File download is hosted on Megaupload
Last week, Kendrick Lamar returned with “The Heart Pt 4”. More of a proclamation than a radio single, the Compton MC used the biting track to fire off a warning shot to the rest of hip-hop: King Kendrick had returned. Even better, he teased the impending release of something even grander, rapping, “Y’all got till April the 7th to get y’all shit together.” Now, seven days later, he’s revealed a second track, along with a cinematic video to boot.
Entitled “HUMBLE.”, it’s got all the ingredients of a proper lead single: a Mike WiLL Made It-produced beat built on piano and 808 bass, a chorus you can spit along to (“Be humble/ Sit down”), and shoutouts to grey poupon and the former president (“I blew cool from AC, ayy, Obama just paged me, ayy”).
Directed by Dave Meyers, Kendrick, and TDE president Dave Free, the accompanying video is rich in cinematic imagery. In one scene we find Kendrick draped in religious garb and rapping inside a temple; in another he recreates the Last Summer. We also see him standing in a crowd of bald black men, make a sandwich in the backseat of a car, and shoot golf balls off the hood of car. In another memorable scene, his hair catches on fire. It’s all really spectacular. Watch below.
Kendrick’s last studio album came in 2015’s To Pimp A Butterfly, which he followed up last year with the outtakes compilation Untitled Unmastered. Recently, he’s teased the release of a “very urgent” new album that’s about “going back to my community.” Mark your calendars for April 7th; it’s shaping up to be quite the momentous occasion.