Kendrick Lamar started the year off strong with the release of untitled. unmastered, but he's also been keeping bust with guest appearances, showing up on range of records from fellow TDE members, underground emcees, and the biggest pop acts going.
No Kendrick feature is the same, but they're all at least worth a listen, most of them much more than that. With that being said, take a look through the many features K-Dot has put out this year in the gallery above. Let us know what your favorites (and least favorites) are in the comments section. Do any of these hint at what the next Kendrick project might sound like?
No More Parties In L.A.
Kanye West- "No More Parties In L.A." (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Kendrick's very first feature of the year is still among his biggest and best. The rapper's guest appearance on Kanye West's The Life Of Pablo bonus track finds him rapping over a Madlib beat and bringing out the best bars in his collaborator.
Quotable Lyrics:
The opportunity, the proper top of breast and booty cheek
The pop community, I mean these bitches come with union fee
And I want two of these, moving units through consumer streets
Then my shoe released, she was kicking in gratuity
And yeah G, I was all for it
She said, "K Lamar, you kind of dumb to be a poet"
I'ma put you on game, for the lames that don't know, they're a rookie
Instagram is the best way to promote some pussy
The New Cupid
BJ The Chicago Kid - "The New Cupid" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Kendrick's collab with BJ The Chicago Kid brings out the loverboy in the rapper, as he gets poetic and romantic on the R&B single. He even throws in his own catchy refrain that comes in twice in his verse; "Skrt, skrt, skrt, pump my brake, pump my brake / Mini skirt, skirt, skirt, don't walk away, walk away."
Quotable Lyrics:
I'm fishing for compliments
This is a fairy tale, I know you very well
Fuck all your promises, I know what time it is
I'm just a realist, I am the realest
Reality is fatality cursed on the future for family, wife and some kids
Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard On You
Funkadelic- "Ain't That Funkin Hard On You?" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar & Ice Cube)
After working with George Clinton on To Pimp A Butterfly, Kendrick sounds right at home on this P-Funk beat, as well as beside one of his West Coast rap predecessors, Ice Cube.
Quotable Lyrics:
Why you hate to work for it
The reason why I hate to wait for it?
See a nine to five was so jive turkey
But when Thanksgiving came that check didn’t hurt me
You plead the fifth, I read the fifth amendment
We both criminals with bad intention
They say time heals all
But if I could short cut my success motherfunk all y'all
Freedom
Beyonce - "Freedom" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Beyonce's highly personal LEMONADE didn't leave too much room for guest appearances, but Kendrick Lamar (alongside The Weeknd and Jack White) was one of the few to make the cut. He comes through loud and clear on "Freedom," a pro-black protest record that is powerful both in words and performance. Bey and K-Dot both sound even more immense than the Just Blaze instrumental beneath them.
Quotable Lyrics:
Ten Hail Marys, I meditate for practice
Channel 9 news tell me I'm movin' backwards
Eight blocks left, death is around the corner
Seven misleadin' statements 'bout my persona
Six headlights wavin' in my direction
Five-O askin' me what's in my possession
Yeah, I keep runnin', jump in the aqueducts
Fire hydrants and hazardous
Smoke alarms on the back of us
But mama, don't cry for me, ride for me
Survive
Mistah F.A.B. - "Survive" (feat. Kendrick Lamar, Crooked I and Kobe Honeycutt)
Not just anyone can score a Kendrick verse, which gives you an idea of the level of respect Mistah F.A.B. has in the West Coast. K-Dot opens his Son Of A Pimp 2 track, "Survive," making for one of the lesser heard verses from the TDE rapper this year. As he does to pretty much every verse, K-Dot brings his A-game here, musing on the violent cycle of the prison industrial complex.
Quotable Lyrics:
I mean the cycle just continue
The vital information and fine print on the menu
So you'll never read it even if a n*gga lend you
Money out my own pocket, to make it right
You'll still attend to
Be on them corners with stop signs and a nine
Cause nine times out of ten, MAC 11's cry
And twelve died yesterday and if anyone divides
The six that carried you eventually lose they lives
True story
Black THougHts
ScHoolboy Q - "Black THougHts"
"Black THougHts" is an uncredited appearance for Kendrick, but any TDE fan should recognize his distorted voice on the hook from the Blank Face LP deep cut. It's an effective Easter egg that hearkens back to the collective's tendency to work within their small universe of collaborators. It feels like an in-joke between friends, an appeal of TDE that isn't talked about enough.
Quotable Lyrics:
The joke's on you, mothafucka
The loc is on you, mothafucka
I warned you, it's karma
Black thoughts and marijuana, it's karma
THat Part
ScHoolboy Q - "THat Part (Black Hippy Remix)"
ScHoolboy Q's "THat Part" was the biggest hit to emerge from TDE this year, so it was only fitting that the whole Black Hippy crew hopped on it. Q, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock, and Kendrick always make it difficult to pick a favorite verse, but K-Dot does make a solid bid for the title, entering with an echoing vocal, as he spits dexterous boasts, keeping his rhyme schemes tight and complex throughout. It's hard to beat Kendrick on a purely technical level, and this is him at his most detail-oriented.
Quotable Lyrics:
Deny me from an Ivy school
Applyin' me to the street I slept
I quietly had to hold this tool
Reminding me of the block I repped
The turf I stepped, the church and the earth I blessed
The first I guessed the alert was the murk I chef
That hearse the flirt with perks of a kill confessed
Dispersed the worst, the first 48 addressed
The search and laws and verse of the birth I nest
The awe, the curse of a pose in zest
The good, the flaws, the pain to reverse what's left
Skyline To
Frank Ocean - "Skyline To" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
As with many of the uncredited features on Frank Ocean's new album, Kendrick's is fairly low-key, but a close listening will reveal his voice a little deeper in the mix, providing ad-libs and backing vocals.
Quotable Lyrics:
On comes the evening
Gold seeking ends
Piece in my hands worth twice than a friend
And two limbs over shoulder, carried away
What's Wrong
Isaiah Rashad - "Wat's Wrong" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar & Zacari)
As a TDE artist, it was assumed Isaiah Rashad would have a Kendrick verse on his official debut album The Sun's Tirade, and "Wat's Wrong" was that moment. Not many can keep up with K-Dot on a track, but Isaiah does a fine job. Kendrick meanwhile, provides the spectacle that make his features so sought after. He makes some "best rapper alive" claims, and in the moment, you may be inclined to agree.
Quotable Lyrics:
I told Zay, I'm the best rapper since twenty five
Been like that for a while now, I'm twenty-nine
Any nigga that disagree is a fuckin' liar
Pardon me, see my alter ego was Gemini
He and I been around ever since Reagan was criticized
Might stay in the Trump tower for one week
Spray paint all the walls and smoke weed
Fuck them and fuck y'all and fuck me
Holy Key
DJ Khaled - "Holy Key" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean & Betty Wright)
DJ Khaled truly brought a lot more out of his collaborators on his latest compilation, even when they were forced into silly key pun concepts. Kendrick Lamar gets away with not mentioning keys, lions, or cloth talk in his 16, and its for the best, as he sets into one of his most fiery 16s of the year, building up to the breathless, emotional delivery that some of his best songs have featured.
Quotable Lyrics:
Brand endorsement joining forces with sorcerers signing me
Law enforcement their forces, tortures us with violent speed
Fuck your boss's employment my joy is to see all you bleed
Two knew Royce's with choices of color my desire need
Crab and Oyster with gorgeous abortions, I require thee
Flesh and poison the point is the reason
You won't die in peace
The Greatest
Sia - "The Greatest" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
While his album material may be getting more and more experimental, Kendrick is not afraid to lend his voice to pop singles (remember the "Bad Blood" remix?). On Sia's "The Greatest" he once again tries out his abilities as a crossover artist. While maybe not successful as some of his more pop-minded peers, Kendrick certainly proves he has some range with this one.
Quotable Lyrics:
I transform with pressure - I'm hands-on with effort
I fell twice before, my bounce back was special
Letdowns'll get you, and the critics will test you
But the strong'll survive, another scar may bless you, ah
Really Doe
Danny Brown - "Really Doe" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul & Earl Sweatshirt)
Kendrick supplies both the hook and a verse of "Really Doe," and surrounded by skilled emcees, it's hard to give him the gold medal, but he carries the baton as well as any of his talented peers on the track. In the end, it's a team victory.
Quotable Lyrics:
Bet a thousand, shoot a thousand
Things a nigga do for thousands
Made a million counting sheep
Gave it all to public housin'
Taking off to Abu Dhabi
Beamin' up the motor, Scotty
Talking to promoters, Scotty
Everybody know it's Gotti
Murder one, you've heard of them
The rev undid, the all day madness
Got it off the wipe it off, the evidence, the blood on mattress
Goosebumps
Travis Scott - "Goosebumps" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Travis Scott tends to inspire great performances from his collaborators, whether it be Young Thug and Rich Homie on "Mamacita" or Justin Bieber on "Maria, I'm Drunk." His new album, Birds In The Trap Sing McKnight is filled with memorable guest appearances, and Kendrick Lamar might very well have the best of the bunch. It's a reminder is that Kendrick's ability as a performer is on par with his lyricism, as he introduces a delivery that stop-starts, melts, doubles, and squeals. As with most Kendrick verses, the lyrics on paper do not do it justice.
Quotable Lyrics:
I want to press my like, yeah, I wanna press my
I want a green light, I wanna be like
I wanna press my line, yeah
I want to take that ride, yeah
I’m gonna press my lime
I wanna green light, I wanna be like, I wanna press my
Mama, dear, spare your feelings
I'm reliving moments, peeling more residual
God Is Fair, Sexy Nasty
Mac Miller - "God Is Fair, Sexy Nasty" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
Mac Miller has suggested in interviews that he wanted to put Kendrick on a song that didn't *sound* like a Kendrick song. "God Is Fair" is definitely an experiment, and putting K-Dot on the chorus is an unconventional move, but given his underrated ability to craft hooks, it's still a smart move, making for a perfect closing track for Mac's The Divine Feminine.
Don't Wanna Know
Maroon 5 - "Don't Wanna Know" (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
The latest Kendrick verse, "Don't Wanna Know" is far from the strongest, suggesting that K-Dot's weakness may be stretching his unconventional style to radio. However, he sounds perfectly comfortable on the track, which seems like a potential hit. More Kendrick on the radio means more kids coming back to To Pimp A Butterfly and good kid, M.A.A.D. city. Hard to argue with that.
Quotable Lyrics:
No more "please stop"
No more hashtag boo'd up screenshots
No more tryin' make me jealous on your birthday
You know just how I made you better on your birthday, oh
Do he do you like this, do he woo you like this?
Do he lay it down for you, touch your poona like this?
Matter fact, never mind, we'll let the past be
May be his right now, but your body's still me, woah