(AllHipHop News) Not even a Hurricane warning could keep Hip-Hop music’s elite journalists from attending last night’s listening session for West Coast Hip-Hop messiah, Kendrick Lamar. Over 30 music journalists braved the massive, long line outside of Chung King Studios in New York City in the pouring rain and high speed winds, to be one of the first people to hear Lamar’s upcoming album, good kid, M.A.A.d city.
Lamar seemed all the bit of a new artist, displaying signs of nervousness before he began playing a handful of tracks from his highly anticipated album. Dressed comfortably in a black fitted hat and a white short sleeve collard shirt, Lamar began the listening session with “Partynauseous”, featuring mega star Lady Gaga. The rapper did not adhere to the usual listening session protocol, introducing each track or explaining what the tracks mean to him. Instead, Lamar quickly ran through just a few of his songs.
Lamar controlled the session from the comfort of the studio control room, and almost seemed to be hiding out from the legions of media fans in his presence. The second track he played was produced by Hit-Boy and featured an almost jazz sound – much different from the Lady Gaga-assisted track he opened the session with.
On the third track, Lamar brought out the big guns and traded versus with Dr. Dre, who recently hailed Lamar the new “King of the West Coast.” Lamar seems to have bought into his new title and referred to himself as “King Kendrick Lamar” on the track, which was produced by Just Blaze.
Lamar did not play the entire album, omitting fan favorites “Swimming Pool (Drank)” and “The Recipe”. The last and final track Lamar played showcased him teaming up with YMCMB star Drake and featured a sample from Janet Jackson’s####, “Anytime, Anyplace.”
The crowd, which included rappers Pusha T and Fred Da Godson, seemed surprised when Lamar announced that those were the only tracks he was going to play for them. One thing was certain – attendees felt Lamar did a great job of whetting his fans’ appetites for his new album, which will be in stores on October 22 on Interscope Records.