If you’ve ever read the production credits on any one of Kendrick Lamar‘s studio albums, you’ll likely notice that one of the most common names listed is Sounwave. As the go-to producer for Top Dawg Entertainment for about a decade, Sounwave has helped craft every single K. Dot album, including 2018’s Black Panther soundtrack, which he executively produced with Kendrick.
On Lamar’s latest masterpiece Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, although he is no longer a part of TDE, Kung Fu Kenny enlisted the help of Sounwave on 13 of the album’s 18 songs. In a recent interview with Complex, Sounwave detailed his come-up musically, his start working with TDE and Kendrick, his contributions to MM&TBS and even gave insight on Kendrick Lamar’s next project.
Although there is a long way to go before Kendrick begins to roll out another album, considering he will be on the road touring for the rest of 2022, Sounwave explained that they always start on another album once they get one released.
“Oh, we always start immediately after,” he said. “Like, we’re starting on the next one now… That’s one of the main reasons I go on tour with him, is to create the next album. We can’t skip a beat. We have to just keep it going. There’s no breaks.”
Before looking too far ahead, Sounwave explained that he could not yet speak about the upcoming projects he’s working on for a number of different artists. Instead, he gave terrific details about the process of crafting MM&TBS, also stating that it is currently his favorite Kendrick album of them all.
Many obstacles arose in the five-year gap between DAMN. and Mr. Morale, Sounwave explained. Whether it the deaths of Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant, the COVID-19 pandemic or the fact that they had three albums worth of material, Kendrick and his team had to channel their emotions in many different ways and fight through setbacks to get his album out.
Hopefully fans receive another Kendrick Lamar album as stunning as Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers in the near future. While we don’t know how long the wait will be, fans can remain confident that Kendrick, Sounwave and the rest of their entourage have already set sail on a new musical journey.
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