Kendrick Lamar Page 5

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

Outside Lands organisers have finally unveiled the spectacular 2015 line-up for their eighth year, featuring headliners Elton John and Mumford And Sons. The event is set to bring its usual combination of music and munchies to San Francisco this August.

Joining Elton and Mumford are a range of equally exciting acts, both of the veteran and the up-and-coming variety. Man of the moment Sam Smith - whose already bagged a total of six awards this year, including four Grammys - will bring his pop genius to the stage, alongside The Black Keys who released their first chart-topping album last year, and Kendrick Lamar whose highly anticipated third album 'To Pimp A Butterfly' sailed to number one in both the US and the UK last week.

Continue reading: Sound And Sustenance: Outside Lands 2015 Brings Another Weekend Of Cultural Delights

Following the release of his album, To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar went back to where everything started for him. The rap prodigy hosted an album signing in Compton to reconnect with his fans on Saturday.

According to ABC7, over 2000 fans gathered at the event, hosted at the Compton Best Buy store. 

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Celebrates "To Pimp A Butterfly Release" With Compton Fans

Kendrick Lamar has taken the top spot in this week’s Official Albums Chart in the UK, knocking Sam Smith's In The Lonely Hour off the number one position. To Pimp A Butterfly is the third studio album from the Compton- born rapper, following on from 2012's Good Kid, MAAD City.

Cover art for Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly

The album caught fans off guard after it was made available March 16th on iTunes and Spotify, nearly a week before its original release date of March 23rd. Since becoming available on Spotify the album has broken the service’s global streaming recording, notching up over 9.6 million streams on the service last Monday.

Continue reading: 'To Pimp A Butterfly' Gives Kendrick Lamar His First UK Number 1 Album

Kendrick Lamar's new album To Pimp a Butterfly, which was released one-week early, has broken streaming records on Spotify. Tracks from the record notched up 9.6 million streams on the first full day of release, more than any LP in the streaming service's seven-year existence.

Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly racked up 9.6 million streams in one day on Spotify

To Pimp a Butterfly beat the record of 9.5 million set by Michael Buble's Christmas on Christmas Eve in 2014.

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly' Notches Record 9.6 Million Streams

Kendrick Lamar has released his new album To Pimp a Butterfly a week before its scheduled release date. There's a bit of confusion as to whether this was supposed to happen, or whether someone messed up.

Kendrick Lamar has released his new album To Pimp a Butterfly, one week early

Lamar seemed pretty okay with things, tweeting, "Keep calm. All is well," though Anthony Tiffith, Top Dawg's chief executive, said, "I WOULD LIKE 2 PERSONALLY THANK @Interscope [Records] FOR [...]ING UP OUR RELEASE... SOMEBODY GOTS 2 PAY 4 THIS MISTAKE !!!! #TOP."

Continue reading: Kendrick Lamar Drops 'To Pimp A Butterfly' A Week Early. Happy Monday.

Stop whatever you’re doing and pay attention because Kendrick Lamar has just dropped his new album. The hip hop prodigy announced didn’t quite go full Beyoncé with his new record, To Pimp a Butterfly. Instead, he just released the record a week in advance. To Pimp a Butterfly (how cool is that title?!) was supposed to be released on the 23rd, but instead was made available on iTunes and Spotify early Monday morning.

While Lamar was celebrating the new release, Top Dawg management was left baffled.

It wasn’t sparked by a leak, in case you’re wondering. Judging by Lamar’s cryptic tweets from late Sunday night, it was all planned. “Yesterday, March 14, was a special day,” he tweeted in the lead up to the release. This was followed by: “2 yrs. Later” and ”Keep calm. All is well,” before the big one.

Continue reading: It's Here! Kendrick Lamar's "To Pimp A Butterfly" Is A Week Early, But Nobody Minds

Kendrick Lamar finally unveils the title to his third studio album less than two weeks before release. 'To Pimp A Butterfly' is one of the most anticipated rap albums of the year and - having already heard two tracks from the release - it's easy to see why.

Kendrick Lamar unveils album title 'To Pimp A Butterfly'

A follow-up to his major label Platinum debut 'good kid, m.A.A.d city', which topped both the US R&B and Rap charts and came in at number two on the Billboard 200 in 2012, 'To Pimp A Butterfly' is Kendrick Lamar's new release via TopDawg Entertainment/ Aftermath/ Interscope Records. Six tracks have already been confirmed, as well as the release date which is remarkably soon given how much detail is still under wraps; March 23rd 2015. The mystery surrounding it is only increasing the hype, and Lamar already has some of hip hop's top guys desperate to work with him; Raekwon being the latest, according to an interview Noisey. So what DO we know about the album so far?

Continue reading: 5 Things We Know About Kendrick Lamar's Album 'To Pimp A Butterfly'

A few more details about one of the most anticipated follow-up albums of the decade so far have been announced. Kendrick Lamar’s second album is apparently called Untitled and, crucially, we now know its release date: March 23rd.

The news was announced by the rapper late on Friday via his Twitter page, which included a link to his iTunes artist profile where the album is available to pre-order now. The album consists of sixteen tracks, but all except one of them are greyed out and labelled as ‘Track 1’, ‘Track 2’ etc.

Kendrick Lamar's second album will be out on March 23rd

Continue reading: New Kendrick Lamar Album 'Untitled' Set To Drop March 23rd

Canadian rap star Drake surprised the world by releasing his new album unannounced on Thursday. However, it has since been revealed that If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late is a mixtape, rather than a proper studio album.

The reason for the confusion behind the new material is apparently so that Drake can fulfil a contractual obligation and free himself from Cash Money Records, according to XXL. Under copyright, the new record appears as his fourth studio album for Cash Money, thus bringing him to the end of his contract.

Drake's new mixtape was released online on Thursday

Continue reading: Drake's New Album Is Actually A Mixtape

Budweiser Made in America

We explore the diverse Denver music scene as Budweiser unveil the latest in their series of documentaries ahead of the fast-approaching Budweiser Made in America festival.

When Jay-Z embarked on his Budweiser Made in America project, the ethos he wanted to represent was simple; bringing together bands and artists of all genres to celebrate the rich variation that has become the US musical community. And where better to enjoy this multi-genre theme than Denver, Colorado, home to the likes of everyone from gentle folk rock crooners The Lumineers to industrial Goth collective Velvet Acid Christ?

Continue reading: Dancing In Denver! Budweiser Made In America Explore Colorado's Exciting Music Scene

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 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

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