Kendrick Lamar will kill your favorite rapper for money

Can't wait for the Glee version.

It's basically a Brother Ali song, but tight.

i really wanna like this but the beat is rubbing me the wrong way and there's not really much of a chorus there

i sort of admire him for making a "happy" grab

it feels like talib kweli ft santana. i'm down

that's a good argument in favor

Wish the whole song was like the last third.

i thought i'd hate it but its sort of great. very early-mid 90s vibes.

Kendrick Lamar will hug your favorite teddy bear for enlightenment

Don't hate it, but I won't be mad if it ends up as a bonus track.

Overrated artist.

you like travis scott

anyway its easy to be cynical abt this record and i'm getting arrested development vibes but i still kinda dig this, it'll sound fun in the mix if it gets some radio traction

Arrested Development otm

lol oh dear

it's... okay? bonus track seems about right.

Do we know who produced it?

as much as like the song, i hope this isn't the 'cartoon and cereal' of his next album

waiting for an artist to record a track so that he gets the inevitable "Posdonus ft. Eric Clapton" vibes

It's produced by Rahki.

The second half of the song is immeasurably superior to the first

the "jesus walks"-y bridge is kinda cool

i don't really mind this

Thundercat!

yeah i don't dislike it, sounded aight on the radio when i heard it just now (although they cut off like the whole last 30 seconds, which was a shame).

still, to take a year plus to release a new single after "Control" and come with this seems just asking for backlash from the exact audience that got him to platinum last time.

i think the slightly but not hugely polarized response will work in his favor ultimately, and radio seems to be eating it up (heard it twice in 30 mins)

xxp it's gotta be him right? Haven't seen any confirmation anywhere though.

yeah i feel like strategically this is smart, it's a bold move rather than a measured one

The guitar sound the Isleys used in the original is one of my favorite unique tones in all of music, so even if it's a little corny I don't mind hearing it here.

xp Yeah the audience for huffy, real-rap gymnastics is pretty much the same as the audience for happy late-'80s/early-'90s throwbacks, so this probably isn't too much of a risk. But it feels like a huge shift anyway, and the upbeat outlook (even if just on this one track) will help distinguish the album from GKMC's sober moralism

There was a kind of corny 3 Feet High-ish Kendrick track on the last Eminem album that seemed like a lark at the time but now seems like it laid the groundwork for this

From what I gather almost everyone is enthusiastic and it would take a real clunker to end the public's honeymoon with Kendrick.

you like travis scott

And you live for Gucci Mane, shall we continue?

Kendrick is just plain mediocre. Give me Eddie Kendricks, or Kendrick Jeru Davis.

you forgot Anna

i will take gucci & kendrick over travis scott, yes

http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2010/09/kyle.jpg

http://nbchardballtalk.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/350x146.jpg

makes me think of something from those early kanye mix-cds, or his 'touch the sky' even. the last third is very fly-lo/thundercat.

Yeah first part definitely made me think of early Kanye too. It's the obvious soul sample x once-patented Insane Conga Rolls

Touch the Sky is a good comparison, upbeat, famous soul sample. There's some Stankonia thrown in there as well.

Snap judgement it's better "Touch the Sky" but not as good as Stankonia

also this was brought to my attention and is nuts awesome

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Oz8UmUXbg

terrible whiny/kiddy voice on that new single, maybe it's supposed to show versatility but I really can't listen to it, too annoying... enjoy the beat though

feel the same way abt his verse on "m.A.A.d city" though it's a different whine

If he knew how to write a hook/have even mildly insightful something to say other than pussy/money/his dick/ maybe his rapping skills could be put to some use. Usually his production is solid enough. The Art of Peer Pressure was pretty good, more focused. But he doesn't have enough verbal dexterity or technique to pull off his cliched lyrics.

sock

mhmm...

lmao this song. i would probably like it without the corny lyrics on the hook, which push it from charming throwback into "happy" territory

or more pertinently as molly lambert pointed out, "shake it off" territory

"But he doesn't have enough verbal dexterity or technique to pull off his cliched lyrics."

id say technique and dexterity are two things he has in abundance (just listen to the song hes done with flying lotus). my main issue is that even when hes putting on that weird voice and writing something cheesily upbeat (which i dont mind, as i have a soft spot for that kind of thing), there is still something weirdly dry about his tone/vibe on this, dry how talib/common etc can be when theyre at their least engaging/most earnest, almost like hes doing it/saying it because he thinks he HAS to rather than because he wants to. i might need to hear it more though. but its a fun throwaway kind of track, hopefully something you get on an itunes deluxe download rather than the centrepiece of the album.

actually i think its just that sometimes when kendrick is in his technique-heavy mode, he does become a bit boring. so on the song with fly lo, i do go 'wow' at how good a rapper he is (cos he is seriously impressive), but i dont find it all that involving, but thats probably another debate best saved for threads about rappity rappers vs the chief keefs or wakas of this world.

I don't know why you'd waste the time honestly engaging with someone who criticized Kendrick on the grounds of not having anything insightful to say "other than pussy/money/his dick/".

id say technique and dexterity are two things he has in abundance (just listen to the song hes done with flying lotus). my main issue is that even when hes putting on that weird voice and writing something cheesily upbeat (which i dont mind, as i have a soft spot for that kind of thing), there is still something weirdly dry about his tone/vibe on this, dry how talib/common etc can be when theyre at their least engaging/most earnest, almost like hes doing it/saying it because he thinks he HAS to rather than because he wants to. i might need to hear it more though. but its a fun throwaway kind of track, hopefully something you get on an itunes deluxe download rather than the centrepiece of the album.

I put Kendrick as a passenger on the same hype train as Earl and Frank Ocean along all 3 of their underwhelming lps. 'nothing new nothin new yall aint saying nothing knew'

Scaface life lyrics can work if you're, say Biggie, with the character, force of personality, verbal technique, voice etc. Ken simply doesn't.

But maybe, listening to hh for so long I hold rappers up to a standard higher. I don't think Ken said anything of worth, or with the delivery of rappers from the past, from Outkast lines, to Snoop hooks, to Biggie delivery, Wu tang's creativity to Pac's presence and lyrics, Ken is just a poor relation.