One of my favorite aspects of hip-hop, or any musical genre, is when a new artist has a distinct sound, voice, topic matter, flow, et cetera, it can be anything, but you know it when you hear it. More specifically to rap is when someone lyrically separates himself from everyone else. It literally makes you think and process the words, metaphors, and similes in ways others don't. He's not wasting any words. Not to discredit your Soula Boy and Waka's, okay, yes, to discredit them, but there are artists that make it an art form and poetry. Kendrick Lamar is one of them.
West Coast rap has a new ambassador in this young lyricist hailing from Compton, California. A product of the 80's, Kendrick lays layer after layer of verbal chapters that can be listened on replay without skippage on his debut album, Section:80. A fully entertaining album that you end up liking more with every listen. You'll hear an honesty that draws you to the songs that explains the emotions of stories, relationships and thoughts of misguided youth. The production is also fantastic and it doesn't sound like your typical west coast beat album at all. More like a mix of that Chi-town soul, NY underground and southern draw that compliments Lamar's flow perfectly.
It's reassuring to know there are young artists like K.L. providing art that still pushes the envelope in the right direction. Especially when hip hop seems to have tangents in every direction, some with more gimmick than substance.
He recently released a video of one of the best lyrical songs on the album, produced by Willie B, called "Rigamortis". It has K.L. almost competing with the horns on the track. He picks up the cadence as it progresses as he serves up lyrical dessert that has subpar rappers checking themselves. Also checkout the J.Cole produced "Hiiipower", another gem, video below. Video for "A.D.H.D" is also posted, love the beat on this one, produced by Sounwave.
As he says "Smoke good, Eat good, Live good".
Video via BlowHipHop TV.
No comments:
Post a Comment