Kendrick Lamar Page 6

Hip-hop megastar Kendrick Lamar has teased the possible imminent release of his fourth album with a solitary Instagram post.

The 29 year old rapper’s account, as of Thursday morning (March 23rd), bore only the roman numerals ‘IV’ having been otherwise completely deleted. The number refers to the canon of traditional albums that he has released thusfar - 2011's Section.80, 2012's Good Kid m.A.A.d. City and 2015's To Pimp a Butterfly – not counting 2010’s Overly Dedicated mixtape and 2016’s untitled unmastered outtakes record.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Teases Fourth Album With Instagram Post

The 2017 line-up for the prestigious Coachella Festival in three months’ time has been announced, with Radiohead, Beyonce and Kendrick Lamar revealed as the headliners.

Spanning the two weekends of April 14th-16th and April 21st-23rd, Coachella returns for its 18th edition and will once again be held at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, California.

The organisers announced on Tuesday (January 3rd) that its landed a superstar name for the Saturday nights in the shape of Beyonce, who released her lauded album Lemonade less than a year ago. While she's helped her husband Jay-Z headline, and then appearing with her younger sister Solange during her slot in 2014, Bey has never played the festival in her own right.

Continue reading: Coachella Announces Beyonce, Radiohead And Kendrick Lamar As Headliners For 2017

Ice Cube said he had some tricks up his sleeve for Coachella 2016, but no-one was expecting all this. The rapper managed to reunite with all surviving NWA members, including Dr Dre, on stage at the festival in Indio, California as well as introduce some very special additional guests.

NWA are reunited at Coachella 2016

Say what you like about rappers, but there's a tight bond between stars in the hip hop world - be it a bond of beef or a bond of brotherhood, and Ice Cube was certainly displaying the latter at Coachella's second weekend.

Continue reading: Dr Dre, Kendrick Lamar, The Game: Ice Cube Pulls Out All The Stops For Coachella 2016

Kendrick Lamar surprised young rap fans at a hip-hop workshop in Manchester this week by dropping in unexpectedly, which ended up in a friendly rap battle.

In a clip from the workshop, organised by Reebok Classic and Brighter Sounds at a small community centre in the English city, the 28 year old megastar can be seen watching on and encouraging several teenage attendees as they take turns on the mic.

Eventually, the Compton-born star himself jumps in and gets involved. Going up against a multi-Grammy Award winner and platinum selling hip-hop god might seem like an intimidating prospect, but the English teens seemed to hold their own while taking some light joking from Lamar in the process.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Takes On English Teens In Friendly Rap Battle

Fresh from the surprise album he released earlier this month, Untitled, Unmastered, that is currently riding high in the US Billboard chart, American rapper Kendrick Lamar appears to be back in the studio working on new music.

The popular rapper is back in the studio

Lamar’s producer, Dave Free, uploaded a series of Snapchat videos of the Crompton rapper in the studio but, as yet, there has been no other information about the new tunes or when they might be available publicly.

Continue reading: Rapper Kendrick Lamar Teases New Music With Videos Of Him In The Studio

Grammy-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar has surprised his fans by releasing a new album, called untitled unmastered, that appears to be a companion piece to last year’s critically acclaimed and wildly popular masterpiece To Pimp a Butterfly.

The new record, Kendrick’s fourth, is available to buy and stream from all major sites now. All of the eight tracks are called ‘untitled’, with calendar dates next to them which indicate when they were recorded. All tracks appear to have been recorded in 2013 or 2014, with the exception of the seventh track which appears to have been finished only this year.

Kendrick Lamar in concert in 2015

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Surprise Releases New Album 'Untitled Unmastered'

Following his significant haul of prizes at the Grammy Awards earlier this week, Kendrick Lamar has spoken about the motivation behind his decision to perform previously unreleased material at the ceremony.

In an interview with 2 Dope Boyz, a hip-hop fan site, the 28 year old rapper says that he regards television as an opportunity to perform his music in different ways, as he originally wanted it to appear on his albums.

“You see all these performances on these late night shows… I got a chamber of material from the album that I was in love where sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album,” he said. “But I think probably close to ten songs that I’m in love with that I’ll still play and still perform that didn’t make the cut.”

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Speaks About Playing Unreleased Material At Awards Shows

The music event of the year took place last night (February 15th 2016) with Taylor Swift and Mark Ronson scooping the top prizes but Kendrick Lamar taking home the most awards altogether at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards. Here's a rundown of the ceremony in brief.

Mark Ronson wins Record of the Year for 'Uptown Funk'

Record of the Year, of course, went to Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars for 'Uptown Funk' which also earned Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and the Dave Audé Remix won Best Remixed Recording for a Non-Classical song. It was Taylor Swift who landed the coveted Album Of The Year, however, with '1989' also becoming Best Pop Vocal Album. Swift also won an award alongside Kendrick Lamar for Best Music Video with 'Bad Blood', marking the rapper's fifth accolade of the evening.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Scoops The Most Awards At This Year's Grammys

The Hello singer will join Grammy nominee frontrunner Kendrick Lamar on the stage to belt out a few of her tunes.

Adele will flex her performing muscles at the Grammys next month

Adele is a 10-time Grammy award winner but didn’t qualify for the 2016 nominations because she released her music after the required deadline.

Continue reading: Adele To Perform At The Grammys

He's already leading Grammy nominations with no less than 11 nods, but this rapper has a lot more than that in store for the coming months. From festivals to yet more award shows, 2016 will be just as busy as 2015 - if not more so, still hot on the heels of his hit album 'To Pimp A Butterfly'.

Kendrick Lamar has a lot to look forward to

On January 6th 2016, the People's Choice Awards will take place where Lamar will vie for Favorite Hip-Hop Artist as well as Favorite Song for 'Bad Blood' shared with Taylor Swift. Following that, he's up for Outstanding Male Artist at the NAACP Image Awards on February 5th, and then on to the NME Awards on February 17th to try and bag awards for Best International Solo Artist and Best Album supported by HMV.

Continue reading: What Awaits Kendrick Lamar In 2016? Here's A Quick Preview...

For Kendrick Lamar 2015 has been one very successful year. The rapper released his third album To Pimp A Butterfly in March and it went on to debut on top of the Billboard charts. But the 28 year old’s year was really topped off when he received 11 Grammy nominations and now he’s got his sights set on taking home all the awards.

Kendrick Lamar is up for 11 Grammys at next year’s ceremony.

Speaking about his 11 nominations to the New York Times Lamar said: “Being acknowledged for your work is always a great accomplishment, whether it’s people in my city, kids in the street, all the way up to the Grammys.”

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Speaks About His 11 Grammy Nominations, "I Want To Win Them All"

It’s not every day that one of the most powerful men in the world tells you that one of your songs has been their favourite track of 2015. But that was exactly what happened to Kendrick Lamar when Barack Obama named his tune How Much A Dollar Cost? as his top track of the year.

Kendrick Lamar thinks President Obama's praise is "great"

And what do you then say to the President of the United States when he reveals this? You responded with a cool, calm and collected: "That’s great."

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Reacts To President Obama's Praise

The Grammy Award nominations for 2016 have finally been announced, with Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar predictably leading with a total of seven nods each. There's a massive 83 categories altogether, so here's a summary of what's going on in the main four.

Taylor Swift is a top contender in the main categories

Taylor Swift is pretty much a Grammy staple these days having been nominated every year since 2012. She hasn't won anything the last two years, but we'd be surprised if she loses out in 2016. Single 'Blank Space' is up for Record Of The Year, Song Of The Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, while 'Bad Blood' featuring Kendrick Lamar could also bag Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Music Video, and album '1989' is looking at Album Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Continue reading: Taylor Swift, The Weeknd And Kendrick Lamar: Favourites For The 2016 Grammy Awards

Florence + the Machine and Kendrick Lamar are the latest headliners to be announced for next year’s BST Festival in Hyde Park. The two acts will share the bill on Saturday July 2nd, with Florence headlining the night. Also on the line-up are Jamie xx and Blood Orange.

Florence + The Machine are heading to BST Hyde Park.

Florence + the Machine headlined the Friday of this year’s Glastonbury festival after the Foo Fighters were force to pull out. Their latest album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful hit the number one spot in the UK earlier this year.

Continue reading: Florence + The Machine And Kendrick Lamar Added To 2016 BST Hyde Park Line Up

Today, in honour of Martin Luther King Day, MTV is returning to its progressive, socially conscious days with a special twist on its programming. For twelve straight hours, the channel will air all its shows and music videos (all two of them) in black and white, in an effort to draw attention to racial tensions in the US.

Kendrick Lamar (pictured), Common and a host of other celebrities want Americans to have #thetalk.

Commercials will still air in colour though, presumably because capitalism trumps social justice.

Continue reading: Common, Kendrick Lamar Lead The Charge On MTV's #THETALK Campaign For Martin Luther King Day

Kendrick Lamar has returned with his first single since 2012. Entitled 'i', the song samples The Isley Brothers' song 'That Lady', previously used in tracks by The Beastie Boys and Charles Hamilton. The song premiered on US radio station Power 106 on Tuesday morning (September 23, 2014).

Kendrick Lamar is back with a new single, 'i'

The song had a more upbeat, mainstream feel to the songs on Lamar's acclaimed album Good Kid Maad City and uses the 1973 soul hit as a driving base. It also features the sound of car horns and a jazz breakdown. 

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Samples Isley Brothers On New Track, 'I' [Listen]

Seven months has not been long enough for Drake's wounds, inflicted at the Grammy Awards, to heal. The 27-year-old rapper hosted the ESPY Awards (Excellent in Sports Performance Yearly Awards) on Wednesday (16th July) and performed two new sports themed songs. Unfortunately for another rapper, Macklemore, Drake included some blatantly obvious and envious references to his success.

Drake at the ESPY Awards last night.

Read More: Everything You Need To Know About Drake's Views From The Six.

Continue reading: Why Did Drake Dis Macklemore Whilst Hosting The 2014 ESPY Awards?

Budweiser Made In America Press Conference at Los Angeles City Hall on April 16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California - Photo by Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Budweiser

Budweiser Made in America festival is on its way and, to celebrate, the beer brand unveil a series of music documentaries in different States: this week we explore Minnesota!

Being such a huge part of the world, America has always borne a massively diverse music ethos. In almost every part of the country you can come across a different musical culture and it's with this idea in mind that world famous rap star Jay-Z decided to create Budweiser Made in America festival. It's sole purpose is to bring together a choice selection of both up-and-coming and well-established artists spanning all genres including rock, hip hop, R&B, electronic, punk... the list goes on.

Continue reading: Made In Minnesota: Budweiser Made In America Documents The Best City Music Of The States

The last few years have been somewhat of a ride for Kendrick Lamar, who received critical acclaim with Section.80, then matched that critical acclaim with Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, added fiscal success to the mix.

Kendrick Lamar was widely considered to have been robbed, even by Mackelmore, who 'robbed' him

The Grammys were expected to be Lamar’s, but a surprising win for Mackelmore has distracted people from the facts: Kendrick is the most active rapper out there at the moment, and despite a text from the unexpected winner suggested he was robbed, the wheels of the brand keep rolling.

Continue reading: With That Grammy Nonsense In The Past, Kendrick Lamar Is Focussing On 2014's New Album

Schoolboy Q's long-awaited third studio album Oxymoron has been released this week and as fans all over the world are loading up their mp3 players and stereos to get acquainted with the hip hop star's latest work, we've had a snoop around all the reviews.

PRE ORDER: @ScHoolBoyQ's #OXYMORON Deluxe CD @Target - 3 bonus songs + 2 exclusive tracks! http://t.co/JMeZaptaF7 pic.twitter.com/07MIue60gR

— Interscope Records (@Interscope) February 12, 2014

Continue reading: Does Schoolboy Q's New Album 'Oxymoron' Live Up To Its Hip Hop Buzz? [Video]

Despite the success of his debut album The Heist, it’s safe to say that Ben Haggarty, aka Macklemore isn’t really the most beloved rapper out there. His Grammy win over the Kanye West, Drake and most of all Kendrick Lamar (whom it seemed like everyone was rooting for) only made the situation worse.

Macklemore's "nice guy" image is a bit chipped at the edges.

Maybe the rapper was trying to placate those same critics, by instagram-ing an “apology” text message to Lamar after the show, but the idea completely backfired. It could have come and gone and Haggarty’s reputation would have stayed relatively unscathed, only he had to go and commit the biggest sin for a celebrity – over-sharing.

Continue reading: Feud Fallout: Macklemore Needs Damage Control, Drake Needs Free Publicity

The aftermath of this year's Grammy Awards on Sunday was filled with talk about Beyoncé and Jay Z's sexually-charged 'Drunk In Love' performance, Madonna's mass marriage, Taylor Swift's surprised face and the rock-tastic finale show. However, as the dust has died down, one performance in particular stands out for its explosive mash-up and unique collaboration.

Imagine Dragons' Grammys Performance With Kendrick Lamar Has Been Heralded As A Highlight.

Imagine Dragons and Kendrick Lamar performed a hybrid version of the former's hit 'Radioactive' and the latter's 'MAAD City' to considerable critical acclaim. Not only did the two songs mesh extremely well together but the rock band and the rapper brought a show to the Grammys that will be talked about for months to come.

Continue reading: Imagine Dragons And Kendrick Lamar Stole The Grammys With 'MAAD City/ Radioactive' Show? [Video]

The Grammy Awards are known as the biggest night in music, the music industry equivalent to the Oscars. Unlike the Oscars, however, the Grammys are much more accepting of newcommers and in fact, the award show airing this Sunday will feature plenty of debutants, competing with seasoned artists. So with that in mind, it’s about time for everyone to place their bets. Let’s see who the favorites are to sweep this year’s Grammys.

With seven nominations, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are expected to sweep the awards this year.

Record of the Year is one of the biggest categories at the award show. Out of the five nominees, Daft Punk’s Get Lucky seems like a no-brainer, but Lorde’s Royals, the unpredictable success of 2013 could come in and sweep this up last minute.

Continue reading: Grammys 2014 Predictions: Who Will Sweep The Major Awards?

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are set to perform at this years 56th Grammy Awards, with their inclusion to the Grammys set list being announced this week by the music awards showcase. Although the organisers for the event have revealed that the pair will perform, they have yet to specify whether the two will appear on stage together at all, a prospect that most are hoping for.

Paul and Ringo will hopefully be performing together

The pair were announced as two of the latest confirmed acts to appear at the awards show, with fellow performers John Legend, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift, Keith Urban, Sara Bareilles and Carole King also added to the bill.

Continue reading: Paul McCartney & Ringo Starr Confirmed For Grammy Awards Performance. Does This Spell A Beatles Showcase?

The Grammy Awards are the biggest night in music — but it looks like they may be even bigger this year. Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons have announced they will be performing together at the award show, according to MTV.

Imagine Dragons performing in Liverpool on their 2013 tour

Lamar and Imagine Dragons join other previously announced performers Daft Punk, as well as a duet by Pink and Nate Ruess of fun. Daft Punk rarely perform together in public, and the announcement was a delightful surprise to all their fans. Other performers are expected to be added all the way up until show time.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar And Imagine Dragons Will Perform Together At Grammy Awards

Kanye West isn't afraid to make his feelings be known and as you may expect, the rapper had plenty to say after the nominations for the 2014 Grammy Awards were revealed last week, with his latest album Yeezus only getting two nominations in the rap categories. Rather than count his blessings, Kanye let his feelings be known at a recent stop off in Phoenix, Arizona, where he queried what the Grammys are "trying to say."

Kanye can't believe he only has two Grammy nods

A video of Kanye's near-15-minute rant made its way on to KissFM's Instagram page and website, with the opinionated rapper questioning why on earth he has been overlooked in favour of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Sara Bareilles and others Kanye would never consider to be on his level. Informing the crowd, the rapper raved, "Yeezus is the top 1 or 2 album on every single list, but only gets two nominations from the Grammys. What are they trying to say?"

Continue reading: Unsurprisingly, Kanye West Isn't Happy With Yeezus' Album Of The Year Snub At The Grammys

The 2014 Grammy Awards will take place in January 2014, with the full list of nominees being revealed over the weekend. Jay-Z was the most capped nominee, with nine nods in total, whilst Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Kendrick Lamar and Daft Punk were also among the list of potential winners, but there were a number of artists who were nowhere to be seen on the list of nominations.

After their shock win in 2011, Arcade Fire have been ignored this time

Despite their last album, The Suburbs, being a runaway success at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Arcade Fire are nowhere to be seen on next year's list. Their fourth album, Reflektor, was met with almost universal praise and some critics noted that it was an improvement form their latest release, but it seems as though the Grammy committee weren't as impressed as everyone else. The Canadian band don't even appear in the Best Alternative categories, however it is pleasing to see Tame Impala and Vampire Weekend among the nominees in this category, especially considering VW released one of the albums of the year with Modern Vampires of the City.

Continue reading: Grammy Awards 2014 Nominations: Who Are The Notable Absentees On The Nominee's List

Well this was always going to happen wasn’t it? Kendrick Lemar – or K.Dot as he was previously known – has been slowly swelling his stock until it exploded on the hip hop stock market when Good Kid, M.A.A.D City dropped. There was a notable spike when Section.80 hit, too.

Good Old Kendrick.

Now, riding on a wave of critical acclaim, Lemar feels confident to call out other rappers. He did it on a controversial verse in Control – most notably – and he did it again, less explicitly, at the BET awards. And it was aimed in Drake’s direction, apparently.

Continue reading: Big BET Winner Kendrick Lemar Places Drake In His Crosshairs

Kendrick Lamar was always going to walk away from the 2013 BET Hip-Hop Awards as one of the main talking points. Up for 11 awards and eventually leaving with four wins, not to mention the fact that he played a live medley of some of his most notable tracks from the critically lauded Good Kid, m.a.a.d City, Kendrick was en route to being on the front page of Google News regardless.

Kendrick declares himself "King Kendrick" on the track

Ever since a preview of the cypher clip went viral last month, there were rumours that Kendrick takes on his 'Poetic Justice' collaborator with gusto, and when the rapper performed his verse in full at the BET Hip Hip Awards this turned out to be the case, only Drake wasn't alone in the take down. In his two-minute verse, part of a full-length Top Dawg Entertainment Crew cypher recorded for the show, Kendrick asserts his dominance over the other big rappers of today, declaring himself "King Kendrick" amongst the rest.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Spits Fire At Drake (And Every Other Rapper) In BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher [Listen]

Tis the season for album promotion and Eminem is the latest to join the hype team. The rapper teased his upcoming “Marshall Mathers LP 2” be releasing the much anticipated (hey, someone must have anticipated it) tracklist. More importantly, Shady revealed collaborations aplenty. It looks like the Lose Yourself rapper’s policy on collaborating with mainstream artists has become more lax of late. Rihanna, Nate Rues, singer-songwriter Skylar Grey and that oh-so-popular of late hip hop prodigy Kendrick Lamar all show up on the tracklist, released via Mathers’ official website. For those raising an eyebrow in question, Nate Rues might be more familiar as the lead singer of the band Fun.

Is this the new and improved Eminem?

At this point Eminem is hitting the promotional trail hard, as the first single off the album shows an almost tangible evolution in style. And as with all new things, this new, uber-serious vibe might take some warming up to, especially for those older hardcore fans of Slim Shady. The rapper recently released the video for Surival, the first single off the album and it shows a very different Eminem to the one we’ve seen so far.

Continue reading: The Tracklist Form Eminem's Upcoming "Marshall Mathers LP 2" Boasts Collaborations Gallore

Eminem released the full details of his 16-track line-up for his upcoming album, The Marshal Mathers LP 2. The follow-up to 2010's chart-topping Recovery will be released next month, and in a bid to produce further excitement, the Detroit-native released the full tracklisting, including guest spots, on Tursday, 10 October (via Billboard).

Em will release MMLP2 on 5 November

MMLP2 will feature a host of special appearances from the likes of rap's latest wunderkind Kendrick Lamar, Skylar Grey, Fun. frontman Nate Ruess and Bajan beauty Rihanna, who Em also worked with on his last album for the mega-hit 'Love The Way You Lie.' On top of these guest artists, we already know that long-time collaborator Dr Dre has at least one production credit on the album along with the legend that is Rick Rubin, with the pair also serving as executive producers. DJ Khalil, Scoop DeVille, Symoblyc One, No I.D. and Eminem himself have also contributed beats to the album.

Continue reading: Eminem Reveals The Tracklist For 'The Marshal Mathers LP 2'

With all of Kanye West’s recent success around the release of Yeezus, there was one thing conspicuously missing – an album tour. Of course, West is a new dad, having welcomed baby North with Kim Kardashian back in June. Fast forward to three months later and North is happily taken care of by her mum, her gran and an entire loving family, which makes it the perfect time for West to finally announce those long awaited tour dates.

After being on daddy duty for a while, West will finally set off on tour in October.

According to US Weekly, the rapper will hit 23 US cities, starting with a gig at Seattle’s Key Arena on October 19. What’s even better is that Kanye is teaming up with rap prodigy Kendrick Lamar, who will open for West on his nationwide round. The tour itself will span seven weeks, with the Black Skinhead rapper making stops in major cities across the US and Canada, including dates in Las Vegas, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, Vancouver, and Montreal. The long overdue tour will conclude with a show at the Toyota Center in Houston Texas on December 7.

Continue reading: Kanye West Takes "Yeezus" To The People With 23 North American Tour Dates

Kendrick Lamar got exactly what he wanted when he spat the now-infamous incendiary verse on Big Sean’s ‘Control.’ He told his fellow rappers – some of which he works with – that he’s out to outdo them in every way possible, and it caused quite a stir.

A confident Kendrick called out other rappers in the controversial verse

"Honestly I didn’t know there would be so much speculation behind it,” Lamar said to radio station Power 106, although the furore surrounding his lengthy verse will only move to help complete his mission. “I just wanted to rap. Anybody that knows me doing music, I wanna just rap." (Rolling Stone)

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Was Surprised At Control Verse Impact - Rapper Speaks Out

Austin City Limits Music Festival is set to hit Texas for its twelfth year, bringing with it two weekends of fabulous live music and family fun.

The festival organisers first decided to spread the fun out over two weekends last year, in a bid to welcome yet more people into this unique world, and it appears that they haven't gone back on their word as they are set to return to Zilker Park on October 4th - 6th and 11th - 13th. This year sees some impressive headline acts including Depeche Mode, The Cure, Muse and Kings Of Leon - and if that wasn't exciting enough, Atoms For Peace, Lionel Richie, Phoenix and Wilco are also high up on this year's bill! Some of the other acts scattered around are just as jaw-droppingly impressive, not to mention extremely diverse. We have Californian rockers Queens Of The Stone Age, country star Hank Williams Jr.'s daughter Holly Williams, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar, LA sisters Haim, alt-folk group Thao & The Get Down Stay Down Nottingham singer Jake Bugg and legendary 'Gay Bar' hitmakers Electric Six.

Continue reading: Austin City Limits 2013 Set To Return With A Stunningly Diverse New Line-Up

When Kendrick Lamar spat fire on his guest spot for the Big Sean track 'Control,' his challenge to today's hip-hop heavy-weights to up their game and try and keep up with him was taken the wrong way by a chunk of the rap community, including a number of those he called out on the track. Speaking for the first time about the controversy surrounding his verse, the Compton rapper has reiterated that he meant no disrespect to anyone, noting that he may have to tone down his complex lyrics in future.

Kendrick says that people obviously didn't get what he was rapping about in the Big Sean track

The Top Dawg Entertainment star was speaking with radio DJ Peter Rosenberg on his Hot 97 radio show on Thursday (29 August) morning to address the unwarranted controversy surrounding the song, saying that his lyrics had been taken out of context by those who took offence. He commented, "It made me go back here and made me feel that I probably need to dumb down my lyrics nowadays, for people to take it way out of context the way they did."

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Contemplates 'Dumbing Down' Lyrics Following 'Control' Fallout

Kendrick Lamar has no beef with any of the “kings of New York” and that wasn’t even what his somewhat controversial verse on Big Sean’s Control was even about, the rapper himself says in an upcoming interview with Power 106. Lamar says that he did not expect his contribution to the Big Sean track to attract that much attention, but to be fair with so many names dropped in there, it’s no wonder the media took the bait and started looking for the rift between Lamar and his fellow East Coasters. The inflammatory line – or one of them anyway – goes: ”I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you n****s”

Hear an excerpt from the interview below.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar's "Control" Verse Wasn't A Jab At The Kings Of New York

Big Sean's new track 'Control' was only released on Tuesday but already the rap world is up in arms over guest rapper Kendrick Lamar's 3 minute verse in which he boasts, disses and namechecks other artists in order to make it sound like he's the undisputed big dog.

The Rap World Replies To Lamar.

Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Pusha T, Drake, A$AP Rocky, Mac Miller, NaS, Eminem, Andre 3000 and Meek Millz are not even all the names spat out by Lamar as the rapper compares himself to a King, the Pope and Italian writer/politician Machiavelli. He also adds in Lindsay Lohan, Sir Paul McCartney and Sean Connery for good measure, just in case Hollywood or The Beatles' guitarist ever considers encroaching on his self-anointed rap lordship.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar 'Control' Rap: The Best Responses From The Hip-Hop World

Kendrick Lamar turned heads in the hip-hop world this week following the premiere of a new track by Big Sean - Control - featuring the Compton rapper.

It was the instant classic verse from Lamar that caused the stir, with the 26-year-old dubbing himself the "King of New York" and putting himself in the company of some of the game's very best.

"I heard the barbershops spittin' great debates all the time, Bout who's the best MC? Kendrick, Jigga and Nas," he spits.

Continue reading: Hip-Hop's Sleeping Giant Awoken By Kendrick Lamar. What Took You So Long?

No one has ever called out as many people in one verse as Kendrick Lamar did in his contribution to Big Sean's new track, 'Control.' The song isn't even destined for an album but that hasn't made Lamar's fellow rappers, especially the ones name-dropped in his verse, zero in on the L.A rapmeister.

Rap doesn't really strike us as the genre where you want to be dissing your fellow words-men, especially due to all the tough characters with tattoes, grillz and heavy jewellery that could probably be swung like a flail if riled. Lamar doesn't seem to care though, spitting lyrics laden with big names in the industry in what feels like a taunt.

Kendrick Lamar Called Out The Big Names In Rap.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Bigs Himself Up, By Calling Out Other Rappers

Kendrick Lamar has not been in the most subtle of moods of late. He's started to find the trappings of fame and fortune irritating or so his lyrics would suggest.

Kenrick Lamar at the Way Out West Festival in Sweden.

Lamar's rant features of Big Sean's upcoming Hall of Fame album. The 7 minute long track, in which Lamar raps, has not been released owing to sample-clearance issues. This track, 'Control', is highly critical of the attributes of rap culture, including the frivolous lifestyles of other celebrities such as Lindsay Lohan.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Attacks Rap Peers' Out Of 'Control' Luxurious Lifestyles

Kendrick Lamar is rising to the top and won’t let anybody stand in his way, the rapper has made that much clear by calling out a bunch of rappers on his latest track “Control (HOF)”. Actually, name dropped would be a more accurate description, because the list of… um… homeboys includes quite a few big names.

Lamar might have "mad love" for them...

In the new track, which you can listen to via NME, Lamar raps: "I'm usually homeboys with the same nigg*s I'm rhyming with/ But this is hip-hop and them niggas should know what time it is/ And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale, Pusha-T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake, Big Sean, Jay Electron', Tyler, Mac Miller/ I got love for you all but I'm trying to murder you n****s".

Continue reading: New Single "Control (HOF)" Sees Kendrick Lamar Calling Out Big Competitors

Most of us are still cradling our weary heads from the Pitchfork Music Festival, but it's time to dust ourselves down, pull on our favorite band t-shirts and head to Chicago for one of America's - no, the world's - biggest music festivals.

That's right guys, Lollapalooza is here and this year's line-up is one of the most ingenious collections of live music for 2013.

Here's the bands that you simply cannot afford to miss.

Continue reading: Lollapalooza 2013: The Key Bands That You Cannot Afford To Miss

Get ready for a magnificent time as Chicago brings you another rollicking year of Lollapalooza with a legendary line-up of mixed genre music from The Cure to Mumford & Sons.

Since it's revival in 2003, Lollapalooza has been bringing you the very best of rock, metal, punk, hip hop and dance from all the major music legends to the up-and-coming rookies of the business. Taking place at Chicago's Grant Park from August 2nd - 4th 2013, the festival this year features a bedazzling headline roster of Las Vegas indie rockers The Killers, West Sussex goths The Cure, Grammy winning folk four-piece Mumford & Sons and long-running industrial rock group Nine Inch Nails. There will also be a huge range of activities to occupy yourself with over the weekend from the Samsung Galaxy Experience where you can check out the latest gadgets, to art stations where you can become a comic strip or be transformed into a work of pop art.

Continue reading: Lollapalooza 2013 To Be Equipped For All Weathers For Another Memorable Weekend

The nominations for the MTV Video Music Awards 2013 have been announced, with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis and Justin Timberlake leading the field. Armed with their videos for 'Can't Hold Us' and 'Thrift Shop,' the hip-hop duo will square off against JT at Brooklyn's Barclays Center on August 25, 2013.

Both acts received six nominations, with Timberlake getting nods for his 'Suit and Tie' and 'Mirrors' promos. Elsewhere, Bruno Mars appears to have every chance of taking home the prize of 'Video of the Year' with 'Locked out of Heaven,' though Robin Thicke's controversial clip for 'Blurred Lines' and Taylor Swift's 'I Knew You Were Trouble' will also be popular.

The VMAs - one of the biggest events on the pop music calendar - represents the first time a major awards show has been held in Brooklyn. The place has been a mecca for art and culture for years, though the Barclays Center appears to have truly put it on the map.

Continue reading: MTV Video Music Award Nominees: Will Macklemore Clean Up?

On his upcoming second album, Overgrown, UK electronic saviour James Blake includes a collaborative effort with Wu Tang Clan pack leader RZA in what is a stand out track on an album filled with stand out tracks. Blake's flirtation with hip hop has been long withstanding and it seems that now he has finally hooked up with a hip hop artists everyone is seemingly after a piece of the young producer.

James Blake can hopefully expect to pick up a few more awards with the release of Overgrown.

Hip hop's fastest rising star, Kendrick Lamar, is one of the names being thrown around the rumour mill more and more and thanks to an article from PigeonsAndPlanes.com, it is looking more and more likely that the two young upstarts may be heading to a studio together sometime soon. Blake's collaborator on the newly launched label 1-800-Dinosaur, Dan Foat, spoke with the website about the potential for a collaboration and whilst he said that at the moment both parties are too busy to agree on anything, there is still widespread interest among the two groups to work together. He said, "The TDE setup is inspiring and something I’d like to replicate with 1-800, they’re like a modern day Death Row. It’s a long ball game."

Continue reading: Is James Blake Looking To Strengthen His Hip Hop Connections With A Kendrick Lamar Collaboration?

Ok, so this year's SXSW Festival in Austin, Texas, featured intimate performances from the likes of Prince, Justin Timberlake, the Sound City Players, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Green Day and Kendrick Lamar, though one memorable moment from 2013 appears to be making all the headlines. "Drunk bully gets knocked out" is a video that began pulling in the YouTube views midway through the festival, after one attendee captured an incident on the Austin streets on a smartphone. Of course, we don't condone violence, but isn't there something sweet about seeing a drunken bully stumble around hitting innocent bystanders, only to be given a taste of his own medicine? Sure there is.

After reading the video title, you just know what's going to happen. The only thing left to do is try and guess which of the SXSW festivalgoers gives the drunken bully a face full of fist before it actually happens. Eagle eyed watchers will have spotted the guy with the grey t-shirt asking his friend whether he has his back, around 10 seconds into the video. From there, he plans the whole thing out, waits for his moment, and BOOM. 

Continue reading: SXSW Memorable Moments: Drunk Bully Gets Knocked Out (Video)

As the annual South by Southwest festival heats up over there in Austin, Texas, we’ve cast a jealous eye over the line-up and picked out five of some of the bigger names that you really should start queuing nice and early for and thrown in five hype bands for you, too, so you can get all hip with your friends, upon your return and start laying down all those “saw them first lines,” when they blow up next year.

First up, the acts that have already broken, that you really need to check out, or at least pretend that you did, if you were stuck in that queue for BBQ wings…

1. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis – their ‘Thrift Shop’ song really blew up, especially online, where they challenged Carly Rae Jepsen’s chart record for ‘Call Me Maybe.’ No one can predict whether or not Macklemore’s going to be a one hit wonder or whether he’s got more up his sleeve, he’s known for putting on a good show, and all six of their shows are likely to be rammed.

Continue reading: SXSW Movers And Shakers: The Biggest Names And Best New Acts At South By Southwest 2013

Albums of Note... Dave Grohl managed to rally a group of rock’s big players together to record an album designed to accompany his Sound City documentary – about the legendary LA recording studio of the same name. Amongst the stars making an appearance on Sound City: Real to Reel are Sir Paul McCartney, Josh Homme and Stevie Nicks; the latter of whom provides one of the album’s highlights:

“[The] tracks that do command attention… are worth wading through the mire for. One can only assume, for instance, that Lindsay Buckingham and the rest of Fleetwood Mac will be kicking themselves upon hearing 'You Can't Fix This,' because this is simply the greatest Fleetwood Mac song that never was.”

Continue reading: A Week In Music - Stevie Nicks Stars In Sound City: Real To Reel, Palma Violets Can't Match The Hype, Kendrick Lamar's Slick New Video For 'Poetic Justice'

This year’s Bonnaroo Festival takes place in Manchester, Tennessee, on June 13-16 and the lineup is boasting some pretty heavyweight talent, with the likes of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Mumford & Sons and Sir Paul McCartney stealing the headline slots. Beyond the draw of the top billing, though – who should you go and see if you manage to bag a ticket to Bonnaroo 2013? Here’s our Top 5 Bonnaroo Bets.

1. Bjork – We can’t remember the last time there was an opportunity to see Bjork in such a superb festival setting (okay, we probably could, if we cast our minds back a little but it’s far from a frequent occurrence). The eccentric Icelandic songstress always puts on a fabulous show, both visually and sonically, setting fire to all of your senses, whether you are a hardened Bjork fan or simply wandering past the stage, wondering what the hell might be going on.

2. Cat Power – OK. This one comes with a warning. When she’s on form, Cat Power (aka Chan Marshall) will provide you with one of the most emotionally charged, cathartic live music experiences that you’re likely to experience. On a bad day, though, it can be torturous to witness. All part of the Cat Power charm, of course, but a gamble, nonetheless.

Continue reading: Bonnaroo Festival 2013 Lineup Announced: Our Top 5 Picks Beyond The Headlines

The Bonnaroo festival line-up has been released and it's something to get yourself excited about. Not got a ticket? You'll definitely want to get yourself one once you see who'll be performing. 

The Bonnaroo festival info page is a veritable delight of explaining Out There and In Here. Out There is out here, where we are now, beyond the limits temporally or spatially of the festival itself, but In There, in the festival, the festival organisers want it to be a haven of positivity, safety and, above all, supreme amounts of fun. They describe it as "4 of the best days ever" and "an escape into Excitement. Music. Art. Discoveries. Trees. Fresh Air. Green Grass... Friends (Old / New). Adventure. Overwhelming happiness. Hugging a stranger by accident. Sharing and Generosity. Bonnaroovian Dancing. Hyperbolic verbiage..." and the list goes on. Sounds good, right? Well, the line-up is even better, and suitable for all genres you may find yourself remotely interested in. 

Here's the best of the list, from the headliners down to the early stars: Paul McCartney, Grammy winners Mumford & Sons, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Bjork, R Kelly, Wu-Tang Clan, The National, The Lumineers, David Byrne, St Vincent, Passion Pit, The XX, Kendrick Lamar, Grizzly Bear, Animal Collective, Of Monsters and Men, Nas, ZZ Top, Beach House, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes, A$AP Rocky, Tame Impala, Gaslight Anthem, Billy Idol, Foals, Local Natives, Alt-J, The Tallest Man on Earth, Earl Sweatshirt, The Vaccines, Frank Turner, Purity Ring... and once again, the list goes on. Check out the website to see the rest.

Continue reading: Bjork, Paul McCartney And R Kelly: Variegated Lineup For Tennessee's Bonnaroo Festival

They do satire and they seemingly do it perfectly. Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, aka The Lonely Island presented their latest twist on modern culture, reversing the meaning of YOLO to heed caution against, well, everything.

Although Andy Samberg has left Saturday Night Live, his return, alongside his cronies to premiere their latest project was welcome. Since then, and at the time of writing, the video has accumulated 8,677,972 hits on YouTube and shooting to the top of the iTunes Top 10 Comedy Songs chart.

Continue reading: The Lonely Island's New Song - Yolo, Features Adam Levine And Kendrick Lamar (Video)

Fans travelling home from Kendrick Lamar’s London show recently were given a bonus extra performance after they found themselves sharing a London Underground carriage with Florence Welch!

Welch had been spotted at the show beforehand on Sunday night (January 20, 2013), but opted to take the tube instead of a private car. Keeping a low profile was never going to work with that shock of red hair, and she soon found herself being serenaded by a bunch of fans singing her hit ‘You’ve Got The Love.’ However, rather than shy away, Welch opted to play up to the crowd: “Florence jumped on the Tube after Kendrick and, as you can imagine, every carriage was packed” a source told The Sun. “At first she tried to keep a low profile but it didn’t take long for a few people to recognise her. They started singing 'You’ve Got The Love' but instead of bailing at the next stop, Florence joined in. It was brilliant.”

Welch wasn’t done there either, as if we didn’t already know that she was a fan of Lamar, she moved onto one of his tunes next; “She finished You’ve Got The Love before changing to the Kendrick Lamar song Backseat Freestyle” the insider said. Welch is a known fan of hip-hop, and can count A$AP Rocky and Drake among her pals.

Continue reading: Florence Welch Gives Kendrick Lamar Fans A Treat With Impromptu Tube Performance

Taylor Swift’s latest album Red has remained steadfast at the top of the Billboard albums chart for a second week. Swift’s popularity appears to know no bounds, as she has made a successful and seamless transition from her country roots into the pop arena. She seems equally at home at the Grand Ole Opry as she does wooing a crowd of teenagers at an MTV Awards event. This dual appeal has translated nicely into CD sales for Swift, who shifted 344,000 copies of Red in the last week in the United States.

The rapper Meek Mill made a seriously impressive dent in the chars with his major label debut, Dreams and Nightmares, and sold approximately 165,000, according to MTV News (sourced from Nielsen Soundscan). It may be a long way off Swift’s total, but it still landed him the number two slot, in a week where sales were affected by Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast of America. The previous week, it had been another rapper snapping at Taylor’s heels (albeit from a distance!). This week, Kendrick Lamar has slipped down to number five with good kid, m.A.A.d. City, making room for Rod Stewart’s Christmas album Merry Christmas Baby.

Mumford & Sons, who impressed with their initial ascent to the top of the US charts with Babel, have dropped to number seven with sales of 44,000. We’re predicting a third week at the top for Taylor; this week’s releases seem to contain little in the way of a threat to the 23 year-old global star.

The UK is set to see the Kendrick Lamar show in full, following occasional appearances in London, including one where he supported Canadian superstar Drake. Lamar’s album good kid, mAAd city is currently the toast of the hip hop community, and is expected to make a huge dent in his native US’ Billboard Charts this coming weekend.

You can see the full list of dates below, but we’re not expecting tickets for the four dates revealed to hang about for long, given the impact he’s likely to have in the next few weeks. The venues he’s playing to in January 2013 all have capacities of between 1500 to 2000 people; we’re pretty sure this means he’ll be back soon after to play a right load of air hangars. Good on him, we’re listening to the album even as we type and, an infatuation with his own penis aside, it’s coming across as a pretty smooth old listen indeed, a little like Kanye’s much vaunted studio proclamations but mixed with something a little more understated.

The impression that Lamar’s debut has made on the public looks like it’s going to fall some way short of beating Taylor Swift to the Billboard albums top spot, but then with projected seven-figure sales predicted for Red, it was always going to be a tall order. Billboard are expecting sales of 220,000 plus to lock him down at second spot however. Those tour dates:

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Prepares To Storm US Billboard Charts