Kendrick Lamar: To Pimp A Butterfly

Kendrick Lamar’s new album has been hotly anticipated ever since he closed out the final episode of the Colbert Report with the anthemic line, “We don’t die, we multiply.” The wait is over a week earlier than expected, with Lamar dropping To Pimp a Butterfly late Sunday night. Spitting hyper-aware lyrics with his signature acrobatic flow, Lamar brings in jazzy instrumentals and some old school …

Young Fathers: Shame

Edinburgh-based Young Fathers caught the attention of the world in the fall of 2014 when they were given the prestigious Mercury Prize (awarded for the best album of the year from the UK and Ireland) for their debut record Dead. Though categorized as alternative hip-hop, the trio’s eclectic sound spans garage rock, grime and dance music. Danceable yet layered and complex, their latest single “Shame” …

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Kelela as an anime character, Nosaj Thing's second collab with Chance the Rapper, a song about Berlin and more in this week's look at music

Kelela: A Message Rising singer/songwriter Kelela released a slow-burning but spectacular track from her upcoming EP Hallucinogen, called “A Message,” which was co-written with Venezuelan producer Arca (who also co-produced Björk’s Vulnicura). The music video depicts a darkly lit Kelela cutting off her dreadlocks before eventually turning into an anime character. Cuushe: Tie Tokyo’s Cuushe (aka Mayuko Hitotsuyanagi) continues delivering saccharine dream-pop with “Tie,” off …