Mar 30, 2017 http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1475-what-kendrick-lamars-been-up-to-since-to-p-----a-butterfly/ by Marc Hogan Senior Staff Writer RAP 18 HRS AGO Kendrick Lamar doesn’t need new albums to cement his cultural dominance. Between 2012’s good kid, m.A.A.d city and 2015’s To p---- a Butterfly, he set the rap world ablaze with his scene-stealing verse on Big Sean’s “Control (HOF).” And that was when not gracefully responding to getting Macklemored at the Grammys, or teaming up memorably with everyone from TDE labelmate Schoolboy Q and fellow Compton rapper YG to Miguel, Flying Lotus, and Tame Impala. Now, a little more than two years after TPAB and one year after its companion LP untitled unmastered., Lamar has been teasing what seems to be a new album, seemingly slated for April 7. His pace over the last two years, however, has not exactly slowed. In addition to a smattering of guest verses, memorable TV performances, and Reebok ads, Lamar has also emerged as an avatar for the Black Lives Matter movement: TPAB’s “Alright” became a recurring chant atpolitical protests, and Kendrick forged a bond with President Obama. While we await more new music, here’s a rundown on the state of Kendrick Lamar. March 24, 2015: To celebrate To p---- a Butterfly’s early arrival, Lamar performs a surprise concert on a moving truck, as later seen in a Reebok-sponsored clip. A proper sneaker commercial follows a few weeks later. It’s in the context of selling shoes that some of Lamar’s subsequent pop crossovers may make more sense: He’s as canny about commerce as art. May 17, 2015: TPAB‘s official release date was scarcely past before new Kendrick verses started materializing, including on a never-officially-released Kanye West remix as well as on a Glasses Malone single. Not many collaborations could be bigger, though, than Lamar’s collision course with Taylor Swift, who had talked up“Backseat Freestyle” the previous fall in her 1989 rollout. Lamar reciprocated by freestyling over “Shake It Off” before going full Swift, via two verses in her shade-throwing “Bad Blood” remix and a role (as “Welvin Da Great,” whatever that means) in the song’s explosion-filled action video. Lamar’s abbreviation-filled barbs on an apparent hater, complete with a “Backseat Freestyle” callback, aren’t his most striking, but presumably he’ll scoop up a few pennies from the clip’s billion-plus YouTube views. June 22, 2015: As listeners continue to digest the momentous sprawl of TPAB, Lamar keeps up his steady pace as a guest star, including a blistering performance on Bilal’s R&B opus “Money Over Love.” Closer to ubiquitous is his goofy boastfulness on this remix of Jidenna’s “Classic Man,” which both lends credibility to Janelle Monáe's Wondaland Records signee and anchors K.Dot to a Top 40hit. Remarkably enough, the remix also ends up reinforcing Lamar’s connection to Moonlight. June 28, 2015: At the BET Awards, Lamar performs TPAB’s triumphant protest anthem “Alright” while standing on a vandalized police car. FOX News pundits troll in their usual way, where it’s hard to tell if they’re truly this ignorant or just getting paid a lot of money to behave like despicable cartoon villains. Lamar’s response—”How can you take a song that's about hope and turn it into hatred?”—is beautiful. So is the song’s video, by director Colin Tilley. July 7, 2015: Lamar’s Reebok designs, with colors symbolizing peace between Los Angeles’ warring Bloods and Crips gangs, surface. July 23, 2015: DJ Khaled shares “Holy Key,” featuring Big Sean, Kendrick, and Betty Wright. Guess whose masterfully cadence-jumping lines on love and hate perfectly set up Wright’s booming send-off? September 10, 2015: Lamar performs on Stephen Colbert’s first “Late Show.” Though he previously debuted a new song (untitled mastered.’s “untitled 03 | 05.28.2013.”) as the final musical guest on “The Colbert Report,” he sticks to a medley of TPAB tracks this time. December 9, 2015: President Obama tells an interviewer that “How Much a Dollar Cost” was his favorite song of the year—a claim he follows up by deeming To p---- a Butterfly the best album of 2015 (fact). A month later, Lamar shares a PSA documenting his recent visit to the White House. January 8, 2016: Lamar debuts a new song (untitled unmastered.’s “untitled 02 | 06.23.2014.”) on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” January 18, 2016: Kanye West shares “No More Parties in LA” ahead of The Life of Pablo’s release. Lamar is in vivid form, waxing grandiose as Madlib’s hypnotic production unfolds. Kids, don’t try this come-on at home, or really anywhere: “I like your bougie bootie/Come Erykah Badu me.” February 11, 2016: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, Lamar joins forces with BJ the Chicago on “The New Cupid.” It’s another showcase for how well Lamar’s deft lyricism can work in a more retro-soul context. The video, with an amusingly bewigged Hannibal Buress, also deserves a watch. February 15, 2016: Nominated for almost a dozen Grammys, Lamar ends up winning five, including Best Rap Song for “Alright” and Best Rap Album for TPAB. Perhaps more importantly, Lamar gives an unforgettable Grammy performance that previews a new song (untitled unmastered.’s “untitled 05 | 09.21.2014.”). Concurrently, Kendrick notes he has a “chamber” of unreleased material for TV performances. March 4, 2016: With no advance notice, Lamar drops untitled unmastered. He explains: “Demos from To p---- A Butterfly. In Raw Form. Unfinished. Untitled. Unmastered." It will top the Billboard 200 chart. April 24, 2016: Beyoncé releases a surprise new visual album, Lemonade. Kendrick guests on “Freedom,” which features production from Just Blaze, samples that span from Puerto Rican band Kaleidoscope to Alan Lomax field recordings, and songwriting by UK tunesmiths. Lamar’s blazing verse serves as a call to arms against the forces of institutionalized racism. Cynics could argue it’s hard to be against freedom; Lamar’s verbal virtuosity helps ensure the track transcends facile sloganeering. May 9, 2016: Kendrick does spoken-word in a new Reebok commercial. One of his proper verses it’s not, but thematically it’s not far off from his catalog. He’ll follow it up with a freestyle in yet another Reebok ad three months later. July 4, 2016: Lamar and Janelle Monáe perform at the White House, singing Happy Birthday to Malia Obama. A few months later, Kendrick will show how just friendly he’s gotten with Obama by challenging him to a basketball game. September 2, 2016: Isaiah Rashad shares “Wat’s Wrong,” featuring Kendrick. Its languid, sun-baked Southern rap production leaves space for perhaps Lamar’s most ferocious guest verse of the past couple of years. “How many souls do you touch a day?/How many hoes do you f--- a day?/How many flows do your thought convey?/How many know you can't walk away?” he begins—and it’s tough to stop quoting. September 6, 2016: Sia releases a new song, “The Greatest,” featuring Lamar. As motivational lite-pop goes, it’s an unremarkable track. Not much stamina seems to have been required of Kendrick, either, as he says “ayy” several times and is gone before you know it. September 19, 2016: Danny Brown premieres “Really Doe,” with Lamar, Ab-Soul, and Earl Sweatshirt. Along with a characteristically dense word-puzzle of a verse, Kendrick also raps the hook. For a posse cut, it feels like cheating to say this, but it might be the strongest non-Kendrick track he has been part of these last two years. October 5, 2016: Maroon 5 release a new song, “Don’t Wanna Know,” including a Kendrick cameo. It sounds like all the generic post-Jack Ü trop-house clogging up streaming playlists, and the less you know about it the better. Kendrick’s verse is fine, but like life itself, it’s too short to be worth wading through this flavorless sonic goop. October 20, 2016: Lamar reveals he’s working on the untitled unmastered. follow-up and has been collaborating with Rick Rubin. “I have ideas and I have a certain approach,” Kendrick says of his next album. “But I wanna see what it manifests. I wanna put all the paint on the wall and see where that goes.” November 25, 2016: The Weeknd releases Starboy, which features Lamar on the bluesy contemplation “Sidewalks.” Kendrick is his usual syllable-twisting self, weaving an up-from-the-streets narrative, and Abel Tesfaye has been effusive about praising his collaborator. Still, there’s probably a reason this drab Auto-Tuned lament wasn’t one of the four songs shared before Starboy arrived in full. January 4, 2017: Kendrick unveils a new Reebok design, the Club C Capsule. In a later short film, he’ll say, “This sneaker represents that call for unity and equality, while also pushing people to look beneath the surface and uncover the hidden messages.” Keep in mind, this is a sneaker. February 24, 2017: TPAB collaborator Thundercat releases a new album, Drunk. Lamar appears on “Walk On By,” a woozy setting for one of his sharper guest verses in, um, months. As if taking full advantage of Drunk’s eccentricities, Kendrick indulges in dense wordplay, from the opening “from my eyewitness binoculars” to a jab at the Republicans’ one-time faux folk hero “Joe the Plumber.” March 1, 2017: He sheds more light on his next album. “To p---- a Butterfly was addressing the problem,” Lamar says. “I’m in a space now where I’m not addressing the problem anymore.” March 23, 2017: He posts a “IV” graphic on Instagram and deletes his earlier posts, prompting speculation about his next album, which will be his fourth. The next day, Kendrick releases a new song, “The Heart Part 4.” It’s the latest installment of his career-spanning “The Heart” series, it hints at the date April 7, and it’s an unrelenting assault on everyone from Trump to, perhaps, Drake. Kendrick convincingly warns all comers: “My spot is solidified, if you ask me.” In much more minor news, the same day Mike WiLL Made-Itreleases Ransom 2, which features Lamar alongside Rae Sremmurdand Gucci Mane on “Perfect Pint.”
