We’re slowly entering the fall season, and Jhené Aiko came through with a near-perfect album to soundtrack it, along with a new collaboration with Kendrick Lamar. Now, it’s been a relatively quiet year for Kendrick overall–he hasn’t been on tour, delivered a few features, and seems to be largely keeping to himself before he drops a new album. However, between his new collab with Jhené Aiko and his previous collab with DJ Dahi, people are wondering why he keeps leaning into his R&B bag after an incredibly triumphant run as hip-hop’s reigning king.
“So Good” largely plays out like a duet between Kendrick and Jhené, rather than having Dot come through with a guest verse. However, Kendrick's more melodic performance wasn’t necessarily met favorably. Fans immediately trashed it on social media–as they typically do within .001 nanoseconds of any new music arriving. But it also arrives on the heels of resurfaced commentary on The Joe Budden Podcast, where they debated whether Kendrick actually ruins R&B songs he’s featured on.
Does Kendrick Lamar Ruin R&B Songs?
In a clip that circulated immediately after “So Good” dropped, Joe Budden slowly comes to that realization when Ice mentions how the Compton rapper has historically ruined R&B songs that he jumps on, including “How Many Drinks” by Miguel.
Fans quickly jumped down Kendrick’s throat over the song, claiming that it’s “trash” or that he should’ve “just kept this in the vault." One fan said that Kendrick’s on a horrible run right now.
What’s interesting is that we’ve probably received more R&B-forward features from Kendrick this year, including his appearance on Baby Keem’s “Good Flirts” and “How To Pray” by DJ Dahi, alongside Amber Mark.
Check out some of the tweets above and let us know your thoughts on Kendrick Lamar’s feature run this year.
