New Hip Hop Adds: Kendrick Lamar, Yung Lean, Samiyam

Kendrick Lamar - Untitled Unmastered: Seemingly out of the blue last week, TDE surprised us with a compilation of unreleased cuts by Kendrick Lamar from the To Pimp a Butterfly recording sessions. The result is a mini-album that is surprisingly on par with Kendrick's previous release for the most part. Despite the title, all of the songs on here seem to be crafted with great care, and definitely cater to both fans of "old" and "new" Kendrick alike (the jazzy and boom-bap instrumentation that seemed to influence Kendrick for TPAB and GKMC, respectively, come together best in songs like "untitled 2"). While this album is not meant to be as impactful or as powerful as To Pimp a Butterfly, the 8 tracks on this project make for a short, sweet, and entertaining listen for all types of hip-hop fans. SHAWN

Yung Lean - Warlord: Yo wsup fam. So Yung Lean dropped a new album bout two weeks ago; his second studio album following up Unknown Memory. Not much to say here. Give it 3 slaps out of 5. I'm adding it cause there might be some sad boys lurkin in the shadows namsayin. As usual, Lean sits on some solid beats. Props to yung gud and yung sherman killin it, but the thing is -- lean has gone off and started taken his self way to seriously now namean? Literally taking everything that was fun about listening to him (spittin nonsense bout gatorade arizona and mariokart) to fancying himself as something that he's not? A 'serious' rapper. Stick to your guns, mang. But I fuck wit 'fantasy' 'hoover' and 'eye contact'. Those are pretty tight. JAISON

Samiyam - Animals Have Feelings: Aight so for those of you that don't know. Samiyam is a producer affiliated wit Brainfeeder and Stonesthrow. Two local record labels I'm sure most of you have heard and do fuk wit. This cat dropped this a couple weeks ago and I fucks wit it. A bunch of short, blunted beats that sounds like it's being played out of a gameboy color. Strong features from Bronsolino and Earl Sweat in "Mr. Wonderful" and "Mirror" respectively, for the fans out there. Gud shit to listen to if you're trynna vibe out in the shower or spit a freestyle or some shit. some slaps on this piece. "Not a fluke" "paddle boat" "turkish vacation" and "part 1" all knock. JAISON