Given that the track titles on untitled unmastered note specific dates, it seems as though these previously unheard songs are leftover from the mammoth sessions for To Pimp A Butterfly. He continued, “But I think probably close to ten songs that I’m in love with that I’ll still play and still perform that didn’t make the cut”. Earlier this year he told 2DopeBoyz he had a “chamber of material from that was in love where sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album. Initially, it seemed as though Lamar had succumbed to the idea of these songs never seeing the light of day, opting instead to perform them live, as he did with “Untitled 03” on Jimmy Fallon and “Untitled 08” on the Colbert Report. By the time recording for the album wrapped up, Derek Ali, who worked on To Pimp A Butterfly, told soundonsound the rapper had “recorded 60 to 80 tracks”.

To Pimp A Butterfly took over three years to record, involving studios in LA, New York, Washington, Los Angeles, and a booth on Lamar’s tour bus.

Kendrick untitled unmastered 2