The Witzard

Kendrick Lamar 's latest non-album single, "i" has a seemingly unlikely sample source, The Isley Brother 's 1973 Soul-Funk hit, "[Who's] That Lady," which many of you may recognize from Swiffer 's hilarious long-standing "Who's That Lady" campaign. Right off the bat, "i" itself is more blatantly "commercial" than the combined the whole of it's predecessor good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012), but in the best way humanly possible. It's almost reminiscent of OutKast or even Native Tongues' 90's era brand of light-heated "conscious rap." Kendrick Lamar has supposedly recorded about 30 tracks for his as-yet-untitled second album, including "a bunch of tracks" with Dr. Dre . "Lamar says to expect "aggression and emotion" from the album, as well as some straight-up freestyling" laments a recent Rolling Stone profile; "if I can say anything about this record...

It took Kanye nearly 5 album's time to write something as densely-layered and reflective as Dark Twisted Fantasy . But Kendrick Lamar managed to achieve equally revealing results on his debut album good kid, m.A.A.d. city (if you don't count #Section.80 , Overly Dedicated, or Kendrick Lamar EP ) that quite honestly, rivals even Mr. West 's seasoned talents! What Lamar ended up penning is a semi-autobiographical tale based around his childhood, growing up on the "mean streets" of Compton . good kid, m.A.A.d. city's stone cold grizzly narrative briefly touches on slingin' dope, money, bitches, pizza, freestyling, bloodshed, etc. "Backseat Freestyle" is easily my favourite [non-]single pulled from the instantly CLASSIC album; Kendrick Lamar weaves a crazy/AWESOME tall-tale that's partially about a neighborhood chick with a fat ass, Sherane , and compares his manhood to the structural integrity of The Eiffel Tower . Lamar took the re...

Kendrick Lamar generously unveiled a BRAND NEW non-album track, "The Jig Is Up (Dump'n)," to commemorate the sheer fact that good kid, m.A.A.d. city has already managed to move some 250,000+ units since it's initial [Oct. 23rd] release; It's a staggering call-to-arms aimed @ Lamar's critics and detractors, which just might end up being a sample of his long-rumored J.Cole -manned album. Kendrick Lamar even lets loose a couple quick jabs @ a washed up rapper who felt the need to voice his unwarranted opinions: "I pray to God this beat is good enough for Shyne , if not J.Cole your shit is trash" ha! For what it's worth, good kid, m.A.A.d. city sold 241,000 copies between Oct. 22-30th, taking second place on the Billboard 200 charts, just behind Taylor Swift . Most likely against Aftermath/TDE 's wishes, Lamar scrapped the potentially buzz-worthy Lady GaGa collabo track, bumped Dr. Dre & Mary J. Blige 's features to mere bo...

In a crazy cyber-world where "Underground Hip-Hop" is widely accepted across so many Indie music blogs, suburban areas, and rich Hipster kids... I guess, this was really only inevitable with time; Last night @ a FADER/Vitamin Water -funded party in Portland , 2 Indie blog darlings, Kendrick Lamar & Bethany Cosentino (Best Coast) , took the stare together for the first time. They performed a slightly re-tweaked version of "No Make-Up (Her Vice)" with Cosentino subbed in for Colin Munroe on the hook. The understandably surprised Portland biker crowd went NUTS! - Singing along and cheering wildly @ the track's close. "uncapped" is a concert series that heads across college campuses, putting on tandem shows that pair up unlikely acts anywhere from Rick Ross to Passion Pit . "No Make-Up (Her Vice)" originally appeared on Kendrick Lamar 's album-length drug-themed concept mixtape, #Section.80 . He's currently hard @ work on...