With Kendrick’s recent release of "The Heart Part 4," lots of rumors have been surfacing regarding his fourth studio album. It’s been two years since “To Pimp A Butterfly,” and fans are eager to hear what will come next. There are only a few days left to see what Kendrick’s plan is, so while we wait, let’s separate the facts from the rumors.
The facts.
Release date:
Kendrick’s last line on “The Heart Part 4” is "Y’all got ‘til April the 7th to get your shit together." This is a huge hint that we can expect Kendrick to release his album on April 7th. However, both him and J. Cole have teased us with release dates before, specifically with their collaboration album. It's also important to mention that April 7th is the same day Tupac Shakur, a major influence of Kendrick's, will become the first solo hip-hop artist to become inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
New music:
Aside from a plethora of features on other artists' music, Kendrick has released two singles so far: "The Heart Part 4," and most recently, "HUMBLE.," which was accompanied with a stunning music video. "The Heart Part 4" is a continued series, with "The Heart Part 1" released in 2010, "Part 2" released on "Overly Dedicated," and "Part 3" released right before "good kid, m.A.A.d city."
A departure from "To Pimp A Butterfly":
In his cover story from T Magazine, Kendrick made a few statements about his newest album:
"I think now, how wayward things have gone within the past few months, my focus is ultimately going back to my community and the other communities around the world where they’re doing the groundwork," he said. "To Pimp a Butterfly was addressing the problem. I’m in a space now where I’m not addressing the problem anymore. We’re in a time where we exclude one major component out of this whole thing called life: God. Nobody speaks on it because it’s almost in conflict with what’s going on in the world when you talk about politics and government and the system."
This interview, in addition to the religious imagery seen in the "HUMBLE." music video, may mean that there could be a lot of religious themes in Kendrick's next album (maybe we'll see a Chance The Rapper feature?).
The rumors.
Tracklist:
An unverified tracklist has been leaked, and while it looks very promising, no official sources have confirmed it. The tracklist doesn't include "HUMBLE.," which ScHoolboy Q claims is on the album (through his official Snapchat), so this tracklist is most likely fake.
Disses:
On "The Heart Part 4," Kendrick may have sent shots at Drake (or Big Sean). It's most likely not a coincidence that Kendrick released this song a mere three days after Drake released his playlist, "More Life." "HUMBLE." is, according to fans, either about Kendrick himself, or Big Sean (the hook to the song is very similar to Big Sean's signature ad-lib). The disses on these tracks could be directed toward either of these two rappers, but no one can be completely sure, yet.
