Kendrick Lamar nearly blew up the Internet last night when, out of nowhere, he dropped a brand new track. Titled “The Heart Part 4,” the song was a more-than-welcome return by one of the most dominant MC’s in the game today. In the song, it seems like King Kenny went after his sometime nemesis Drake, rapping, ““My fans can’t wait for me to son your punk ass / And crush your whole sh*t,” he raps at one point, “Tip-toeing around my name / N***a you lame / And when I get at you homie don’t you tell me you just playin / ‘Oh I was just playin K.Dot you know a n***a ride with you bro.”
He also called himself the greatest rapper alive and then took a swipe at the President of the United States, “Donald Trump is a chump, know how we feel, punk / Tell ‘em that God comin’ / And Russia need a replay button, y’all up to somethin’”. Most tantalizingly of all, he also appeared to reveal the release date for his next major release, saying, “Ya’ll got till April the 7th to get your sh*t together.”
There’s a lot to parse through all of this, and the Internet went all the way in, celebrating the track, while picking apart every line, every chord-change, teasing out everything Kendrick said, and some of what he didn’t.
https://twitter.com/HipHopHeads/status/845281828491669509
Damn Kendrick Lamar comes out With A single That's Better Den Drake Whole Album.🔥🔥
— 🌴🅰3️⃣ (@taeukno010) March 24, 2017
Listening to kendrick lamar's – the heart part 4 had me like pic.twitter.com/rsSQnUrILu
— Edwin Rivas (@Edwinxr7) March 24, 2017
When beats keep changing on that track and Kendrick Lamar is still killing his own verse pic.twitter.com/RCSt6LUQvJ
— Reuben (@foscraft) March 24, 2017
After Kendrick Lamar album date release 😂😂😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/8jgsL43FNU
— Reuben (@foscraft) March 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/derrickrhombus/status/845174961064984577
https://twitter.com/MarcusP53/status/845172938747785216
https://twitter.com/adel_nasir_/status/845141590737764353
Kendrick Lamar: y'all got til April 7th to get y'all sh*t together.
Rappers: pic.twitter.com/j4x5SG3eJy— Jay kay (@jkthenewwave) March 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/RappersSaid/status/845126432204320768
Kendrick Lamar heard More Life and responded like… pic.twitter.com/4rbAOGcKur
— The Shadow League (@ShadowLeague) March 24, 2017
https://twitter.com/Ohhthassamuel/status/845114655286710272
When Kendrick Lamar says he's the greatest rapper alive on The Heart Part 4… pic.twitter.com/aZrqfGn2IJ
— Jorge (@wethejorge) March 24, 2017
Listen to “The Heart Part 4” via iTunes or stream it at Apple Music.