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    How Kendrick Lamar’s Performances Led Him to the Super Bowl Halftime Show

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    Kendrick Lamar performs like someone parceling out a secret. On the 2015 single “King Kunta,” he stage-whispers, “I swore I wouldn’t tell,” and then proceeds to flaunt industry gossip without naming names. Though the Grammy-hoarding, Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper has mastered literary opacity in his music — he’s a generous user of perspective shifts and allusion — in videos and in live performances, Lamar’s expressive stagings strike like visual poetry.Lamar has scaled up those performances, becoming more elaborate as his platforms have grown in the 14 years since his recording debut. Dave Free, his primary creative partner and a collaborator on his visual presentations, has in the past attributed the rapper’s mutability to what he called the roller coaster effect: “You give people some type of variation, they can’t get used to you. They can’t put their finger on you. The more you keep people on their toes, the more interested they stay in you, for a longer period of time.” The zigzagging ride Free described is not unlike the sensory swerve of verse, especially Lamar’s quirky couplets. Ahead of his performance at the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, and a planned stadium tour this spring, it’s worth tracing how Lamar has visually explored intimate themes as his ambitions and career have expanded.‘Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe’ video (2013)Layering Comedy and Tragedy“Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe,” the last single from Lamar’s debut album, “good kid, m.A.A.d. city”(2012), is his most straightforward exploration of a visual lament. “I know you had to die in a pitiful vain, tell me a watch and a chain / Is way more believable, give me a feasible gain,” he chants in one verse. The song’s video, directed by Lamar and Free, is set at a funeral, with the rapper joining a procession of mourners wearing white in a hike up a picturesque hill. Their destination? A party with a preacher played by the comic Mike Epps.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Is Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Too Controversial for the Super Bowl?

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      Kendrick Lamar’s smash “Not Like Us” has been a lot of things since its release less than a year ago: a Drake-slaying diss track, a No. 1 single, a West Coast unity anthem, a Kamala Harris rally singalong, a World Series fight song, a bar mitzvah dance floor party-starter.At the Grammys over the weekend, it swept all five of its nominations, including song and record of the year, becoming only the second rap track ever to win in each category, while also taking home trophies for best rap song, best rap performance and best music video.A week after those victories, “Not Like Us” — with its one billion plays on Spotify and at least hundreds of millions more across radio, YouTube and social media — may reach its ultimate peak: a performance on Sunday for some 100 million people, live from the Super Bowl halftime stage in New Orleans.A casual listener — or Super Bowl viewer — may hear an easily digestible crowd-pleaser. A popular rapper, known for knotty introspection, going playful over a spacious, bouncy beat by the producer Mustard, punctuated with sped-up stabs of strings and an all-purpose, easily co-opted chant of a chorus: “They not like us.”In many senses an inescapable, old-fashioned hit, “Not Like Us” was immediately absorbed into the cultural bloodstream, where it has remained ever since, holding strong in the Billboard Top 40 in its 38th week since release. But while the song’s mega-success can by now be taken for granted, it also happens to be incredibly bizarre.The song’s specifics, and its omnipresence, represent a significant swerve for Lamar, 37, who until recently was known primarily as one of the most revered M.C.s of all time: a Pulitzer Prize winner with a sterling career whose 2015 track “Alright” was adopted as an anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      The Messy Modern Music Business, According to Larry Jackson

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThe music executive Larry Jackson, a founder of the entertainment company Gamma, has seen several sea changes in the recording business from different vantages over different eras of disruption.As head of A&R at Arista Records/RCA Music Group under Clive Davis, he oversaw albums by Whitney Houston and Jennifer Hudson while CDs were giving way to the iTunes Store. At Interscope, alongside Jimmy Iovine, he helped sign Chief Keef and Lana Del Rey as YouTube made new stars. As the global creative director at Apple Music, Jackson partnered with artists like Drake, Frank Ocean and Taylor Swift to bring streaming to the masses, while competing with Spotify — and the major labels.On this week’s episode of Popcast, Jackson spoke with the hosts Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli about a topsy-turvy year in music — headlined by the battle between Kendrick Lamar and Drake — and how Jackson is applying lessons from his label days to whatever the industry has become.Connect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica. Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      Best Songs of 2024

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      Listen to 68 tracks that made major statements, boosted big beefs, propelled up-and-comers and soundtracked the party this year.Jon Pareles | Jon Caramanica | Lindsay ZoladzJon ParelesA Little Strife, a Lot of RhythmHere’s a dipperful of worthwhile tracks from the ocean of music released this year. The top of my list is big-statement songs, ones that had repercussions beyond how they sound. Below those, it’s not a ranking but a playlist, a more-or-less guided cruise through what 2024 sounded like for one avid listener. I didn’t include any songs from my list of top albums, which are worth hearing from start to finish. But in the multiverse of streaming music, there are plenty of other possibilities.1. Kendrick Lamar, ‘Not Like Us’Belligerent, accusatory and as tribalistic as its title, “Not Like Us” wasn’t an attack ad from the 2024 election. It was the coup de gras of Kendrick Lamar’s beef with Drake, a rapid-fire, sneering assault on multiple fronts. Its spirit dovetailed with a bitterly contentious 2024.2. Beyoncé, ‘Texas Hold ’Em’“Texas Hold ’Em” isn’t just an invocation of Beyoncé’s home state. It’s a toe-tapping taunt at the racial and musical assumptions behind country music as defined by record labels and radio stations. Rhiannon Giddens picks an oh-so-traditional claw-hammer banjo intro and Beyoncé — raised in Texas — promises “a real-life boogie and a real-life hoedown,” singing about drinking and dancing and daring gatekeepers to hold her back.3. Sabrina Carpenter, ‘Please Please Please’Sabrina Carpenter delivers a sharp message on the slick “Please Please Please.”Nina Westervelt for The New York TimesComedy is tricky in a straight-faced song, but Sabrina Carpenter’s eye-roll comes clearly through the shiny pop of “Please Please Please.” The singer tries to placate and possibly tame a boyfriend who sounds more obnoxious in every verse. “I beg you, don’t embarrass me,” she coos; eventually she reaches a breaking point.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Cash App Wades Into the Exclusive World of Presale Concert Tickets

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      Legacy credit cards and banks aren’t the only banking options to come with perks for premium access to events anymore.When Kendrick Lamar and SZA announced a joint tour this week, there were no American Express, Citibank or Capital One presale codes in sight. Instead, fans reached for the digital payments platform Cash App, and some even dropped their handles across social media in hopes that someone would donate to their ticket funds.Legacy brands aren’t the only banking options to come with such perks as early access to performances anymore.For their Grand National tour, which will be debuting in the spring, SZA and Lamar partnered with Cash App for early access, the latest move by the payment platform to try to open up what has become an exclusive ticket-access process.The “Grand National Tour” poster for the tour of Kendrick Lamar and SZA, featuring Cash App as one of the partners. “Everyone should have access to the financial system, and that includes the rewards that come along with premium credit cards,” said Catherine Ferdon, the chief marketing officer for Cash App. “Most artists don’t really care what their fans’ credit score is or if they carry a luxury credit card in their wallet. They care that their fans love their music and can get access to it easily.”Generally, the credit cards that grant access for concert presales come with “pretty significant barriers to entry,” Ms. Ferdon said, including high annual fees, credit score requirements, and qualifying for a high credit limit. Cash App acts like a prepaid debit card and does not require users to have a bank account or credit approval. A physical Cash App card was required for the presale.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Kendrick Lamar’s ‘GNX’ Rockets to No. 1 on the Charts

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      The rapper’s surprise LP tops Billboard’s album and singles charts, where “Squabble Up” blocked Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” from a historic 20th week of dominance.You never know when Kendrick Lamar will put out a new album, but when he does, it’s big news. His latest, “GNX,” is no exception, dominating rap’s fandom discourse and immediately taking over Billboard’s album and singles charts.Lamar’s sixth studio LP, “GNX” was a surprise release, on Nov. 22, and has sailed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, becoming his fifth album to top the chart. It opened with the equivalent of 319,000 sales in the United States, including 380 million streams, according to the tracking service Luminate. That makes it one of the splashiest debuts of 2024, though it had lower overall numbers than albums by Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Sabrina Carpenter.Still, “GNX” has become yet another headline maker for Lamar, who earlier this year bested Drake in a rapid-fire volley of diss tracks. Fans have picked apart references to Lil Wayne’s complaints about Lamar taking the next Super Bowl halftime show, and Snoop Dogg commented on social media about the track “Wacced Out Murals,” whose lyrics cite a post by Snoop Dogg about a Drake song, “Taylor Made.”Tracks from “GNX” quickly took over the lists of top songs on streaming services, and they occupy the entire Top 5 of Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, with “Squabble Up” at No. 1. It has blocked what would have been a historic week for Shaboozey’s country hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” — last week, Shaboozey’s song notched its 19th week at the top, tying the record set in 2019 by Lil Nas X with “Old Town Road” for the longest run on Billboard’s flagship singles chart, which dates to 1958.“A Bar Song (Tipsy)” falls to No. 6 on the singles chart, and the rest of the Top 5 all belongs to Lamar: “TV Off” (No. 2), “Luther” (No. 3), “Wacced Out Murals” (No. 4) and “Hey Now” (No. 5). According to Billboard, that feat has previously been accomplished only by the Beatles, Taylor Swift and … Drake, who claimed nine of the Top 10 in 2021, with songs from his album “Certified Lover Boy.” That week, Drake had every slot in the Top 10 except for No. 6. (Streaming has made such blanketing of the charts much easier than ever before, when chart positions were determined by sales and airplay.)We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Kendrick Lamar’s Never-Ending Battles

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      Subscribe to Popcast!Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicLast week, Kendrick Lamar released his sixth album, “GNX,” with no advance notice, unless you count the heavy anticipation that has been hovering around him since the apex of his battle with Drake earlier this year. A squabble over hip-hop ethics became a cultural touchstone, leaving Lamar with a No. 1 hit and Drake with spiritual and professional bruises.“GNX” extends the tension but doesn’t necessarily deepen it. Mostly, Lamar wants to get back to business as usual: making concept songs and albums that are musically complex and lyrically dense. The beef elevated him even higher into the stratosphere, but he doesn’t want it to define him or his career.On this week’s Popcast, a conversation about Lamar’s long wrestle with saviorhood, how his new album showcases both his loosest and stiffest tendencies, and the ways in which Drake is still grappling with the fallout of their battle.Guest:Joe Coscarelli, The New York Times’s pop music reporterConnect With Popcast. Become a part of the Popcast community: Join the show’s Facebook group and Discord channel. We want to hear from you! Tune in, and tell us what you think at popcast@nytimes.com. Follow our host, Jon Caramanica, on Twitter: @joncaramanica.Unlock full access to New York Times podcasts and explore everything from politics to pop culture. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. More

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      Drake Accuses Universal of Boosting Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’

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      The Canadian rapper filed legal papers on Monday in New York and Texas accusing his record label of promoting “Not Like Us” ahead of Drake’s tracks.Drake’s war of words with Kendrick Lamar, through a vicious back-and-forth of diss tracks, generated some of the biggest headlines in rap this year.And now it has landed in court.On Monday, lawyers for Drake filed legal papers in New York and Texas accusing the Universal Music Group — the giant record company behind both rappers — of operating an elaborate scheme to to promote Lamar’s “Not Like Us” at the expense of Drake’s music, using bots to drive up clicks on streaming services and payola to influence radio stations.In documents filed in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan on behalf of one of Drake’s companies, Frozen Moments, the rapper’s lawyers said that Universal “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, ‘Not Like Us,’ in order to make that song go viral, including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.”In a separate filing in Bexar County, Texas, lawyers for Drake — this time filing under his real name, Aubrey Drake Graham — said they were considering a defamation claim against Universal over Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” the hit song that represented the climax of Drake and Lamar’s rap war.In that song, Lamar took various swipes at Drake — including calling Drake and his crew “certified pedophiles.” Universal, Drake’s filing said, “could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” but chose to put it out instead.“UMG knew that the song itself attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artists, Drake,” the filing said, “by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.”We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Digging Into Kendrick Lamar’s Samples

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      Listen to some of the most notable sonic references on “GNX,” from SWV, Luther Vandross and Debbie Deb.Kendrick LamarAJ Mast/The New York TimesDear listeners,On Friday, the rap superstar Kendrick Lamar surprised everyone by releasing his sixth studio album, “GNX,” without warning. It is a fitting finale to a triumphant year for Lamar, who emerged victorious by just about every measure from a high-profile beef with hip-hop’s pre-eminent hitmaker Drake and scored one of the biggest smashes of his career with the caustic diss track, “Not Like Us.” The Compton rapper’s victory lap will continue into new year, too: On Feb. 2, he’s up for seven Grammys. A week later, he is set to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.On his intricately layered 2012 breakthrough “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” and its grand 2015 follow-up, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” Lamar established himself as an artist capable of epic statements and sweeping concept albums. He also proved to be a musician who takes his time between releases, tinkering with his bars and polishing sonic worlds until they are as close to perfect as he can make them. “GNX,” though, is a different kind of Lamar album: It’s lean, mean and immediate. The beef with Drake, as my colleague Jon Caramanica suggests in his sharp review of “GNX,” seems to have made Lamar more reactive and nimble, bringing him into the present tense.Accordingly, “GNX” carries its sense of history more lightly than some of Lamar’s denser releases — though it is still an album in deep conversation with the past and present sounds of West Coast rap. In order to evoke that history, Lamar often turns to one of hip-hop’s signature arts: sampling.Today’s playlist compiles the sources of some of the most notable sonic references on “GNX” — from SWV, Luther Vandross and Debbie Deb — and follows up on them with Lamar’s own tracks, so you can hear the ways he and his producers flip them into something new. It also features a few samples from earlier Lamar hits.This playlist is just a brief introduction to the samples in Lamar’s discography — “GNX” alone is overflowing with them. But I hope it’s an invitation to listen more deeply to all the references, homages and historical conversations happening between the lines of his music.Also, a programming note: I won’t be sending out a new edition of the newsletter this Friday, because of the holiday. If you need a Thanksgiving playlist, might I suggest revisiting this one from last year?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More