It turns out that Kendrick Lamar was the main inspiration behind David Bowie‘s forthcoming 25th studio album and its Radiohead-meets-late-Scott-Walker lead single ★, with To Pimp A Butterfly in particular getting old Ziggy Stardust’s creative juices flowing again.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Bowie’s longstanding producer Tony Visconti explains that it was not so much Kendrick’s music that inspired him and Bowie, but more his open mindedness in regards to genre on To Pimp A Butterfly.
“We were listening to a lot of Kendrick Lamar. We wound up with nothing like that, but we loved the fact Kendrick was so open-minded and he didn’t do a straight-up hip-hop record,” Visconti says.
“He threw everything on there, and that’s exactly what we wanted to do. The goal, in many, many ways, was to avoid rock & roll.”
Visconti wasn’t the only producer slated to work on the album though, with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy also being tapped to co-produce, although his other commitments limited his participation. Still, Murphy plays percussion on two of the album’s eight tracks.
Don’t get your hopes up for any words from the man himself though, as Bowie was not interviewed for the article and doesn’t have any public appearances planned in promotion of the album. The magazine did, however, dispute rumours that Bowie was in ill health, citing sources involved in recording the album.
Catch the short film which was released with ★ below. Blackstar the album is set for release on 8th January.
David Bowie – Blackstar
