Kendrick Lamar, with the live backing of the Roots, performed about five minutes of straight mellifluous bliss, while debuting a new untitled song on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday.
“Untitled 2" (a follow-up to his previous untitled song from Colbert Report that he only performed once) is instant smooth; it’s Kendrick rapping a series of vignettes and vents about shortcuts to success, “fast money,” depression (“blue faces”), personal responsibility, credit card scams (Hello, Russell) and higher education, with the same layers of social depth that made To Pimp a Butterfly such a beautifully vexing listen.
“I love God/ But I’m scared of godspeed, sometimes,” he raps. And, “We all came on the boat looking for hope/ And all you can say is that you’re looking for dope.” And he manages to make all this complexity sound like a thoughtful stream of consciousness.
Around the three-minute mark, the song capsizes and erupts and Kendrick ends it, swearing, “You ain’t gotta tell me that I’m the one/ Yes, I’m the one,” which is the truest thing. Pretty sure it’s impossible not to listen to this multiple times in a row.
A direct quote from Jimmy Fallon: “Oh my g-OD! Kendrick Lamar!”
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