As with a lot of things Kendrick Lamar-related in 2024, there’s a curious backstory behind his most recent song, commonly referred to as “Watch The Party Die.” It dropped right when the MTV VMAs began, and its crusade against insufficient industry standards and cultural degradation certainly ruffled some feathers. But folks still wondered: where on Earth did he get the cover art of a pair of scuffed Black Air Force 1s, a common symbol of “demon time”? Well, fans quickly unearthed that it was a random eBay listing that had already sold for $70, and what they found out next thanks to local Arkansas news station THV11 is very interesting.
Moreover, the outlet published a video interview with Arkansas citizens Billy Lingo and Darla Wilson on September 24. The North Little Rock couple have been together for 20 years, and launched their eBay account (Good2BYou) in 2021. When Kendrick Lamar dropped the song, they received an onslaught of calls and messages breaking the news, and they canceled the order – despite it already being sold – given how much more valuable the shoes are now.
Kendrick Lamar Caused This Arkansas Couple To Post The Listing Of A Lifetime
“I’m not gonna lie to you, I didn’t know a lot about him, but I really know about him now,” Billy Lingo said of Kendrick Lamar. He and Darla Wilson put the shoes up for auction starting at $5,000 and also included a “Buy It Now” option for $75,000. At press time, there are currently no bids for it. In addition to this, the couple also plans on selling merch depicting the cover art. It just goes to show how magnanimous the context behind this new song can be, and how much value hip-hop fans place on the genre’s history – however minimal or, frankly, expensive.
Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar fans are very excited about the prospect of another Steve Lacy collab, which the latter recently teased. “I’m moved by what’s weird,” Lacy told Fantastic Man of his creative process for his next album. “It’s almost like I hear them, and I think, I need to call this person. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a Kendrick verse.” Let’s see if this opportunity manifests…
Kendrick Lamar dropped a new song, unofficially titled “Watch The Party Die,” earlier this month, and fans quickly discovered the photo of Nike Air Force 1 shoes used for the song’s cover art came from an eBay listing. Now, the people behind the eBay listing are hoping to cash in on their unexpected brush with fame.
Little Rock, Arkansas’s TVH11 reports that couple Billy Lingo and Darla Wilson is behind the eBay account Good2BYou, whose listing was the source of the photo. They spoke to Wilson and Lingo, who revealed they decided to cancel the $70 sale and re-list the shoes, in light of their newfound notoriety. The new listing can be found here; It has a starting bid of $5,000 and a Buy It Now price of $75,000.
“I know that’s probably not going to happen, but it could,” Lingo said of the lofty Buy It Now figure.
The eBay listing reads in part, “Kendrick Lamar ‘Watch the Party Die’ Cover Artwork Photo depicting a pair of Low top Black on Black Air Force One athletic shoes,(315122-001), Shoes were made on 07/08/2009, Men’s size 12. I am selling the actual shoes in the photo. […] I will also include all messages, original order information including cancelation information etc and original listing with pics from EBay Customer service. Do Not miss this once in a life time opportunity to own a documented piece of HIP HOP History.”
Lingo and Wilson also told TVH11 they plan to start selling t-shirts featuring the now-famous photo.
Kendrick Lamar once again stunned everyone this year with another out-of-the-blue track. “The Day The Party Died” saw the Compton marksman take aim at a lot of people across the hip-hop industry, particularly Drake and DJ Akademiks. It was essentially a commentary on the current state of the genre and that he’s wanting to change it for the better. Presumably, one of those steps was exposing artists like Drizzy for not making substantial music. However, he was wrestling with how to exactly go about this as he says in his third verse. “Sometimes I wonder what Lecrae would do / F*** these n****s up or show ’em just what prayer do? / I want to be empathetic, my heart like Dee-1“.
It’s safe to say he chose the former, but Lecrae and Dee-1 were both appreciative of the shout out, nonetheless. Recently, the former responded to the name drop with “Die For The Party”. His track similarly touches on those themes about the landscape of rap. Now, as of yesterday, the Louisiana native, Dee-1, has done the same with “Call It Like It Is”. While K. Dot and Lecrae’s shots were more subtle, Dee takes a more up front approach. Joe Budden catches one to the dome in clever fashion, and he also addresses the noise around him supporting Lamar over Lil Wayne for the Super Bowl by shouting out the fellow NOLA icon. “And we gon’ be alright, that’s what Kendrick Lamar said / And in the words of Lil Wayne, the sky is the limit, yeah“. Like the others, Dee brings a lot of passion and it’s worth a listen.
I don’t care if they sold millions, are you hearin’ their message? Poisonin’ our whole community, everybody hypnotized Why you think nobody respect black people? No big surprise (Call it like it is) and I love New Orleans, my city But I love God way more, I don’t care if none of y’all with me We celebrate bein’ stupid and everybody so gangster
To borrow a phrase from Uproxx cover star Latto, get in the booth. Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s heated track-for-track beef surely inspired a lot of spin-off records. Yesterday (September 14), the latest arrived courteous of Lecrae.
On Kendrick Lamar’s “Watch The Party Die” song, he named dropped the Christian rapper, asking: “What would Lecrae do?” Now fans know exactly how Lecrae would’ve handled the feud thanks to his response record, “Ain’t Watch The Party Die,” which was shared to Instagram.
“I was wrestlin’ like, should I write a verse? / The culture got enough clout-chasin’ vultures out here / Tryna prove they worth, they need attention / They can’t imagine me not tryna make myself look bigger off of this Kendrick mention / I can’t imagine his position / Before I got on my mission I was a party victim,” raps Lecrae.
Throughout the record, Lecrae advocates for unification. But he was sure to address the narrative that he turned his nose up at secular hip-hop artists after a clip of his Deep End with Lecrae podcast went viral.
“I use my trauma, my single mama, to justify commas to pay the devils wages / That probably went over they heads / Basically what I said is I was government fed / Bred for doin’ time in the feds, but Jesus bled / Instead of puttin’ dents in they head, He turned His / My cup runneth over with nonsense / They hearts grow colder, they love to do evil, they burn they conscience / I want the dealer’s head who gave my cousin fentanyl / Labels exploitin’ rappin’ addicts, man, I’m sick of y’all / My daddy ran with Compton Crips, my uncles Piru / Stuck in the middle of this madness, what should I choose? / I should be choosin’ between Howard and Hampton / I love the people that I ran with but look at the damage / You want me put you on, but I know you still with the scammin’,” raps Lecrae.
Listen to Lecrae’s song “Ain’t Watch The Party Die” above.
Lecrae has jumped on Kendrick Lamar’s “Watch the Party Die” after being referenced on the original track. In a post on Instagram on Saturday night, the Christian rapper shared an audio clip of him rapping over the beat. Instead of a pair of black Air Force 1 shoes, he used a white pair for the artwork. “Welp.. this is what Lecrae would do,” he captioned the post.
On Lamar’s version of the track, he raps: “Sometimes I wonder what Lecrae would do / F*ck these n****s up or show ’em just what prayer do?” Crae first responded to the shout-out by writing on X (formerly Twitter) by writing: “Love you Dot….Always here. [praying hands emoji].”
Lecrae Performs During 2024 Pepsi National Battle Of The Bands
HOUSTON, TEXAS – AUGUST 25: Singer Lecrae performs onstage during the 2024 Pepsi National Battle of the Bands at NRG Stadium on August 25, 2024, in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Marcus Ingram/Getty Images)
In the comments section of Lecrae’s post, fans have been loving the performance. One top response reads: “This is why I can’t quit Crae. Every time I get bored of his fitting in/safe rap, he drops something atomic and brings me back in again. I hope the next project is more of this. More realness to show why he bothers either way Jesus in the first place.” Another user writes: “Bro. Pulling out the Isaiah 64 and hitting the original Hebrew with our ‘righteousness’ is as menstruous rags. Preach the Word, @lecrae. Those are the FACTS. Thank You Jesus for what You’ve done to redeem us. This is freaking [fire emoji].”
Lecrae Hops On Kendrick Lamar’s “Watch The Party Die”
Check out Lecrae’s verse for Kendrick Lamar’s “Watch The Party Die” below. Be on the lookout for further updates on Kendrick Lamar and Lecrae on HotNewHipHop.
Hip-hop has been in a frenzy this week ever since Jay-Z and Roc Nation announced Kendrick Lamar as the Super Bowl Halftime show headliner in New Orleans next year – a slot that many suspected would’ve been handed to Lil Wayne. Weezy, an unequivocal legend, has been the flagbearer for NOLA for the entirety of his career. However, he hasn’t had the same motion as Kendrick Lamar in the past few months in terms of mainstream attention. On the heels of defeating Drake in their back-and-forth, Dot confirmed that he would be headlining the Super Bowl in an announcement video that seemingly stepped on the idea of a second round, something that Drake has hinted at since early August, at least. However, even though the Pop Out was deemed a victory lap, Kendrick’s mission statement appears to be much larger than simply toppling one of the most commercially successful artists of all time.
On Wednesday night, Kendrick Lamar surprised the masses by releasing his new untitled single on Instagram, tentatively titled “Watch The Party Die.” It’s a 180 from “Not Like Us,” the upbeat West Coast anthem carried throughout the summer. This one is much more somber in tone with its drumless soul sample and deadpan delivery, where Kendrick addresses the culture, similar to other installments in the “The Heart” series. He seemingly steps on Drake’s grave one last time, shuts down the media and influencers whose bias is reflected in their reporting and agenda, and expresses not just disdain but a vitriolic hatred towards the hip-hop industry as a whole. In some senses, he’s envisioning what hip-hop and humanity look like after a destroy-and-rebuild process. Clearly, there are others in hip-hop who he acknowledges as those who could similarly help lead this movement, specifically LeCrae and Dee-1.
Released on September 11 when the VMAs began, Kendrick Lamar’s latest single marked his first song since dropping “Not Like Us” earlier this year. The record finds Kendrick reflecting on the feud (“This shit done got too wicked to apologize/ It’s different, get him whacked and disqualified” and “Just walked that man down, that’ll do everyone a solid.”) He also reflects on the state of the media, targeting unnamed individuals that people believe to be Akademiks, Gillie Da Kid, Cam’ron and Gillie (“Influencers talked down ’cause I’m not with the basic shit/ But they don’t hate me, they hate the man that I represent/ The type of man that never dickride ’cause I want a favor” and “I think it’s time to watch the party die/ Street niggas and the corporate guys, the rappers that report the lies/ I need they families mortified.”)
The song tackles the music industry at large, retreading and expanding on concepts mentioned in songs like “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us” (“It’s time to get these devils out the way, heavy metals on my sword… Say hello to your future fate, the culture bred with carnivores” and “They wonder why I’m not enthused to drop/ The more visible you get, the more your spiritual is tried”). Considering that “Euphoria” marked the first release post-TDE from Kendrick Lamar where he explicitly states, “F*ck the industry,” “Watch The Party Die” is less of a nail-in-the-coffin of his feud with Drake and more of a new beginning to this new chapter in his career, one that appears rooted in his frustrations with the exploitation and commodification of the culture.
“I Wonder What Lecrae Would Do?“
The song’s third verse contains two shout-outs to Lecrae, a Christian rapper who often doesn’t get his flowers due to the content of his music. “I wonder what LeCrae would do? F*ck these n***as up or show ‘em just what prayer do?” Kendrick asks at the top of the verse, repeating the first part towards the end of the verse. This particular shout-out isn’t a coincidence in this chapter of Kendrick’s career, especially considering the lyrical themes on Dot’s new single.
In a 2023 interview, Lecrae revealed that his relationship with Kendrick dates back to The Kendrick Lamar EP. On the project, the rapper has a song titled “The Faith,” where he opens up about his issues with his belief in God. Kendrick Lamar was hardly a name back then, but when Lecrae heard the song, he reached out.
“I had more Twitter followers than him at the time, so I DM’d him, and I was like, ‘Bro, I heard this song. What are you wrestling with?’ I said, ‘Cause maybe I can send you some stuff,’” LeCrae recounted on the YTH Nation Podcast. Kendrick explained that he had several questions about his faith. “And we started going back and forth, and we just developed a relationship. From there, it just became a dope relationship where I never wanted to abuse it or be like ‘Yeah, let’s do music together’ but it was more like, let’s be friends.’”
Even more interesting about this podcast segment is that Lecrae said he turned down a feature from Kendrick before. “He actually asked to do music with me first and I was like, ‘Nah, let’s chill because I don’t want you to ever feel like I’m only in this for what you have going on,’” he said.
A more minor component to consider in Kendrick’s shout-out is how Lecrae framed the Compton native’s place in the culture compared to Drake. In an interview clip from Mr. Jay Hill Network that has circulated recently, Lecrae explained, “Ghostwriters aside, [Drake]’s a great rapper…but Drake is a fan of the culture. Kendrick is a product of the culture. It’s a difference.”
“I Wanna Be Empathetic, My Heart Like Dee-1”
Similar to Lecrae, Dee-1’s Christian values have often been at the fore of his artistic output. The New Orleans-based rapper, interestingly enough, gained fame with the release of his single, “Jay, 50, and Weezy,” a song calling out three of the biggest rappers of the time for the messages they put out in his music. Ultimately, the song led to a deal with RCA Inspiration.
While the Super Bowl announcement has turned into a nonsensical Kendrick vs. Lil Wayne debate, it’s important to note that Dee-1’s had his issues with Cash Money and Weezy in the past. A project he was supposed to be put out titled Separated At Birth was heavily inspired by Lil Wayne and Cash Money but the NOLA-based label blocked it from dropping, as explained on Sway’s Universe.
His issues with the music industry made headlines earlier this year after criticizing rappers like Rick Ross, Meek Mill, and Jim Jones for the content in their music. Urging each of them to “do better,” he took particular issue with the content in Meek and Ross’s Too Good To Be True project. Dee-1 suggested that it was hypocritical of Meek to rap about murder and violence while simultaneously being a the face of prison reform. “But this man glorifying getting people killed as of a week ago!’ Like, what are you doing, bro? Lil’ Snoop really got killed, that broke your heart. You wear him around your neck,” he said. “Why are you glorifying the same thing? The rap game, the hip-hop industry is great at cooking up some delicious poison. I don’t call you out because I got a problem with you, man.”
Ultimately, it turned into a back-and-forth between himself and the aforementioned artists including vague alleged threats from the Dipset member. Still, Dee-1 made it clear that he never had any personal issues with any of the parties he called out. That became especially clear when he refused to make light of Rick Ross’s altercation in Canada and praised Meek for his unfiltered take on the reality of the streets when he wrote, “Being gangsta will get you hurt put in jail or killed… Being smart will get you out of poverty and your family and friends living better.”
The brief shout-out captured hip-hop fans attention, especially as an anticipation for a new wave of Christian rap makes a path for itself. Both LeCrae and Dee-1 kept their responses brief at first. The former wrote, “Love you Dot….Always here,” along with a prayer hand emoji. Dee-1 offered a more extensive response over the past few days since the song was released.
“i appreciate the shoutout brother. @kendricklamar More than you’ll ever know. A shift is happening. The time is now!” Dee-1 wrote on Twitter after the song was released. However, he went on to address some of the backlash he faced over siding with Kendrick over Wayne in the Super Bowl debacle, particularly because he’s a New Orleans native. But in an interview with TMZ, Dee-1 recalled a conversation he was having at the time the song dropped. “I’m not afraid to go against the whole culture. I love New Orleans, but I love God more than I love New Orleans. What I stand on has nothing to do with loyalty to my city, loyalty to the hip-hop industry. All this stuff is fickle, and it comes underneath my loyalty to my creator.”
i appreciate the shoutout brother. @kendricklamar More than you’ll ever know.
If you’ve followed Kendrick’s career, these flashes of his spirituality have been scattered across his discography. good kid, m.A.A.d city opens up with his childhood friends reciting a prayer and repenting for their sins, and comes first circle by the end of “Sing About Me/Dying Of Thirst” when a woman (voiced by Maya Angelou, per BET) helps lead “Sinner’s Prayer.” The religious allusions and imagery continued throughout projects like To Pimp A Butterfly, DAMN., and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. However, Kendrick appears to be more outward with his faith and using it as a guide to spark change. So when Kendrick rapped, “I wanna be empathetic, my like Dee-1 but I will–,” it demonstrates the Pulitzer Prize winner’s quandary: gear up for another aggression or use spirituality and faith to rise above the conflict for a bigger purpose.
The hip-hop world is ablaze today thanks to Kendrick Lamar’s new song, with every corner of the culture chiming in either with a dismissive “No thanks” or enthusiastic breakdowns. Many folks wonder whether this is a Drake diss, an album rollout kickoff, or something else entirely. But the main point of discussion for many in the rap game is all the criticism that K.Dot has for the culture: the media industries, the consumers, the influencers, etc. Well, The Breakfast Club discussed this new untitled track, which is going by many names in the discourse right now. Charlamagne Tha God’s take was particularly interesting because of its assessment of Kendrick’s goals.
“It’s very dope,” Charlamagne Tha God said of Kendrick Lamar’s new song. “Like you said, Lauren, I don’t believe the record is just about Drake. I think he’s talking about just the culture. People in the world, society, the industry, media. And I’ma tell you something, Kendrick: you gon’ drive yourself crazy, okay? The only thing you can do is continue to be the change you want to see in the world. ‘Cause this ain’t stopping no time soon. It’s just not. You know what I mean? *laughs* We’re too far gone. Like, God himself would have to come back, and even then, they would not believe it! *laughs* Even then, man, Wu-Tang’s ‘Triumph’ could start playing and a big toe could come from the sky and Jesus himself could come down, and they would make him have to prove himself. ‘That ain’t walking on water, that’s A.I.’”
Charlamagne Tha God Speaks On Kendrick Lamar’s New Song
Charlamagne Tha God sends a message to Kendrick Lamar while reacting to his new surprise song
“very dope… I don’t believe the record is just about Drake hes talking about the culture… I’m gonna tell you something Kendrick youre gonna drive yourself crazy, the only thing you… pic.twitter.com/7yhnYRD7J5
Of course, this is a pretty common sentiment online, at least for those that agree with Kendrick Lamar’s thoughts on the culture. Many see the fight for hip-hop’s “soul” as a losing battle, much like what Charlamagne Tha God expressed. But there are hundreds of turns of phrases we could use here to symbolize that change doesn’t happen overnight. It’s clear that there’s still a lot more left in this saga that will inform this move.
Meanwhile, a lot of folks wonder what Kendrick Lamar’s next move will be. While this seems like a pretty surefire album rollout, we also can’t really predict anything when it comes to him. With that in mind, we’ll just have to be patient and stay on our toes.
Whenever Kendrick Lamar drops something, you can bet on a whole lot of content in the aftermath that breaks down all the details we didn’t catch on first listen, whether they’re reaches or not. However, sometimes this process can be as simple as tracing back the origins of a certain image. Moreover, Internet sleuths found out that the cover art for his new untitled song, commonly referred to as “Watch The Party Die” online, actually comes from a $70 eBay listing for a pair of black used ’82 Nike Air Force 1s. In fact, the listing sold that very same night that the song came out (Wednesday, September 11).
Furthermore, folks are obviously dissecting a lot of other aspects about this new Kendrick Lamar song and reacting to it appropriately. As you can imagine, the OVO team – including Mr. “Weird Case” Baka Not Nice – isn’t very happy about this song coming out, or thinks it’s not worth anyone’s time. But for pgLang-heads and hip-hop fans at large on any side of the fence, it’s very exciting to see this rollout kick into full-ish gear. Let’s see what that lead single sounds like…
Elsewhere, a lot of fans are also breaking down what Kendrick Lamar had to say to Drake on this new track. However, it’s not much. On this new record, there are many reflections on the battle and what happened between these MCs, but nothing in the way of new criticisms, attacks, or specific or subliminal shots. Instead, the criticisms on “Watch The Party Die” are more general towards the industry and state of the culture as a whole, much like K.Dot’s “The Heart” series. As such, calling this “the start of Round 2” after both sides seemed to sidestep it is a mischaracterization on many fans’ behalf.
Still, it doesn’t mean that this new Kendrick Lamar song didn’t light another fire under the game for a minute. DJ Akademiks was one of many who went absolutely wild online with their reactions and assessments. Sometimes, these folks are very critical of these moves, whereas others couldn’t be more praiseful. In any case, we’re all excited to see what happens next, and we’re sure that this eBay buyer and seller still can’t believe that they’re a party of hip-hop history now.
While many fans are enjoying the new song, there are a few who are not so impressed. Of course, one of those people is none other than Baka Not Nice. At this point, we all know why Baka would be agaisnt this song. After all, he was the subject of an iconic bar on Kendrick’s “Not Like Us.” While scrolling through TikTok, Baka came across the song and was clearly not enthused by the subject matter. He hopped in the comments section and wrote “sh*t sounds like them shoes look” with a trash emoji at the end.
Very few words but impactful nonetheless. At this stage, it seems pretty clear that Baka and the whole OVO team is at odds with Kendrick Lamar, and that will likely never change. As Kendrick said on his new song, the disses were too personal for an apology to make sense. Now, fans will just have to wait and see how this all develops. It should get interesting, especially with Kendrick supposedly looking to drop a new album before the end of the year.
Let us know what you think about the new Kendrick Lamar song, in the comments section down below. Do you believe that this was a solid effort from the rapper? Do you agree with Baka’s recent assessment or is he just mad about the bars against him on “Not Like Us”? Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.
More than you’ll ever know. A shift is happening. The time is now!” Dee-1 wrote on Twitter after the song was released. However, he went on to address 