Last night, while most were in bed, Kendrick Lamar’s new album, To Pimp A Butterfly, dropped on iTunes and shortly after on Spotify.
Kendrick’s second studio album, his follow up to the widely regarded classic Good Kid, m.a.d.d. City, was originally set for a March 23rd release date but the album was made unexpectedly available late last night. Despite the excitement from fans, Anthony Tiffith, CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment which represents Kendrick, was not pleased with the surprise release. It seems as if the spur of the moment release was not the idea of Kendrick’s camp.
“I WOULD LIKE 2 PERSONALLY THANK @Interscope FOR F***ING UP OUR RELEASE,” Tiffith wrote on Twitter. “SOMEBODY GOTS 2 PAY 4 THIS MISTAKE!!!!”
Tiffith may have reached out to Interscope this morning because as of right now the album is only available for pre-order with the single The Blacker The Berry available for purchase. However, the album remains available on Spotify.
The album features the singles i and The Blacker The Berry along with features from George Clinton, Thundercat, and Snoop Dogg with production from Dr. Dre, Flying Lotus, Boi-1da, and Pharrell Williams.
You can add this to the growing list of surprise release albums from mainstream artists like Beyoncé, Drake, and now Kendrick. Kanye West has released three singles from his upcoming album, So Help Me God, but has yet to set a release date. Perhaps it will also drop around midnight with no announcement as well?
Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly is available on Spotify now. You can pre-order the album on iTunes for its March 23 release.
