Pop Out Summer has lasted a little too long for Kendrick Lamar. “I think it’s time for me to watch the party die,” he menaces on his latest song, a dour untitled track released, on Instagram, during the VMAs. The “I think” belies his conviction. Channeling the worn black Air Force Ones in the accompanying photo, Kendrick raps with smoldering contempt, lamenting the state of “the culture,” the institution he credited with killing Nipsey Hussle on “The Heart Part 5” and empowering him to mollywhop Drake on “Euphoria.” The Boy and his shadow army of influencers receive a few subliminal shots here, but Kendrick’s more keen to ponder than punch.
The mellow instrumental, laced with a pillowy vocal loop, splashes of strings and piano, and a plucked bassline, ups the ruminative mood. The beef seems to have unleashed forces Kendrick can’t control, out in the culture and within his own psyche. Haunted by ghosts and lost in the “sunken place,” he rattles off questions and gripes, wondering a few times how Christian rapper Lecrae resists temptations. His are vengeful. “I want agony/Assault and battery, I see a new Earth/Filled with beautiful people makin’ humanity work,” he confesses, imagining his enemies purged and replaced.
This vision of righteous wrath is a bit funny coming from next year’s Super Bowl performer—that’s a pretty big party. And after the open vitriol of the preceding diss tracks, the cryptic threats feel somewhat anticlimactic. But for better or worse, Kendrick remains rap’s most compelling hypocrite.
Listen to the untitled song on Instagram.
