Music Kendrick Lamar

Funny to see Kendrick lean towards a more radio friendly sound there while the other three have used very unusual beats.
 
Kid Cunto said:
Funny to see Kendrick lean towards a more radio friendly sound there while the other three have used very unusual beats.
Click to expand...

Kendrick's saving the concepts for the album, seriously Kendrick is the most well rounded MC out there right now. Flow, concept, beats, lyrics he's got them all at will. Like Swimming Pools seems really simple and radio friendly but it's got a solid concept behind it. A lot of shit Kendrick releases goes over people's heads like Cartoon's and Cereal. That Jeezy song isn't really a radio friendly sound, quite soulful and bouncy, just a dope record.
 
kendrick-lamar-good-kid-maad-city-cover.jpg


That's the album art for good kid, m.A.A.d city.

Here's the explanation behind it:


I'm really excited for this album. Q-Tip and Just Blaze production confirmed. MC Eiht and Mary J Blige features too. Only worrying news is Lady Gaga and Drake are on it. It might be short as well. Kendrick had Gunplay sounding like a decent MC though so who knows.
 
As industry stiffs fought past rain-soaked fans into Chung King studios in Manhattan last night for a Kendrick Lamar listening party, speculation flew as quickly as over-enthusiastic daps and business cards. "This better be the rap equivalent of Thriller," one attendee muttered, demonstrating the due praise and comical hyperbole that have shadowed the Compton, California, native throughout his slow and steady rise.

In a climate where rap's most buzzed about stars shoot across the sky with the tap of a trackpad, Lamar's decade-long climb seems almost implausible. How exactly does one craft a "debut" after releasing four mixtapes, an EP and an independent album? One damn good song at a time, it seemed, as the tracks previewed from Good Kid, M.A.A.D. city depicted the best of the rapper and the worst of his hometown, side-stepping all expectations and sounding at once warmly familiar and brand-spanking new.

Lamar and his Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope affiliates shuffled through tracks from behind soundproof glass, giving the session the air of a market research test. But the handful of journalists taking notes huddled near a speaker were no match for the cocktail party/family cookout vibe that dominated the rest of the floor, as caterers served cheeseburger sliders and chicken fingers, and cute bartenders let the Ketel One flow freely ("They ran out of cups," one attendee whispered to a friend just before the album started, "so hold onto yours to get refills"). At the start, a TDE soldier briefed the room: "The man don't feck around with his music. We've got people in here dressed regular. If we see you with cameras or phones recording, you'll be escorted out and we keeping your shit!"

They've got a right to be stingey: GKMC feels precious. The production alone sniffs at classic status: a tight, cohesive blending of Dre's chunky, hi-gloss ridah music and the woozy, futuristic boom-bap that Lamar fans have come to love. Beats swayed between down-tempo sparse thumpers and fierce drumbreak loops that screw your face up for you – one particularly vicious cut featured the infamous Funky Worm synth that defined Nineties West Coast rap, and it gained an even sharper edge when MC Eiht showed up to spit some straight-up menace. Other features were just as unpredictable: there was Drake rhyming about flying his natural-haired East African chick back to the motherland (Israel?), Fred the Godson bringing the Bronx River Deli to the Compton Swap Meet and Lady Gaga doing something that landed between rapping and singing but didn't really feel like either. Lamar's Black Hippy cohorts Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock weren't present on these songs, but they posted up at his sides during the session, ensuring the crew was solid as ever.

And then there was Kendrick. It's all here: the growls and snarls, the nasal deadpan, the loopy hooks, the cadence flips, the double-time barrages of syllables. His stories are just as vivid this go round, clocking in four full narratives within the six songs he previewed. His lyrics have always felt hyper personal, but these verses feel white-knuckle real: "If I told you I shot a man at 16, would you believe me?" he asks without blinking. One person's name literally gets bleeped out of a verse describing a robbery, but he doesn't omit it when rapping to himself from behind the control board. He narrates the rise and fall of a high school ball player (with the brilliant chorus "now watch that black boy fly"), and confesses to being jealous of ballers and rhymers in his hood that appeared to have a better shot at making it out. "Every neighborhood is an obstacle" in the world Lamar depicts, where he's often both suspect and spectator – deep in the cave, hopelessly punching at the walls.

"October 22nd, you'll get that whole package," Lamar promised at the close of the session. With little mention of mentor Dr. Dre and more than a month until the release date, we can be sure to expect more surprises leading up to the release. There were no titles given and tracks were presented in no order – after each, he'd ask "Y'all like that song? OK, cool." When Lamar announced he'd only play one or two more, the crowd jeered and rap media mainstay Elliott Wilson shouted "three!" into the mic. "Can't do that," Kendrick quipped. "We'd be giving y'all the whole album." If the night was any indication, it'll be worth the wait
Click to expand...

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/n...ited-major-label-debut-20120919#ixzz26w5oX9wr

*Prays to hip-hop God's that Kendrick hasn't gone 'mainstream'*
 
Looking forward to it. Can't pretend I wasn't a little disappointed to see Lady Gaga, who I know is a Kendrick fan, and Drake on the feature list. Interested to see how they fit in.
 
pocco said:
I just can't get into Kenricks music. Something about him, his voice or his accent, just annoys me. He sounds a lot like Yelawolf.
Click to expand...

Errr ok. Each to their own and all that but he sounds nothing like Yelawolf. I agree his voice can be quite weird to get used to.
 
Think about what you are saying....Yelawolf? Let's explore this comparison:

vs

Now I don't feel Kendrick anywhere near the extent the above guys do, but really there is almost zero similarity to Yelawolf.
 
I heard Rough by Game feat. Yelawolf and then The City feat. Kendrick and thought it was the same person. I had to check it. Couldn't believe Kendrick was from the West Coast, he sounds like he's from the South. If you compare him to Jay Rock you really wouldn't think they were from the same place more or less.
 
Kendrick does have a very nasal sounding voice, it's almost indistinguishable from his voice as an early rapper, K.Dot, when he had a much deeper voice. But when you do get past his voice you've an exemplary performer, flow, lyrics, content matter and beat selection all there. Yelawolf doesn't sound anything like Lamar though, in my opinion.
 
Also, that Game track I know Kendrick spits very fast, like Yelawolf, so that could be the reason for you thinking they sound alike.
 
Listen to The Heart or His Pain by Kendrick, he sounds nothing like Yelawolf. Oh and Hectic what do you think of Ab-Soul, I know Kendrick isn't quite your cup of tea.
 
I think Jay Rock is more my cup of tea, but I should really have a listen to some Kendrick stuff. One thing I have noticed though is how polished the production is on Kendricks tracks, whereas Jay Rock doesn't seem to be getting that for whatever reason. I've downloaded most of his mixtapes and Follow Me Home, and I do think he's quite good, but his music generally feels unfinished. Why has this been the case?
 
pocco said:
I think Jay Rock is more my cup of tea, but I should really have a listen to some Kendrick stuff. One thing I have noticed though is how polished the production is on Kendricks tracks, whereas Jay Rock doesn't seem to be getting that for whatever reason. I've downloaded most of his mixtapes and Follow Me Home, and I do think he's quite good, but his music generally feels unfinished. Why has this been the case?
Click to expand...

I don't know, Jay Rock will be next to release an independent TDE project, he killed the Black Lip Bastard remix. As a crew TDE seem to developing together, the production has improved and Ali is a great engineer.
 
ArmchairCritic said:
Listen to The Heart or His Pain by Kendrick, he sounds nothing like Yelawolf. Oh and Hectic what do you think of Ab-Soul, I know Kendrick isn't quite your cup of tea.
Click to expand...

After reading through this thread, I've gotta say that I'm really digging Ab-Soul's music. Hasn't really made it to the mainstream like Kendrick and ScHoolboy Q but he think he will make it big soon. My favs so far: Terrorist Threats ft Danny Brown, Nibiru, and Empathy. Book of Soul is a really touching song as well.
 
That Just Blaze song is fire. Dre needs to stop rapping like the people show wrote his verse(s).
 
good kid, m.A.A.d city is currently getting the spin. On track three now, good feck. Backstreet Freestyle is mental, like insane! He's a genius.
 
Lady Gaga is on the end of Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe. I ain't mad though.
 
I find listening to the Janet Jackson sample whilst Drake is spitting makes it much more bearable. I need to let this album sink in conceptually, sonically it's incredible.
 
:lol: @ the most recent posts in this thread.

One of you two PM me a link for this, don't want to download any poor quality versions.
 
It's brilliant, noway comparable to Section.80 at all. Which is mental if ye think about it, most artists would build on a successful album with more of the same.
 
Sounwave got the best beats on the tape too. TDE can do no wrong.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.