Kendrick Lamar surprises fans with a new album
Surprise! There's a new Kendrick Lamar album out.
Fans who were wondering when Lamar would release more music got quite a pleasant surprise Thursday night, when the Grammy-winning artist unveiled "Untitled Unmastered," featuring eight new tracks with no fanfare or build-up.
The tracks -- all untitled but labeled with the date on which they were recorded -- come from the recording sessions for his Grammy-nominated "To Pimp a Butterfly" and feature archly political lyrics and experimental breakdowns, and at least one track supposedly produced by the 5-year-old son of Alicia Keys and Swizz Beatz.
As for why the album was released this week, fans may be able to thank basketball star LeBron James for that, as he tweeted at Lamar's label boss, Anthony Tiffith, to get the new music out following Lamar's showstopping performance at the Grammys last month.
Earlier this week, Tiffith teased, "I've decided to drop a project one day this week. I won't say what day or who." When the album was unveiled, he followed up by posting, "You can thank [James] for this."