While the new Kendrick Lamar album, To Pimp a Butterfly, was scheduled for a March 23 release, the Compton-born rapper decided to release it a week ahead of schedule.
The new album, which is already on iTunes, was produced by Aftermath/Interscope (Top Dawg Entertainment) and was marked with a parental advisory due to explicit content. TDE signed a joint-venture deal with Aftermath and Interscope back in 2012, securing a major-label recording contract for the rapper known as K-Dot.
Lamar confirmed the album’s release to his more than 4.6 million Twitter followers at 10:03 p.m. on March 15 in a tweet which received more than 20,000 favorites and more than 27,000 retweets in less than 24 hours.
https://twitter.com/kendricklamar/status/577334440835190785
The hip-hop rapper and songwriter, who was born Kendrick Lamar Duckworth on June 17, 1987 in Compton, California, has associated acts with Dr. Dre, The Game, Jay Rock, J. Cole, Black Hippy and others.
Lamar received a total of seven Grammy Nominations at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. His nominations included Best New Artist, Album of the Year, and the Best Rap Song. In 2015, he won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance.
He’s worked with artists which include Lil Wayne, Warren G, Busta Rhymes, Talib Kweli, Drake, Young Jeezy, and others.
The 27-year-old has been active in the hip hop music scene since 2003. As a teenager, he attended Centennial High School in Compton where he was a straight A student.
Radio reports that the initially debut version of the new album was a squeaky clean variant and that the explicit edition was not immediately available, however, they’ve since published an update to their report in which they indicated that the new album’s explicit version was released just after midnight ET on March 16.
The album can be downloaded in its entirety on iTunes for $14.99 or a la carte for $1.29 per song. It’s also available on Spotify.
Have you had a chance to listen to Lamar’s second album, To Pimp a Butterfly?
