Courtney Love has ‘mad crush’ on ‘genius’ Kendrick Lamar and wants to work with him
The Hole singer called Lamar ‘undoubtedly the best hip-hop writer ever’
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Your support makes all the difference.Courtney Love has said she has a “mad crush” on rapper Kendrick Lamar and “would love” to collaborate on new music with him.
The Hole frontwoman, 60, recently released a cover of Tim Buckley’s “Song to the Siren” with rapper 070 Shake.
Speaking to The Standard in an interview published on Tuesday (November 26), Love discussed other artists she would like to record with and said: “I would love to work with Kendrick Lamar. I have a mad crush on him.”
Lamar surprise released his sixth album, GNX, last Friday.
“He’s undoubtedly the best hip-hop writer ever; his flow is beautiful and his lyrics thoughtful,” said Love of Lamar, 37.
“Kendrick — if you’re reading this — did you listen to Leonard Cohen or Bowie growing up? Because it sounds like it! Plus, political-era Bob Dylan?” Love added. “Dude... seriously... he’s a genius.”
Although Lamar’s new album arrived unannounced, it was much anticipated by fans. In a five-star review of his last record Mr. Morale and the High Steppers, The Independent’s Ben Bryant described Lamar as the “defining poet of his generation.”
In December 2019, The Independent named Lamar’s third album To Pimp a Butterfly as the best album of the preceding decade. Just one year prior, he became the first rapper ever to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music for his fourth album, Damn.
Lamar has spent much of the past year embroiled in a feud with Canadian rapper Drake.
While the beef between Lamar and Drake goes back to 2014, it escalated this summer when the musicians released multiple diss tracks — calling each other out over physical appearance, talent, use of artificial intelligence, and allegations of paedophilia.
On GNX, Lamar tackles the controversy that arose after it was announced he will perform at next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, which will take place in New Orleans on February 9, 2025.
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On “wacced out murals,” the opening track of GNX, Lamar references a classic Lil Wayne album from 2008 as he raps: “Used to bump Tha Carter III, I held my Rollie chain proud / Irony, I think my hard work let Lil Wayne down.”
A few bars later, he adds: “Won the Super Bowl and Nas the only one congratulate me / All these n***** agitated / I’m just glad it’s on their faces / Quite frankly, plenty artist but they outdated / Old-a** flows trying to convince me that you they favorite.”
The lyrics reference the fact that Lamar’s success in being chosen to perform at the Super Bowl inadvertently let down Lil Wayne, who had been hoping to perform at the event in his hometown of New Orleans.
Additional reporting by agencies
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