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Music

Listen to Kendrick Lamar's "The Blacker the Berry"

If you're still not excited for Kendrick's next album, you don't have a pulse.

UPDATE (March 6, 2015): Kendrick Lamar announced the release date of his new album, which appears to be untitled. It's available on March 23, 2015. Pre-order it here.

Aw hell yeah, new Kendrick, and it's a certified slapper. In case you were wondering, "The Blacker the Berry" is pretty much the opposite of his feel-good anthem "i." It's five minutes of absolute, Boi-1da and Terrace Martin-produced insanity, featuring uncredited toasting from an MC who appears to be Assassin, followed by a jazzy denouement that deflates the tension Kendrick cultivates through the righteous fury of his verses.

There's a lot to love here—Kendrick is in full-on modern Public Enemy mode here, speaking frankly and radically about race with such urgency you don't want to breathe for fear of missing a word. If you're still not excited for Kendrick's next album, you don't have a pulse.