Kendrick Lamar finally announced the release date for his upcoming sophomore album on Friday evening by sharing a pre-order iTunes link that revealed the project would drop March 23 and that it would include 15 tracks in addition to "Blacker the Berry." His Grammy-winning single "i" was not included in the 16-song tracklist. However, K. Dot did not reveal the album's title or track names, and the album art was just a plain black square.
Fans who were hoping for something a little more colorful need not worry. According to hip-hop journalist Elliott Wilson, who tends to get the scoop on these sort of things, the album will have a proper title and album art.
There's an album title. There's an album cover.
— Elliott Wilson (@ElliottWilson) March 7, 2015
Rather than pulling a full-on Beyoncé and dropping his album without notice, it appears that Lamar is only leaving some information as a surprise. Most details about the album are scarce, although iTunes revealed that fans who pre-order the record will receive "The Blacker The Berry" and a digital album booklet immediately.
The new as-yet-untitled album will be the follow-up to Lamar's critically acclaimed major label debut good kid m.A.A.d. city, which was released in 2013.
Although we are still eagerly awaiting the new material, there are a few lucky fans who've heard previews already.
Last month, K. Dot let Michael Jackson's son Prince and his friend Omer Bhatti hear a few songs. Bhatti took to Facebook saying that Lamar's "music is on another level," nothing with the "fire" emoji that the album was hot.
Back in November Hot 97's Peter Rosenberg was given a private preview of four tracks.
He described the four songs he heard as "not anything like what you've heard from Kendrick before."
"If this album is anything like what I heard we are in for a treat," Rosenberg on an episode of The Realness. "Yes, Kendrick Lamar somehow has developed even more, gone to another level. He's talking about Black righteousness. He's talking about Africa. There's social commentary. There's all kinds of deep thoughts...There are deep thoughts throughout, however, it is upbeat music that is gonna thrive in the club and on the radio. However, just like good kid m.A.A.d city, you can hear there's no attempt to make club music.
He added: "This next album is gonna be as good as good kid m.A.A..d. city. It may be even on a different and higher level. Early 2015, new Kendrick album. And I promise you when these songs come out that I heard yesterday, you are all gonna say ...'Rosenberg, you got it right again.'"
Let the countdown to March 23 begin!
