King Kendrick

My final blog post is about an artist I’ve probably seen more than any other. His name is Kendrick Lamar, and he is seen as most as the current king of hip hop. He is.

Kendrick has been killing it since he was first introduced into the rap scene. His debut mixtape, “Section.80,” got him a lot of attention as an up-and-coming rapper to watch. However, when he dropped “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” only one year later, Kendrick solidified himself as one of the top dawgs of the rap industry (pun intended).

He is so lyrically talented and aware. Everything he raps about has meaning and every flow is just so smooth, unlike a lot of current rap that is circulating in hip-hop today. To see him do what he does best live is a blessing and I’m lucky enough to say that I’ve seen him three different times.

Every time Kendrick raps, there’s not big firework show in the set or a bunch of featured artists in his music. He stands alone in his talent and he shines brighter than anyone else at what he does. If Paul McCartney is a legend, Kendrick Lamar is the G.O.A.T.

Most recently, I saw him during my birthday week back in the early summer. He was touring with his label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) as the headliner of a mini-music festival tour featuring all of TDE’s top artists. He was amazing. Being that it was a TDE tour, he actually did bring some of his rap friends on stage, but it felt like you were at a family cook out seeing your cousins cook out because the talented artists of that entertainment group, are as tight as family. It was a little strange because the venue was seated, which is way out of left field for a rap show, but we had amazing seats and could see Kendrick and all the other artists perfectly from our row. It’s insane to think that in 2011, Kendrick Lamar walked the streets of Austin, Texas during the SXSW music fesitval trying to get people to come to his show. And now, only 7 years later, he the most respected voice in young hip-hop today. I only hope that he continues to come back to Texas so that I can see him again and again in the future.