Kendrick Lamar new album

The 34-year-old rapper is set to release his fifth studio album on Friday — his first release in half a decade. It's one of the most highly-anticipated ...

In 2018, Lamar acted as the executive producer for the “Black Panther” soundtrack, and appeared on half a dozen tracks. “The gloved hand on the right is taken from the infamous picture of O.J. Simpson in his 1995 murder trial, and the hand with a Band-Aid on it is Kobe’s after he won his fifth championship. The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood. May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators. “TPAB,” which won the Grammy for the Best Rap Album, is an incredibly ambitious and musically progressive album, one that incorporated elements of jazz, funk and electronic music. Last Sunday, Lamar dropped “The Heart Part 5” – the fifth instalment in a series of singles the rapper typically shares ahead of each new album release. For example, Kendrick takes 15 seconds to inhale and exhale in the middle of the song, which is the number of seconds required to check one’s heart rate. His fourth studio album, “DAMN,” was Lamar’s biggest commercial success. He also cuts the drums for Nipsey and Kobe, symbolizing the stoppage of a human heart beat.” It contained a blurry fax-like message, addressed “from the desk of oklama,” announcing Lamar’s forthcoming album would be released on May 13. In the song’s video — which opens with an esoteric statement: “I am. To the audience, we see what appears to be a gun, partially hidden in his pants. In the background is his fiancé Whitney Alford, cradling a newborn baby.

The cover features Lamar with a crown of thorns and a gun tucked in his waistband holding his two-year-old daughter and fiancée, Whitney Alford, nursing what we ...

A notoriously private individual, it probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Lamar wouldn't make a big public announcement about the arrival of his second kid. The cover features Lamar with a crown of thorns and a gun tucked in his waistband holding his two-year-old daughter and fiancée, Whitney Alford, nursing what we presume to be the couple's second child in the background. I don’t even like the term that society has put in the world as far as being a companion — she’s somebody I can tell my fears to.”

Kendrick Lamar appeared to confirm with his "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" album cover that he and fiancée Whitney Alford have welcomed baby No. 2.

“I wouldn’t even call her my girl,” he said of the beautician at the time. The couple, who began dating in high school and confirmed their engagement in 2015, did not previously announce that they were expanding their family. The 34-year-old rapper seemingly confirmed in the cover art for his fifth release that he and his fiancée, Whitney Alford, secretly welcomed baby No. 2.

Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and J. Cole are the “Big 3” rappers of their class. Here's how they stacked up against each other in every year since 2010.

And for what it’s worth, “Duppy Freestyle” was a good diss track; it just couldn’t compete with the narratives around “The Story of Adidon.” J. Cole had a solid 2018 out of the big three, but even he had an unusual year. He did officially roll out the singles for “Wet Dreamz” and “No Role Modelz” with a video for the former (although they first arrived in 2014). Overall, he was quiet, making him the easy third place entrant for 2015. In January 2016, he called his shot with “Summer Sixteen,” before proceeding to actually run the summer with pop-friendly hits like “Hotline Bling,” “One Dance,” “Pop Style,” “Controlla,” and “Too Good.” Views might not top everyone’s “Best Drake Albums” lists, but it was an undeniable commercial smash, sitting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for a mindblowing ten nonconsecutive weeks. It felt good to hear “i,” and Tupac on “Mortal Man.” The Rapsody-assisted “Complexion (A Zulu Love)” was an important reflection on colorism. His declaration as the “King of New York” infuriated other rappers, both young and veteran, and “Control” was both a cultural reset and a wake-up call to all other rappers in the game. After Meek accused Quentin Miller of giving Drake reference tracks, he shot back with the fatal two-piece of “Charged Up” and “Back to Back.” Then he dropped “Hotline Bling,” an undeniable earworm with a neon video that became one of rap’s first massive meme moments. To Drake’s credit, “0 to 100 / The Catch Up” and his feature on “Tuesday” generated momentum that eclipsed the buzz of other rapper’s entire projects in 2014. Cole also delivered an emotionally-charged performance of his new single “Be Free” on Letterman in 2014, around the time the nation was protesting the murder of Mike Brown. Kendrick and Drake didn’t take the year off, though, despite not releasing studio albums. He also appeared on major singles from other artists, like DJ Khaled’s “I’m On One” and Lil Wayne’s “She Will.” Ultimately, Drake was rewarded for his massive year when Take Care won a Grammy for Best Rap Album. J. Cole also had a strong year, as Cole World: The Sideline Story debuted at No. 1 and sold a little over 200,000 in its first week, aided by hits like “Lights Please,” “Can’t Get Enough,” and “Work Out.” In comparison to his peers, Kendrick Lamar was still on his ascent and had less of an impactful year, but he still released great music. Songs like “In the Morning” with Drake and “Before I’m Gone” marked him as a sharp storyteller with a clear lens of who he is and who he’s speaking to. It was full of classic tracks like “The Motto,” “Marvins Room,” and “Take Care,” but Drake didn’t stop there. The project was so cinematic it felt like a 2K redux to west coast classic movies like Boyz N The Hood and Menace To Society. Kendrick’s ability to imbue a concept album with strong singles like “Backseat Freestyle,” “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe,” and “Swimming Pools” marked him as the leader of the new school to many rap fans.

New music may not be the only thing Kendrick Lamar is welcoming into the world. The “Family Ties” rapper, 34, debuted album cover art on Instagram Wednesday ...

OK. It's here. It's time. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Let's do this. There was always going to be an incredible amount of hype for the first proper ...

The album is here. After all that, the anticipation is so breathless that we’ve almost suffocated. First there was the news last summer that this would be his last album for Top Dawg Entertainment. Then, more recently, the reveal of the eyebrow-raising title and release date. The world has not yet heard a note of music from Kendrick’s new project, but even the tiniest slivers of information have all served to stoke curiosity. It’s time. OK. It’s here.