City And Colour Defends Kendrick Lamar’s Inclusion On Bluesfest 2016 Lineup

Dallas Green, the singer-songwriter behind City And Colour, has defended Bluesfest‘s decision to host Kendrick Lamar as one of its headliners in 2016 after the announcement of the rapper’s inclusion caused some confusion.

Speaking with The Music, Green says his fellow Bluesfest 2016 headliner Lamar definitely suits the Bluesfest bill because of blues music’s influential history.

“He’s very blues. I think people have to realise that everything is the blues. Everything came from the blues. It’s just interpreted in different ways,” Green says.

“If you can’t see that Kendrick Lamar is a blues artist, who just happens to be rapping, then you don’t know what you’re talking about, so. That’s my opinion.”

Lamar was added to the Bluesfest lineup earlier this month with his own sideshows in Melbourne and Sydney, but some peeps weren’t too impressed by the announcement:

The expletive-laden @kendricklamar coming to Sydney, also apparently qualifies for Byron Bay Bluesfest..

— Tom Richardson. (@tommyr345) October 19, 2015

Not loving Bluesfest lineup for 2016. Kendrick Lamar? Really? #bluesfest

— Sunny (@justdoitagain75) October 13, 2015

Others took it less seriously, though:

Boomers reacting to Kendrick Lamar playing Bluesfest… pic.twitter.com/sZY7XE8We8

— Mat Kertesz (@matkertesz) October 13, 2015

Green performed a pair of intimate acoustic gigs for Aussie fans last week, promoting his fifth City And Colour album, If I Should Go Before You. During his stay, he sat down with Music Feeds to discuss the record, and his intimate local shows. Catch that interview in full, below.

A full Australian City And Colour tour is also scheduled for March and April 2016, with Bluesfest 2016 slated for late March.

Interview: City and Colour Talks Aussie Secret Shows

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Gallery: City And Colour – Splendour In The Grass 2014, Byron Bay / Photos: Ashley Mar