Civil Court: Is It Too Soon For Kendrick Lamar’s Sophomore LP?
by Staff Editor
2013 was without a doubt Kendrick Lamar’s year and it appears K. Dot intends to continue that momentum with a sophomore album due out in September.
Top Dawg Entertainment’s frontman lead with an iron fist, dropping menacing bars in his feature verses – never forget “Control” – as well as dropping his major label debut which cemented his place in hip hop, good kid m.A.A.d. city. The LP pulled us back to a time where the concept album ruled the charts and had more replay value than the hit single played heavily in radio rotation. And unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you’ve peeped the buzz surrounding the Compton kid: the lists ranking him a freshman worthy of attention, the Grammy noms and the on-wax sparring with Drake.
But what’s to come? The bar’s been set very high, and King Kendrick’s next offering cannot be hit or, although very doubtful, a miss. Can Kendrick beat good kid m.A.A.d. city or will his sophomore effort fall inferior?
TDE is on a very strategic mission. Like Kanye West said, “You don’t leave while you’re hot, that’s how Mase screwed up.” So while it may seem ambitious, TDE intends for each artist in their camp to drop a record. With ScHoolboy Q leading the way, Isaiah Rashad, Ab-Soul and SZA will have their album celebrations at some point of this year. And we can’t forget about a potential Black Hippy project also claiming a piece of 2014.
With all of this music going on, is their enough room to craft another quality Kendrick album?
The sophomore LP for any artist has the ability strike another career peak or send them back to the lab in hopes of landing a comeback with their third record. As much talent as the good kid and his team possess, there are a lot of hats being worn. This could potentially be too big a feat leading to an accidental disaster that could be avoided by continuing to harness K. Dot’s talent and focusing on building up the other TDE artists.
Kendrick has the lyrical chops, but he and Q’s debut shattered expectations due to a clear playing field. The entire roster can’t be up to bat and all expect home runs. – Alley Olivier
Every artist who drops a successful debut album all share the same fear – how do I avoid a Sophomore slump? K. Dot’s platinum-selling debut album good kid m.A.A.d city gave him his due acceptance in the game and since then, he’s been demolishing feature after feature, stirring up controversy with songs like “Control,” while making headlines on a weekly basis. He’s in a position to become one of the most dominant artists of our generation, and if he wants to do so, he’ll have to dodge the 2nd album curse. But don’t worry…he will.
K. Dot and the TDE camp are in a similar situation that 50 Cent and G-Unit were in from 2003-2005. After 50 dropped his classic debut album Get Rich Or Die Trying, he wasted no time releasing albums from each member of his G-Unit crew, as well as a platinum-selling group album; this is exactly what TDE plans to do this year as a follow up to Kendrick’s debut success. In 2005, 50 dropped his Sophomore effort The Massacre, which came out 2 years after GRODT and went platinum in the first week, clearly avoiding a Sophomore slump. As reported earlier in the week, Kendrick’s sophomore album is expected to drop this September, which would be two years after GKMC dropped. See a possible trend forming?
The way Top Dawg and the TDE conglomerate have operated since GKMC came out has been superb. They’ve effectively introduced us to Isaiah Rashad and SZA, while building major hype for Jay Rock, Soulo, and Q’s albums. I have no doubt in my mind that TDE will successfully release 5 other projects this year, while allowing Kendrick’s 2nd album to reach its maximum potential. So no, in my opinion, it’s not too soon for Kendrick’s Sophomore LP. In fact, the timing couldn’t be better. – Jason Holzman
Can Kendrick Lamar rise to the challenge or will he hit a sophomore slump? Weigh in.
this is a pointless article. do better, karen.