When it comes to selecting the best/most impactful era of Kendrick Lamar it's almost impossible to narrow it down to just one. Each project has its place and its own importance to advancing/building out his decorated career. To Pimp A Butterfly or good kid, m.A.A.d city are always going to be neck and neck when it comes to which record really solidified him as the standard in hip-hop. Then, you have to have the conversation about which body of work pushed him into the mainstream. You can argue good kid, m.A.A.d city again or especially, DAMN. Even though it's not the most beloved by his hardcore fan base, the 2017 comeback will always be a special moment. The crossover appeal of the record did not detract from the fact that it's still a highly conceptual LP.
Hence why it's his most popular album in terms of streams because the songwriting is there, and the pop rap and R&B cuts are plentiful, making it more digestible for the casual fan. To be exact, DAMN. has over 9.1 billion streams per Kworb. The producers certainly played a major role in making this tape what it was. Dahi, Mike WiLL Made-It, Sounwave, and Steve Lacy are especially vital with all of them having experience in making more mainstream-friendly records.
Timbaland And Kendrick Lamar Would Make Magic
Someone who else could have been a part of DAMN.'s stacked roster is Timbaland. The Virginia native has been in the booth with some of the biggest rap and pop stars for decades. However, Kendrick is not on that list. At least that is what we thought up until today. A reshared clip from a Kung Fu Kenny fan page shows Timbaland previewing a track from that acclaimed era.
It's only about 15 seconds long and there's also no vocals from the Compton MC. However, just from the Timbaland beat alone, we can tell this is a fire track. The woozy instrumental includes those now iconic "Kung Fu Kenny" background vocals in such a hypnotizing fashion and it's making us want Timbo to drop it right away. When you hear it above, we can assure you that you'll want this unreleased cut to get the proper love it deserves as well.
