Earlier this year, Kendrick Lamar released his critically-acclaimed follow up to good kid, m.A.A.d. city. That album, To Pimp A Butterfly, was a departure from the narratives and music of his major label debut, layering in dense funk powered by musicians like Thundercat, Terrace Martin and, the original funkateer, George Clinton, himself. Vocally and lyrically, Kendrick also created a thick stew of Black empowerment, seasoned with a healthy dose of dealing with his newfound fame and the survivor’s guilt of escaping from the mad city that many close to him did not survive. Recently, however, some critics have surfaced claiming the album may have tried to do too much for its own good. Others also claimed that Lamar may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater with his rhymes which, at times, were more spoken work than the verbal assaults found on “Control” and the BET Hip Hop Cypher that elevated him to a new level.

Today, Kendrick Lamar has an answer to all those who doubt he can still get absolutely savage on the microphone. “Black Friday” is a freestyle over J. Cole’s “A Tale of 2 Citiez,” and Kendrick has lots to say. He appears to have little patience for the recent criticism (“I’m animal for analysts”–perhaps a response to recent think pieces suggesting about TPAB) or the praise (“Billboard listen, he 2Pac damn;
By number 9 make sure he lives oh yea”–a direct reference to Billboard’s inclusion of him as number 9 on their top 10 rappers of all-time list, and their exclusion of Tupac). He also makes it clear that he still believes himself to be peerless, “And now we look at the competition as quick submission, They tappin’ out before we even get a chance to miss ‘em, What this about, is it money or skill?, Maybe it’s both and I got large amounts of it it’s real.” Regardless of who the intended targets may be, this is clearly a statement Rap by the Compton MC many call King Kendrick. Take a listent.

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