Solange drops an updated take on her single “Looks Good With Trouble” featuring Kendrick Lamar. The track was originally included on her True EP, released in 2012. Solange dropped the rework in the wee hours of the morning via Twitter. The dark track is brightened by her airy vocal and given a new lease on life with a bit of sick lyricism from Kendrick Lamar. The rhyme stays in line with his slice of life approach and matches the sincerity and color-outside-the-lines aesthetic of almost everything in the house that Solange built. Their tandem performance is a great foil for the echo heavy synth driven production from Solange and Dev Hynes. Check the track below. Purchase Solange’s “Looks Good With Trouble” featuring Kendrick Lamar via iTunes.

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One of the catchiest hooks of 2012 (and 2013 for that matter) finally gets an official video. Kendrick Lamar comes through with some visuals to “Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe.” We go from a somber all white funeral, to a turnt up limo ride with Kendrick and his crew (it’s safe to say his vibe hasn’t been killed). The video is wrapped up with the coffin being placed in the earth (after k.dot and Mike Epps exchange prison poses) and closing text that may help put the video in perspective for you. But honestly, this song is so hot it really didn’t matter what the video looked like. good kid m.A.A.d city is out now. Do remember, that Kendrick Lamar tour kicked off last week (get the dates here).  Watch the new Kendrick Lamar video below.

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Welcome to Okayplayer’s Top 16 Summer Festivals of 2013. It’s just about summa summa summatime and for us, the music-obsessed, that means it’s time to scrape together some cash and hit up as many festivals as possible! Acts like Wu-Tang Clan and Kendrick Lamar are going to be hard to miss, hitting the main stage and rocking many a crowd from New York to Manchester, TN. On the other hand, Shuggie Otis, Prince, and D’angelo are a few artists making rare, one off appearances. To help you better narrow down your ultimate search, we at Okayplayer bring you the 2013 Festival Guide. Click through for full artist lineups, ticket information, and everything else you will need to know to assure that you attend the hottest fests this summer.   Our top summer festivals 2013 round-up begins here.

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Aside from ruling radio and the music festival market, Kendrick Lamar can now add a new experience to his list. Following in the footsteps of Nicki Minaj and Ne-Yo, K. Dot took part in the Get Schooled Celebrity Principals For The Day program. He spent a day at Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, Rhode Island. While there, he spoke to the students about the importance of graduating high school:

“My teachers were great positive influences in my life. My middle school English teacher was probably the reason I became a rapper. He used to encourage me to write poetry and would challenge me, which helped me improve my vocabulary and made me enjoy writing.”

Check the video below to see what else K. Dot had to say.

The post Kendrick Lamar Plays Principal For The Day In Rhode Island appeared first on Okayplayer.

Photo by Robbie Fimano

Erykah Badu had a chat with Kendrick Lamar about music and the state of life since his meteoric rise to fame in the past two years – a phenomenon fueled in large-part by his major-label debut good kid, m.A.A.d. city, released in 2012. Their conversation – reportedly conducted via phone while Kendrick Lamar was at an airport in Denver – formed the basis of a recent feature published in Interview Magazine. The Compton rapper considered by many to be one of the hottest MCs breathing, is the author of a compelling narrative of young life in the ghetto delivered with a brand of candor and sonic ingenuity absent far too often from the major hip-hop releases of late. The hallmark of Lamar’s project is a talent more reliant on an innate and staggeringly rich trough of wisdom than the wow factor of raw lyricism, though he is nowhere near devoid of skills. During the Q&A with E. Badu, Kendrick Lamar details the joy he derives from watching his family emerge from poverty after years of having nothing – a byproduct of his success that is more immediately accessible than his ability to live in the moment as a public persona. They also discuss the effects of social media and the rappers Kendrick Lamar considers his earliest and most important influences. Check a bit of the discussion below. Scroll down to peep the full interview.

ERYKAH BADU: Can you describe how it feels to be in this cyclone of good fortune that you’re experiencing right now? How are you handling all of it?

KENDRICK LAMAR: I always thought money was something just to make me happy. But I’ve learned that I feel better being able to help my folks, ’cause we never had nothing. So just to see them excited about my career is more of a blessing than me actually having it for myself. My folks ain’t graduated from high school or nothing like that, so we always had to struggle in the family—and I come from a big family. But as far as me handling this, it’s a weird feeling because it’s like a blur right now. I think my worst problem is actually living in the moment and understanding everything that’s going on. I feel like I’m in my own bubble. People tell me all the time, “You’re crazy, going there by yourself,” because it wouldn’t have soaked in yet that I’m supposed to be quote “Kendrick Lamar”—whoever this guy’s supposed to be. I still feel like me. So it’s really about me trying to adapt—that’s like the toughest thing for me right now. I feel like I’m in my own world.

BADU: That’s great because it’s easy to get caught up in your own hype, if you will. You know, when you’re on Twitter or Facebook and there’s all of this praise—it’s easy to get caught up in all that.

LAMAR: That’s why I try my best to stay away from social media as much as possible. [laughs] When you go on your Twitter or look down your Timeline and it’s all great positivity—I love that. But at the same time, it can really divert you from what your purpose is or what you’re trying to do. And I’ve seen artists get caught up in that. I’ve seen some of my friends get caught in that. Whether you’re a small celebrity or a grand celebrity, it really triggers something in your brain, seeing all that stuff . . . So I’m real aware of it.

BADU: What are you trying to achieve as a musician, if anything at all?

LAMAR: Well, like I was saying, as a kid I was always fascinated knowing that I could be the best at something—like Jay-Z or Nas or B.I.G. But putting a positive light on where I come from is also important to me. When you think of Compton, it’s numb with negativity, even to this day. So the whole purpose of this first album was really to spark the idea of doing something different rather than doing a record that’s just about gang culture. That’s the ultimate thing I want to do in making music—to be able to inspire somebody else.

BADU: Speaking of Compton, tell me about how you grew up. You said that you come from a big family.

LAMAR: My mom’s got 14 brothers and sisters, my pop’s got 10. They started in Chicago and came to L.A. . . .Well, they actually came to Compton—just them two—in ’84, and then they had me in ’87. But they paved the way for all my uncles and aunties and my cousins—eventually everybody came out. At one particular time, in the early ’90s, we all stayed in the two black neighborhoods in Compton. So it was one of them things where it was like we were the neighborhood. So, as a kid, I was watching all of these things going on—parties, drinking, smoking, violence. But I was totally oblivious to it because I felt like it was just life. At the same time, I had birthdays and Christmas and holidays, which allowed me to actually be a kid. It gave me the ability to be a dreamer. That’s what separated me from all my homeboys—the fact that I didn’t get caught inside the reality. I was always dreaming about doing something else or going somewhere else.

>>>Read the full article at Interview Mag

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It’s impressive how quickly Kendrick Lamar has gone from being a newcomer to one who can help other new kids build their careers (also: Hood By Air! That’s a look). K-Dot was performing a concert at New York’s Galapagos Art Space for Footaction yesterday when he brought out UK singer Emeli Sandé for the profane masterpiece “B**ch, Don’t Kill My Vibe.” For her part Sandé blessed the crowd and debuted a new, previously unheard interpretation of the intro before singing the classic hook. The two previously worked together on her overly catchy single, “Next To Me.” Check out the live footage below.

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Hot 97′s Annual Summer Jam is hitting it’s 20th year and has announced the line up for the annual event, occuring June 2nd at MetLife Stadium. The concert will feature performances from the full Wu-Tang Clan, Kenrick Lamar, Miguel, Wale, A$AP Rocky, Chris Brown, and 2 Chainz. The festival village will include up and comers Action Bronson, Joey Bada$$, A$AP Ferg, and Vinny Cha$e. Tickets range from $45-$250 and can be purchased via ticketmaster. Check out an artist announcement video below.

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Kendrick Lamar has announced a full tour of headlining dates in support of last year’s critically acclaimed album good kid, m.A.A. city. He will travel the world with his Black Hippy partners Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, and Jay Rock, and hit many festivals along the way. See below K. Dot’s full tour dates.

Kendrick Lamar – “good kid, m.A.A.d city” World Tour Dates:

May 5th – West Palm Beach, FL – SUNFEST
May 11 – Columbia, MD – Sweetlife Festival
May 17 – La Jolla, CA – Sungod Festival
May 18 – Gulf Shores, AL – Hangout Festival
May 22 – Las Vegas, – NV Cosmopolitan
May 23 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Great Saltair
May 29 – Portland, ME – The Waterfront At Ocean Gateway
May 30 – Albany, NY – Armory
June 1 – Junction, VT – Champion Valley Exposition
June 3 – Belle Vernon, PA – Ice Garden
June 4 – Cleveland, OH – Jacob Pavilion at Nautica
June 5 – Detroit, MI – Chene Park
June 6 – Indianapolis, IN – Farm Bureau Insurance Lawn
June 8 – Randall’s Island, NY – Govenors Ball
June 10 – Baton Rouge, LA – Baton Rouge River Center
June 11 – Houston, TX – Reliant Arena
June 12 – Grand Prairie, TX – Verizon Theatre
June 13 – New Braunfels, TX – Whitewater Amphitheatre
June 16 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo
June 19 – St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheatre
June 20 – Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle
June 21 – Simpsonville, SC – Charter Amphitheatre
June 22 – Dover, DE – Firefly Music Festival
June 23 – Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Amphitheatre
June 26 – Mesa, AZ – Mesa Amphitheatre
June 28 – San Diego, CA – Del Mar Fair Festival
June 29 – Kansas City, KS – Kanrocksas Festival
June 29 – Los Angeles, CA – BET Experience
July 3 – Gdynia, PL – Heineken Open’er Festival
July 4 – Roskilde, DK – Roskilde Festival
July 5 – Zurich, SE – Touch the Lake Festival
July 6 – Haachtsesteenweg, BE – Rock Werchter Festival
July 7 – Arras, FR – Main Square Festival
July 8 – Birmingham, UK – Academy
July 9 – Manchester, UK – Apollo
July 10 – Leeds, UK – Academy
July 11 – Grafenhainichen, DE – Splash Festival
July 12 – Kinross-shire, UK – T in the Park Festival
July 13 – London, UK – Wireless Festival
July 14 – Rotterdam, NL – North Sea Jazz Festival
July 17 – Montreaux, CH – Montreaux Jazz Festival
July 18 – Molde, NO – Molde Jazz Festival
July 19 – Tonsberg, NO – Slottsfjell
July 20 – Pori, FI – Pori Jazz Festival
July 27 – Naeba, Japan – Fuji Rock Festival
Aug 2 – Toronto, Canada- Sound Academy
Aug 3 – Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza
Aug 4 – Montreal, Canada – Osheaga Music Festival
Aug 8 – Oslo, NO – Oya Festival
Aug 9 – Helsinki, FI – Flow Festival
Aug 10 – Gothenburg, SE – Way Out West Festival
Aug 15 – Hasselt, BE – Pukkelpop Festival
Aug 16 – Biddinghuizen, NL – Lowlands Festival
Aug 17 – Chelmsford, UK – V Festival
Aug 18 – South Staffordshire, UK – V Festival
Aug 20 – Glasgow, UK – Bellahouston Park
Aug 22 – Paris, FR – Stade de France
Aug 23 – Paris, FR – Rock En Seine Festival
Aug 24 – Hradec Kralove, CZ – Hip Hop Kemp Festival

Spotted at HHW

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Just a week after dropping his Kendrick Lamar-featuring remix to “How Many Drinks,” Miguel has released the accompanying music video. The clip features silhouettes of Miguel and his band performing amongst a pretty mess of female dancers. K. Dot pops in halfway through to rhyme underneath a cool light show and manages to reference his own “Swimming Pools (Drank)” Peep the colorful clip below and as far as this song is concerned, we recommend you GET USED TO IT.

shouts to PF

The post Miguel x Kendrick Lamar – “How Many Drinks” [Official Video] appeared first on Okayplayer.

Kendrick Lamar sat with Guerilla Union to answer Reddit‘s Top 5 Questions backstage during the Paid Dues Festival 2013. The Compton MC’s interview is cut against performance clips from the festival and features him discussing a bunch of topics from his wishlist of collaborators – namely Erykah Badu – to his own growth as an artist. Check more of what K.Dot had to say below.

Spotted at HT

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