Kendrick Lamar performs during Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 11, 2023. Let’s start with the standard history lesson for those of you just joining us: In 2018 I completed a quest to list my top five (or so) songs for every…

RIFF’s best albums of 2024 include Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Magdalena Bay, Allie X, Kim Gordon, ScHoolboy Q, Kali Uchis, Adrianne Lenker, Knocked Loose and Clairo. If you haven’t read it yet, you should start at the beginning of our countdown. Caught up? Part two includes some big names…

Kendrick Lamar and SZA, courtesy Andre D. Wagner. Hot on the heels of releasing a new new album, Kendrick Lamar has announced a stadium tour with SZA for next spring that will see the all-world rapper performing at Oracle Park in San Francisco the week after Memorial Day. Tickets…

Kendrick Lamar, “GNX.” Kendrick Lamar became one of the world’s most acclaimed rappers for his conscious, intricate penmanship. In the last year, he’s found success in a somewhat different lane: diss tracks against Drake. The most popular from the now infamous rap battle is “Not Like Us,” a punchy…

Kendrick Lamar performs during Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 11, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. Back in 2018, when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I listed my top five or so songs from every year since 1967 in this column. I then went on…

Kendrick Lamar performs during Outside Lands Music Festival in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Aug. 11, 2023. Matt Pang/STAFF. SAN FRANCISCO — Outside Lands rang in its 15th year with a bang, literally and figuratively, on opening night Friday. While the festival has sold out plenty of…

The best hip-hop albums of 2022 include Kendrick Lamar, Megan Thee Stallion, Nas, Vince Staples, Earl Sweatshirt, Locksmith, Pusha T, Lupe Fiasco, Mount Westmore, Denzel Curry, Ho99o9, Freddie Gibbs, Homeboy Sandman, Bob Dylan, Czarface, Black Star, Black Thought and Danger Mouse, Your Old Droog, Open Mike Eagle and Token.…

The best albums of 2022 include the Afghan Whigs, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, the London Suede, King Gizzard & and the Lizard Wizard, an album of Yoko Ono songs, Black Country, New Road and Drive-By Truckers. Welcome to the heart of our countdown of the best albums…

Kendrick Lamar, “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.” To think that it’s been five years since the world has heard a new project from Compton’s Kendrick Lamar. Fans have been desperate to hear new work from K-Dot, who in the last few years has collaborated on Marvel’s “Black Panther” soundtrack, and…

Eminem performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2022. Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images. It was an Aftermath reunion, as legends from the ’90s and 2000s took to the stage at the Super Bowl LVI half-time show at…