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Kendrick Lamar’s “Very Urgent” New Album Sounds Like It’ll Be Different From His Previous Work

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 16: Kendrick Lamar performs onstage during American Express Music Presents: Kendrick Lamar Live at Music Hall of Williamsburg on December 16, 2016 Brooklyn, New York. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for American Express)

Kendrick Lamar has more than enough cultural clout to get on the cover of the New York Times’ T Magazine, which is out this week. Cornrow Kenny spoke in eloquent platitudes, talking about his need to give back to the community, and the need for more God in contemporary life. There were, however, a few hard news takeaways: Lamar is working on a new album, the follow up to demo compilation untitled unmastered. and 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly. The writer didn’t get to hear the record, but Kendrick did give an interesting quote about what the album (which he called “very urgent”) is inspired by:

This is what goes on in my mind as a writer. One day, I may have a little girl … She’s gonna grow up. She’s gonna be a child I adore, I’m gonna always love her, but she’s gonna reach that one point where she’s gonna start experiencing things. And she’s gonna say things or do things that you may not condone, but it’s the reality of it and you know she was always gonna get to that place. And it’s disturbing. But you have to accept it. You have to accept it and you have to have your own solutions to figure out how to handle the action and take action for it.

“When I say ‘the little girl,’ it’s the analogy of accepting the moment when she grows up. We love women, we enjoy their company. At one point in time I may have a little girl who grows up and tells me about her engagements with a male figure — things that most men don’t want to hear. Learning to accept it, and not run away from it, that’s how I want this album to feel.”

Doesn’t look like there will be any bangers on this upcoming effort, sadly.