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New Kung Fu Kenny!
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Before 2012, Kendrick Lamar had released
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his well-received debut Section.80, had Dr. Dre
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firmly on his side and landed on XXL's Freshman List.
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But it took good kid, m.A.A.d city,
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a series of inward-looking reflections
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on the oppressive uncertainties of living in Compton,
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to catapult Lamar into stardom.
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Its follow-up, To Pimp A Butterfly,
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was a dense, jazz and G-funk provocation
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that solidified his reputation as an ambitious artist.
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After releasing two of the decade's
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most popular and critically acclaimed rap albums,
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expectations for his fourth LP were sky-high.
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How would a radio-friendly, but overtly political rapper
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respond to an era of police killings on TV
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and Donald Trump in the White House
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with an album that's less obtuse than To Pump A Butterfly
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and more righteous than good kid, m.A.A.d city?
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♪ Damn. ♪
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♪ This what God feels like, huh, yeah ♪
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♪ Laughin' to the bank like, "Ah-ha!" ♪
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DAMN. features some returning Butterfly contributors
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like bassist Thundercat and saxophonist Kamasi Washington,
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but overall it's far less indebted
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to jazz than its predecessor.
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Instead, Lamar tackles the sound of commercial radio rap
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with assistance from trap superstar Mike WiLL Made-It.
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The lead single, "HUMBLE.," was the first clue
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to Kendrick's stylistic pivot.
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♪ Nobody pray for me ♪
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♪ It's been that day for me ♪
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♪ Way, yeah, yeah ♪
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Mike WiLL originally wrote the beat with Gucci Mane in mind
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but passed it along to Lamar, believing its West Coast feel
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would be appropriate for the Compton rapper.
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To complement Lamar's less-than-humble lyrics,
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video director Dave Meyers created
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a universal grandiose imagery,
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including a recreation of Da Vinci's "The Last Supper."
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♪ Hol' up, bitch, sit down ♪
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♪ Hol' up, hol' up, hol' up ♪
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♪ Be humble ♪
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♪ Hol' up, hol' up ♪
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♪ Sit down, be humble ♪
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In creating "DNA.," Lamar rapped the second half of the song
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a cappella before hanging it off to Mike WiLL
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and asking him to make a beat that sounded like chaos.
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♪ Sex, money, murder, these are the breaks ♪
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♪ These are the times, level number 9 ♪
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♪ Look up in the sky, 10 is on the way ♪
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♪ Sentence on the way, killings on the way ♪
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♪ Motherfucker, I got winners on the way ♪
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"DNA." introduces listeners to Kendrick's
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alter ego, Kung Fu Kenny.
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The character was inspired by
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Don Cheadle's role in Rush Hour 2.
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I'ma whoop your ass.
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And then I'ma whoop your ass.
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♪ I got, I got, I got, I got realness ♪
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Although the actor,
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who appears in the DNA. video,
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didn't realize the connection until Lamar
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unveiled a short film at Coachella entitled,
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"The Damn Legend of Kung Fu Kenny."
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Lamar said that Juvenile's 400 Degreez
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is one of his favorite albums,
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and on "ELEMENT." he paid homage by borrowing
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the New Orleans rapper's choppy flow.
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♪ Niggas thought they wasn't gonna see me, huh? ♪
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♪ Niggas thought that K-Dot real life ♪
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♪ Was the same life they see on TV, huh? ♪
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After the song had been mastered
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its producers decided it sounded too jazzy,
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so they changed the drums and at the last minute
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incorporated a piano loop James Blake had sent to Lamar.
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Along with Jonas Lindstroem, Lamar and Dave Free,
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a.k.a the Little Homies, directed a video for the song
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that recreated photos by Gordon Parks,
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who, during the mid-twentieth century,
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documented discreet moments of black life in America.
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♪ I pull out, hop out, air out, made it look sexy ♪
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♪ They won't take me out my element ♪
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♪ Nah, take me out my element ♪
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According to guitarist Steve Lacy,
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his contribution to DAMN. was recorded on his iPhone
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during a session with frequent Lamar collaborator Anna Wise.
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♪ Hell-raisin', wheel-chasin', new worldly possessions ♪
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♪ Flesh-makin', spirit-breakin', which one would you lessen? ♪
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Lacy played Lamar the track during a break in the studio.
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Months later, the rapper alerted Lacy via text message
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that PRIDE., originally titled Wasn't There,
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had made the final track list.
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♪ Maybe I wasn't there ♪
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On an album full of well-worn rap samples,
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like 24-Carat Black's "Poverty's Paradise"
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and the Fatback Band's "Let the Drums Speak,"
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one sample in particular stands out,
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Bruno Mars' "24K Magic,"
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whose vocorder riff is the cornerstone for "LOYALTY."
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♪ Tonight ♪
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[Bruno Mars' "24K Magic" plays]
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While co-produces Terrance Martin, Dahi and Soundwave
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tweaked the track's drums, Lamar told them,
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"I'ma get Rihanna on this."
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To their surprise, he did.
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♪ Bad girl RiRi now ♪
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♪ Swerve, swerve, swerve, swerve, leave it now ♪
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A far more unexpected presence on the album
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than one of pop's biggest stars
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was a group of Irish rockers.
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When Lamar tweeted the artwork and track list for DAMN.,
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three days before the album's release,
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there was widespread wariness about U2's credit on "XXX."
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It was a feeling shared by Mike WiLL Made-It.
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Though he'd met Bono at Jimmy Iovine's house,
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Will wasn't told about the superstar's involvement
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until after he turned in the instrumental.
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♪ It's not a place ♪
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♪ This country is to me a sound ♪
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♪ Of drum and bass ♪
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After about a year of working with manager
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Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who he met when he was 16,
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Lamar brought his father, Ducky, to meet him.
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The men realized that, in their younger years,
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Tiffith would frequent and once rob the KFC Ducky worked at
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across the street from Watts Nickerson Gardens.
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Over 9th Wonder's beats, "DUCKWORTH."
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details Ducky's strategy to avoid getting murdered.
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Free chicken and two extra biscuits
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every time Top Dawg showed up.
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♪ Ducky was well-aware ♪
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♪ They robbed the manager and shot a customer last year ♪
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♪ He figured he'd get on these niggas' good sides ♪
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♪ Free chicken every time Anthony posted in line ♪
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♪ Two extra biscuits ♪
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Two months after the release of DAMN.,
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Lamar admitted that it was his favorite in his discography.
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"I think DAMN. is a hybrid of all these projects," he said.
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"It's the message behind To Pimp A Butterfly,
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the sonics, the beat-slapping on good kid,
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and the rawness of being able to do
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what I want on Section.80."
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♪ I got, I got, I got ♪
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His mother agreed, telling him in an emoji-laden
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text message, "This your best one to me, no bullshit."
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[Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." plays]