'Damn' We Can't Wait for This New Kendrick Lamar Album

Kendrick Lamar just confirmed his new album is dropping next week and tracks will include features from Rihanna and U2

Attention, Kendrick fans: we still gon’ be alright! After much teasing and speculation, Kendrick Lamar just confirmed that his new album is dropping next week on April 14. In a series of Instagram posts on Tuesday, the rapper also revealed the title of his highly anticipated record: DAMN. In the posts, Lamar shared DAMN‘s cover art and track list, which includes songs featuring Rihanna and…U2?! We are v. v. excited.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSvfNwxBynw/?taken-by=kendricklamar

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSvcjL3BZDY/?taken-by=kendricklamar

DAMN also features Lamar’s most recent single, “Humble.” On March 30, Lamar released the music vid for the track which caused the internet to lose its mind. “Humble” is a visual masterpiece (think cuts between Lamar’s head in flames to fisheye lens shots of him riding a bicycle) that features some serious religious imagery (like Lamar in a pope-like robe and a Last Supper recreation scene). Woke as always, Lamar raps that he’s “so f-ckin’ sick and tired of the Photoshop” and wants to see “something natural like ass with some stretchmarks.”

But the video wasn’t the only clue that an album was on its way. On March 23, Lamar dropped a track called “The Heart Part 4” where he rapped, “Y’all got ‘til April 7 to get y’all shit together,” causing fans to think the record would be released then—he tricked us all. He also wiped his Instagram account of all previous posts on March 23, and shared a now-deleted solitary pic of “IV” (the roman numeral for four) in white on a black background, leaving his 4.1 million followers to wonder if his hotly-anticipated fourth album was imminent. We now know it is.

Earlier this year, the “King Kunta” rapper told T Magazine his next release is “urgent.” While his hometown pride is no secret (in the first-ever ep of VICE’s music docuseries Noisey, he gave host Zach Goldbaum a tour of where he grew up in Compton), Kendrick added, “My focus is ultimately going back to my community and other communities around the world where they’re doing the groundwork.”

Lamar’s new album might also feature new tracks about acceptance. “We love women, we enjoy their company. At one point in time I may have a little girl who grows up and tells me about her engagements with a male figure—things that most men don’t want to hear. Learning to accept it, and not run away from it, that’s how I want this album to feel.”

K Dot’s previous albums include 2011’s Section.80, 2012’s game-changer good kid, m.A.A.d city and his 2015 political smash To Pimp a Butterfly. Since then, he also dropped the compilation album untitled unmastered, previously unreleased demos and tracks recorded during his To Pimp a Butterfly sessions.

While he hasn’t been gone for long—he’s continued to rack up features on songs by DJ Khaled, Sia, and Beyoncé—fans are hungry to see what he’s cooking up. We saw him open the 2016 BET Awards amid flames and splash-dancing with Beyoncé, and now K’s one of the headliners taking over Coachella in April. With the April 14 date now boldly circled on our calendars, looks like he’ll be blessing ‘Chella-goers with new music. Amen, Lamar.