and intensity Lamar brings to his performances. But we suggest that you get in a room with this man and watch him perform in person before he blows up and begins playing larger venues.
Kendrick Lamar Live Performance in NYC
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"He dead. Amen." Kendrick Lamar comes through with the visuals for one of the tightest tracks off Section 80.
Kendrick Lamar "Rigamortious" Video
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Shot in NYC this July, RockSmith decided to shoot and sponsor a video for Kendrick Lamar's Section 80. Choosing A.D.H.D. due to "it's melancholy lyrics and dark beat…and it sounds like a confessional of a conflicted generation."
Kendrick Lamar – A.D.H.D. (Music Video)
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Album Review: Kendrick Lamar, Section.80
Section.80 is simplistic in all the right ways. Lamar’s music is like the plastic grocery bag drifting in the wind in that popular scene from American Beauty: you have to slow down, stop, and pay attention to appreciate it. Your mood must reciprocate the mood of the album, which is one that vibes with mellowness and licks at you with a mix of calming introspectiveness and meticulous storytelling. If you get it, you get it, and by the time you progress through all 16 tracks, ending with the mesmerizing, transcending “HiiiPower” (prod. By J. Cole), you’re convinced that Lamar is your new favorite artist. His voice is like that of K-OS, his flow similar to Curren$y, and his overall persona suggests an early Outkast, but Lamar is particular with what he accomplishes. Indie hip hop has never sounded this good, as Lamar solidifies himself as an underground superstar and unearths his own legacy simultaneously.
The album begins with the suggestive and provocative, “Fuck your ethnicity,” which is introduced by an adult male (not Lamar) talking to what can be assumed is a group of peers around a crackling fire. “This fire that’s burning, represents the passion that you have,” the voice says. It continues, “I recognize all of you, every creed and color. With that being said, fuck your ethnicity.” Immediately, Lamar demonstrates his ‘fuck you’ attitude, one that you’d expect from a 23 year-old from Compton, but also backs up this charisma by delivering a message: he doesn’t care where you’re from, what you look like, or what you feel you’re entitled to, let’s see eye-to-eye as human beings. The track features a melodic piano rhythm, a female voice singing the hook, and Lamar delivering the chorus behind a muffled synthesizer. What might be Lamar’s best output on the entire project also sets the tone for the songs that follow, all of which unfold into each other with seamless continuity. Lamar has a story to tell, a philosophy to publicize, and a sound that weaves into your consciousness and escorts you towards an understanding of hip hop and the culture that surrounds it.
Lamar makes you wonder, imagine, and even question the wickedness of the world in “Keisha’s Song.” He makes you nod your head and laugh in, “The spiteful chant,” where he repeats, “I’m going big, suck my dick,” as brass horns boom in the background. Lamar is most honest and revealing on, “Poe mans dreams,” where he raps, “I used to want to see the penitentiary way after elementary, thought it was cool to look the judge in the face when he sentenced me.” Here, Lamar brings back the 90’s with a soulful nostalgia that could peel the malicious frown off a gangster.
Now we need to pause and discuss, “Rigamortus.” I was casually appreciating Section. 80 for the first 11 tracks. I loved what Lamar was doing and I was texting my fellow Ourwordisbond partners to tell them something they already knew: Kendrick Lamar is very much invested in the future of hip hop, when all of a sudden Lamar spits, “Got me breathing with dragons I'll crack the egg in your basket, you bastard I'm Marilyn Manson with madness, Now just imagine the magic I light to asses, don't ask for Your favorite rapper…he dead, I killed him, Amen.” Lamar turns a corner. What had been a consistent narrative from the eyes of a kid from Compton, just evolved into lyrical madness. Lamar goes on to spit for three straight minutes, only stopping to breathe at times to remind you that he’s killed your favorite rapper, Amen. “Rigamortus,” demonstrates lyrical prowess better than any other rap song out right now, and is basically just a throw-in song that Lamar uses to take a break from the album’s otherwise congruous direction. Lamar can do it all, and all of a sudden, as the album concludes with “HiiiPower,” the song that began generating buzz for Lamar months ago and perfectly represents what the kid is doing, there is no question that this album is a classic.
Our Word: This is Lamar’s final independent album (he’s signed with Top Dawg Entertainment, and his first studio album is due out next year) which means there was no commercial hype or exposure surrounding this project. The MC seemingly came out of nowhere to seize hip hop by the jugular, remind it that it still has a pulse, and alleviate an underlying eagerness that has permeated the genre for years now. People have been waiting for someone to mesh that old sound and flavor with contemporary bravado. Lamar does it. This album has staying power and will only grow in popularity over time. The only skippable track on the album is “Blow my high,” and the only overall critique I can offer is that he tends to be cliché at times, specifically when he’s delivering a hook. On “Kush and Corinthians” he repeats, “Ride to it, ride to it, because you never know, when a bullet might hit and you die to it,” which isn’t a terrible exposition, but clearly a message that has been spelled out in similar words. Lamar needs to work on his hooks if he wants to take that final step towards solidifying himself as a premiere giant in the industry. For now, Section.80 might just be the album of the year, and considering Lamar still has room to grow, all other rappers should beware.
4.5/5
