Kendrick Lamar at SXSW 2012

Photo: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

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For The Record: How Kendrick Lamar Rewired The Rap Game With His Debut Album 'Section.80'

In the latest episode of For The Record, rediscover Kendrick Lamar's seminal 2011 debut album, 'Section.80,' which paved the way for a career of masterpieces while standing tall on its own

Morgan Enos

GRAMMYs

Jul 2, 2021 - 12:39 pm

Before good kid, m.A.A.d city; To Pimp A Butterfly and DAMN., before he brought the house down at the 58th GRAMMY Awards with flames licking around him, before winning a Pulitzer and being seriously considered the next Bob Dylan, Kendrick Lamar was simply a socially conscious rapper from Compton on a personal quest.

His 2011 debut album, Section.80, contains the themes Lamar would return to again and again—albeit in relatively green form. Song for song, you'll hear references to the spiritual vacancy of endless partying ("A.D.H.D."), Biblical justice ("Kush and Corinthians"), and the '80s drug scourge ("Ronald Reagan Era").

"I'm making music that represents my generation, their struggle," Lamar told Billboard in 2011. "It feels good to know that I went in with a concept in mind to talk about my generation and that everybody caught on to it so fast and understood where I was coming from."

Kendrick Lamar's 'Section.80' | For The Record

In the latest episode of For The Record, examine how Section.80 came to be and led to even more fully-fledged works of art as time went on. With rumblings of a new album on the way, now's the time to do so—especially considering Lamar tends to change the game, Radiohead-style, with each new release.

With the help of the above clip, turn back the clock a decade and revisit a time when the 13-time GRAMMY winner was merely a young, hungry upstart with potential coming out of his ears.

Black Sounds Beautiful: How Kendrick Lamar Became A Rap Icon

Kendrick Lamar

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Black Sounds Beautiful: How Kendrick Lamar Became A Rap Icon

In the latest episode of Black Sounds Beautiful, take a minute to explore the astonishing GRAMMYs legacy of hip-hop heavyweight Kendrick Lamar—from Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City to DAMN and beyond

Morgan Enos

GRAMMYs

Jul 1, 2021 - 1:19 pm

When Kendrick Lamar rapped the verses to "Alright" in front of a massive fireball at the 2018 GRAMMY Awards show, the pyrotechnics felt metaphorical for K-Dot's presence in the rap game.

Since he hit the ground running with 2011's Section.80, the visceral, socially conscious and self-analytical MC has led the charge for hip-hop's 21st-century evolution.

In classic albums like 2012's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and 2017's DAMN., he braided dazzling technical acumen with the realities of the Black experience, all anchored by his Christian faith.

Inside Kendrick Lamar's Explosive GRAMMYs Legacy

In the latest episode of Black Sounds Beautiful, behold the 13-time GRAMMY winner and 37-time GRAMMY nominee's astonishing legacy in a whiplash one-minute tour of his life and career.

While we wait for Lamar's next album — which, given, his track record, is bound to be another game-changer — check out the thrilling, informative video above.

Black Sounds Beautiful: Five Years After His Death, Prince's Genius Remains Uncontainable

The Fugees

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For The Record: How The Fugees Settled 'The Score' 25 Years Ago

When they first approached creating 'The Score,' The Fugees were hoping to win the battle. Twenty-five years later—as the latest episode of For The Record demonstrates—we see now that they won the war

Kathy Iandoli

GRAMMYs

Apr 6, 2021 - 7:19 am

When The Fugees released their second album, The Score, the timing felt eerily perfect. As hip-hop's East and West Coasts continued their tussle, their lighter-hearted approach to socially conscious rap curtailed any overarching assumptions that hip-hop was going down a "bad road." Plus, they had Lauryn Hill, who doubled as a songbird and lyrical spitfire. Together, by juxtaposing life instrumentation, soulful melodies and abstract bars, The Fugees gave hip-hop a renewed spirit and propelled it to a different kind of mainstream.

But above all, The Score changed the way artists made their music—even 25 years later.

By the time The Fugees released The Score, was nominated for Album Of The Year and won Best Rap Album and Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for "Killing Me Softly With His Song," they were more than ready to puff out their chests. The group checked the temperature of the streets with their debut album Blunted On Reality in 1994, almost two years prior to the day of The Score's release on February 13, 1996.

The Fugees' 'The Score' At 25 | For The Record

Still, their introduction left listeners a little confused by the group's collective identity. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel were a lot of everything. They were eccentric Jersey kids—two-thirds of whom were Haitian—and were more than willing to fling art, politics, multi-culture and lyricism against a wall and record the sounds of what stuck and what slid off.

The centerpiece of Blunted was the second single "Nappy Heads," a deeply rhythmic and melodic track with a video that takes place on the steps of the library at Columbia University, where Lauryn Hill was a student at the time. Hill was already the de-facto star of the group, complete with a lead role in the Whoopi Goldberg film Sister Act 2: Back In the Habit. On that debut album, she had a solo track called "Some Seek Stardom," which many point to as the moment they knew she would one day stand out from her comrades. Still, the group was full of promise and their evolution was quick and steadfast.

With The Score, The Fugees were arguably more focused. They were no longer working with Khalis Bayyan of Kool & The Gang (who theoretically influenced so much of Blunted's sound). This time, Lauryn and Wyclef took the bulk of the writing and production duties with the help of Wyclef's cousin Jerry Wonda and Salaam Remi as a creative consultant. They experimented with creating their own take on R&B-skewed hip-hop tracks and even reggae while adding a live element since Wyclef was a trained musician.

Then, there was Lauryn Hill's phenomenally authentic singing voice, which lent itself to some of the more prominent hooks on the project. The Score was still an amalgam of everything the group stood for, but where Blunted chose to go more animated in parts, The Score opted to get deeper and darker in both sound and style.

"Red Intro" sets a unique tone as the opener. The track is a monologue that challenges rappers' desires to posture themselves as gangsters and pretend to be mobsters when people are dying out in the streets. It's an unequivocal backhand to nearly everything that was happening in hip-hop at the time.

There was a rise in neo-gangster rap, where artists like Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. were poetically flaunting wealth and gun talk, woven expertly through their bars. They were the byproduct of '80s artists like N.W.A., and while that surge in gangster rap was tempered by hip-hop's D.A.I.S.Y. Age (A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, etc.), the '90s now had groups like The Fugees and The Roots, who stood in stark contrast to Pac and Biggie.

But there was more to the mission of The Score, considering the group didn't want to be relegated to one corner of hip-hop. So they dropped breadcrumbs throughout the album to show they knew how to stunt, they were aware of the on-goings of the world, yet they could even be strapped… if they wanted to be. The Score is laden with innuendos, firing shots at the competition while simultaneously making biblical references about false prophets. The songs tell a story from beginning to end, with peaks and valleys.

The album's introductory track "How Many Mics" gets the chest-thumping started early, as the group details their creative superiority over so many other emcees. The concept of The Score was layered; The Fugees felt slighted by the lukewarm response of their first album and this was pure redemption. They use the title track to tie that all together by the middle of the project, by even sampling parts of the rest of the album on the song's hook.

"Ready Or Not" takes an Enya sample and transforms it into a battle cry that doubles as a love song. Tracks like "Zealots" take jabs at biting emcees who dumb their work down for mainstream attention, where "The Mask" goes in on manufactured personas. "The Beast" is a politically charged anthem that tackles political corruption and police brutality, further extended on the track "Family Business," about how being Black and in America can have you murdered for no reason.

"Fu-Gee-La" takes on more braggadocio, along with "Cowboys" which features another New Jersey rap outfit: The Outsidaz, starring a young Rah Digga. "No Woman, No Cry" mourns those who have passed due to violence. The "Manifest/Outro" has Lauryn contemplating suicide over a toxic breakup.

Then, of course, there's "Killing Me Softly," the Roberta Flack remake that shifted gears for The Fugees and made them a household name. Thanks to "Killing Me Softly," more attention was paid to the project as a whole, so the casual rap listener suddenly became a hip-hop fan once they experienced The Score. That was The Fugees' superpower: they won over massive audiences with messaging that hip-hop was struggling to convey on a greater platform. Some saw it as a curse to the purity of the art, but in the events that followed it became a gift.

What happened following The Score's release was complicated. Tupac Shakur was murdered in September 1996, The Notorious B.I.G. was murdered in March 1997, and Puffy's "Shiny Suit Era" threatened the purism of hip-hop even more. This gave The Fugees an open lane to not only secure that mainstream success, but retain some of the integrity of hip-hop's soul that they were ironically accused of snatching prior to those milestone events in hip-hop's history.

The spoiler alert here was that they were always being their true selves the whole time. The Fugees were eccentric, they were artsy, and they were messengers—of the lives they lived and of those they witnessed around them. They weren't afraid to toss around hard bars on The Score nor were they too scared to let Lauryn's voice softly coat the hooks. They spoke about anything and everything they damn well pleased.

In the decades that followed, rappers who could carry a tune emulated exactly what Lauryn and the Fugees did by alternating between rapping and singing, and weren't afraid in one song to talk about love and society in the next. It was a lasting impression that became one of hip-hop's many archetypes, and it started with a couple of kids who loved being eccentric.

When they first approached creating The Score, The Fugees were hoping to win the battle. Twenty-five years later, we see now that they won the war.

'The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill': For The Record

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A Tribe Called Quest

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For The Record: A Tribe Called Quest's Groundbreaking 'The Low End Theory' At 30

A 2021 GRAMMY Hall Of Fame inductee, 'The Low End Theory,' released in 1991, saw A Tribe Called Quest reinvent the wheel yet again, marrying the sounds of jazz and hip-hop and solidifying the group's artistic legacy

Kathy Iandoli

GRAMMYs

Feb 15, 2021 - 8:59 am

In 1991, hip-hop was in a state of flux, and A Tribe Called Quest were searching for balance. Their 1990 debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, propelled the Queens, New York, group to new heights. Tribe tempered the growing gangster rap movement with their own breed of hip-hop, one full of humor, life, positivity and a more lighthearted approach to making music. Their style positioned them more as a group who loved being musicians over utilizing their rhymes to vent about the doom and gloom enveloping their environment.

Tribe, along with groups like De La Soul, Jungle Brothers and Leaders of the New School, were a part of the DAISY ("Da Inner Sound, Y'all") age of hip-hop. (De La Soul coined the term on their 1989 debut album, 3 Feet High and Rising, in which they chanted the phrase several times throughout the project.) DAISY artists donned brighter clothing, used literal daisy imagery in their artwork, music videos and album covers, and punctuated their positive messages with poignancies on Afrocentricity. Even de facto A Tribe Called Quest leader Kamaal Fareed went by MC Love Child before he was given the name Q-Tip.

Intertwined with this bohemian take on hip-hop music, several DAISY artists, including Jungle Brothers, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest, were also part of the Native Tongues collective, a loose network of East Coast hip-hop artists. But even if you weren't down with Native Tongues, if your music was the antithesis of the exploding gangster rap style of the time, you tangentially became a part of the DAISY Age.

A Tribe Called Quest's 'The Low End Theory' At 30

DAISY artists diverged from what most considered then to be the sonic norm for rap music, which was a rugged exterior revealing street hymns and conspiracy theories, along with stories of police brutality and gang wars. N.W.A's 1988 debut album Straight Outta Compton was mostly to thank, along with Public Enemy's 1988 album It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold Us Back, a clarion call for the mobilization of Black people against the powers that be. It was raging against the machine at its best.

While artists of the DAISY Age discussed ways for Black people to find their own grooves and means to mobilize, albeit in a different way, Tribe and groups of their ilk were categorized under the "alternative hip-hop" subgenre, an industry move suggesting that discussions of anything other than gun talk were the exception, not the rule. They were all deemed "safe," nonviolent "alternatives," while also commanding a sound both parents and kids could mutually enjoy. It was a gift and a curse at the same time.

It was a frustrating position for any critically acclaimed group paving their own path. Still, by the time A Tribe Called Quest got to work on The Low End Theory, they were more than ready to reinvent the wheel yet again. This would be the project that served as a reference point for A Tribe Called Quest as bastions of versatility. In order to prove that, they had to rework their whole style, right down to their image. There was also the added pressure of the sophomore slump. But that didn't faze lead producer Q-Tip in the least. Tribe weren't cocky—they were confident.

Tribe had a lot to prove on The Low End Theory while not coming off as tryhards. In 14 tracks, they had to somehow remove the stigmas attached to so many hip-hop artists at the time: You were either too street, too soft or too artsy, or you didn't understand a single instrument. Tribe aimed to strike that balance artfully.

Inspired by the hard thuds checkered throughout Straight Outta Compton, Q-Tip opted for bass-heavy beats on Low End. Album opener "Excursions" oozes with those steady basslines, as does "Buggin' Out," "Check The Rhime" and closer "Scenario."

Q-Tip made it a point to masterfully bring the sounds of jazz and bebop to boom bap, where, for the first time ever, the instruments were front and center. You could listen to any song on Low End and hear every layer as it's being played, a rarity in the sample-heavy world of hip-hop. With Tribe, you experienced the masterpiece in full totality, while also seeing every stroke of the paintbrush. And despite their claims of having the jazz on "Jazz (We've Got)," Tribe didn't sound like some jazz ensemble in hard-bottom shoes anywhere on Low End. This was pure hip-hop in a new iteration by a group determined to make a mark on their own terms.

But like Q-Tip says on "Rap Promoter ("Not too modest and not a lot of pride"), Tribe had to be bolder with their messaging this time around, while still maintaining their stance on peace and positivity. On "Excursions," an idyllic intro to that creative approach, Q-Tip makes it clear that Tribe is playing the long game in rap, in the right way, while still switching the sound up. He does the same on "Verses From The Abstract," in which he takes the reins on the group's collective messaging.

This was also the moment, however, where Phife Dawg would step forward and do just enough posturing and bragging on the group's behalf. His presence was barely felt on Tribe's debut album since Phife's head wasn't all the way in the game until Q-Tip centered him. The yin to Q-Tip's yang, Phife was a 5-foot-3-inch sh*t-talker and bona fide comedian who helped the former not take the game too seriously. On "Buggin' Out," Phife is in the spotlight, and he keeps it going on "Butter" where he talks about pulling girls like "Flo" while simultaneously shining on his own for once.

Low End is also full of music industry cautionary tales. On "Rap Promoter," Q-Tip waxes philosophically and questions why rap promoters will invite hip-hop heads to a wack show. Tribe then expose the ills of the biz on "Show Business," with the help of Brand Nubian and Diamond D, and continue that sentiment on "Check The Rhime" where Q-Tip births the now-infamous line, "Industry rule number four-thousand-and-eighty / Record company people are shady."

Tribe's storytelling is in clear view on "The Infamous Date Rape" and "Everything Is Fair," with the former carrying a real sentiment of exposing criminal acts. It's heavy without being too dark, while tracks like "What?" are light without being too whimsy. "Skypager" sees Tribe dissecting their many reasons for carrying a beeper. At face value, the concept would seem like a whole lot of nonsense about an inanimate piece of technology. But the song ultimately places the group alongside the same beeper-carrying drug dealers from whom the industry and the media attempted to forcibly disassociate them. While Tribe aim to show they are different and unfazed by fancy gadgets, "Skypager" still echoes their main message: We are all in this together.

Then, of course, there's "Scenario." With the help of Leaders of the New School and the soon-to-be legend Busta Rhymes, the track is heavy on basslines, trash talk, braggadocio and bars. The perfect closer to the album, "Scenario" is so bullish and so energetic, it almost serves as a celebration of Tribe's accomplishment: the martini after a cinematic piece has wrapped.

The Low End Theory was somewhat of a swan song for A Tribe Called Quest in more ways than one. It was their diversion from the Native Tongues and the DAISY Age scenes, especially after the group signed to Russell Simmons' Rush Artist Management, under manager Chris Lighty, a move that would take their message to a bigger, more mainstream hip-hop audience. However, the album was also a farewell to the pigeonholed style and sound they were wedged into the first time around. After The Low End Theory, A Tribe Called Quest could fly, and the sky was the limit.

"Loops Of Funk Over Hardcore Beats": 30 Years Of A Tribe Called Quest's Debut, 'People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm'

Grammys Newsletter

Demi Lovato

Photo: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

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For The Record: How Demi Lovato Gazed Into The Mirror On 'Dancing With The Devil...The Art Of Starting Over'

In the latest episode of For The Record, learn how Demi Lovato's courageous new album, 'Dancing with the Devil… the Art of Starting Over,' offers an inside look into the singer's personal health, addiction struggles and recovery

Morgan Enos

GRAMMYs

Aug 17, 2021 - 5:50 pm

Since their 2008 debut pop/rock album, Don't Forget, Demi Lovato has sung to those in flux regarding who they are.

Across their discography, they've continually reassured their fans and listeners they are not alone. It's an ongoing theme they continue to explore on their newest album Dancing with the Devil … the Art of Starting Over, released this past April in the wake of Lovato's much-publicized struggles with an eating disorder, substance abuse, and other internal battles.

On Dancing with the Devil, Lovato offers an inside look into their personal health, addiction struggles and recovery. Lead single "Anyone," which they recorded four days before they suffered an overdose in July 2018, is brutally vulnerable: "Anyone, please send me anyone / Lord, is there anyone? / I need someone, oh / Anyone, please send me anyone," Lovato sings.

Inside Demi Lovato's 'Dancing With The Devil'

"At the time when I was recording it, I almost listen back and hear these lyrics as a cry for help," Lovato said of "Anyone" in a 2020 interview with Apple Music's Zane Lowe. "And you kind of listen back to it and you kind of think, how did nobody listen to this song and think, 'Let's help this girl.'" (Lovato delivered an equally vulnerable performance of "Anyone" at the 62nd GRAMMY Awards in 2020, their first televised performance since their 2018 overdose.)

The album's title track goes one step deeper: On "Dancing with the Devil," Lovato chronicles their relapse that led to their overdose in 2018, singing how "a little red wine" turns into "a little white line" and eventually "a little glass pipe." "Almost made it to Heaven / It was closer than you know," Lovato sings in the chorus. "It's so hard to say no / When you're dancing with the devil."

In the latest episode of For The Record, experience a crash course in the making and intent of Demi Lovato's Dancing with the Devil … the Art of Starting Over. Freshly out as nonbinary and with a new lease on life, it's anybody's guess where Lovato will go next—both as an artist and a champion for the marginalized.