Kendrick Lamar drops surprise release, sparking new album rumours

With an Instagram post featuring nothing but an untitled track and a picture of some beaten-up Air Force 1s, Kendrick Lamar has sent hip-hop fans into overdrive once more. The post follows news earlier this week that the “Not Like Us” rapper will be headlining the Superbowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans next February.

Lamar’s as-of-yet unnamed release continues what has been an astronomical year for the Compton rapper, fresh off a heated feud with Drake which saw the release of diss track “Not Like Us”, the first rap song to debut at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 under new rules. Posted on 9/11, the track is also the latest in a series of symbolic release dates for the artist, with his The Pop Out concert taking place during America’s Juneteenth celebrations and the “Not Like Us” music video releasing on the Fourth of July.

The announcement of K Dot’s Superbowl slot also sparked a heated debate within the hip-hop community, with Nicki Minaj taking to X to argue that the booking should have gone to her mentor Lil Wayne, native to New Orleans where the show will take place. Minaj’s comments were primarily aimed at rap mogul Jay Z, who has been co-producing the NFL event since 2019, writing: “Got everything in the world. Still spiteful & evil. Disgusting. Go be happy abeg.” It is worth mentioning that Jay Z and Lil Wayne were previously embroiled in a highly-publicised beef throughout the early 2000s, although the hatchet was apparently buried in 2015 when Wayne joined Jay Z’s Tidal streaming platform.

Got everything in the world.
Still spiteful & evil. Disgusting. Be happy Abeg. Go be fkng happy n!gg@!!!!!!!! In rap business. In women business. When you got the Politicians & the police you good tho. Plus dat ugly laughy taffy alien #GagCityDC #DTLR LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOO

— Nicki Minaj (@NICKIMINAJ) September 9, 2024

Accruing over two million likes on Instagram in less than 24 hours, Lamar’s post instantly set the rumour mill whirring. Provisionally titled “Watch the Party Die” on Genius, some fans have speculated that the track may be the much-anticipated “Heart Part 6”, continuing Lamar’s established series of lyrically dense releases.

Other online sleuths have managed to uncover the apparent origin of the image, pointing to an eBay listing for a pair of pre-owned Nike Air Force 1s, which start bidding at a modest $17.97. A third contingent extrapolated Lamar’s trend of symbolic release dates into the future, postulating that further developments – or even a full album – may appear tomorrow (Friday 13), also the day that legendary Bay Area rapper Tupac Shakur passed away.

A great deal of the discourse surrounding the release centred on whether the track could be considered a continuation of the prior Drake beef, with lyrics seemingly criticising the music industry as a whole. One line in particular – “The radio personality pushing propaganda for salary, let me know when he turns up as a casualty” – appeared to be directed at controversial hip hop blogger DJ Akademics, who initially made his name reporting on brutal gang warfare in Chicago, and the drill music that its participants pioneered.