Compton was the epicenter of West Coast hip-hop in the late 1980s and early 1990s. NWA and then Dr Dre were the gangsta kings of Californian rap, so it’s appropriate that Dre has lent his approval to the new kid on the block, Kendrick Lamar, who hails from the same neighbourhood in Los Angeles. Dre appears on and executively produced Lamar’s second album Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City, and although it’s unlikely Dre will land in Sydney any time soon, Lamar will perform a first show at the Palace Theatre on December 21.
A member of LA collective Black Hippy, Lamar released his first album Section 8.0 last year after the obligatory run of free mixtapes. The 24-year-old rapper has already sold out some of his Australian shows, so hip-hop fans are likely to be queuing on Gumtree and round the block come December.
Apparently a significant moment of Lamar’s creative life was witnessing Dre and Tupac Shakur film the video for California Love in 1995. Fast forward 17 years, and Lamar is bringing his West Coast love to Melbourne.