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. Juvenile & Lil Wayne’s “Bling Bling” marked a culturally significant moment. Coined in the late 1990s by Cash Money Records, the term “bling bling” became synonymous with the excessive and flashy display of luxury jewelry. Lil Wayne and the wider Cash Money roster celebrated this opulent aesthetic, solidifying the link between hip-hop music and lavish jewelry.
Euphoria (Kendrick Lamar song)
“As the beats started coming together and Rakim was really in the studio and we started putting the rhymes onto them, we realized that it was bigger just than that [original vision],” Matt Kemp said. A few years pass, and the Rakim and Jazzy Jeff project is still unfinished. (Rakim described its status as “We have a couple records already done.”) Fat Beats, which was on the auction block (it was eventually sold in March 2024), wants its money back. Rakim obliges, and everyone seems set to forget about the whole thing. “As soon as they finish the first song, I walk into Fat Beats and say, ‘Hey, this is what we’re doing now,'” the A&R man recalls. “Instead of Rakim with random producers, it’s Rakim/Jazzy Jeff. That’ll be huge.”
“Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” (
In serving the moment, even when people have preconceptions, they’re in front of me playing music I wrote. How do I bring out the best in them just like I’m trying to bring out the best in the storyline of a hip-hop artist that may not relate to their story at all? That’s eliminated the distraction of trying to convince minds. Oftentimes I’ll stand before them and I know there may be questions kendrick lamar addiction but the love I show them, what I demand of them, and how I show appreciation when they take the music seriously…almost every situation has led to lifelong friendships. Since then, Hodge has composed symphonic works for other rappers including Jeezy and Common, and is set to deliver a symphonic rendition of Anderson .Paak’s 2016 album, Malibu, at the Hollywood Bowl in September.
“P&P,” feat. Ab Soul (
I think that’s one thing that’s served me well in composition. The way I try to be selfless and serve the moment, it’s no different. For example, conducting or working within a framework of composed music requires a certain way of making sure everybody’s on the same page so we can get through these things on time and keep going. But I serve that moment no differently than when myself and Robert Glasper, Chris Dave, Casey Benjamin RIP, are creating a song in the moment. Hodge’s passion for orchestral composition began when he was very young. He played upright bass by age seven and continued to practice classical composition in his spare moments while touring as a bassist with Terence Blanchard and Robert Glasper.
- “And then, one of the things he does is he goes out and he licenses those beats through a company that he has. If you’re a European artist that wouldn’t necessarily have access to things like that, you can get it.”
- He signed with Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005, where he co-founded the hip hop supergroup Black Hippy.
- Yet by reveling in his imperfections, and sharing controversial sentiments that will divide public opinion, Kendrick sounds more relatable than ever before.
- “My brother passed away & years later I was at a checkout line in the store & at the cash register was a young school photo of him that someone left…. never made sense but I’ll never forget it.”
Many people will have probably read The Secret or watched the documentary. Its main idea is that positive thinking and energy attract good things in life. Positive energy will govern your thoughts and actions so you can achieve anything you want. Kendrick Lamar has received much praise for his great music talent and skills – 12 Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize for Music (to name a few).
‘Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers’ finds the rapper on the couch, filter-free
Before this latest performance, GRAMMY.com spoke with Hodge about bridging the worlds of classical and hip-hop, influencing the next generation of classical musicians, and how his experience as a bassist helps him lead an orchestra. “It started as a dream. I didn’t know how it was going to be realized. My only way to pursue that dream was just to do it without an opportunity in sight,” Hodge says. “Who would’ve known that all that time people were watching? Friends were watching and word-of-mouth.” “That was the first time hip-hop was accepted in those walls,” Hodge says sitting backstage at Red Rocks. It was also the first time Hodge composed orchestral accompaniments to a hip-hop album. From Nas’ ‘Illmatic’ to modern hip-hop symphonies, Derrick Hodge seamlessly bridges the worlds of classical and hip-hop music, bringing orchestral elegance to iconic rap anthems.
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