Kendrick Lamar has explained his decision to perform unreleased material at the 2016 Grammys. Lamar took home Best Rap Album at the 58th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Monday (Feb. 15) and gave viewers a big surprise when he chose to perform brand new material on air in the middle of his "The Blacker the Berry/Alright" medley -- revealing he has a "chamber" of unreleased material in his arsenal.
“You see all these performances on these late night shows,” Lamar told 2 Dope Boyz. “I got a chamber of material from the album that I was in love where sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album. But I think probably close to 10 songs that I’m in love with that I’ll still play and still perform that didn’t make the cut.”
Lamar’s performances during the Grammy Awards incited strong reactions from both the audience and celebrities including Kobe Bryant, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams and Snoop Dogg. Lamar held the audience’s attention with his performance alongside a chain gang to show the number of minorities being incarcerated in the US. The performance then transitioned into an African dance ritual.
This is not the first time that Lamar has surprised his audience with unreleased material. He had a stint on The Colbert Report with Stephen Colbert before it went off air where he dropped a new as yet unnamed track. The track was from his upcoming album at the time, Good Kid m.A.A.d City. His performance of the new song was striking even back then, and featured Thundercats on bass, Terrace Martin on sax and Bilal singing. It also had deep themes and spoke to the oppression that Lamar had faced in his life. Reportedly, Lamar had also used Parisian producer Astronote was used for the production of the track.
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