After blowing the brakes clean off the hype train with surprise singles and vivid visuals, Kendrick Lamar's DAMN. has finally arrived, and you can hear the entire thing right here.
Arriving through Aftermath/Interscope/Top Dawg, DAMN. features 14 new tracks from the hip-hop icon that include collaborations with Rihanna ("Loyalty") and U2 ("XXX"). Other names tied to the project include TDE mainstays DJ Dahi and Sounwave, Atlanta beatsmith Mike WiLL Made-It, BADBADNOTGOOD, the Alchemist, Cardo, 9th Wonder and James Blake.
Other artists such as Kaytranada and the Internet's Steve Lacy have revealed their involvement with DAMN. through social media, with Lacy also revealing an appearance from prior Lamar collaborator Anna Wise.
DAMN. marks the rapper's first full-length release since last year's unexpected untitled unmastered. collection. That, of course, followed Lamar's acclaimed 2015 LP, To Pimp a Butterfly.
Back in March, Lamar spoke about the "very urgent" new effort in conversation with T Magazine, alluding to taking inspiration from issues that face both his own community in Compton and those around the globe.
"I think now, how wayward things have gone within the past few months, my focus is ultimately going back to my community and the other communities around the world where they're doing the groundwork," he told the publication.
He continued: "To Pimp a Butterfly was addressing the problem. I'm in a space now where I'm not addressing the problem anymore. We're in a time where we exclude one major component out of this whole thing called life: God. Nobody speaks on it because it's almost in conflict with what's going on in the world when you talk about politics and government and the system."
A few weeks later, the interview was followed by a cryptic Instagram post, which turned out to tease the arrival of surprise drop "The Heart Part 4." It was within the song that Kendrick hit out at rappers the world over, saying, "y'all got 'til April the 7th to get y'all shit together." He then delivered new single "Humble," which was accompanied by a video. You can watch the visual madness here.
Take in the entirety of DAMN. in the player below, and pre-order it on CD here.
Arriving through Aftermath/Interscope/Top Dawg, DAMN. features 14 new tracks from the hip-hop icon that include collaborations with Rihanna ("Loyalty") and U2 ("XXX"). Other names tied to the project include TDE mainstays DJ Dahi and Sounwave, Atlanta beatsmith Mike WiLL Made-It, BADBADNOTGOOD, the Alchemist, Cardo, 9th Wonder and James Blake.
Other artists such as Kaytranada and the Internet's Steve Lacy have revealed their involvement with DAMN. through social media, with Lacy also revealing an appearance from prior Lamar collaborator Anna Wise.
DAMN. marks the rapper's first full-length release since last year's unexpected untitled unmastered. collection. That, of course, followed Lamar's acclaimed 2015 LP, To Pimp a Butterfly.
Back in March, Lamar spoke about the "very urgent" new effort in conversation with T Magazine, alluding to taking inspiration from issues that face both his own community in Compton and those around the globe.
"I think now, how wayward things have gone within the past few months, my focus is ultimately going back to my community and the other communities around the world where they're doing the groundwork," he told the publication.
He continued: "To Pimp a Butterfly was addressing the problem. I'm in a space now where I'm not addressing the problem anymore. We're in a time where we exclude one major component out of this whole thing called life: God. Nobody speaks on it because it's almost in conflict with what's going on in the world when you talk about politics and government and the system."
A few weeks later, the interview was followed by a cryptic Instagram post, which turned out to tease the arrival of surprise drop "The Heart Part 4." It was within the song that Kendrick hit out at rappers the world over, saying, "y'all got 'til April the 7th to get y'all shit together." He then delivered new single "Humble," which was accompanied by a video. You can watch the visual madness here.
Take in the entirety of DAMN. in the player below, and pre-order it on CD here.