Hip Hop Week In Review: Kendrick Lamar, Fetty Wap, 50 Cent

After plenty of speculation about the album’s title, Kendrick Lamar’sTo Pimp A Butterflyfinally has a release date. Now planned for a March 23 release, new info (and a new song release) from Kendrick’s latest took over the headlines this week.

Meanwhile, Fetty Wap finally opened up about what actually caused him to lose his eye and 50 Cent revisits the making of his albumThe Massacreand Game’s The Documentary.

Elsewhere, Eminem announces a release date for his epic vinyl box set, Young Thug calls Travi$ Scott his lover, and J. Prince makes waves again down in Houston.

Kendrick Lamar’s New Album Gets A Release Date And Release Date

Months after Kendrick Lamar broke his musical silence with “i” a new album is finally and officially on the way. To Pimp A Butterfly is set for release on March 23 and features 16 songs, including Kendrick’s latest single “The Blacker The Berry.”

HipHopDX | Rap & Hip Hop News | Ad Placeholder

AD LOADING...

In a new Rolling Stone feature Lamar hinted about the album being influenced by his current fame.

“You take a black kid out of Compton and put him in the limelight, and you find answers about yourself you never knew you were searching for,” he said. “There’s some stuff in there, man. It’s a roller coaster. It builds.”

As for the still-cryptic title, Kendrick only offered his lofty ambitions for the record when asked about its meaning. “That will be taught in college courses someday,” he told the magazine.

Check out the full album release page here.

AD LOADING...

Fetty Wap Explains How He Really Lost His Eye

Revealing the anti-climactic story behind the loss of his left eye, New Jersey rapper Fetty Wap finally told the media about the accident that caused the issue.

“I tell everybody it’s nothing, because it’s really nothing to me,” he said. “What happened is, when I was little I had gotten into a little accident and it gave me congenital glaucoma in both of my eyes. The doctor saved one, I was blessed to still have my vision. That’s it. That’s the story.”

During the interview Fetty also admitted to letting rumors about his being shot in the eye build given the buzz it offered.

AD LOADING...

Read the full story here.

50 Cent Revisits The Making Of Game’s The Documentary

Along with the release of another post-reunion G-Unit EP earlier this month, 50 Cent has just finished celebrating the decade anniversary of his sophomore album, The Massacre.

Speaking with XXL about the album, 50 explained how many of the original songs planned for the tracklist helped fill out Game’s debut, The Documentary.

AD LOADING...

“When Jimmy called for me to do it I was like, ‘Alright, cool, I’ll fix it,’ and I gave it [to Game],” 50 Cent said of passing some of his music onto the West Coast rapper. “I only worked with him for about, I think, four days. ‘Cause I had this album already planned so I was like, ‘Yo, just do this.’ And one by one he went through, ’cause he can rap; he wrote the verses and stuff. And when I got back the only one that wasn’t done was ‘How We Do.’ ‘Cause Dre produced that one, and when I got the record I made ‘How We Do,’ but I was making it for me. And Dre, he got a problem with pushing the button; like, he won’t push the button for his artists for Lord knows how long they’ve been sitting there. He had Joe Beast, he had Brooklyn, Bishop Lamont, Rakim, Busta Rhymes, Raekwon. Slim The Mobster. None of them got out. He was in love with ‘How We Do’ and I was like, ‘Yo, I’ll give him that if you put it out right now.’ And we just put it out. Put it together. Sold about five million records for Game’s album [The Documentary] and then I came back.”