Kendrick Lamar

[bennyhana22]

And I have now become a bit obsessed with KL today, having prevoiusly been a fairly casual observer!

have watched/listened to Untitled 2 three times, and the whole of To Pimp... twice already.

He'd be good down on the Farm, wouldn't he? (I realise that the BST thing is making that v unlikely...)

Ben

[Mardy]

40 minutes ago, bennyhana22 said:

хорошая идея, Mardy

Ben

You wot? Speak English mate, En-ger-lish. Gawd 'elp us. What's he on about?

(спасибо, Бен)

[Mash011]

1 hour ago, TomViolence said:

As previously discussed, when BST announced Kendrick the wording suggested it was Kendrick's only festival but a tour of his own was still possible. With his popularity sky high at the moment, how big would the venues be? how many nights? etc etc

Few nights at the Ally Pally maybe? Would be pretty massive.

[Tuna]

5 hours ago, bennyhana22 said:

Enjoy The Voice tonight. You're welcome to it.

Ben

AIRHORN

[bennyhana22]

3 minutes ago, Tuna said:

AIRHORN

I probably should understand the reference, Tuna, but I'm stupid and I don't. And so it's now bugging me!

Wha?!

Ben

[Tuna]

2 minutes ago, bennyhana22 said:

I probably should understand the reference, Tuna, but I'm stupid and I don't. And so it's now bugging me!

Wha?!

Ben

 

 

[somecoolusername]

3 hours ago, TomViolence said:

As previously discussed, when BST announced Kendrick the wording suggested it was Kendrick's only festival but a tour of his own was still possible. With his popularity sky high at the moment, how big would the venues be? how many nights? etc etc

Couple of nights at Brixton would be ace. Or maybe even the Albert Hall if he performs with the orchestra like he did in America. Just going by his US tour he seems to prefer more intimate venues. Well intimate-ish, given that he could be filling massive arenas. I'm really hoping for a tour here. I'll go to BST if I have to but I hope it doesn't come to that. 

[bennyhana22]

32 minutes ago, Tuna said:

 

 

 

31 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

That's cleared that up then!

Well quite, Scruffy!

I know what a frickin' foghorn is Tuna, you young scamp!

Just tell me why you posted it!

Ben

[FuzzyDunlop]

Such a tune..

Just purchased to pimp a butterfly. The first hip hop album I have bought in a long time.... so I'm saying, it must be good.

 

Edited January 9, 2016 by FuzzyDunlop

[somecoolusername]

here he is performing it on SNL. I mean...

 

 

[Wooderson]

Airhorn is a grime drop thang, no?

[Tuna]

Dr Ben WENT IN

[swede]

KL will go down as the best ever by the time he's done. He was incredible at Leeds Festival and he hardly played anything off TPAB, if I wasn't going to Latitude I'd by off to BSF. 

The new track is brilliant, hope we get a new album this year 

[Winslow Leach]

On 1/9/2016 at 9:06 AM, Mezhyp1 said:

I'm EXTREMELY interested to know what you think is crap about that? 

 

On 1/9/2016 at 6:39 AM, Wooderson said:

What was crap about it

The only time I ever see him posting is when he's comparing hip hop artists to some blackface 'parody' rapper from Australia.

[EighteenSixty7]

On 09/01/2016 at 10:45 AM, FuzzyDunlop said:

Whilst I agree with Ben's post... a world in which someone can't just say  "That's shite"  is a world I don't want to be a part of. 

It's as much a part of this page as the more in depth responses.

I like the tune btw. Great performance too. I would like to see him.

Which album is "I" from? A really like that. I know it is not his usual style, more old school (probably why I like it that much). Has he done much else like that?

To Pimp a Butterfly (although I've just seen you've bought the album).

 

Joint album of the year last year for me, alongside Tetsuo & Youth.

 

I'd love to see Kendrick in a small venue or tent. That's what he's done in America with the tour for this album. TPaB would suit a more intimate venue as opposed to GKMC.

[Badlands]

It's great that an album as diverse as TPAB has been that successful, but I'll admit that I struggle to give both of his albums full attention when playing them. He just doesnt hit me in that way like some other artists. I actually prefer Lupe to him.

As for greatest of all time, gotta be Jay for me. Illmatic is ace but Nas never came back with anything of that standard. Jay has Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint and The Black Album, all bona fide classics. He should have stayed retired mind.

[EighteenSixty7]

8 minutes ago, Badlands said:

It's great that an album as diverse as TPAB has been that successful, but I'll admit that I struggle to give both of his albums full attention when playing them. He just doesnt hit me in that way like some other artists. I actually prefer Lupe to him.

As for greatest of all time, gotta be Jay for me. Illmatic is ace but Nas never came back with anything of that standard. Jay has Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint and The Black Album, all bona fide classics. He should have stayed retired mind.

I struggled with TPaB for a few months but it grew a huge amount in the second half of last year. Such a consistent and beautiful album.

Lupe's album hasn't recieved the recognition it should've.

It's hard to come back with anything of the standard of Illmatic, because it's Illmatic (I know what you're saying) It Was Written, Stillmatic and Life Is Good are all just a underneath Illmatic. There was a time when I preferred IWW to Illmatic. He and Ghostface have two of the best solo discgraphy's in rap for me. Nas is my GOAT though.

[When Jokers Attack]

Can't stop watching the Fallon video but here is some more Kendrick, Austin City Limits 60 minute performance which aired last night, was taped in October.

http://www.thefader.com/2016/01/10/watch-kendrick-lamars-full-performance-from-austin-city-limits

 

[bennyhana22]

18 minutes ago, Badlands said:

It's great that an album as diverse as TPAB has been that successful, but I'll admit that I struggle to give both of his albums full attention when playing them. He just doesnt hit me in that way like some other artists.

**British White Male Comment Below - Warning**

I like hip hop, in general (maybe a silly opening gambit as it is such a diverse collection of genres, but hopefully you'll know what I mean). But I couldn't say that I am a daily listener, and am much more into other stuff. So, Kendrick has always been on my radar, but I've never really picked up on him. Until yesterday.

That video, of him performing Untitiled 2 on Jimmy Fallon blew me away. The combination of a great lyrical narrative, delivered in a phenomenal flow, with a brilliant, tight-loose jazz accompaniment, at a brilliant tempo, instantly made me wish I was watching KL live, dancing my arse off. Unbelievable performance. So then I explored TPAB and GKMC, listening to both a couple of times yesterday. Obviously I haven't given them the time yet that a record needs fully to declare itself to the listener, but...

Both records are pretty good. Some tracks on each of the records are fantastic. But (and here's the white male alert bit), why does Kendrick, like almost all rappers you hear, also have to include tracks that refer to his penis and bitches SO much. I know I am from a completely different racial and cultural group, but I just don't understand (and feel free to educate me - seriously) why these particular tropes seem to be almost mandatory somewhere on a hip hip record, somewhere in a hip hop artist's canon. I realise that a lot of the best (and my favourite) hip hop is dark stuff, dealing with societal issues at their most challenging. So, I don't want nicely nicely stuff - I love the political commentary that hip hop conveys, maybe more effectively than any other genre. But it's the tiresome sexualised/misogynistic references that leave me cold. I just wish some artists would take a look at what everyone else is doing and decide that they don't need to include that crap in order to get across the messages in their art. And the reason that I am having a mini-moan about this today is because that live performance from the Jimmy Fallon video, in terms of the song, the musicianship, the groove, the performance of both KL and his incredibly talented band, is one of the most exciting things I've seen for ages.

I recognise that I may be way off the mark with my perception of that aspect of hip hop subject matter, so I'm ready for much better informed eFesters to put me straight. But I really don't care how many inches long anyone's dick is, nor do I need to hear about it in a song.

**tin hat placed firmly on head**

Let's 'ave it...

Ben

[bennyhana22]

16 minutes ago, Scruffylovemonster said:

Sounds like Ben is jealous cos of his small penis 

 

And I tried so hard not to be so transparent...!

Ben

[smudger]

On 09/01/2016 at 10:00 AM, bennyhana22 said:

I'm gonna bite.

I've had this argument before.

I won't even be petty and dwell on your lack of language skills.

I'm going to go right out there and proclaim that, for you to make a statement such as the one above, you have no understanding of how music is created and performed. None.

I am far from a Kendrick Lamar 'fan'. This kind of hip hop is, for me, often very hit and miss. So, I have no fanboy agenda. I'm a music lover and a musician of sorts.

Now, you don't have to like anything about that KL song and video. You don't have to like the structure, the performance, the flow, anything. Because enjoyment is subjective. Ability, musicianship, song-writing are objective, to a greater or lesser extent.

The sheer skill of KL in the writing, delivery and performance of his lyrics in that track is incredible. The musicianship of his band - especially the piano/keys player, WOW! - is incredible. This is an incredibly skillful and well-written piece of music. And I don't even like it that much as a track. But the overall performance is incredible.

For you to dismiss it as you have, and so seemingly demonstrate an inability to recognise brilliance in something that you personally don't enjoy that much, is something that makes me sad on a daily basis, when observing the cultural consumption of the masses.

Enjoy The Voice tonight. You're welcome to it.

Ben

 

'Gobble dick up, till you hiccup'? Sheer skill? Really? No, you're right, I don't understand anything about how music is created or performed. Thanks for correcting me.

For the record i find him crap, not because of the misogynistic lyrics, although that is irritating, or the relentless self promotion, or the constant babbling on about how big he is, but because he's just not very good.

I hope he plays Glastonbury, I really do, maybe he will pull it off as Jay-Z did, or maybe he won't. The festival should be about pushing boundaries and not playing it safe. I won't be there, there's so much more for me elsewhere.

Edited January 11, 2016 by smudger
change

[Amy Lawn]

When you wade into a thread for people discussing an artist they like, and make a stupid troll post like "utter utter crap" with no other context, don't then start getting all haughty and precious when somebody talks down to you like they would to a silly troll.

[Gucci Piggy]

2 hours ago, smudger said:

to stupid to have a valid opinion

 

*too

Agreed.

[ghostdancer1]

23 hours ago, bennyhana22 said:

**British White Male Comment Below - Warning**

I like hip hop, in general (maybe a silly opening gambit as it is such a diverse collection of genres, but hopefully you'll know what I mean). But I couldn't say that I am a daily listener, and am much more into other stuff. So, Kendrick has always been on my radar, but I've never really picked up on him. Until yesterday.

That video, of him performing Untitiled 2 on Jimmy Fallon blew me away. The combination of a great lyrical narrative, delivered in a phenomenal flow, with a brilliant, tight-loose jazz accompaniment, at a brilliant tempo, instantly made me wish I was watching KL live, dancing my arse off. Unbelievable performance. So then I explored TPAB and GKMC, listening to both a couple of times yesterday. Obviously I haven't given them the time yet that a record needs fully to declare itself to the listener, but...

Both records are pretty good. Some tracks on each of the records are fantastic. But (and here's the white male alert bit), why does Kendrick, like almost all rappers you hear, also have to include tracks that refer to his penis and bitches SO much. I know I am from a completely different racial and cultural group, but I just don't understand (and feel free to educate me - seriously) why these particular tropes seem to be almost mandatory somewhere on a hip hip record, somewhere in a hip hop artist's canon. I realise that a lot of the best (and my favourite) hip hop is dark stuff, dealing with societal issues at their most challenging. So, I don't want nicely nicely stuff - I love the political commentary that hip hop conveys, maybe more effectively than any other genre. But it's the tiresome sexualised/misogynistic references that leave me cold. I just wish some artists would take a look at what everyone else is doing and decide that they don't need to include that crap in order to get across the messages in their art. And the reason that I am having a mini-moan about this today is because that live performance from the Jimmy Fallon video, in terms of the song, the musicianship, the groove, the performance of both KL and his incredibly talented band, is one of the most exciting things I've seen for ages.

I recognise that I may be way off the mark with my perception of that aspect of hip hop subject matter, so I'm ready for much better informed eFesters to put me straight. But I really don't care how many inches long anyone's dick is, nor do I need to hear about it in a song.

**tin hat placed firmly on head**

Let's 'ave it...

Ben

well GKMC describes himself/the character of K.Dot as a young immature teenager growing up in an environment where violence, misogyny and peer pressure are parts of life, and how he matures in spite of that world around him. So those sort of references are understandable in the context of the story being told throughout the album.
http://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/blog/the-narrative-guide-to-kendrick-lamars-good-kid-mad-city

for Section.80, I guess he was still finding his voice and style and was only 22 when it was recorded, so I suppose he was that immature young man that he describes on GKMC.

I don't really have much of a defence for TPAB, but thn again I don't listen to it much as I don't find it all that enjoyable. it's pretty good in parts, but I think GKMC is a far better all-round album.

[dentalplan]

Cornrow Kenny looking round Yeezy's new gaff.