We all have LeBron James to thank for the recent surprise album from Kendrick Lamar, untitled unmastered., which became available across online retailers last Friday (Mar. 4). About two weeks ago, LeBron tweeted at TDE CEO Anthony Tiffith, begging him to release "those untitled tracks," referring to the unreleased songs Kendrick had been performing throughout a series of sensational TV appearances, such as on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, and, more recently, on the Grammys.
Tiffith responded to LeBron's request by writing, "Give me a few days 2 think," and sure enough, an 8-track album made up exclusively of untitled tracks popped up online late last Thursday night. TDE producer Sounwave, who contributes to much of untitled unmastered., recently confirmed LeBron was, indeed, the impetus for Tiffith to go ahead and put out the album.
"When you get somebody like LeBron asking for them [the 'untitled' tracks], it's like, 'Alright, maybe it is bigger than we think it is,'" the producer told Complex. "That's when Top got on the phone asking me and K. Dot to pick our favorite records. It just so happened that the songs we picked sounded like an album."
Shortly upon the release of untitled unmastered., LeBron posted an Instagram video of himself jamming out to one of the album's tracks, "untitled 07." In another video, shared yesterday by Uninterrupted, LeBron discusses how the album has motivated him to be in peak focus approaching this year's playoffs.
He begins by discussing how his mindset on the court changes around this time of year, and about 50 seconds in, he explains how Kendrick's new album will help him achieve the optimum postseason attitude. He says Kendrick "blessed" him with untitled unmastered., which he can now "use as motivation going forward."
"Shout-out Kendrick, Top Dawg, everybody over there at TDE, you know, making that great music," he continues. "I appreciate it, man. Everything is love."
