Kendrick Lamar’s Debut Album Set For October 22nd Release

The official release date for the highly anticipated debut major label album from rising rapper Kendrick Lamar–crowned the “new King of the West Coast” by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg at an L.A. concert last year–was announced today. good kid, m.A.A.d city (Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath Entertainment/Interscope Records) will be released October 22, 2012.  Featured will be the single “Swimming Pool (Drank),” which was released July 31 st and is produced by T-Minus. Lamar will introduce the album by headlining a nationwide tour that also includes the BET Music Matters Tour beginning September 7.

Lamar’s indie-issued Section.80 ranked as one of the top digital hip-hop albums of 2011. Despite not having a physical release, Section.80 cracked Billboard’s R&B/Hip-hop Top 25, Rap Top 15 and Top 200 Albums charts. The Compton, California native has since been racking up the praise. After his Bonnaroo performance this year, esteemed critic Jon Pareles wrote in the New York Times (June 8): “Instead I prefer Kendrick Lamar… (who) instead of directing his anger at the police, women or outsiders, he criticizes himself and his environment, and he projects far more ambition than victimization (with) tales of striving, self-improvement and overcoming a rough past, delivered with a cutting rasp and fast, complicated meter shifts.”

Lamar first drew the attention of Dre with his 2010 mixtape O(verly) D(edicated). This year, he performed alongside Dre and Snoop as they co-headlined the Coachella Music & Arts Festival. good kid, m.A.A.d city also features “The Recipe” with Dr. Dre and was released in the spring and reached the Rap Top 25.

Tour Dates:

Date City Venue
9/7  Norfolk, VA  The Norva
9/8 Richmond, VA  The National
9/11 Charlotte, NC  The Fillmore                      
9/12 Baltimore, MD Rams Head
9/13 Philadelphia, PA  TLA
9/14 Washington, DC  Howard Theater
9/15  New York, NY Terminal 5
9/16  Boston, MA  The Wilbur Theater
9/19  Toronto, ON  Sound Academy
9/20  Detroit, MO Royal Oak
9/21  Minneapolis, MN  Epic
9/22 Milwaukee, WI  The Rave
9/23  Chicago, IL  The Congress
9/25  Tallahassee, FL  The Moon
9/26 Tampa, FL The Ritz Ybor
9/27 Miami, FL  The Fillmore
9/28 Orlando, FL  Plaza Live
9/29  Atlanta, GA  Tabernacle
9/30  New Orleans, LA  House of Blues
10/1 Baton Rouge, LA Varsity Theater
10/6  Fresno, CA  Big Fresno Fair
10/7  Pozo, CA  Pozo Saloon
10/8 Denver, CO The Ogden Theater
10/9  Blacksburg, VA  Burruss Auditorium – Virginia Polytech University
10/10  San Diego, CA  SOMA
10/11  Phoenix, AZ  Celebrity Theater
10/13  Portland, OR  Roseland Theatre
10/14  Seattle, WA  The Neptune
10/16  San Francisco, CA  Regency Ballroom
10/17  Los Angeles, CA Club Nokia
10/18  Pomona, CA  Fox Theater
10/19  Las Vegas, NV Hard Rock Cafe
10/20  Salt Lake City, UT The Depot
10/26  Morgantown, WV  WVU Collisuem – West Virginia University

For the latest Kendrick Lamar news, please visit http://www.topdawgmusic.com and twitter @KendrickLamar