Kendrick Lamar
Kendrick in Dublin last week (photo via TDE Instagram)

Kendrick Lamar on new Nipsey Hussle & Cozz songs, headlining Reading & Leeds

2018 has already been a busy year for Kendrick Lamar, and today it got a whole lot busier. He’s on two new songs that just came out. One is Cozz‘s “Hustla’s Story,” which is on Cozz’s new album Effected which just dropped today via J Cole’s Dreamville label (and features Curren$y and J Cole). The other is on Nipsey Hu$$le‘s “Dedication,” which will appear on Nipsey’s long-awaited proper debut album, Victory Lap, which drops this Friday (2/16) via Atlantic/All Money In. He lends an atmospheric hook and a short verse to the Cozz song, but he goes all in on Nipsey’s song, offering up the same kind of tongue-twisting wisdom that he does on his own albums. Nipsey is in fine form on this one too. He’s been making worthy music for a while, and he reached a much bigger audience after appearing on YG’s “Fuck Donald Trump.” If you dug that song and haven’t checked out Nipsey’s own music yet, it’s worth changing that now. Listen to “Dedication” and all of Effected below.

Also today, a previously-unreleased demo by Kendrick, Kanye West and Madlib surfaced. It’s rumored to be from 2016 (maybe it’s from the same session that those same three artists recorded “No More Parties in LA” for The Life of Pablo). You can hear that below too.

Kendrick was also just announced as a headliner for Reading & Leeds 2018. He headlines the Saturday of Reading and the Sunday of Leeds, and other acts include Brockhampton, Playboi Carti, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Skepta, J Hus, Diplo, and more. You can see the lineup as it currently stands (more TBA) below.

Sooner than that, Kendrick will play an NBA All-Star Week show in LA. He’s playing the NBA on TNT American Express Road Show stage at L.A. LIVE’s Microsoft Square on Friday (2/16), following TNT’s postgame coverage of the 2018 Mtn Dew Kickstart Rising Stars (held next door at STAPLES Center). Other performers in this series include Lil Uzi Vert on Thursday (2/15) and The Killers on Saturday (2/16).

In related news, the score for Marvel’s new Black Panther movie, created by Ludwig Göransson, is coming out this Friday (2/16). That’s in addition to Kendrick’s great Black Panther companion piece album, Black Panther: The Album, which Ludwig co-produced a song on (“Opps” featuring Vince Staples).

In other Black Panther: The Album-related news, contributor Mozzy recently announced that his Spiritual Conversations EP is coming March 2 via EMPIRE, with the new albun Gangland Landlord to follow. Rap group SOB x RBE are also following their Black Panther: The Album song with their new album Gangin on February 23 via EMPIRE.

Yesterday, it was reported that Kendrick Lamar was banning cellphones at his shows but the story was soon updated to say that he is only banning photographers. Recently, Kendrick put on a powerful performance at the Grammys and won every rap category (but lost the major categories to Bruno Mars).

Later this year, Kendrick and the rest of the full Top Dawg Entertainment roster will go on tour, including NYC-area shows on 5/29 at MSG and 5/30 at Jones Beach (tickets).

https://youtu.be/jxQW_w-PtVc