kendrick lamar
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We Need a New Category for Today’s Rap Music Because This Shit Ain’t Hip-Hop
Eleven years ago this month, I made the decision to get my first tattoo below my elbow—a piece covering my entire forearm that could never be hidden without clothing. I wanted the tattoo to be meaningful, so it only made sense to dedicate it to one of my favorite things ever: hip-hop. The piece is…
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Apparently There Are 3 People Who Haven’t Listened to Kendrick Lamar’s Award-Winning Damn., and They Were All on Jeopardy! Last Night
Kendrick Lamar’s Damn. was pretty much literally the best album of 2017. K-Dot’s fourth studio album was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Rap Album at this year’s Grammys. It was selected as Billboard’s Year-End No. 1 album of 2017 and received widespread acclaim from critics. Yet somehow it appears that there…
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When the Appropriator Is Your Own: On Kendrick Lamar and Why Lina Iris Viktor’s Constellations Does Not Belong in ‘All the Stars’
They just had to ruin it. This was supposed to be an article about the many talents and looks involved in the making of “All the Stars.” Instead, we’re taking a different look behind the scenes of the video we collectively swooned over last week, when Kendrick Lamar’s lead single from the Black Panther soundtrack—featuring…
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With Black Panther We Have a Black Movie and a Black Movie Soundtrack. It’s Like 1994 All Over Again
The soundtrack for Black Panther, the Top Dawg Entertainment-helmed Black Panther: The Album, dropped today. While Black Panther is a Marvel Cinematic Universe product, it’s still a black movie. From Ryan Coogler to Wakanda to kente cloth in videos to the two capital letters and the apostrophe in the lead character T’Challa’s name, there’s no…
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10 Blackest Things About Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s ‘All the Stars’ Video From the Black Panther Soundtrack
1. The video is directed by Dave Meyers. And the little homies. We’re starting off strong. Real strong. 2. This actual video literally starts out with the throwing of the hands in the air and waving them like you just don’t care. Except all of those hands are a sea of blackness while Kendrick glides…
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SZA Got Robbed for That Best New Artist Grammy, and I Feel a Way About This
On Sunday night, at the 60th Grammy Awards celebration, held in New York City, Solana Rowe, better known to the world as SZA, was robbed. SZA, the Top Dawg Entertainment-signed singer whose debut album, Ctrl, was released June 9, 2017, was nominated for five Grammy Awards and walked away with none. I found myself caring…
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Blue Ivy Shushes Beyoncé and Jay-Z, ‘We Come in Peace, but We Mean Business’ and More of the Best Moments of the 2018 Grammys
The Grammys were all about messages this year. From Blue Ivy letting us know she runs the Knowles-Carter household, to everyone with white roses in support of Time’s Up, Kendrick Lamar’s American satire and Kesha’s powerful Time’s Up-esque performance (featuring Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Andra Day and more), taking a stand has become an important…
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Now, That Was a National Championship Game! Roll Tide!
I’m pretty sure most folks couldn’t have cared less about last night’s football contest between the University of Alabama’s Crimson Tide and the University of Georgia’s Bulldogs to determine the 2018 collegiate National Championship. For one, both teams are in the Southeastern Conference, and if you think the SEC is overrated, this title game only…
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Kendrick Lamar Is Doing 1st-Ever Halftime Show for College Football Championship. I Cannot Wait
We gone be aiight. … Especially when Kendrick Lamar Duckworth performs the halftime show for the College Football Playoff National Championship between Georgia and Alabama at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday—the first-ever halftime-show performance in championship-game history. No, it’s not the NFL (nor is it Taylor Swift, the rumored performer before Lamar was chosen), but…
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Listen: The Lead Single From the Kendrick Lamar-Produced Black Panther Soundtrack Is Here
The lead single on the highly anticipated Kendrick Lamar-produced Black Panther movie soundtrack is less “DNA” or “King Kunta” and more like a poppier “Poetic Justice.” “All the Stars” gives us another collaboration between Lamar and SZA, labelmates at Top Dawg Entertainment. It’s a pretty good song—the vibe is easy and laid-back. It’s the kind…