Cyrus Langhorne
West Coast rapper Kendrick Lamar's new "i" cover art has the Internet buzzing following its release this week and sparked a few different theories about a message being embedded.
According to some media outlets, K. Dot could be suggesting union amongst gang rivals.
Of course, all we can do is speculate, but maybe the Compton native is trying to unite otherwise-splintered factions of Los Angeles with his new music. Could it be an anti-violence anthem? Maybe it’s a love song. Probably not, but who knows. (MTV)
The new track is expected to premiere on this date…
The new record is expected to premiere in the next few days.
Today, however, comes a sparkle of hope. Lamar tweeted cover art for what appears to be a new single called “I,” which Complex is reporting is produced by Los Angeles musician Rahki and is set for release next Tuesday. The strong image shows a Crip and a Blood making “heart” signs with their hands. (SPIN)
Lamar jumped onto social media to unleash the artwork Wednesday (September 17).
So it’s not titled “I (Love Myself)” as some websites claimed yesterday. Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar announced on Wednesday afternoon (September 17) that the true title of his new single is just “i” – without the (Love Myself) tag. He also revealed to his millions of fans on social media the cover for “i” (see above). The simple photo shows two African-American men, one dress in blue and the other in red, making the heart figure with his hands. The song title and Kendrick’s name are written in white in the middle. (Direct Lyrics)
Careful with his words, K. Dot recently said fans could expect some connections to his highly-acclaimed good kid, m.A.A.d city 2012 studio release follow-up.
“There was a lot left out of good kid—it could have been a 30-track album. There are a few new [songs] that can tie in with what I was talking about.” (Rolling Stone)
Kendrick still gold rapper, never be multiple plat rapper
Why wouldn’t he (despite various singles pushing gold)? Jay-Z first album, “Reasonable Doubt”, took TEN YEARS, to go platinum. Yet, was considered a classic album. Kendrick’s debut album went platinum 4-5mos later after it’s release. Plus, what does him “not” being a multi-platinum artist (not rapper, smh) mean, initially?
Reasonable doubt didnt get the push kenny did. jay made a name for himself. dr dre made a name for kenny
Correction, if you didn’t listen to Kendrick before GKMC, then you honestly can’t make that accusation. The sole purpose Kendrick got signed to Aftermath for the momentum he was creating from 2010 to 2011, his buzz continually grew and with him being signed took it further. Dre didn’t make a name for Kendrick, Kendrick made a name for himself.
if it wasn’t for Dre, Kenny doesn’t get radio play. Dre is a machine. Artist that sign to Dre, whether they sell or don’t make noise for signing to dre. Without Dre, Nobody on the east knows who kenny is. Jay on the other hand pushed his way through the door with no help by an established artist. His singles is what got him heard around the country. I’m not saying Kenny didn’t make good songs. I’m saying he had a machine already in place with marketing dollars jay didn’t have. Kenny buzz was only in Cali. 50 Cent couldn’t sell without the backing of Dre and Em. Dre is a machine and has the money to invest that others don’t
I think it’s funny whn ppl just don’t give credit when credit is due. Kendrck didn’t have even ONE record with Dre producing, so what does that says? What he did on GKMC (meaning Kendrick) is what he’s been doing before getting signed, so how was it for Dre to make a name for Kendrick? Granted, signing with Dre gave him MORE opportunities to surface towards the forefront. But that goes without saying, if Pac never signed with Suge would he have been huge? Yes, regardless of the push, he would’ve been big. Same with Kendrick. He was going to just sign with Interscope with his counterparts on TDE. But, the opportunity was something you wouldn’t want to pass up, for the machine like you said that would be behind him.
Again, without Dre, Kenny gets no radio play. Kenny would still be mixtape kenny without Dre and his budget. Dre gets his artist on the radio. If somebody wants something from Dre, he would make a deal and get his artist some light. Kenny then put out good music to establish himself. before that, Kenny would not had gotten radio play. Many artist are like Kenny before Dre. making good music for nobody to hear. Nobody knew who Joel Ortiz was, including NY, until he signed with Dre. I’m not taking anything away from Kenny. What I’m saying is you can’t compare what Kenny did his first studio album to what Jay did in his first studio album or anybody else for that matter that didn’t get hype from signing to Dre or Em. When you sign to dre, your fanbase increases without putting any music out. Nobody would had listen to Em if it wasn’t Dre. Em would had been that white boy from Dirty Dozen trying to be black without Dre’s endorsement. That is why Dre’s rep was used a lot to push Em.
Before signing with Dre, you’ve obviously didn’t see the doors open up for Kendrick. He was on MULTIPLE records with already established artists, on for example, Drake. That was BEFORE he was signed. Kendrick didn’t need Dre, and to be honest doesn’t for the name HE created for himself. Signing with Dre was just hte icing on the cake. You speak on Joel Ortiz as if he wasn’t getting ANY recognition before Dre. You keep downplaying these artists as if they weren’t making names for themselves before having deals. How do you think these ppl were being heard? That’s like saying Jeezy NEEDED P. Diddy to get put on whn HE was making his OWN name for himself, before hand.
Nobody knew Joel Ortiz. not one single before or after signing to Dre. NY didn’t know who Joel was. He had no buzz. All that was known was he signed to Aftermath, then he was dropped from Aftermath. As far as Kenny, his buzz was Cali. Nobody knew Kenny until that Dre deal. He then took it to the next level. I used to listen to underground radio. Em was Dirty Dozen. I used to let people hear him and nobody gave him credit. “he is wack” Then they started promoted him with Dre heavy and that got him radio spins and now he is loved.
LOL yeah, the magazines that did interviews along with the radio stations that did interviews with him didn’t know him before Dre either, gotcha. Like I said, granted Dre’s name is a great bargaining chip to have but, you can’t stop what’s already in motion. When he released, Section.80 (which was 2011, and he was doing verses for the likes of already established artists) and even before THEN ppl were talking about Kendrick. Dre just put him in a better position to be heard, that’s all.
he could had been doing song with other artist, so what. That didn’t get him on the radio. Dre got him on the radio. Again, he still did his thing. lots of artist sign to Dre and don’t make it. But their name grew for signing to Dre. The amount of listeners expanded. That is the motion that got Kenny his name. without it, the motion still would had been underground only. white girls wouldn’t be signing his songs.
Bruh, we’ve been going back and forth for abt 30mins which you’ve obviously don’t see my point of view. Which I see yours but to a degree. Kendrick built his own name with Dre to back him up with mainstream media. But, without Dre he was still getting heard doing shows across the world, WITHOUT Dre. Granted he MAY have not had a record playing WORLD WIDE but Cali embraced what the Good Kid was doing. He had songs playing on the radio frm that REGION. But, in this day and age you don’t need radio play to be heard. For example, Tech N9ne. #Done
From that region exactly. lots of non-selling artist get play from their local area. Kenny did not get radio play outside of Cali until Dre. Even Tech N9ne doesn’t get radio play. If he did, he would be much bigger. I bet he get radio in certain markets but not through out the country. He doesn’t get nowhere near the radio play Kenny has. That is because of Dre. The only reason I heard of Tech is because of Blog sites. Not radio. That is my point when you try to compare Kenny and Jay first albums. Jay didn’t get radio play outside of NY when he came out. It took yrs of making radio friendly singles before he established his name. Kenny had a Cali buzz and Dre got him heard around the country. Same with Em. Go back to the promotion of Kenny first album to the promotion of Jay first album. who you think got more money invested in the album.
And furthermore, GKMC was ultimately done pretty much before signing with Dre.
that was a west thing. nobody in the east and south knew them like that. That is my point.
While I’m not on the “it’s a classic” shit, Dre barely produced shit on that album. So I fail to understand how him signing to a label that alot of people have signed to (and many have gotten dropped from btw before releasing anything) “made” his career.
Nigga you stupid his first album certified platinum
Can’t wait for the album! I’m hoping he pushes out another classic album. To this DAY, people still play the album, 2yrs later. Great conceptual record. More artists/rappers need to take pride into putting together a cohesive, and diverse project. It would show the growth of our culture and genre.