Rating: 2/5
For the record, this never happened. Kendrick Lamar and SZA are both coming off massive years. Kendrick with DAMN, SZA with CTRL.
Top Dawg are the hottest label in hip-hop right now. Naturally, when the producers from Marvel’s Black Panther came knocking, they would take the opportunity for more publicity. After all, it hasn’t stopped either Kendrick nor SZA from appearing on the most recent Maroon 5 album, which was utterly forgettable.
‘All the Stars’ is fairly simple in its production. It does not take long before things start going south. About 10 seconds into the song, you can hear the heavily auto-tuned voice of Lamar. You’d be forgiven for mistaking it for Kanye, as it sounds like recycled material from 808’s and Heartbreak.
808’s Kendrick does not work. Not at all.
As for SZA, she does a good job. The vocals certainly do not undermine the production the way Kendrick Lamar’s harmonising does. Unfortunately that is the extent of it. While one would expect more from a track with Kendrick and SZA, its clear Kendrick is suffering from feature fatigue. At least he’s taking risks on this rather, than on an album.
In the short term, however, there’s more hope, as Kendrick locks on with Future on Jay Rock’s ‘King’s Dead’.
Image Credit: Kendrick Lamar, Instagram