Kendrick Lamar
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Kendrick Lamar’s Meta-Performance at the Super Bowl February 11, 2025
A sense of abasement hovers over the performer of the Super Bowl halftime show. It is slight, but it is there. The musician selected must be an internationally recognized star, and yet that star also has to submit to stipulations and standards set by...
The Inescapable Fact of This Year’s Shocking Super Bowl February 10, 2025
Super Bowl 59 was over before Kendrick Lamar took the field at halftime. The most obvious reason was that Patrick Mahomes’ unimpeded journey to greatest-of-all-time status took a bit of a detour....
‘GNX’ Is Kendrick Lamar’s Turbo-Powered Victory Lap November 26, 2024
There are, of course, counterarguments. This century alone, you have Future’s 2015 and Kanye’s 2010, 50’s ’03, and Eminem’s ’02; pick any Wayne year from Bush’s second term. But even if you reach further back—to DMX’s 1998, Snoop’s ’93, Rakim or Slic...
Everything You Need to Know About Grammy Nominations November 11, 2024
It’s been a big year in music: Women are in pop-dominated charts, several new artists had huge breakout albums and songs, and there was the first major rap beef in quite some time. All of that and more is reflected in the nominations for the 2025 Gra...
Kendrick Lamar’s Freedom Summer July 17, 2024
I was at a barbecue on the Fourth of July, eating burgers and drinking rum punch, watching store-bought fireworks belch and sizzle overhead, when Kendrick Lamar released the music video for his song “Not Like Us.” Lamar likes this kind of drama—dropp...
The Proxy War for Hip-Hop’s Soul Isn’t Over July 12, 2024
Just when it seemed the talk about the Kendrick Lamar-vs.-Drake beef had finally simmered down following the concert last month that some (me) considered the latter’s funeral, a video for Lamar’s massive hit “Not Like Us” dropped on July Fourth. The ...
Drake and Kendrick Lamar Is the Last Great Rap Beef May 07, 2024
Rap isn’t the NBA. There’s no Anthony Edwards or Jamal Murray capable of sending our washed stars to Cancun. Bronny’s biggest opps are bored NBA writers and the ESPN ticker tape. Meanwhile, Adonis has witnessed two generational MCs scold his father f...
The AI Rap Era Has Already Started May 03, 2024
Rap music—an art form that turned fifty this year despite being pronounced dead many times over—supposedly died again on April 19, amid the ongoing contest of champions between Compton and Toronto’s respective favorite sons. The culprit was Drake (wh...
