Kendrick Lamar Collabs With Taylor Swift in 'Bad Blood'
We knew it was coming. Kendrick Lamar and Taylor Swift were destined to drop something for their mutual music fans, but nothing quite like this was imagined.
Swift premiered a video for "Bad Blood," the latest selection from her 1989 LP, as the opening for this year's Billboard Music Awards, and it was chock-full-of cameos, from Zendaya to Mariska Hartigay to Jessica Alba (the clip was inspired by Sin City) and, of course, from Lamar.
That's not the surprise, though.
Their musical respect for each other surfaced online last November, when a snippet of Swift rapping his "Backseat Freestyle" popped up. In return, he blessed "Shake That" with some fresh off-the-top lyrics. And, word of his appearance in "Bad Blood" circulated in the days leading up to the BBMAs 2015.
What was shocking was that Lamar not only showed up in the visuals (as Welvin Da Great), but he actually dropped some bars.
"I can't take it back, look where I'm at," he starts, before dipping into with whom he might have beef. "... Remember when you tried to write me off/ Remember when you thought I'd take a loss..." He then nods to himself, "Still all my life I got money and power, and you gotta live with the bad blood now." Sho' nuff.
Sounds like King Kunta is getting closer to Hollywood (remember that one song he did with singer-turned-actress Alicia Keys for The Amazing Spider-Man 2).
As for Swift, well, it's hard to tell exactly what the plot of her new video is, but it looks like she's winning. Collab with Kanye West up next?
See Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Jay Rock and ScHoolboy Q at the 2015 BET Experience at L.A. Live, June 25-28. Click here for tickets.
(Photo: Big Machine Records)
