Last night, TDE was nowhere to be found at the 2015 Grammy Awards. Let's face it: it fits inline with the lack of public appearances and performances from Kendrick Lamar and the rest of the crew over the past few months.
But Lamar did take home two awards including Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and today, he drops a new track, "The Blacker The Berry." With the gritty, bass-pounding production supplied by Boi-1da, The Koz, and Terrace Martin, this record is exactly what Kendrick fans have been waiting for, as he returns to his rapping ways with his usual fierce flow and toughness that has levitated him to one of the best MCs in hip-hop right now. The title of the song seems to be derived from Wallace Thurman's 1929 novel of the same name, which was considered groundbreaking for digging into racial discrimination inside the black community, particularly in regards to women. The song's single art is by Italian photographer Giordano Cipriani of a mother and her twins from the tribe of the Surma, in the Valley of the Omo of Ethiopia.
Kendrick certainly doesn't pull any punches on the song, as he brings forth an intense lyricism and flow with lines like, "You hate me don't you, I know you hate me just as much as you hate yourself, jealous of my wisdom and cards I dealt, watching me as I pull up, fill up my tank to peel out, muscle cars to pull up, show you what these big wills about." Additionally, the song features background vocals from the reggae artist Assassin, who was previously featured on Kanye West's Yeezus album.
The record was actually released by Taraji P. Henson (or Cookie from Empire) on Twitter, which she said is her favorite song from Kendrick's upcoming album. Not much is known about the upcoming project, but it is thought to be coming sooner than later. Stream the song above.
