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Kendrick Lamar · S2 E7
The Kendrick Lamar EP
Seven tracks that caught the attention of everyone who mattered in West Coast hip-hop
On December 31, 2009, a project lands on the internet under the name "Kendrick Lamar EP," and it sounds nothing like the K-Dot tapes that came before it. No label push, no radio campaign, just a new name and a city paying attention.
Kendrick Lamar, Backseat Freestyle. Written from the perspective of a teenage Kendrick rapping in the back of his mother's van, full of bravado and hunger. This is the raw energy that powered the EP: a kid with nothing who raps like he already has everything.
Seven Tracks
The Kendrick Lamar EP is a line in the sand. Everything before it was practice, and these tracks are the first time the public hears the artist who will dominate the next decade. Every song sounds like someone who knows exactly what he is building.
“That EP was me planting a flag. I wasn't asking for permission anymore. I was telling people: this is who I am, and you're going to have to deal with it.”
— Kendrick Lamar, interview with Complex, 2012
Backseat Freestyle, Kendrick Lamar (2012)
Produced by Hit-Boy, the same producer behind Jay-Z and Kanye's "Niggas in Paris." The beat is deliberately aggressive, all distorted bass and crashing drums, because the song is written from the mindset of a 16-year-old Kendrick with zero filter. Kendrick later explained that the track captures how a teenager thinks before the world teaches him consequences.
TAP TO REVEAL: What happened within months of the EP dropping?
When did Kendrick drop the K-Dot name and release his self-titled EP?
The K-Dot Era: Final Score
Compton ft. Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar
From good kid, m.A.A.d city (2012). The closing track of Kendrick's major label debut, and the first time he and Dr. Dre appear together on wax. Remember that phone call Dre made after hearing "Ignorance Is Bliss"? This is what it led to. The kid from Rosecrans Avenue is now standing next to the man who built the West Coast.
The K-Dot era is over, and Kendrick Lamar has a name, a crew, a co-sign from Dre, and a city behind him. Next season: Section.80 drops with no warning, no major label, and no radio single, and changes independent hip-hop forever.
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