Track

KendrickLamarCOMING STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, THE GOOD KID IS BACK

NOEL GALLAGHER’S

HIGH FLYING BIRDS

BIG SEAN

+THE

BEST NEW

SONGS

BY TRACK

March Issue

After 3 years in the abyss, Kendrick Lamar has re-turned and the pressure is on. Has the Compton rapper delivered with To Pimp a Butterfly?

catchy hooks and introspective verses focusing on social and political issues in the United States.

Yet it wasn’t until the Itunes-only release of his first Album Section.80 that he started to receive praise from many in the industry including rapper and producer Dr Dre. His album followed the concept of 3 different lives that had come together at a meeting to discuss their struggles, leading to an upbeat, trend-setting closing track in ‘Hiipower.’

Lamar promptly signed for Aftermath Records after agreeing a deal with Dr Dre and their part-nership led to the birth of Good Kid Maad City. Kendrick had the image of creating an album following a teenage version of himself for several years before finally creating and releasing his album worldwide in 2012.

It’s story was one of bad choices,It’s story was one of bad choices, ultimatums, heartbreak and rebirth via the power of faith. The use of skits inbetween tracks allowed the album to flow effortlessly without the listener losing touch and placed them within the heart of his life via in-credibly detailed lyrics and brilliant use of hooks

Conscious rappers appeal to the mind of the listener. They take their time on a track to

expose faults in the system and offer their own experiences. An album can consist of a concept

that they are keen to express. These messages however are hard to get across if they cannot breach the demeaning nature of Mainstream

Music. A plethora artists have sold out to their music labels when offered a big deal and simply

cannot risk voicing an honest opinion on anything relevant. Instead the focus lies on their wealth, fame and general love for club life rather than

what they grew up with.

Kendrick Lamar is one of several new school rappers that are trying to break this cycle. Born

in Compton, California, Lamar experienced the struggles of poverty and growing up in a ghetto

that drove many to start a criminal lifestyle. Instead, Lamar focused on rap music and after releasing several mixtapes under the name of K Dot, he joined up with local label Top Dawg

Entertainment in 2009.

He released the Kendrick Lamar EP and the O.verly Dedicated mixtape in the space of 8

months which eased listeners into his view of life

and choruses. The final track connects with the first in a nature where you can listen to the al-bum again and with brilliant features including Drake and Jay Rock, you’d be mad not too.

Despite selling millions of copies and achieving critical acclaim, Lamar missed out on a Grammy Award for Best Album to Macklemore and it seems that this has drove him on to better himself on To Pimp a Butterfly.

In his 3 Year period, of absence, social unrest has arose across America due to the deaths of several unarmed Black men and teenagers at the hands of the police. Protests have been ongoing outlining the issues that the Afri-can-American community are continuing to face facing and it’s the whole concept of being a black man living in the 21st century that has a clearly inspired Lamar to focus deeper in his songwriting on To Pimp a Butterfly.

September’s release of his first single ‘i’ was greeted by major radio play around the world due to it’s positive message yet it left his fan-base divided and the hip-hop community even more so. There were clear doubts creeping into

TrackBY TRACK

2

BY TRACK

the minds of fans that didn’t want to see another promising rapper sell out for a life of wealth.

Ironically, after losing out at the 2013’ Grammy’s, ‘i’ won Kendrick 2 awards for best rap song and best rap performance.

The Blacker the Berry followed days later and caused major excitement at the prospect of a new album being just around the corner. It was. After an error by his distributing company Interscope, To Pimp A Butterfly was released on March 16 via digital download.

Demand was so high that the Ameri-can version of Itunes crashed and 9.6 million people listened to it on Spotify on it’s first day, a streaming record. But does Kendrick’s third album really deliver and reach the heights of Good Kid Maad City?

On first impressions the two are quite simply incomparable, To Pimp a Butterfly is jazzy and contains influ-ences from both the funk and blues genres, neither of which feature on Maad City. Album opener ‘Wesley’s Theory’ starts with a Boris Gardiner sample before switching to an intense beat selection by producer Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar rapping ferociously. The track centres around actor Wesley Snipes and his troubles with the law. George Clinton’s vocals at the end of the track are haunt-ing and only boost what is indeed a brilliant start to the album.

A hilarious but serious interlude then ensues on ‘For Free?’ as he discusses the perils that music can have on life via the idea of being controlled by re-cord labels. The lyrics being screamed by Lamar indicate that he doesn’t want to another of the industry’s puppets.

‘King Kunta’ brings funk music right back into the mainstream after dec-ades in the wilderness and this track is undeniably catchy and fun but still delivers a message. Kendrick knows he’s the holder of the rap crown and is not giving up any time soon.

‘Institutionalized’ then brings fans back to the Section.80 Kendrick as he plays on the song title to speak on the issue that many in the world have their lives ruled and dominated by the attraction of institutions. Snoop Dogg’s simple fairytale-style verse is just perfectly embedded within this track and so is Anna Wise’s vocals on ‘These Walls.’ This track links to Sing About Me, a 7 minute thriller on Good Kid Maad City about the death of Kendrick’s friend. Whereas the first two verses are verging on uncomfortable listening about his pals killer’s girlfriend’s sudden found attraction with Lamar, the last verse is compelling as it gives an insight from the killer’s point of view.

The thought process to this track is startling and the album only continues to improve on ‘U’.

Kendrick has explained depression in the media spotlight before yet never has it been exposed to the levels seen on this song.

He describes his love for himself as ‘complicated’ and blames himself for his not being there when his sister suddenly fell pregnant before rapping emotionally through his subconscious about his thoughts of suicide.

This really is a stand out song as it it is both shocking and moving and reinforces Kendrick’s reliance on God to help him through his life, a concept focused especially on ‘Alright’ and ‘For Sale?’

For Sale focuses on Kendrick resisting the devil that is the music industry through the name of ‘Lucy’, short for Lucifer and how many of his peers have suffered it’s seductive fate of signing a contract.The change in tone to his voice can seem tedious however and this is easily one of the weakest tracks on the Album. Any dissapointment is quashed however as’Momma’

brings Kendrick back to his routes, both lyrically and sonicially. It’s soul-inspired backing track compliments Lamar’s feelings of returning to the place he loves, Compton and it’s final verse will reso-nate with many a young fan in the city.

It’s tracks like this and Insti-tionalized that express a West Coast feel that only Kendrick can carry out to it’s maximum effect and throws back to the likes of Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre in their prime.

Fans of the full-on, aggressive side of Lamar will rejoice at ‘Hood Politics’ and ‘How Much A Dollar Cost’ as they are Hip-Hop at it’s purest. How Much A Dollar Cost in particular sees Lamar reminisce on his visit to South Africa and a meeting with a homeless man which will leave the listener startled when they hear the very last line.

‘Compexion’ and ‘The Blacker The Berry’ couldn’t be more different both in song meaning and title. ‘Complex-ion’ encourages the idea of equality and sees female rapper Rhapsody more than take advantage of her time to shine. The Blacker The Berry is all about hypocrisy in the black community and asks questions that many rappers

wouldn’t dare to even approach. The only similarity between these two songs is that they are quite simply incredible.

‘You Ain’t Gotta Lie’ and ‘i’ are catchy and thought provoking as they promote self-confidence and love, aspects that are rarely expressed in Hip/Hop too.

The album all adds up to the last song ‘Mortal Man’ which sees Lamar ask his fans to stay by his side no matter what before a spellbinding, jaw-dropping inter-view with the late Tupac.

The eerie 4 minute chat links to recent events in Ferguson and New York involving Police Brutality but also to events in the 1990’s and will guarantee to leave you speechless.

One of the most remarkable things about this album is the spoken word poem that begins on King Kunta and builds up line by line, track by track until it concludes on Mortal Man.

The poem’s meaning is stunning and clearly spells out to to you that Kendrick is not only the world’s best rapper but also one of his era’s finest artists too.

Kendrick’s encorporation of jazz, funk and Hip/Hop into one project is as close to perfection as you can get. ‘To Pimp A Butterfly is a masterpiece and is the best Rap album of the decade so far.

10BY TRACK

Track

TrackBY TRACK’S

Favourite Songs: -Momma -Hood Politics -U- The Blacker the Berry

3

3

Is Noel Gallagher’s new album ‘Chasing Yesterday’A hit or a miss?

The big question that was on everyone’s mind when Noel left Oasis in 2008 was ‘can he do it on his own?’ After creating his own band Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds a year later, his first solo project was a huge success. Singles such as ‘If I Had a Gun’ and the al-bum title ‘AKA, What a Life’ where catchy, infused by indie vibes and showed just what brother Liam was missing with his new group Beady Eye. But with this brilliant entrance to a world where finally he is not just the songwriter but a frontman too, could he repeat such success on Chasing Yesterday? The release of lead singles ‘The Ballad of the Mighty I’ and ‘Heat of the Moment’ showed versatility and were both solid tracks in their own right without being totally mind blowing. The opening track on

Chasing Yesterday ‘Riverman’ is very similar to the tracks seen on ‘AKA, What a Life’ yet it’s dis-tinctively clear throughout this album that there is more oomph. Guitar solos are seen on not only ‘Riverman’ but also feature on the brilliant throwback track ‘Lock All the Doors’ which was in production before Oasis even existed. ‘The Dying of the light’ is seen as an instant standout track as Noel’s vocals are full of passion as he blurts out yet another metaphor filled ballad. However, a clear criticism you can make comes in the shape of tracks such as ‘The Right Stuff’ and ‘Mexican’ which are bland and basically played out for too long. needed due to the power and Noel’s vocals are never in question on this album and he shows different use of both his tone and range on ‘While the song

While the song remains the same’ in particular. What is puzzling is why he decides to use backing vocalists on several tracks when they are clearly not needed due to the distinctiveness of his own.

Chasing Yesterday’ is not perfect and it could be argued that several tracks could have been left out and you simply wouldn’t notice. What is clear though is that Noel still has the ability to produce hidden gems that once listened too several times reveal themselves as being quite brilliant.

Gallagher’s biggest achievement with this album is that he can still show that he’s able to make good music after 20 years that people still want to hear and Oasis or not, he will still get plenty of fans turn up when he headlines T in the Park this summer.

First Listens

Big Sean

The Detroit Rapper is back with Dark Para-dise and throughout this project it’s clear that he desperately wants to reach Super-star status. Unfortu-nately, once you get past singles such as I.D.F.W.U and Blessed you’re left with filler. A lot of filler. His lyr-ics are still not up to scratch either and the tone of voice as well flow used can be very hit or miss.

The ProdigyA 6 year absence after the release of Invaders Must Die hasn’t stopped The Prodigy from raving their way through ‘Wild Frontier.’ The album is packed full of heavy basslines and catchy vocals, a recipe that their fans will continue to love on this record. The Prodigy will headline T in the Park this summer.

Top 3 Singles You Need To Hear7

3

6

3 2 1Kanye West-All Day

Kanye West stunned the Brits with his brilliant performance of All Day. The studio version of the track is even better, even without the flamethrowers.

Florence and the Machine- What Kind Of ManFlorence has gone all Rock n’ Roll on this new bulldozer of a record. If this is a sign of what her new album is like, we’re in for a treat.

Slaves- Feed The Mantaray

The UK’s hottest new Punk duo are back with a Mantaray in tow. This is a catchy track that proves first single ‘The Hunter’ was no flash in the pan.

TrackBY TRACK

3

4