Last night, yet another rapping masterclass was delivered by Kendrick Lamar, who, thankfully, recently told the New York Times that since the release of 2015’s To Pimp a Butterfly, he’s been “writing, writing, writing.”
The fruits of that labor were on full display in Lamar’s dextrous performance of the new track, “Untitled 2,” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The 5+ minute song begins with a fast-paced and uncharacteristically jaunty, carefree-sounding (though that’s of course not lyrically the case, as he speeds his way through anecdotes about poverty, career anxieties, and exaltations — and more anxieties — of/about God) verse, bridge and hook. This, however, eventually leads to a frenzied and pretty unforgettable outro, with him screaming his way through a litany of “You ain’t got to tell me that I’m the one”s until he reaches a final, “Yes I’m the one.”
Watch: