attends/performs on day 2 of the New Look Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park on July 4, 2015 in London, England.
Kendrick Lamar is a rapper who is often doing interesting, unique work. His To Pimp a Butterfly is one of the most eclectic albums of recent memory, and his performance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert was fantastically intense. His next big, outside-the-box decision will see him taking the stage with the National Symphony Orchestra joining him.
Lamar will put on a one-time-only performance at the Kennedy Center with the full orchestra supporting him. The Kennedy Center is a very notable, prestigious venue, and not necessarily one you would associate with hip-hop. Although, if any big name rapper currently performing makes sense there, it’s probably Lamar.
This will be his first orchestral collaboration, and, given the elaborate musical backdrop on To Pimp a Butterfly, the orchestra will have a lot of meaty stuff to work with. However, this will not be the National Symphony Orchestra’s first rap collaboration. They played alongside Nas when he performed his 20th anniversary of Illmatic show.
The show is taking place October 20, and should be one of the best, or at least most interesting, rap events of the year. After all, collaborating with an orchestra worked out well for Cypress Hill in that one episode of The Simpsons.
(Via Pitchfork)
