The excitement for Kendrick Lamar‘s album DAMN. is reaching a fever pitch, as it is scheduled for release on April 14th (or 13th, depending on your time zone). The Compton emcee has been tight-lipped about the project so far, only recently revealing the cover art, tracklist, and guest features that will appear.
Now, however, it looks like LeBron James has taken it upon himself to give the world a little taste of what’s to come. The NBA superstar uploaded Instagram videos of himself listening to the album on Thursday morning, revealing that he not only has an advanced copy of DAMN., but that he’s free to bump it on social media. James plays snippets of multiple previously unheard tracks on the album, each of which capture the gritty, braggadocios, and hard-hitting sound that was teased by Lamar and his various collaborators leading up to its release. Check out the final tracklist below, which includes guest appearances from Rihanna, U2, and, according to HipHopDX, uncredited vocals from Kaytranada and Zacari.
In an interview with HNPP, producer Syk Sense spoke on the direction that Lamar wanted to take his music, saying that its “some of the hardest sh*t I’ve ever heard.” He later added that “We’ve got some new guys that’s really gonna make a name for themselves with these beats, it’s not like the jazzy tape you would think, its like… f*cking Memphis. It’s L.A., it’s Memphis. It’s on some different sh*t. I don’t even know how to explain it. I can’t wait either to be honest, because Kendrick is such an elevated mind, you just never know.
As can be seen, King James is definitely a fan of the new sound. Check out the rest of the Instagram clips below.
