Tag: kendrick lamar

DJ Khaled – “Holy Key” feat. Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean & Betty Wright

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DJ Khaled let “another one” go today on Apple Music’s We The Best Radio. The epic song “Holy Key” featuring Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean and Betty Wright is the third single off Khaled’s forthcoming album ‘Major Key’ July 29th.

Aside from blessing us with a new one today, Khaled also released the official track list. Check it below.

01 “I Got the Keys” f. JAY-Z & Future
02 “For Free” f. Drake
03 “Nas Album Done” f. Nas
04 “Holy Key” f. Big Sean, Kendrick Lamar & Betty Wright
05 “Jermaine’s Interlude” f. J. Cole
06 “I’ma Be Alright” f. Bryson Tiller & Future
07 “Do You Mind” f. Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown, August Alsina, Jeremih, Future & Rick Ross
08 “Pick These Hoes Apart” f. Kodak Black, Jeezy & French Montana
09 “Fuck Up the Club” f. Future, Rick Ross, YG & Yo Gotti
10 “Work for It” f. Big Sean, Gucci Mane & 2 Chainz
11 “Don’t Ever Play Yourself” f. Jadakiss, Fabolous, Fat Joe, Busta Rhymes & Kent Jones
12 “Tourist” f. Travis Scott & Lil Wayne
13 “Forgive Me Father” f. Meghan Trainor, Wiz Khalifa & Wale
14 “Progress”

Pre-order the album on iTunes and get “Holy Key” as well as “For Free” feat. Drake and “I Got The Keys” feat. Jay-Z and Future.

@IamBNyce

Watch Kendrick Lamar And Janelle Monae’s Performance At The White House [VIDEO]

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President Barack Obama invited Kendrick Lamar and Janelle Monae to spend their Independence Day at the White House and at the 4th of July block Party. The duo performed in front of military heroes, which were honored at the event.

K. Dot’s set included “A.D.H.D.,” “Money Trees” and “Alright.” Janelle Monae performed her single “Tightrope” before she did a little tribute to Prince, by performing Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=687&v=6CKqIhVHHMQ

Obama shared his appreciation for both Kendrick and Janelle for their efforts on and off the stage. He then thanked the “incredible men and women in uniform and their families who look out for us every single day.”

Kendrick was also celebrating the 5-year anniversary of ‘Section.80′ and showed his support for his followers. “I got a few people who’ve been rocking with me for awhile,” he expressed. “I love y’all…I really appreciate y’all.”

For the finale Obama had both Kendrick and Justine sing Happy Birthday for his eldest daughter, Malia, who turned 18-years-old.

@IamBNyce

Kendrick Lamar To Perform At The White House On Independence Day

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Earlier this year President Barak Obama edorsed Kendrick Lamar by taking him in a battle against Drake. He then revealed K. Dot’s “How Much a Dollar Cost” was his favorite song of 2015. Obama and Kendrick will [now] be spending their Independence Day together, as the Compton rapper has been invited to perform at the White House for special guests.

Kendrick will perform along with Janelle Monae Monday evening as part of the White House’s July 4th festivities. The even honors military heroes whom will attend with their families.

K. Dot also visited the White House in October for a mentorship event. The event was later turned into a promotional video for his “Pay It Forward” campaign that focuses on the value of a mentorship. Watch the video below.

@IamBNyce

DJ Khaled Hints At New Project With Kendrick Lamar On The Cruz Show (Video)

Snapchat King and super producer DJ Khaled chopped it up with J Cruz about his Snapchat game, his favorite verses off of his hit tracks, plus hints at a new track with Kendrick Lamar.

L.A. Leakers Rewind: Mar. 13th – Mar. 19th

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UNTITLED UNMASTERED TOPS CHARTS

Kendrick Lamar just can’t miss and his recent project, ‘Untitled Unmastered’ ranking number 1 on the Billboard 200 Charts just further proves his dominance in the rap game.

Despite dropping the project the same week as Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz dropped their EP and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released theirs respectively. Kendrick was still able to outsell the duos, that’s a one man wrecking crew.

The 7-time Grammy winner has sold over 175,000 units putting him back on that top spot. Around this time last year K. Dot was holding the top crown for his sophomore album, ‘To Pimp A Butterfly.’

Salute, King Kendrick.


JADAKISS AND FABOLOUS DROPPING JOINT MIXTAPE

Jada and Fab are known to spit vicious lyrics with some mean punchlines and this week the two confirmed that they will be releasing a joint mixtape titled, ‘Freddy Vs. Jason.’

Both New York MCs have appeared on tracks like Young Jeezy’s “OJ” together in addition to others.

There is no release date set as of now but be on the lookout for the mixtape to drop soon as Fab hinted on his Instagram account.

DESIIGNER SHADES FUTURE

A few weeks ago footage of Future taking subliminal shots at Desiinger surfaced on the Internet. This past week Desiigner got some redemption at the Atlanta rapper while he performed at SXSW.

Desiigner made it clear to the crowd that he is not a knockoff or imitation of Future and then proceeded to drop his newest song, “Pluto.”

If you recall “Pluto” is also the name of Future’s first album.

The whole situation is weird especially considering the fact that both rappers sound almost alike.

Check out the videos and Desiigner’s new song, “Pluto.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pp7aGPq8uds

RIHANNA TO BE HONORED

Rihanna will be honored with the Rock Star Award at this year’s BET’s Black Girls Rock which will be premiering April 5.

The annual awards gala recognizes the accomplishments of black women in the music and television industry.

Others that will be honored along with Rih are R&B icon Gladys Knight, producer and writer Shonda Rhimes amongst others.

RIh shared her appreciation on her Twitter account:

You go, girl!

MICHELLE OBAMA DEBUTS SONG

The First Lady of the United States released a song as part of her #62MillionGirls campaign, which was created to raise funds to get young girls across the world educated.

The song, “This Is For My Girls” was unveiled Wednesday as part of Barack Obama’s keynote at SXSW.

Although Michelle doesn’t drop any vocals on the song, you will hear Missy Elliot, Janelle Monae, Zendaya, Kelly Clarkson and Lea Michelle all featured on the song.

“This Is For My Girls” is available for purchase on iTunes. All proceeds will go to the Peace Corps Let Girls Learn Fund. Listen to the snippet:

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @beeroxx90

Justin Credible #LeaksOfTheWeek w/ Kendrick Lamar, Bas, & Kanye West (Video)

For this weeks #LeaksOfTheWeek I had to go with The new joint from Kendrick Lamar’s new project, “Untitled #7, the new one from Bas “Methylone, The hot track over Kanye West’s Freestyle 4 beat by Tyler the Creator “What The F*#k Right Now”, and lastly 2 Chainz ft. Wayne “Bounce”

L.A. Leakers Indie Pick Of The Week : Rocky Banks

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Do you believe in second chances?

If this week’s Indie Pick of the Week, Rocky Banks did not, he wouldn’t be chasing his dreams today. The Houston rapper still remembers the fateful morning he woke up depressed in his home. That morning he took several drugs in hope of freeing himself from the depression and pain he suffered so badly from.

The mixture of drugs, coupled with a couple dab hits resulted in Banks losing all sense and feeling in his lungs, shutting them down as he hopelessly gasped for air.

“I remember waking up in the hospital and the doctor telling me, “On a scale from one to 10, 10 being completely healthy and one being dead, you were at a two,” he recounts. “It was right then and there I was like alright, God has favor over my life.”

Struggles with drug addiction began early in Banks’ adolescence. Throughout his teenage years, he dealt with a lot of conflict at home and began turning to the Houston street life as an alternative. That’s when things took a turn for the worst.

“I kept getting into fights, got kicked out of school and said fuck this shit I’m gonna just burn out,” he said. “I started getting into shit, started selling petty grams and shit just to get by.”

It was at the age of 17, that Rocky got more involved with drugs. He would take “anything that anybody offered him.” The drugs he consumed ranged from cocaine to Xanax bars and “everything in between.” However, his drug of choice was painkillers.

“I would steal Vicodin from my mom after she would go to the dentist and they would give her the shit after getting a tooth pulled or something,” he said. “I was really into the painkillers a lot, I would do them and just be just chilling.”

Nowadays music has become his new drug and escape. He’s turned dope lyrics, catchy hooks and symphonies into the painkillers he once craved. Music has became a major contributor for leaving drug addiction behind him, with the exception of marijuana, which he doesn’t consider a drug.

On his most recent project, ‘In Other News I Don’t Do Drugs Anymore,’ (I.O.N.I.D.D.A) he discusses his previous addiction and what his life was in full detail.

The ability to blatantly express his emotions on a track came from his poetry writing which he picked up in high school. Poetry helps him explicitly draw his thoughts and emotions out.

“Whatever the emotion is that day or that week rather, I’m going in making songs straight like that,” he exclaimed. “If I’m pissed off about something Ima unleash and spit fire on it, if it’s some type of shit I’m going thru Ima make those storytelling, serious records.”

On the song, “A lot” he pairs his futuristic style with that storytelling he described, while thumping on the hook in a Kendrick Lamar-esque manner. Check it out:

The comparison to Kendrick Lamar is often brought up to Banks and he doesn’t mind it at all, as he views the Compton MC as one of his major inspirations.

“I get told all the time I look like him or I sound like him,” he said. “I know one day Ima run into him, talk about it and just laugh about it.”

Rocky has always been a fan of West Coast rap, growing up listening to it and admits to getting his style from N.W.A. Aside from N.W.A. and K. Dot, his other inspirations are Anderson Paak, Andre 3000, Kanye West, 2-Pac and Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson isn’t only an inspiration musically for Banks, he his also a huge fan of MJ’s choreography skills.

“My family is really big on Michael, so I came up on him,” he proclaimed. “I started doing all the fucking choreography, so that’s when I knew I could entertain people and keep a crowd.”

He’s been preparing to showcase those choreography skills at SXSW in Austin, Texas next week and has been spending a lot of time in the studio working on his next EP, expected to drop this summer.

“Ima keep making this music for the youth, the kids that really have something to say but really don’t know how to say it,” he says. “I’m really tryna go global with it.”

Listen to the full I.O.N.I.D.D.D.A EP here:

Follow him on his socials – @TheRockyBanks.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @IamBNyce

L.A. Leakers Rewind: Feb 28th – Mar 5th

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This week has been major for fans of the hip hop culture with the releases of some highly anticipated projects we have been anxiously waiting for. Let’s get it started.

KENDRICK DROPS UNTITLED UNMASTERED

There’s been a lot of pressure on TDE CEO Top Dawg the past several weeks, over releasing Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Untitled Unmastered’ project. LeBron James was one of the many to put the pressure on.

The few days Top needed for a decision paid off for all K. Dot fans, with the project officially dropping at midnight. The ambiguous project contains eight tracks of recordings originally made in 2013 and 2014, which may be the demos that were left off his last album, To Pimp A Butterfly.

Listen to it here:

On the project Kendrick delivers his usual jazzy, melodious sound that vibrates the speakers with the bass lingering over his explosive lyrics.

Apparently LeBron likes what he hears.

These surprise projects really add excitement to the music. The project is available on iTunes, Spotify and TIDAL.

GKMC SHORT FILM RELEASED

In addition to the Untitled Unmastered project, Kendrick released the ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city’ short film that has been surfacing as well.

The short film shows the inspirations behind Kendrick’s freshman album, ‘good kid, m.A.A.d city,’ with actual footage and audio from his experiences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG6HYwYDloI

THE UNRULY MESS HAS BEEN MADE

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis released their sophomore album, This Unruly Mess I’ve Made more than three years after their first album.

Their first album scored them a few GRAMMY awards and went platinum so you can see why this project has been anticipated for years.

The duo released the first single off the album last year. The single, “Downtown,” features old school cats, Melle Mel, Kool Moe Dee and Grandmaster Caz in a boisterous song that stimulates any old school hip-hop head.

This Unruly Mess I’ve Made has a nice, wide blend of features that you don’t usually see. From KRS-One to DJ Premier to Chance the Rapper to YG, the features are so diverse that even actor Idris Elba got a feature.

It’s quite ironic to see the diversity of the features, after-all the album does speak on many social issues like diversity, race and speaking out for things you believe in.

You can purchase the entire 13-track album on iTunes or stream it on Spotify.

2UNCHI STARS IN ‘COLLEGROVE’

After months of hype over Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz putting out a joint album, the pair finally gave the fans what they’ve been waiting for since it was first announced in November.

The collaborative album Collegrove joins the names of both the rappers respective hometowns of College Park and Hollygrove.

On the 13-song project you will find “Rolls Royce Weather Everyday” and “Gotta Love,” which they debuted on ‘The Tonight Show.’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc-Z3KjpupY

Lil Wayne went on SportsCenter a few weeks ago and discussed the original title of “Rolls Royce Weather Everyday” and the project.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGlozMx4E2g

2 Chainz has five solo songs on the album including the Mike Will production “Mf’n Right.”

Enjoy the whole album here:

BIG TALK ALERT

DJ Khaled’s “major” announcement this week has made his price go all the way up. The self-proclaimed “King of the Anthems,” announced that he signed on to Roc Nation for a new management deal.

Khaled announced earlier in the week that Jay-Z will be managing him. What’s most interesting here is how he will manipulate his recent partnership with TIDAL’s competitor, Apple Music, for the We The Best radio show that airs every Friday on Beats1 Radio.

Check out the video where Jay welcomes Khaled to the ROC and gives him the last original Roc-A-Fella chain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiJyMuUYKko

“It’s the ROC!”

LEO FINALLY GETS AN OSCAR

Leonardo DiCaprio is only one of the biggest actors of our generation. Before last Sunday’s Oscars, he was also one of the only biggest actors without an Oscar award.

That all changed for Leo as he finally won the award of Best Actor for his role on The Revenant.

It was nice to see Leo get what he’s been deprived of for years! I stick to my original tweet from Sunday:

In all seriousness take a look at Leo’s acceptance speech and the overall message.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnKs_dWcVuM

It’s easy to cheer for guys like that. They need to give him an award for the selfless speech. Cheers, Leo.

WRITTEN BY: BRYAN MELARA – @beeroxx90

Kanye West ft. Ty Dolla $ign & Kendrick Lamar – Real Friends/No More Parties in LA (Audio)

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Oh shit, G.O.O.D. Fridays is BACK!!!!!!!!!!! New music from Ye, Dot & $$$$. And it’s some HEAT, “Real Friends” produced Frank Dukes, Boi1da, Havo & Ye. “No More Parties in LA” produced by Madlib and Ye.

Real Friends / No More Parties in LA featuring Ty Dolla Sign / Kendrick Lamar by Kanyewestisyeezus on Mixcloud

Kendrick Lamar Covers XXL Magazine (News)

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K Dot graced the cover of XXL’s 2015 winter issue! Inside the mag he opens up about on the success and controversy of To Pimp A Butterfly, and more. You can cop the issue on December 22.

I know I’m chosen. I know I’m a favorite. I know in my heart there’s a whole other energy and leadership side of me that I have probably run from my whole life. How much power do I want? How much can I handle? That’s the question I keep asking myself. ’Cause when you are a voice for the youth, nothing can stop you. The youth is what changes things. Can I lead that? Should I? I get confused because people are championing me to be that vocal point and it’s a challenge for me to be that because I have some fear of that type of power. This goes back to me being who I naturally am or who think that I am now, that 28-year-old kid that’s kind’ve a recluse. But 28 is old enough for me to figure out who I am and have that power at the same time, that’s the battle and it’s a trip.