Kendrick Lamar quietly dropped a secret album, "untitled unmastered," Thursday night.
The unannounced album can be purchased on iTunes, or streamed on Spotify or Apple Music.
It's unclear whether the official release was forced after Spotify apparently leaked the artwork and track list Thursday night. It wouldn't be the first time that a Lamar release didn't stick to schedule. His 2015 masterpiece, "To Pimp A Butterfly," was released more than a week early.
Each of the eight tracks on "untitled unmastered" has a specific date associated with it, covering the years of 2013, 2014 and 2016, perhaps suggesting the recording dates of them.
In an interview last month, Lamar said he had a “chamber of material” that had never been released. The Grammy-winning rapper has performed unreleased songs in several television performances including last month’s Grammys ceremony, stoking the excitement for his next offering.
Earlier this week, Top Dawg Entertainment CEO Anthony Tiffith hinted that new work from Lamar was coming in 2016. “Ive decided 2 drop a project 1 day this week. I won’t say…” Tiffith said on Twitter. Lamar retweeted his boss’s messages.
Lamar vaulted to the top of the rap world with “To Pimp A Butterfly,” his third studio album, which brought him five Grammy awards. The Compton-based artist found himself on top of music charts, on the cover of Rolling Stone and in the Oval Office, discussing life in the inner cities with President Barack Obama, a topic Lamar focuses on in his songs. Lamar’s “How Much a Dollar Cost,” from his last album, was Obama’s favorite song of 2015, the president said.
This post has been updated to note the album is also available on Spotify and Apple Music.
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