Kendrick Lamar Killing Rappers on their Own Tracks: An Anthology

Sometime this year, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar is supposed to be releasing Good Kid in a Mad City, which is shaping up to be an absolutely transcendent hip-hop record (think: Madvillainy or MBDTF), the only concerning thing about this release is that there isn't a solid release date attached to it yet, and considering that legendary producer/perfectionist/procrastinator Dr. Dre is affiliated with the project, this could spell trouble. But I'm going to trust that K-Dot will keep his fans in mind and get the record out sometime in 2012. So in anticipation, here is a collection of Kendrick's most thoroughly scene-stealing performances. If High Fidelity was made in 2012, Rob might have said, "Some people never got over Vietnam or the night their band opened for Nirvana time Kendrick Lamar embarrassed them on their own song."


Game - The City
Kendrick's hook alone probably outshines Game on this song. Game's verses aren't terrible by any means (although he's probably a little delusional when he talks about being one of the top 5 rappers of all time) but for the last minute or so of the track, the beat fades out and Kendrick rattles off a spine-chilling set of bars.

Meek Mill - A1 Everything
The wonderful thing about this track and a lot of other songs Kendrick appears on, is that Kendrick is able to adapt to what his host is doing and just do it better. This song is just Meek Mill bragging pretty effectively about how awesome he is over a hyped-up beat. If Lamar came through with a verse about visions of Tupac and Ronald Regan-era politics, it would kill the vibe. So instead he busts through the door screaming gun-noises and snarling about million-dollar contracts.

Birdman & Mack Maine - B Boyz
Yeah. This isn't even fair. They even let Kendrick rap first. At least Game had enough sense to make people wait through his verses first.


Casey Veggies - Ridin Roun Town Remix
In today's lesson, Kendrick shows you how to differentiate "new west" hype from "new west" talent.

Consequence - Up Against the Wall 
When Lil Wayne was in his guest-verse mercenary hey-day, it felt like every verse he recorded was pretty interchangeable. He would let loose a handful of similes that were both gross and sexual, then say something about guns, then yell about Young Money. Here, Kendrick does the exact opposite. He does his research, recognizes that Con's tape is entitled Movies on Demand 2 and goes all imdb-crazy on us.

Smoke DZA - How Far We Go (Uptown 81)
DZA was probably too hazed out to realize how severely out-leagued he was here. The start of Kendrick's verse was pretty chill and at some point it sounds like he realized that apathetic weed-rap isn't really his style. I'd like to imagine that when he went in to record this, Lamar probably felt like Don Draper in this scene.

Privaledge -Shitted On Em
If Kendrick is rapping over a Bangladesh beat, you should probably stay out of his way.