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Kendrick Lamar · S3 E7
Dr. Dre Calls
The most powerful man in West Coast rap picks up the phone. Everything is about to change
Kendrick is on tour with Tech N9ne and Jay Rock when his engineer's phone rings. The voice on the other end says: "This is Dre. I need to meet this kid."
Kendrick Lamar, King Kunta. From the bottom of Compton to the throne of West Coast rap. This is what Dr. Dre heard in that twenty-minute freestyle: a kid who was not asking for the crown. He was taking it.
King Kunta, Kendrick Lamar (2015)
Produced by Terrace Martin and Sounwave, the beat is built on a James Brown-style funk loop with a bassline that bounces like a lowrider on hydraulics. The title references Kunta Kinte from Roots, an enslaved man who refused to accept the name his captors gave him. Listen for how the production keeps building in intensity without ever losing the groove. The song struts and does not apologize.
The Call
Dr. Dre saw the "Ignorance Is Bliss" music video on YouTube and did something he almost never does: he initiated contact. Dre called Kendrick's engineer directly, bypassing managers and A&R reps entirely. In the world of major label politics, a personal call from Dre is the equivalent of a presidential summons.
Aftermath Studios, Los Angeles
The studio complex where Dr. Dre built the sound of the West Coast. From 2Pac to Eminem to 50 Cent, every Aftermath legend walked through these doors. Kendrick is next.
“When I first met Dre, I didn't say much. I just rapped. He put on a beat and I went for twenty minutes straight. He looked at me and said, "Yeah. You're the one."”
— Kendrick Lamar, interview with Rolling Stone, Brian Hiatt, 2015
TAP TO REVEAL: What did Dre do that he hadn't done for any artist before Kendrick?
The Deal
On March 8, 2012, Kendrick officially signs with Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The kid who burned CDs in his bedroom eight years earlier is now on the same roster as Eminem, 50 Cent, and Dr. Dre himself. The difference: Kendrick walks in with 130,000 independent album sales and a contract that says nobody touches his art.
The Aftermath Timeline
What year did Kendrick officially sign with Aftermath Entertainment?
The Recipe ft. Dr. Dre, Kendrick Lamar
The first official single born from the Aftermath deal, released in April 2012 as a preview of good kid, m.A.A.d city. Kendrick and Dre on the same track for the first time, trading the mic over a sun-drenched beat that sounds like driving through Compton with the top down.
Kendrick has the biggest label in hip-hop behind him and full creative freedom in front of him. He drives back to Compton and starts writing a story about one day in his neighborhood that will become the greatest rap album of his generation. Next season: good kid, m.A.A.d city.
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