A NEXT LEVEL LEGEND

KENDRICK LAMAR IS HEADING TOWARDS THE TOP TIER OF WEST COAST RAPPERS... AND HE’S COMING THIS WAY

FEW artists on the planet are enjoying a hot streak like Kendrick Lamar Duckworth of Compton, South Central Los Angeles, is right now. West Coast rap has traditionally been a mixed bag of heavyweights and also-rans, for every Ice Cube and Dr Dre there’s been a Bishop Lamont or a Tyga.

With his current trajectory, the 30-year-old is hurtling towards a 2Pac level of legend.

Anyone who’s anyone will tell you Kendrick is the best rapper of his generation and will likely be better than any rapper of the next generation.

The key to his success at this point? It seems to be doing whatever he wants.

Does he follow trends? A funk and jazz oriented, racially charged album in 2015 would suggest no.

Does he make easy to digest hiphop? See above. Add to that last year’s album DAMN, which is 14-bible referencing tracks that offered little to get mainstream radio stations salivating - yet they were still hot for it.

To give some scope of his desire to do as he pleases, DAMN contained a track featuring U2 (yes, that U2) and managed to make Bono sound cool 30 years after he actually stopped being cool.

This ever-shifting unpredictability has seemingly continued into 2018 as neosoul crooner and Mercury Prize winner James Blake is the support for Lamar’s arena tour.

Kendrick is signed to the same label as colleagues such as ScHoolboy Q and SZA who would have easily fit the bill for the Arena show, but that would have been far too predictable.

After all, you don’t earn the title of the best rapper alive by doing what people expect of you. SUPPORT ACT James Blake MERCURY Prize winner James Blake has been announced as support for the Manchester show. Blake’s 2013 album Overgrown won the Mercury Prize later that year, he has since gone on to work with the likes of Frank Ocean and Bon Iver.

Manchester Arena / manchesterarena.com / 0844 847 8000 / Saturday, February 10, 6pm / £50