Skip to main content

Kendrick Lamar proves even his B-sides are hits with impressive surprise album

kendrick lamar surprise releases new album grammys 2016
CBS
Critically beloved rapper Kendrick Lamar got sneaky last night, dropping a surprise new album for free on Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal.

Called Untitled Unmastered, the record is a collection of 8 songs which Lamar himself calls a “project,” with material from sessions in 2013 and 2014. Each of the eight songs is labeled as “Untitled” with numbers 1-8, alongside recording dates for each song.

Recommended Videos

The head of Lamar’s label, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, posted a photo on Instagram earlier this week which indicated that Lamar would release new material this year, but there was no way for fans to expect it this soon. Tiffith revealed in another Instagram post that fans should expect new material from the label this week, but most of us expected it to be a release from one of the labels other artists. “Ive decided 2 drop a project 1 day this week,” he wrote in the post, “I won’t say wut day or who. It cud be 2nite So don’t ask me jus stay close to the net.”

Please enable Javascript to view this content

A group of awesomely-executed rough cuts, Untitled Unmastered offers fans a view into the creative process leading up to Lamar’s breakthrough To Pimp A Butterfly, which came out last year and earned him five statues at this year’s Grammy Awards.

Lamar previously indicated that he had some unreleased material he would like to hit public ears, and some of the songs have been performed on late-night TV shows. Still, its an impressive collection to just appear out of nowhere.

“I got a chamber of material from the album that I was in love where sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album,” Lamar said in an interview with 2 Dope Boyz. “But I think probably close to ten songs that I’m in love with that I’ll still play and still perform that didn’t make the cut.”

These eight songs appear to be the very tracks he was talking about, perhaps with sample clearance issues removed — it’s a lot easier to make a deal when your hip-hop’s new super star darling.

With this collection of B-sides to tide things over, it will likely be a while before fans get another release from Lamar, who is probably still in the planning stages of his next major release.

Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
How to download music from SoundCloud on desktop and mobile
Soundcloud Interface on a Macbook.

If you’re a huge music fan, you’ve probably combed through the many playlists, artists, and albums of your Spotify or Apple Music subscription. But what about all the indie artists of the world? Some music-streaming platforms are better than others at celebrating the
‘unsung gem’ acts, but one of the most reliable forums for new, off-the-grid tunes is SoundCloud.

Founded in 2007, SoundCloud has always prioritized music that’s a bit under the radar. With over 320 million tracks in its library, the platform will even let you download a majority of its songs and albums.

Read more
The best kids headphones of 2024: for fun, safety, and sound
Two kids using the Puro Sound PuroQuiet Plus to watch something on a tablet.

Kid-friendly consumer tech is all the rage these days, so it’s no surprise that there’s an entire market of headphones designed exclusively for young ones. But when we think “kid-friendly,” sometimes we imagine products that are built to be a bit more throwaway than their adult counterparts. That’s not the case with the products on our list of the best headphones for kids, though.

We want our child-tailored headphones to include parental-controlled volume limiters, to ensure our children aren’t harming their eardrums. Pretty much every entry on our list checks this vital box, but we also wanted to point you and yours toward products that offer exceptional noise-canceling, built-in mics for phone and video calls, and long-lasting batteries for schooldays or a long flight.

Read more
How to master your equalizer settings for the perfect sound
An equalizer from eqMac.

While most people will simply flip on the radio or load up Spotify to listen to music, audiophiles like to dig a bit deeper and customize their experience. This often comes in the form of adjustments to the equalizer, which offers the freedom to tweak every aspect of the sound booming out of headphones or speakers. Even some streaming services now have built-in EQs, giving you more ways than ever to play with your music and find something that best fits your ears.

Tinkering with the equalizer can be daunting to newcomers, as there are tons of cryptic settings you can manipulate. And if you mess with the wrong one, your sound quality might take a nasty hit. Thankfully, learning the basics isn't too difficult.

Read more