Kendrick Lamar, one of the most happening voices in hip-hop, took on both US President Donald Trump and rivals in the rap world through a new song.
Lamar late Thursday dropped The Heart Part 4, a nearly five-minute track of rapid-fire rhyme that, in contrast to his often eclectic musical influences, is led by an unadorned bass line.
“Donald Trump is a chump / Know how we feel, punk / Tell ’em that God comin’ / And Russia need a replay button, y’all up to something,” he raps, referring to the Trump presidential campaign’s alleged ties with Russia.
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Lamar also points to Trump’s failure to win the popular vote in last year’s election, rapping: “America’s truth ain’t ignoring the votes.”
Lamar has been an active social commentator. His Alright became an unofficial anthem of the Black Lives Matter movement.
More unusually for the 29-year-old Lamar, much of The Heart Part 4 is about boasting of his own status in hip-hop.
“30 millions later, my future favours / The legendary status of a hip-hop rhyme saviour,” he raps, exalting both his earnings and his skill.
In several cryptic verses in the song, Lamar appears to take shots at other rappers -especially Drake, the Toronto superstar, whom he suggests is overrated.
The Heart Part 4 is loosely inspired by funk legend James Brown’s Don’t Tell a Lie About Me and I Won’t Tell the Truth On You, off his 1974 double-album Hell.
If Lamar releases new music on April 7, it would come little more than a week before he is one of the headliners of Coachella, the premier music festival in California.
