In honor of Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers set to drop 5-13, we are taking it back all the way to 2009 with the Kendrick Lamar EP. This was the first project I heard from Kendrick, at this point I was a freshman in high school figuring out all the things that teens tend to figure out. I was a regular at visiting tons of music blogs and websites searching and searching just to add new music to my iTunes library. What attracted me to this EP was that it had the Indy sign on the artwork, via LiveMixtapes, meaning it was released independently by the artist even though he was signed to TDE at that time. Even then I was more interested in the independent scene as I am still now, and man I thought I found gold with this EP. Kendrick Lamar released this project back on the last day of 2009, with 15 tracks in total and 9 features. Some of those features included acts that are signed to TDE today like Ab Soul, Jay Rock, ScHoolBoy Q with other artists such as Big Pooh and BJ The Chicago Kid and more. At this point I had never heard of an independent artist like Kendrick Lamar who was able to capture my attention through his rhymes, flow and beat production from the very first song on the EP “Is It Love”, which still remains one of my favorites from the set of sounds. Other songs that I kept on replay included “P & P”, “I Do This”, “Uncle Bobby & Jason Keaton”, “Vanity Slaves” & “Far From Here”.
I knew this guy, whoever he was at the time, was going to be something big in the future if he kept working. Well, I along with many others who thought the same of Kendrick Lamar were right. Fast forward to 2022, Mr. Lamar is getting ready to bless his fans with his first album since 2017’s DAMN. Will this be the artists last album? Will he continue to create music but not under TDE after the album? Who knows, but at this point I am happy to get new music from Kendrick and continue to introduce you to music you may have never heard due to whatever reason. So with that being said, jump into the Kendrick Lamar EP by Kendrick Lamar and add this beautiful EP to your rotation. You won’t regret it. Be Known.
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is out 5-13-2022.