April 14th is quickly approaching and Kendrick Lamar is ready to take the rap world by storm again. Before we get there, its good to look back and realize how Kdot has managed to rise from the underground into a living rap legend of our time. Everybody knows the classics that have cemented his stardom from Alright to Swimming Pools, however, we sometimes forget about those underrated songs that set the foundation for his career. It’s all good though, because here are 10 underrated Kendrick songs to have in rotation this Monday and to get ready for everything that Friday turns out to be.
Michael Jordan
Kendrick incorporates Lil Wayne’s words into the hook using a short phrase off one my favorite Wayne songs “Swag Surf”. As an added bonus Schoolboy Q comes in near the end of this providing a solid verse. MJ needs no introduction but if he ever did this song would have to be played at max volume.
J Dilla (Freestyle) Feat. Jay Rock & Punch
I dug way back in the archives for this song which is off one of Kendricks earliest mixtapes “Training Day”. On this song Kendrick & friends rap over the J Dilla beat from the song “Players” by Slum Village. A J Dilla beat + TDE rapping over it, What could be better?
Westside, Right On Time (Feat. Young Jeezy)
This song came out right before the release of GKMC in 2012 and was likely a song that barely missed the cut for the album. The sample that was used for this beat is dope, which Kdot & Jeezy go crazy over.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/56675599″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Look Out For Detox
Another song from the early days of TDE, Kendrick goes insane on this, switching up his flows so many times. It still makes no sense and gets better on every listen.
The Heart Pt. 3 (Feat. Jay Rock & Ab-Soul)
While Part. 4 had a larger impact on the rap game, Pt.3 was a better song in my opinion. Whenever Kendrick and his TDE family get together its always special and this was a perfect example of that.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/64157984″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
Blow My High
One of the more chill Kendrick track incorporates parts of the classic Pimp C verse from Jay Z’s “Big Pimpin” on this. Genius.
Compton State of Mind
Kendrick really took Jay-Z’s top mainstream hit and bodied it for his own city. Respect.
Cut You Off
This is why I love Kendrick because no matter what he will always give you a track that you can relate too. This song in particular is my favorite, as there are a lot of people out there that need to stfu (@realDonaldTrump). Talk that talk Kendrick.
County Building Blues
A bonus track off GKMC that slid under my radar for awhile and its a shame because this song is so dope to me. Even Kendrick’s throwaways are better than half of rappers best songs, crazy.
Cartoons & Cereal Ft. Gunplay
This song is a 30/10 and if you haven’t heard this yet I feel bad for you. Gunplay verses might be the hardest of the 21st century. Kendrick also blacks out on this and makes this collab a classic. We need more collabs from these two in the future.
