"Cartoon & Cereal" | |
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Song by Kendrick Lamar featuring Gunplay | |
Released | February 14, 2012 |
Recorded | 2012 |
Studio | TDE Red Room (Carson) |
Genre | Progressive rap [1] |
Length | 6:49 |
Label | Top Dawg Entertainment |
Composer(s) |
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Producer(s) | THC [2] |
"Cartoon & Cereal" is a song by American rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar, released for digital download on February 14, 2012. Collaborating with Florida-based rapper Gunplay, Lamar originally intended to include the song on his major-label debut album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City , but was discarded due to sampling issues and the track being leaked online beforehand. [3]
Jack Law, writing for Fact magazine, described experimentation that Lamar demonstrated on his album Section.80 , released a year prior: "Kendrick's verse is predictably tricky to penetrate, full of multi-layered imagery and word-play, and will doubtless reward further study". [4] Law further emphasized the unexpected collaboration between Lamar and Gunplay - a collaboration with an avant-garde musician and a "street" rapper. [4] On Pitchfork , Jordan Sargent referred to "Cartoons & Cereal" as the work of two artists who "have an anti-social streak that runs through their music". [2]
"Cartoon & Cereal" is one of Lamar's most popular songs; Complex magazine, which listed it as the second best song of 2012, wrote "the best song ['Cartoon & Cereal'] that Kendrick Lamar released this year didn't even make the album [Good Kid, M.A.A.D City]". [5] Music critic Niyah Nel reflected: "the 'inner voice' like approach on 'Cartoons & Cereal' made just the right impact to lead fans into wondering what to expect from his debut album, and it definitely boosted his ranking as an unmatched lyricist". [6]
Kendrick Lamar Duckworth is an American rapper and songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he is the only musician outside of the classical and jazz genres to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music. His inclusion of social commentary and political criticism in his songwriting has influenced a rise in social conscience within his generation.
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