Kendrick Lamar

Best Hip-Hop Songs With No Hooks

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No hooks, just fire bars. Continue reading…

Nicki Minaj Reacts To A Theoretical Mount Rushmore Of 2010s Rap That She’s Not On: ‘Wow’

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“The Mount Rushmore of [blank]” has become a common framework people like to use to establish who are the best or most important figures of a certain field. For example, The Rock once shared his list of people who would be on his personal Mount Rushmore of wrestling. Now there’s a Mount Rushmore of 2010s rap making the rounds, and Nicki Minaj (who was not included on it) has some thoughts… or rather, one concise but open-ended one.

This afternoon, the Twitter account for Spotify’s popular RapCaviar playlist shared a rendering of a 2010s rap Mount Rushmore, and the graphic features Drake, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, and one blank spot. The tweet asks, “Who takes the fourth spot on the Mount Rushmore of the 2010s?” Minaj saw that list and had a simple response, replying on Twitter, “Wow.”

Of course, “wow” could mean a lot of things. Perhaps Minaj is upset that she wasn’t one of the initial three rappers chosen. Aside from her own exclusion, maybe she doesn’t agree with RapCaviar’s picks. Or, maybe seeing Drake, Lamar, and Cole all together gave her perspective on how great hip-hop was in the 2010s and she was responding to that with awe. Whatever the case, the image certainly got a reaction out of Minaj.

It’s not hard to make a case for Minaj to appear on this Mount Rushmore. Her four studio albums (all released in the 2010s) have all been certified Platinum at least once, her first two topped the Billboard 200 chart, and her most recent two achieved chart peaks at No. 2. During the decade, between her own songs and featured appearances, she had 16 top-10 singles, including top-3 highlights like “Super Bass” and “Anaconda.” She also racked up ten Grammy nominations during the 2010s and has been dubbed by many as the “queen of rap.”

Top Hip-Hop Songs From the Year You Graduated High School

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50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, Bone Thugs-N-Hamrony, Fetty Wap, Timbaland, Kid Cudi, B.o.B, Kendrick Lamar and more. Continue reading…

J. Cole Details How He Changed His Approach To Competing With Drake And Kendrick Lamar

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J. Cole’s The Off-Season is the talk of the music world this weekend. The project is his first solo effort in over three years and everyone is raving about it, from everyday fans to NBA players. And in what’s been a unique press run, at least on Cole’s term, the rapper has shown his face to the media more than some might’ve expected.

From a documentary and a SLAM Magazine cover that also arrived with an interview to an LA Leakers freestyle, it’s clear Cole is not sticking in his cave this time around. Just a little over a day removed from the release of The Off-Season, J. Cole sat down for another interview with Kevin Durant and Eddie Gonzalez on the duo’s podcast, The ETCs.

One highlight of the trio’s nearly 90-minute conversation came when Cole spoke about competing with fellow heavyweight rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar and how he eventually realized it would be better to dial back his competitive nature.

“I’ve never been a reach-out [person], especially because when there’s competition involved,” he said. “It’s almost like working out together. I guess in the NBA, in the past, that was unheard of. Like, ‘Why would I work out with this n****? … I’m trying to destroy this n****.’ That was kind of my mentality early on.”

He added, “But as I’ve gotten older, I realize … no one is truly my peer or can relate to what’s going on in my life better than these people right here — just in terms of whatever pressures there might be … nobody can really relate to that like these dudes, and I really genuinely f*ck with these dudes.”

At that point, Cole realized he had to “strip competition” from not only his approach to Drake and Kendrick but music altogether. “I also see a time when I’m not doing this. That seems very realistic to me,” he revealed. “And in the time when I’m not doing this, I don’t wanna be like, ‘Damn, we never kicked it, we never really did nothing.’”

You can watch a clip of the interview above and listen to the whole episode, which touches on Cole’s family, basketball, and the new album, here. The Off-Season is out now via Dreamville/Roc Nation. Get it here.

A Rumored Dr. Dre, Eminem, And Kendrick Lamar Collab Has Fans Extremely Excited

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It’s about that time of the year where rumors surrounding Eminem are running rampant on social media. Sometimes they prove to be true, like last year when his fans correctly predicted a deluxe reissue for his Music To Be Murdered By album was on the way. More times than not though, the speculation leaves supporters with high hopes and empty results. This time around, rumors regarding Eminem also involve Dr. Dre and Kendrick Lamar as it may appear the trio are working on new music together.

It all began when Grammy-winning producer and frequent Dr. Dre collaborator Fredwreck shared a picture of him, Dre, Eminem, and Kendrick on Twitter. He captioned the photo “Beats n Rhymes (microphone emoji)” and a couple of days later, rapper and good friend of Eminem, Kxng Crooked, shared a similar tweet and this was enough to begin the speculation about what music could be on the way.

Some believed the photos were about a Dr. Dre album that would feature Kendrick and Eminem on the same song. Others thought the upcoming release would be something led by Kendrick Lamar as it could be tied to a recent post from the rapper’s label, Top Dawg Entertainment, that declared “THE WAIT IS OVAH!!!!”

Just like past rumors, we’ll just have to see what it all amounts to. Until then, you can scroll down to see what fans think of the rumors.

Top Dawg’s Cryptic ‘Wait’ Tweet Has Fans Convinced Kendrick Lamar’s Album Is Dropping Soon

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When TDE CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith tweeted “THE WAIT IS OVAH!!!” with a video showing a release date of May 7, he set Twitter ablaze with speculation about just which TDE-instigated “wait” would be concluding next week. A resounding consensus has emerged favoring Kendrick Lamar — who last released a full-length album in 2017 — making “Kendrick” one of the top trends on Twitter just an hour after the tweet.

However, some were skeptical about the possibility that it’d be the Compton rapper, as TDE has had follow-ups for a handful of projects in the works, including Isaiah Rashad’s 2016 album The Sun’s Tirade and SZA’s 2017 debut CTRL, which were both critically acclaimed fan favorites.

Meanwhile, some seemed resigned to the possibility that it might not be any of the “big three,” considering the label’s gift for constantly upending expectations. A few fans seemed less excited, skeptically preparing themselves for May 7 bringing disappointment instead.

One thing seems to remain certain: Even without revealing a single detail about whatever is coming on May 7, TDE’s roster collectively has enough pull to dominate the discussion, meaning that whenever any of the speculated albums actually do release — whether that’s in May or another time entirely — they’ll surely be able to capture fans’ attention all over again.

TDE’s Top Dawg Reveals A May Release Date For … Something

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Top Dawg Entertainment is well-known for esoteric rollouts which include blacked-out profile pics and surprise single releases, but it’s been a while since we’ve heard from the West Coast-based label home of Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, and SZA. Today, the Top Dawg himself, TDE CEO Anthony Tiffith, broke the silence, tweeting out a mysterious release date reveal with a triumphant caption. “THE WAIT IS OVAH!!!!” he wrote, while a video displayed a simulated loading screen with a progress bar that rapidly reaches the 99% mark before resolving into a simple “5/7/21.”

In typical TDE fashion, though, this leaves us with more questions than answers. What is the label planning? Which member of the roster warrants such excitement from the head honcho? It’s been a while since most of the marquee stars of TDE last released full-length projects; fans have been anxiously awaiting updates from Ab-Soul (who last released Do What Thou Wilt. in 2016), Isaiah Rashad (The Sun’s Tirade, 2016), Kendrick Lamar (DAMN., 2017) and SZA (CTRL, 2017). That’s not counting Jay Rock, whose last album dropped in 2018, Schoolboy Q, who last released in 2019, or group efforts like Black Hippy or the collaborative project Reason and Jay Rock hinted at in 2019.

For now, it looks like we’ll just have to wait to see if the label plans to release more information before next Friday or stay glued to their social channels to find out who it is. Check out Top Dawg’s tweet above.