"I say 'Hold up, wait a minute / Your career ain't shit unless you got some Kendrick in it!'" - Kendrick Lamar, Top Dawg Entertainment Cypher, 2013 BET Awards
Never has Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar's rap boasting arguably been more on-point than when considering "Never Catch Me," his newly leaked (by Los Angeles' Power 106 FM LA Leakers crew) collaboration with jazz-inspired producer Flying Lotus due to appear on Lotus' You're Dead, which is set to be released on October 7 via Warp. Lotus announced Lamar's involvement (along with the likes of Snoop Dogg) last month, but this is the first rap-themed track from the album we've heard as of yet. The dominant producer has experimented with rap before as an emcee himself as Captain Murphy, and has credited productions for Mac Miller and Earl Sweatshirt, as well as alluded to studio work with the A$AP Mob and Raider Klan. However, when contemplating comparative levels of stardom, a production featuring bars from incendiary and introspective legend on the rise Lamar are a whole new level of awareness. Whereas Flying Lotus' work was once just the domain for slavish devotion by bass-loving EDM fanatics and their blog reading or backpack rapper friends, this track (and hopefully more) exposes Flying Lotus' jazzy trademark style to Lamar's humble braggadocio with top-tier (and mainstream leaning) results.
And in case you missed it, Flying Lotus previewed the Herbie Hancock-featured "Moment of Hesitation" last month via Gilles Peterson.
