Kendrick Drops Gems In GQ Interview With Rick Rubin

With it being over a year and a half since Kendrick had dropped his critically acclaimed masterpiece of an album To Pimp A Butterfly, and today being another very special day in Kendrick's catalog (the 4 year anniversary of the release of Kendrick's major label debut Good Kid M.a.a.d City) producer Rick Rubin sat down to have an in depth conversation with the Compton emcee, discussing an array of things varying from his upbringing and musical influences, to his current process of making music and his inspirations. Although there are countless gems to extract from this interview, I discuss some of the highlights below.

Kendrick had the beat for "Alright" for 6 months before he wrote to it (24:18)

Wait, WHAT?!  Kendrick had the beat for "Alright" for 6 months before he even did the song?!  Apparently Kendrick had held onto the Pharrell-produced instrumental for awhile before doing anything with it; "I was sitting on that record for I think 6 months. Between my guy Sam Taylor and Pharrell, (they asked) 'when you gone do it?  when you gone do it?  when you gone do it?' They was on me. I knew it was a great record, I was just trying to find the spacing and (how) to approach it. It sounds fun, but it's something else put inside of them chords that Pharrell laid down that makes it more of a statement." This statement not only proves why Kendrick is one of the most thought provoking emcees, but also that he cares about the music that he makes and the message that he is sending.

Rick Rubin commenting on To Pimp A Butterfly and Kendrick's music making process; It sounds like the connection your talking about is your connection to it more than other people's connection to it, but I think the thing that is infectious about it is that people feel your connection to it, and it's not even necessarily their connection to it, like a lot of people who heard your last record (To Pimp A Butterfly) might not have even been into jazz, but they hear your connection to it and then it inspires them to open up themselves to new music they might not have heard." (12:02)

Hearing these 2 talk about music this intricately and intimately are just more examples as to why they are the best of the best. To explore the realms of other genres inside of your own music in your comfort zone (as Rubin does with hip hop when he is primarily known as a rock producer and Kendrick with the jazz influence on TPAB) is incredible to see and truly shows the testament of longevity that both of these guys possess. Not many have the balls to take a complete "left turn" from one project to another, let alone have it be as successful as To Pimp A Butterfly was and is. Kendrick and Rick Rubin seem to see music as exploration of self just as much as they wish to make great music, and that's amazing to see and hear in conversations like this.

Kendrick has written full songs, and then made beats around the LYRICS, as opposed to lyrics being written after the beat has been made (19:56)

"A few times I've written full songs, and had to find the actual instrumentation to match it. That's fun because it not only gives me, but the producer the freedom to build around the lyrics, and certain words that get tossed out, a sound just might crack over top of that, and you know, the cadence." Here's a question for you up and coming rappers; How talented are you really?  Can you write lyrics to your song first, then help the producer make the beat AROUND your lyrics, or even do it yourself?  If you can do that, then your probably deserve to be in that chair right where Kendrick is sitting. More intricacies of music and song making discussed by some of the best to do it. If you make music and you're reading this, take notes ladies and gentlemen.

Kendrick did not plan for "Maad City" to be one of the biggest songs off of Good Kid Maad City (21:40)

"My first album Good Kid Maad City, this is me being fresh in the game, in my head I had songs that I knew would be big records, radio single, I'm playing the game. I'm creating these songs for the radio, just ear candy for people to enjoy, and in my mind I'm thinking that these are going to be the biggest records on the album, but it turns out that a song called 'Maad City' where I'm just rapping for maybe 40 bars or 30 bars turned out the be the biggest song on that project. And that threw me for a loop, but it also gave me insight clear enough to know that sometimes it's not about what you think is gonna happen or what you feel. People connect to things in strange ways, and at the end of the day you have to go with that feeling." A personal thing about that song ("Maad City") for me; when the album first dropped in 2012 and I was dissecting it, playing it back to back to back, top to bottom, "Maad City" was a clear stand out on the album. Not only because of the energy that the instrumental provides and the infectious hook, but because of the connection I knew that Kendrick had made with Dr. Dre, I thought 100% that Dre had produced the second part of that beat (where MC Eiht comes in), even though it turned out that frequent Kendrick and TDE collaborator producer Sounwave had produced the song along with THC and (another frequent Kendrick collaborator) Terrace Martin!  Dre's sound was all over GKMC, and he didn't have 1 beat on the album, although he was executive producer.

Amazing interview with many jewels dropped, lessons learned, and light shed. Check out the whole interview below. Hip Hop Unlimited is not yet back in full swing, I just came across this amazing piece and had to give some thoughts on it. Stay tuned for the future though, because though HHU is at a slower halt, it does not mean I am stopped. More coming.


                    (*I do not own this video, or the rights to it*)             



    












   

Rappers Michael Jackson Should Have Collaborated With

This may be a stretch, but to me it seems hip hop has become more soulful in the 2010s. While hip hop has it's flaws, its strengths are shining through stronger than ever because of its artists that refuse to compromise. Because of this, artists are making some of the most next level music of their careers, plus simply rapping over an instrumental doesn't always do the trick anymore; people want to hear melodies, and even some singing. Which is why I dedicated a post to this topic; Michael Jackson was indeed the King of Pop. If there ever was a master entertainer, and someone to have on your song just to say you HAVE THEM ON YOUR SONG, it would have probably been Michael Jackson. I mean, the guy's added soul to pretty much any song he's been a part of. There are only a few rappers who I feel I could honestly say deserve a Michael Jackson feature, so I decided to name a few here, and (tried to) include one of their more soulful jams, so you could try to picture what it'd sound like for these rappers to collaborate with MJ. Here we go!

J. Cole - Note To Self


In terms of soul, Cole showed the most on his latest album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive. On songs like "Intro", "Apparently", and especially the outro "Note To Self", Cole showed not only a decent singing voice, but a soul that would make church goers look like sinners. Cole pours his heart out in some of these songs, and Michael Jackson would only cap off this souled out track with some angelic background vocals, or maybe even a solo (who knows, it's up to you to decide!).

Kendrick Lamar - Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst


It should come as no surprise that Kendrick made this list as a "could have been" Michael Jackson collaborator, his music drips soul and his latest album To Pimp A Butterfly is the greatest example of this statement. Michael could have thrown his two cents in on many Kendrick tracks; imagine him on "These Walls", "Kush & Corinthians" off of Section.80 instead of BJ The Chicago Kid (although BJ is amazing) or even the Good Kid Maad City extra "Now Or Never" featuring Mary J. Blige. But the ever-so-perfect collaboration would have to be Michael on Kendrick's "Sing About Me, I'm Dying Of Thirst" because come on; can't you just hear it?

50 Cent - 21 Questions


So this was a tough one, but I had to include 50 Cent simply because of the (little known) fact that Michael Jackson said that he wished to collaborate with 50 Cent before his passing (it's true, look it up). It's really so tough because all of 50's songs are so tough, most include a banging beat with some hard rapping, not something you'd normally hear Michael Jackson on, so 50's classic "21 Questions" seems to be the medium. Could you imagine Michael Jackson on the hook instead of Nate Dogg (R.I.P to the true hook king as well) though?  I guess you'd never know.

Nas - Bye Baby


Nas is practically the perfect rapper for a Michael Jackson collaboration, I mean could you think of anyone more deserving?  Nas is top 5 dead or alive (debatable, although I believe he is) and quite possibly owns the longest reign at the top, with a career spanning over 20 years. Nas has got the sound for MJ too; spanning from songs like "You Wouldn't Understand", "Reach Out", and "Cherry Wine featuring the late and great Amy Winehouse (R.I.P), and those are just on his last album, Life Is Good. Nas is perfect for a Michael Jackson feature not just because he makes soulful, heartfelt jams, but because he spits the truest and most realistic stories in his rhymes; Michael Jackson would cap off the feeling of a perfect collaboration.

The idea of Michael Jackson collaborating with a rapper might sound crazy to some, but it really shouldn't, especially in 2016. The range of collaborations we've seen over the years has really skyrocketed, even if you think about strictly award show/television show performances (Grammy's or talk shows). I mean Eminem collaborated with Elton John for a performance, wouldn't that put to rest any limitations you have on other possible collaborators?  Mixing genres is a beautiful thing not just because of the great music that can come out of it, but because it shows that different kinds of people can accept each other, no matter what their tastes may be. The power of music is infinite.     



       





                     
 




         

"Hol' Up": Did Kendrick Kick A Girl Out Of The Studio?

As The Weeknd and Drake so eloquently put it; "This the shit that I live for!" I put in absolutely tireless work being the rap nerd that I am (for the most part), and being a rap nerd (not by choice, though I was CHOSEN), I definitely question and think about music and headlines a lot more than the average person. I have to admit I was a tad late to Kendrick's Section.80 train, and it's funny because listening to it as thoroughly as I have the past 2 or 3 weeks, I find I enjoy it more than Good Kid Maad City, and have it as a close tie with To Pimp A Butterfly (yes, that's right) as Kendrick's best album. Only minor things differentiate the level of music, lyricism and story-telling Kendrick shows in each album, but I won't get into that right now. Instead, I'm choosing to try and get to the bottom of something that I've been curious about since I first heard this song; why does Kendrick kick a girl out of the studio as he says in the song "Hol Up"?

                                              (*I do not own this song, or the rights to it*)

I have to say before I start my usual nerdy, superstitious rap rant that this song sounds like elevator music to me. Imagine you're in an elevator and it's playing music... couldn't you imagine this playing?  Of course you could... I rest my case. Either that or this song symbolizes Kendrick being high; Kendrick starts out the song by saying "I wrote this record while 30,000 feet in the air." He's high; literally. He's ELEVATING. Could he have smoked weed before he recorded it?  Possibly, though Kendrick had made it known on Good Kid Maad City that he doesn't smoke because his first blunt had him "foaming at the mouth." I wouldn't smoke either, good reason not to.

And as I stray away from the point of why I'm writing this, I'd like to get to the point. At the 1:45 mark, Kendrick goes on to say (right in the middle of recording this track) "hey, hey kick her out the studio Ali" (Ali of course being Kendrick's engineer recording the song, in case you didn't know). Now I have 2 notes I must point out about this funny little recording Easter egg, 1. It seems rappers DO indeed keep "bitches" in the studio with them to record (word to Schoolboy Q for staying loyal, hopefully). I found this funny. But, #2 is a question; why would you not re-record the verse with the line taken out of the song?  This could possibly be because Kendrick and friends were paying for studio time and they did not want to take any more time than they needed, or this could have even been just because they didn't feel like taking the error out and wanted to leave it in for memories. Either way, this little comment leaves questions, and that's probably exactly what Kendrick and his crew want you to feel listening to it; curious.

Ali actually explained the incident to XXL when asked about it, here's what he had to say; "It was really happening. It was actually somebody from another session. Somebody came in and was drinking a little too much and started getting loud and we had to get 'em up outta there. One of them random things that happens in the studio." A short, yet to the point explanation from Ali for sure. I have to admit I'm a little disappointed with Ali's answer, I surely thought there would be a big long story (tour stories from rappers are always great) accompanying the line, but that's the way the cookie crumbles I suppose. You have to love the little Easter eggs and stories that rappers and entertainment figures give that you just don't see every day.              







     

Rap Concepts YOU (The People) Love

Sitting and listening to your favorite album as an entire project can be a truly delightful experience and can almost feel rewarding. Sometimes you may even get rewarded by your favorite artist by them adding a hidden track (who doesn't love a secret track not listed on the album?). But one of the best things an artist can do is associate another character you can relate with (whether it be Randolph on Logic's mix tapes or Kenneth Kaniff from Connecticut, hopefully you don't relate to Kenneth so much). These concepts, or "personas", especially when carried on from project to project, are always awesome to hear and can almost bring you back to times when you thought your favorite artist was better (whether you like to admit it or not), and when times were much simpler.

Mr. Easy Wider - Wiz Khalifa mix tapes

The cool voiced DJ Mr. Easy Wider was always funny in Wiz Khalifa's mix tapes efforts, including such highly acclaimed tapes as Flight School, Kush & OJ, and more. Taking on the role of Wiz Khalifa's very exclusive radio DJ, Easy Wider prepared you for the next track like nobody else could, and the end of Wiz's track "Never Ever" was a fine example of just that.


Eminem - Ken Kaniff from Connecticut

 This is an easy one, especially for Eminem fans. Ken Kaniff made his first appearance in a skit on Slim Shady LP of the same name, and on your first listen of any skit, you normally skip right over it and move on (that is, if you're looking to get to the music), but the first couple of seconds of this skit definitely draws your attention more than the average one. The creepy voiced crazy fan (though he has Eminem's phone number so he's probably a close friend) goes on to call Eminem and the rest is history. This is certainly not the last you hear of Ken Kaniff though, as you can hear him take over the end of the song "Wicked Ways" off of Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP 2.

B.o.B - DC Young Fly (No Genre 2 mix tape)

Another rather hilarious run of skits that occurred more than once were the DC Young Fly skits on B.o.B's No Genre 2 mix tape. B.o.B is always thinking outside of the box and is as creative a mind as hip hop gets, and he even showed a bit of his funny side on these skits featuring DC Young Fly (still not entirely sure who he is or why he is somewhat famous other than this, guess I'll be doing some more digging soon, probably not though). Who knows how these skits came about, but could we see more of DC Young Fly and B.o.B collaborating in the future?  I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

Any/Every skit on Kendrick's Good Kid Maad City

                               (*I do not own any of these videos, songs, or the rights to them*)

Good Kid Maad City doesn't so much fit the realm of concepts I was going for creating this article, but you have to marvel at the creativity and the picture that Kendrick paints with not just the ending song skits, but Kendrick's story telling throughout the album even more than that. You could almost compare Good Kid Maad City to B.I.G.'s Ready To Die in that sense, the comparisons in each actually resonate more than you even know. Each and every single song tells a story and leads into the next chapter almost effortlessly. Kendrick was quoted in an interview with Stephen Colbert (the very last Colbert episode ever, you can find the interview online anywhere) as saying "I don't like to call myself a rapper, I'd rather call myself a writer because I am telling stories in my music."  It's certainly hard to argue with Kendrick in that sense, he just may be the best story telling rapper in the game right now, and with To Pimp A Butterfly killing the game right now, it's certainly hard to argue that any one artist can come up with a concept as good as Kendrick.

Concepts in albums/mix tapes occur way more often than music fans can even say they notice, and when you do notice it's almost like you're finally noticing the story that comes along with the music. Some artists are better at keeping the scheme going than others, but when you hear each artist do it their way it's almost like you're getting a piece of them along with the music. This is why I believe albums remain to be much more sacred and coveted than random free drops or leaks; you're not getting a random free song out of context, you're getting an entire body of work, basically the much more pleasing, less reading, audio version of a good book. Keep reading (sonically) my friends, and enjoy the story.

     






   

Kendrick Lamar Is Doing Things Bigger Than Music

It's been an incredibly, unbearably, excruciatingly long 3 years (almost 3 years, trust me, I've been counting) since Kendrick's last full length studio album. Good Kid Maad City was (and still is) a landmark in hip hop history and not only Kendrick's fans, but hip hop fans in general have been waiting for Kendrick's next move. How is Kendrick going to follow such a "classic" (I use quotations because the term "classic" is heavily overused and underappreciated)? What is Kendrick going to talk about on the new project?  And how much does Dr. Dre have to do with the new project?  All of these are questions that I can hopefully answer for you right now (besides Dr. Dre, who the fuck knows what he's doing).

Kendrick's newest single "The Blacker The Berry" is a statement. Period. Not only does this song have a message that unfortunately still has to be stressed today, but it couldn't have dropped at a better time. The Grammy's are widely known to be very white-biased and white music friendly (though Kendrick snagged 2 of them this past weekend) and Kendrick knows that. So allow me to explain the genius of Kendrick Lamar while (hopefully accurately) predicting the direction his still untitled next album will go. Oh, and in case you haven't heard it yet, check out "The Blacker The Berry" below.

                                               (*I do not own this song or the rights to it*)

So... what did y'all think?  It seems the main point Kendrick is looking to send home is that blacks and black music should be taken seriously. For too long black music has been shunned, shrugged off, and not given the props it deserves, and Kendrick is attacking this issue head on. But why now?  Why put out this song shining a spotlight on white entertainment and everyone in/supporting it?  Bingo; the Grammys. Even though Kanye attacked that already (if anyone chooses to listen to him), Kendrick is doing it the more effective way. Kendrick is putting it into his music and letting his voice be heard by allowing fans to be able to discuss what he says over a hard beat and some creepy, yet fitting vocals. I mean come on, its second nature for hip hop fans to discuss what these artists are REALLY saying over these records (*guiltily raises hand*). This right here... is Kendrick's socially conscious version of "Control."

To call Kendrick the new Tupac would be a stretch, but not because Tupac is too big of a comparison for Kendrick to handle. It's because Kendrick is attacking issues in his own way. Menacingly. Terrifyingly. Quietly. There's not a more effective way to do it. Make the music, draw the masses in, let them debate and *THINK* about what it means, then sit back and marvel at what you've done. This might be a bit of a black and white statement (not to be ironic), but Kendrick is silently making people smarter. And "i" love it.








    

Ranking J. Cole's Albums Worst To Best

Cole World!  If you're a rap fan you've heard a Cole song, and if you're a Cole fan you've DEFINITELY heard at least a whole Cole project before, whether it be one of his fantastic albums or one of his critically acclaimed mix tapes. I find it funny that people honestly compare the two and say that his albums are better than his mix tapes, or his mix tapes are better than his albums (which is the more common argument) when in reality you're almost getting 2 completely different Coles entirely. The creative energy, hype, and hunger as an artist changes entirely when you compare your debut mix tape to your debut album, although unfortunately if your a Cole mix tape fan, you'd be disappointed when I say that we are not here to discuss his mix tapes. This post is strictly for albums: Cole has had 3 major label efforts, each one sounding more different and experimental than the next. Now if you could rank them from worst to best, how would that order go exactly?  That's what we're here to find out. Below, ranked worst to best, along with (arguably) the best song from each album, are J. Cole's 3 albums, ranked.

Cole World:  The Sideline Story

Cole World: The Sideline Story is J. Cole's confusing, yet promising burst onto the music scene. Mix tape Cole fans fell in love with an honest, lyrical, story-telling poet that showed more promise than any emcee that anyone had heard in quite awhile, yet The Sideline Story left a lot to be desired for die hard Cole fans. The Sideline Story is an album that shows every side of Cole that you love to see; the shit talking, the gritty talk of the hood and growing up and becoming a man, along with love and handling pregnancy at a young age. Cole is clearly still hyped at this time because of the recent Roc Nation signing and the bragging rights that come along with saying he's got a Jay-Z cosign, yet the industry's contribution to this album is clear with singles like the Kanye-sampled "Work Out", (which ended up disappointed Nas as Cole talks about later, but we'll get to that in time hip hop nerds).

Born Sinner

Cole's second effort Born Sinner showed a much hungrier, yet experimental Cole than anybody was used to seeing. Cole's rhymes are at the absolute top of his game with his lyrical, compacted flows and clever punch lines, though the song making ability wasn't quite there yet. You can tell that Cole is destined for greatness with this effort, if The Sideline Story didn't do it for you than Born Sinner certainly gives you a good Cole fix in terms of bars, and his respect for the greats is shown on an entire song dedicated to Nas titled "Let Nas Down". Nas even jumped on a remix to the song later to show how much respect he had for Cole and what he was doing for the game. If that's not being given the green light, than what is?  No seriously, I'll wait. Regardless of legendary features, Cole's sophomore effort was good, but you could certainly tell there was something missing, and that there was a part of Cole that fans weren't getting.

2014 Forest Hills Drive

                               (*I do not own any of these songs, videos, or the rights to them*)

Here it goes:  prepare yourselves for this one. 2014 Forest Hills Drive is the best Cole album to date. If I personally could dream up a Cole album myself with all creative control in terms of production, lyricism, flow, writing skills, song topics, etc., this would be the album I'd choose for Cole to make. This is Cole's Illmatic. I can't even believe I just said that. Now many hip hop heads will get uptight about mentioning any Cole projects with Illmatic, or any projects at all for that matter, but in all seriousness, Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive is the best rap album to hit since Good Kid Maad City. It is at least the most complete rap album since then. 2014 Forest Hills Drive has everything a rap fan wants, everything a Cole fan wants, and even more. The emotion emitted in tracks mixed with the controversy and thought it provokes is an absolute perfect blend and it embodies everything you envision a perfect story to be, and the music itself hasn't gotten nearly the recognition it deserves, the only reason being Cole has put out no singles for it. Cole has already been certified Gold by the RIAA, but the recognition is not in the numbers, it shows up in the appreciation for his fans and his conscience voice towards violence in America. Cole has showed up to random fans' houses to sign memorabilia and hang out with them, tweeted people about surprise concerts (and obviously showed up to venues to perform), and he even used his supposed "promo" for the album on Letterman to perform his song dedicated to the victims of Ferguson, Missouri, "Be Free."  Is Cole the new Tupac?  Actions speak louder than words, and Cole's words speak volumes, yet somehow his actions remain greater. Cole's 2014 Forest Hills Drive not only is the best rap album since Good Kid Maad City, not only was it the absolute best of 2014, but it embodies everything Cole represents as not only an artist, but as a person. 2014 Forest Hills Drive allowed me to appreciate music properly again.

Being a J. Cole fan obviously you get a mixed bag between projects (the difference being albums and mix tapes, though I don't truly believe this, I am going off of what the masses believe), but in terms of Cole's albums you truly can't ask for better progression. If the process of growing and becoming a better artist is evident in any rapper, it's J. Cole. The creative process has never been one to give Cole problems, because when you're a real person with real problems and show it through your music, you grow even more. The emotional connection Cole has gained with his fans grew times a thousand with the release of 2014 Forest Hills Drive, and that's after they already had a strong enough bond to love  everything he does. It'd be criminal to ask what Cole has planned next after a momentous release like 2014 Forest Hills Drive, but if you're a fan you can't help yourself. It's always exciting to see what Cole has in store for his fans, and if there is a peak moment in Cole's career, it is now. The fans appreciate everything he does because he gives to them, and they give back to him by showing loyalty. Once Cole gives, it is your opportunity and privilege to appreciate what he gives to you. Truly Yours.                



   











   



   

Kendrick Lamar Says "i" Love Myself: An Explanation Of His Genius

Were you part of a few (probably) million people in the world this morning at 8 am sharp slowly twiddling your thumbs waiting what seemed like your entire life for this new Kendrick track?  In this regard (obviously) you wouldn't have been alone. It's been almost 2 full years since Kendrick's (debated) classic album Good Kid Maad City dropped and the people are more than ready to jump back on the Kendrick horse and see what he has to offer us next, although this new single might not have been what Kendrick fans had in mind.

Rumors circulated that the sample for said song would be instantly recognizable, and those rumors certainly had that part right. Producer Rahki took a page out of the Isley Brothers book and went all "Who's That Lady" on us. Now if you don't know Rahki (like me), he certainly isn't new to the rap production game, but he's new to the spotlight. He is known as being uncredited for co-production on a banger from Eminem's 2010 Recovery album, "Won't Back Down" featuring singer Pink, but he also has full credit for beat production from other stars like Game, 50 Cent, Curren$y, Ab-Soul, and has even produced for Kendrick before on GKMC.

But back to the lecture at hand. The internet is all over the place about what to think of this new Kendrick:  a lot of people are glad that he's back to releasing music again, while others were expecting a lot more from a lead single from the Compton emcee. But if you know the deal with releasing music nowadays (especially from monster artists such as Kendrick), you'd understand exactly what Kendrick is doing. He is now considered "elite" in this thing we call rap, maybe even music as a whole, and that's where this new Isley Brothers-sampled jam comes into play. Kendrick wants to release great music to be known to all music fans around the world, not just hip hop heads like you and I. This song is a nice, catchy radio-friendly change of pace that could catch anyone's ears.

The approach is explainable, though. Going back to this "elite" argument, he definitely is, and he knows it. By this statement I mean he knows exactly how to use his power. When you think of the true elites in the game and the strategies they use to release their music, for example the Eminems, Kanyes, Waynes, Drakes, etc., they all use this EXACT same strategy when starting to push for an album release. Eminem with that at-first insane sounding "Berzerk", Kanye with the questionable "Black Skinhead", and even Drake with "Started From The Bottom". Do you notice the trend?  Artists NEVER play it safe on the first single, and you should NEVER base your opinion on what you believe the album will sound like on 1 SONG.

So do I love this new Kendrick?  No. Will I play it over and over again to figure out exactly what his plan is?  Of course I will. And so will you if you listen to Kendrick's music. Although if you're planning to listen to "i" to try and figure out what the entire album is going to sound like based off of this 1 song, you're (we're) probably wasting your (our) time. Kendrick has too many things planned for this new album for us to hang our heads on the first single (rumors circulated of Kendrick working with Pete Rock on the new album, and maybe even some DR. DRE PRODUCTION?!?!). So I say sit back, relax, and enjoy the takeover, because we'll be seeing it shortly. I'll be posting a link to SoundCloud for the official audio on my twitter (@SuperNovaRover) shortly.










      



    

Kendrick and J. Cole's joint album: Where is it?

Nowadays in hip hop, its gotten harder and harder to find the ones that are truly different from your every day average rapper. Money, cars, clothes and hoes are all very nice things (word to T.I.), but at the end of the day people love music that relates to them, along with original, refreshing topics and subject matter. And if there are two rappers in the entire genre that provide this type of music to their listeners, they are Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. Kendrick is arguably one of the top 5 lyricists in the game, and Cole's not too far behind. Putting that together with both of their amazing story-telling abilities, what would we have?  An album for the ages. But where is this album that they have been teasing us about for 3 years?

Now when you think of Kendrick and J. Cole as rappers by themselves, you know what you get from each for the most part. Two very good, lyrical rappers with distinctive voices, writing abilities, and mass appeal like Gang Starr. Both are huge deals in the main stream rap music media, reaching gold and platinum selling status on albums like "Good Kid Maad City," "Cole World: The Sideline Story," and "Born Sinner." Not only on albums, but singles for each artist hit gold and platinum status as well. For Cole some of these songs were "Work Out," "Crooked Smile," and "Power Trip." For Kendrick, "Poetic Justice" and "Swimming Pools" have gone gold and platinum, respectively.

Now there isn't much work the two have done together, but from what we have gotten from the two collaborating, it surely didn't disappoint. Cole has produced two songs for Kendrick, the first being a single from his "Section.80" album, "HiiiPoWeR." The second cut is "The Jig Is Up," which if you recall came out shortly after "Good Kid Maad City" dropped in 2012, and includes Kendrick name-dropping Shyne, mainly because of Shyne voicing his opinion on how much he didn't like Kendrick's album publicly. To return the favor, Kendrick has featured on Cole's latest album, "Born Sinner," specifically on the hook of the song "Forbidden Fruit." Just a couple of small teases of work from the two emcees, but are they hints at what's to come?

Fans of both can only hope so, although there hasn't been much talk of the project from either rapper since last year. Kendrick has stated in an interview that the project will have no release date, and will "drop out of the sky" when they see fit. I suppose this method will stop heart attacks everywhere, or at least limit them, but the day I get online and find out a J. Cole/Kendrick Lamar album has dropped?  I'll need an inhaler, and I don't even have asthma!  But regardless of my medical issues, the fans are ready for a J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar collaborative album. But is hip-hop ready?

The only real reasons for delays of the album (according to Cole) has been that both rappers have had their own projects to release and promote, Kendrick with "GKMC," and Cole with "Born Sinner." Cole has spoken on the album in early 2013, a few months before "Born Sinner" came out. He says the collaboration is "still happening," and speaks on the competitiveness between the two in the studio with writing verses and going back and forth; "it's mad competitive, there's pride to who has a better verse on each song, but we also wanna focus on making better songs." He also had this to say on the challenges of working with another rapper with different ideas on a project: "mentally it's hard because both artists at times can have their minds set on different stuff."

So hopefully the two wordsmiths can come together and make time for something bigger. Just the mere rumor of this possible collaboration has the hip hop world in a frenzy, although not since last year. The expectations for this project would be higher than Wiz Khalifa on a plane, but if they do focus on making quality songs and having their ideas come together as one, I'm sure they'll have no problem living up to them. Quality songs with a message and a great beat behind it are just a couple ways to make a song, but I'm sure if this project did happen we'd be seeing some good old fashion going back and forth with the lyrical, energetic, punch line filled brand of rap that these two can provide just as well as anyone in rap. Now us impatient, not-so-fond-of-games type of fans have to sit and play the waiting game. Hopefully you see the problem in this...