On January 27th (tomorrow), you can catch Kendrick Lamar on the cover of the latest issue of JET, which sees him speaking on his responsibility as a rap star, JAY Z, spreading his message and more. Check out additional behind the scenes footage below.
Kendrick Lamar speaks on the GRAMMYs, ‘Control’, blah blah blah and more of the same….courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter.
Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj and many others are meshing with some of the biggest athletes for ESPN’s Music issue….you can check out the covers for that above, as well as a few other candids found within the magazine.
ESPN’s Music issue hits newsstands Friday, January 24th (with live content hitting ESPN’s website tomorrow).
Kendrick Lamar takes us on a typical day in the life of a GRAMMY nominee….for those that don’t know, he is going up against Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, James Blake, Ed Sheeran and Kacey Musgraves in the Best New Artist category.
From Pepsi:
We have some very exciting news! We are partnering with The Recording Academy® to produce the 56th GRAMMY Awards® “Best New Artist” program, a discovery vehicle promoting the artists nominated for this annual award category. Today we launch the Pepsi “Best New Artist” video series, taking you behind-the-scenes for an in-depth look at this year’s nominees.
Get to know James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kacey Musgraves and Ed Sheeran by taking a peek into their daily lives, creative processes and the evolution of their careers. Check Pepsi.com through the week for brand new videos that let you spend a day in the life with the nominees.
We previously posted some quick shots of Kendrick Lamar and Dr. Dre’s CES afterparty. Check out some more official video footage above.
Beats By Dre held their CES 2014 afterparty at The Light at Mandalay Bay in Vegas…above are some “red carpet pics of a few of the important people that attended; below, Kendrick Lamar performs ‘Swimming Pools’.
It’s a pretty extensive list, but you can check out who made Forbes’ 30 Under 30 in Music and much more here.
Nipsey Hussle speaks his piece on TDE’s decision to pull Kendrick Lamar from the GQ “Man Of The Year” party after they felt the publication gave the rapper and his crew some backhanded compliments in the story.
Courtesy of Vlad TV:
B.o.B shares his thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s much talked about “Control” verse, saying that he wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t mentioned with the other rappers on the track. The “Airplanes” rapper says that he isn’t usually put in the same categories as other emcees, saying that he’s “so much more” than just a rapper.
He also shares his thoughts on the response tracks, revealing that he enjoyed Meek Mills’ “Ooh Kill ‘Em” diss the best, saying Meek didn’t disappoint with his bars and energy on the track.
In the midst of TDE pretty much running 2013, I didn’t even realize that no one on the label dropped a full-length effort this year….according to Top Dawg himself, expect all of that to change exponentially for 2014:
WE RAN 2013 WITH OUT DROPPING 1 ALBUM. I WONDER WUTS GONE HAPPEN IN 2014 WHEN I DROP 6.. THEY NOT READY 4 THIS #TDE #HiiiPoWeR TAKE OVER
— dangeroo kipawaa TDE (@dangerookipawaa) December 22, 2013
I’m definitely looking forward to the music that comes from this session. I’m also hoping that we’ll be seeing Kendrick Lamar’s next album sometime in 2014.
Kendrick Lamar releases the first part of a visual concept for a record off his debut album Good Kid, m.A.A.d City.
When the lights shut off, an artist’s dream is that their work will stand the test of time. The ones that influence our culture are the ones we most remember. Here, two powerful creative forces come together to elevate the status quo and lay ground to their legacy. This is their poetry. Sing about them. This is part one.
Jan. 26, 8pm. I’m performing @TheGRAMMYs on @CBSTweet #GRAMMYs
— Kendrick Lamar (@kendricklamar) December 19, 2013
I officially have a very good reason to tune in to this year’s GRAMMYs, which goes down January 26th in L.A. (at the Staples Center).
In addition to performing, King Kendrick is also up for 7 nominations (including the coveted Album Of The Year). Expect a sweep.
The cover is above, the full story is here…
In addition to a pretty in-depth breakdown of his successful album Nothing Was The Same, the below question was asked regarding Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Control’ verse and it’s following response in Hip-Hop:
Rap nerds have speculated whether “The Language” is a subliminal response to Kendrick Lamar’s verse on Big Sean’s “Control.” Is it appropriate to put those two records side by side?
I don’t ever want to get into responses. It’s a commitment to go there. “The Language” is just energy. What it was inspired by, I’m sure that, and other things. It’s just me talking my shit. I never once felt the need to respond to that record. The sentiment he was putting forth is what he should have. Of course you wanna be the best. Where it became an issue is that I was rolling out an album while that verse was still bubbling, so my album rollout became about this thing. What am I supposed to say? Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy? Mind you, I never once said he’s a bad guy [or] I don’t like him. I think he’s a fucking genius in his own right, but I also stood my ground as I should. And with that came another step, which then I have to realize I’m being baited and I’m not gonna fall. Jordan doesn’t have to play pickup to prove that he could play ball, no offense. But I’m not gonna give you the chance to shake me necessarily, ’cause I feel great. There’s no real issue. It’s tough because the people wanna see us tear each other down; I don’t wanna give them that. There’s no point. I have no ill feelings toward that guy. It’s just like, it’s there for me if I wanna fall for it. I’m just too smart for that. Hopefully it’s the last time I gotta talk about this, ’cause every time I open my mouth up about it, they take this piece and take this piece. And he’s hungry, so he’s going to do what he has to do like the BET [cypher]. But again, it’s not enough for me to go. We haven’t seen each other [since the BET cypher] but I’m sure we’ll see each other and it’ll be cool. And if it’s not, then I guess that’s how our story unfolds.
Kendrick Lamar spoke with Power 106’s Rikki Martinez while back stage at this year’s Cali Christmas concert and spoke on how it feels to be nominated for Grammys (specifically ‘Album Of The Year’), texting J. Cole after hearing Justin Timberlake’s ‘TKO‘ remix and more.
If you missed TDE’s performance from Power 106’s annual Cali Christmas concert, you can enjoy it in full above. Even Diddy came out for the occasion.
You can check out additional performances clips from the concert here.
Currently in progress. Set list below.
7:15pm – 7:21pm – Sage the Gemini
7:21pm – 7:35pm – DJ Mustard Feat. Teefli and Ty Dolla $ign
7:40pm – 7:55pm – Kid Ink
8:00pm – 8:25pm – B.o.B
8:30pm – 9:05pm – Rick Ross
9:15pm – 9:50pm – 2 Chainz
9:55pm – 10:40pm – J. Cole
10:45pm – 11:45pm – TDE featuring Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, Jay-Rock and Ab-Soul
Let’s be honest with ourselves here: Kendrick Lamar is probably the only positive part of this song. Birdman’s Rich Gang compilation is out now.
Not the best footage, but during the Yeezus tour stop in Kansas City, Kendrick Lamar brought out hometown hero Tech N9ne to a crowd of 4,500….
….the problem with that number is that the arena holds 19,000. Pretty bad night for a couple of rap stars (you can read more about that here).
In late related news, Mr. West apparently also walked off the stage a few songs in in Tampa, FL due to issues with lighting.
UPDATE: Beats By Dre just blessed us with an extended version of Dre & Kendrick’s latest advert.
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Jesus. Damn the Beats; when are we going to hear the final product of that track?
The second recent collaboration between Kendrick Lamar and a former schoolmate. You can check out Kanin’s full album here.
Check out some pics featuring who’s who in Atlanta Hip-Hop (give or take a few) stopping by Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar’s latest tour stop. PHotos courtesy of Freddy-O.