Dr dre compton soundcloud11/24/2023 “Everything we were doing at Top Dawg Entertainment during that time felt like something big,” says the track’s co-producer, Willie B. Looking back at it now, it sounds like a portent of both Kendrick’s show-stealing verse on Big Sean’s Control and the virtuoso jazz rap of To Pimp a Butterfly. Upon release, it was an obvious standout from the album, a glimpse at the skills of a potentially generational MC on the come up. Taking notes from one of his biggest influences, Eminem, it’s clear that he’s showing off, but even so, he maintains the perfect balance of cockiness and self-awareness (Kendrick leaving in the “Alright, here we go, third take,” line at the start is no accident). The song is one big flex on his MC-slaying flow, delivered in what sounds like one breath. Horns ascend like an endless double helix frantically twisting around itself as Kendrick pushes himself to equally dizzying speeds. This kind of quiet self-confidence runs throughout Section.80, imbuing Kendrick’s bars with an undeniable charm. Aged just 24 and with only a handful of tapes to his name, Kendrick was already rubbing shoulders with rap’s elder statesmen and sounding more than comfortable doing it On the other side of the country, RZA had heard Kendrick’s mixtapes and gave the nod to DJ Fricktion to let the Compton MC flip some unused vocals on the track Ronald Reagan Era. When the two did eventually connect on record – for 2012’s Compton, an exultant ode to their shared home city – it hit all the harder because of the anticipation.ĭre wasn’t the only hip-hop icon paying attention, either. Speaking shortly after the release of the album, he told Complex that he wanted the record to be its own thing, separate from his association with the rap impresario: “I didn’t want people to want to purchase the project because I had two or three crazy ass Dre beats.” Where many rising MCs would jump at the chance to have a legend like Dre produce for them, the young Kendrick had enough self-belief to wait for the right moment. While it undoubtedly would have been a major statement to have a beat by Dre on his debut album, in hindsight, perhaps it’s an even bigger one that Kendrick actively chose not to. Though he didn’t sign Kendrick to Aftermath until a year after Section.80 dropped, the West Coast godfather was already in the background during its production. Dre’s current – and potentially final – protégé. In 2011, when Section.80 was released, the big story around Kendrick was that he was Dr. In discussions of his work, those three aforementioned albums loom largest, but the clarity of vision, the dexterity of flow and ear for a hit were all present from his first, Section.80. He’s the only MC to win a Pulitzer, and his lyrics are pored over with the same regard as literature and poetry. Kendrick Lamar is responsible for some of the greatest hip-hop albums of not just the 21st century, but the genre’s entire history. Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN.
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