Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar Spends A Day In Ghana Chatting About Virgil Abloh And ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’

by

A little over seven months after the passing of fashion designer Virgil Abloh, his global impact is still making itself known. Virgil’s influence is all over Drake’s new surprise album Honestly, Nevermind and in Spotify’s new documentary short film about Kendrick Lamar, the Compton rapper learns just how well-known Abloh was on his first trip to Ghana. Visiting a skate park in Accra, Kendrick reveals he’s been chatting with the local kids about the late designer, discussing “what he means to them, as far as letting them have this creative space to enjoy themselves.”

The park was opened in December, just after Virgil’s passing, with support from Off-White, Abloh’s own brand, Daily Paper, and Surf Ghana. At the time of the opening, Daily Paper co-founder Jefferson Osei said in a statement, “With this initiative, we hope to evolve the skate culture in Ghana to the next level and give locals a platform to grow their talents within a space that will hopefully become their biggest training ground to date. More than board sports, the park will be a creative hub for young Ghanaians to come together, exchange ideas, inspire each other, and build their futures through recreational activities. They now have a place where they can be themselves, freely develop their skills together with like-minded people, and reach their true potential. Hence the name, Freedom Skate Park.”

Kendrick also discussed his favorite lines from his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, explaining why a line about going to therapy resonates with him. “We learn to hold all our sh*t in,” he admits. “That wasn’t my forte when people mentioned it to me. I’m still stuck how my pops thinks: ‘F*ck I need therapy for?’” He also allows, though, that going would represent “growth” and seems more open to the idea than he initially lets on.

You can watch the mini-doc “A Day In Ghana With Kendrick Lamar” above.

[WATCH] Kendrick Lamar Details Recent Trip To Ghana in Upcoming Spotify Documentary

by
kendrick lamar

Kendrick Lamar went to Ghana not long after dropping his 5th studio album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Videoes surfaced of Kendrick playing soccer and video games with kids, and interacting with other locals. Well, it turns out that the trip is a part of an upcoming Spotify documentary set to release next week.

The documentary follows Kendrick Lamar over the span of one day in Accra, Ghana, the country’s capital and largest city. The 15-second clip shows Kendrick around Ghanian locals and even posing for a picture with fans at Freedom Skate Park, the park founded by Virgil Abloh.

Based on “The Heart V”, and Mr. Morale, Kendrick seems to be continuing this idea of “experience” and seeing others’ “perspective.” K. Dot says in the trailer, “First time in Ghana, I couldn’t even tell you what day it is. I’m just being in the moment. This life sh*t, it’s all about an experience, and everybody got their own different experience.”

It is unknown what day the documentary will drop. Kendrick is also slated to perform as a part of Spotify’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity lineup on June 20, along with Post Malone and Dua Lipa.

The post [WATCH] Kendrick Lamar Details Recent Trip To Ghana in Upcoming Spotify Documentary appeared first on The Source.

Spotify Teases A New Project Featuring Kendrick Lamar’s First Trip To Ghana

by
Kendrick Lamar Spotify
Getty Image

Kendrick Lamar visits Accra, Ghana for the first time in the teaser for a new video project shared by Spotify. Although details are light, it appears that it’s a documentary that will premiere on the platform next week. In the teaser, Kendrick shares some of his philosophy, saying, “This life sh*t, it’s all about experience.” From some of the gorgeous imagery taken on the beaches and city streets of Ghana’s capital, he certainly had one heck of an experience there.

The project will be just one that the usually elusive Compton native has released this year. In May, Kendrick returned to the spotlight with the release of his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers — his first new album since 2017’s Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN. The album was accompanied by the single “N95” and a short film based on the album cut “We Cry Together” featuring actress Taylour Paige. Kendrick also announced The Big Steppers Tour supported by his PgLang signees Baby Keem and Tanna Leone.

The album was preceded by a flurry of activity from Kendrick, who teased its release with the fifth installment of his freestyle series, “The Heart.” Earlier this year, he joined Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and 50 Cent at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Stay tuned to see what he does next.

Trailer: Kendrick Lamar Travels to Ghana in Spotify Documentary

by

From Compton to Ghana.

Fresh off the release of his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar traveled to Accra, Ghana for the first time. His journey was documented as part of a mini-documentary for Spotify.

In the first 15-second trailer, he meets young fans and hits the beach. He was having such a good time that he forgot what day it was.

“I couldn’t even tell you what day it is,” says Kendrick, whose song “We Cry Together” soundtracks the clip. “I’m just being in the moment. This life shit, it’s all about an experience. And everybody got they own different experience.”

The documentary debuts sometime next week. Kendrick will also perform as part of Spotify’s Cannes Lions Festival programming on June 20.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers debuted at No. 1 upon its release last month. Kendrick shot a short film for one of the standout tracks, “We Cry Together” with Taylour Paige, which is playing for a limited time at the Laemmle Theatre in L.A.

Starting July 19, he will bring his live show across the globe on “The Big Steppers Tour,” which kicks off in Oklahoma City.

Kendrick Lamar Debuts A Short Film For ‘We Cry Together’ At A Los Angeles Theater

by
kendrick lamar billboard
Getty Image

It’s nearly been a month since Kendrick Lamar dropped his long-awaited fifth album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. The project, which presented 18 songs and guest appearances from Blxst, Summer Walker, Kodak Black, Baby Keem, Sampha, Ghostface Killah, and more, left fans with a lot to talk about. There was Kendrick’s push back against cancel culture, Kodak Black’s multiple appearances on the album, and more. Another notable moment from Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers was “We Cry Together,” which found Kendrick in an extremely heated argument with his girlfriend who is played by actress Taylour Paige.

Some have criticized the song, which plays more like a skit despite its rhyme scheme, while others have found it a bit enjoyable. Nonetheless, the experience attached to “We Cry Together” is about to continue as Kendrick Lamar is set to bring the album to a Los Angeles theater. According to HipHop-N-More, a short film for “We Cry Together” will premiere at the Laemmle Royal Theater in West Los Angeles for the next six days. The film, which is billed as “a performance from Taylour Paige and Kendrick Lamar,” premieres today at the theater and it will be available there until June 9.

The news about the film comes after “We Cry Together” had one of the biggest drops on the Billboard singles chart.

You can view a picture of the Laemmle Royal Theater above and purchase tickets for the “We Cry Together” short film here.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is out now via PgLang/Aftermath/TDE/Interscope. You can stream it here.

Kodak Black is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Grading Rap’s Recent Major Album Rollouts

by
  • Image via Publicist

    Fivio Foreign, ‘B.I.B.L.E.’

  • Image via Instagram

    Coi Leray, ‘Trendsetter’

  • Image via Sterling Ruby

    Pusha-T, ‘It’s Almost Dry’

  • Image via Freebandz/Epic Records

    Future, ‘I Never Liked You’

  • Image via Publicist

    Jack Harlow, ‘Come Home The Kids Miss You’

  • Image via pgLang/Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath/Interscope

    Kendrick Lamar, ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘We Cry Together’ Had One Of The Biggest Single-Week Drops In ‘Billboard’ Hot 100 History

by
Kendrick-Lamar.jpg
Philip Cosores

Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers set some records after its release last month. For what it’s worth, that shouldn’t be surprising as his loyal fan base spent five years waiting on a new body of work from him. For example, Kendrick broke Apple Music’s record for the most first-day streams by an album that was released in 2022. Shortly after its release, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers also had the biggest debut on the Billboard 200 chart in 2022. A few weeks later, Kendrick had a rare occurrence with one of his songs on the Billboard chart, and it’s not one we might have expected from him.

XXL notes that Kendrick’s “We Cry Together,” which features contributions from actress Taylour Paige, fell down a total of 81 spots — from No. 16 to No. 97 — between the May 24 and May 31 updates of the Billboard Hot 100. This makes for one of the biggest single-week drops ever on the song chart. However, it’s not the biggest that we’ve seen from a song in the past couple of years.

Back in 2020, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” went from topping the singles chart one week to completely falling off the Hot 100 the following week. Despite this, the track would go on to become the first song to be No. 1 in four separate years after it originally topped the charts in 2019 and did so again in 2021 and 2022.

On the bright side for Kendrick, his 2012 album Good Kid M.A.A.D. City recently became the only hip-hop studio album to spend 500 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.