Listen: Kendrick Lamar – “The Blacker The Berry”
Last night, Kendrick Lamar won two Grammy awards for his 2014 single, “i” (Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance, for those keeping track). Before he released that song, he made a stellar guest appearance on Flying Lotus’ “Never Catch Me,” and then after that, performed an awesome untitled song on one of the last episodes of The Colbert Report (which probably won’t appear on his next album). And he’s not ready to take a break just yet.
Today, the ever-productive Lamar has just revealed yet another new song, titled “The Blacker the Berry.” The song — which may or may not appear on Lamar’s next album — was produced by Boi 1da with additional production from Terrence Martin. It’s pretty fiery and intense, and with its socio-political message makes a powerful complement to D’Angelo’s (more laid back) Black Messiah. Kendrick’s getting a lot off his chest here, and does a magnificent job of doing so. Have a listen to the Kendrick Lamar “The Blacker the Berry” stream below.
Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d. city was our No. 1 Album of the Decade so far.
Jeff Terich is the founder and editor of Treble. He's been writing about music for 20 years and has been published at American Songwriter, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb, Spin, Stereogum, uDiscoverMusic, VinylMePlease and some others that he's forgetting right now. He's still not tired of it.