[Demo] FLYING LOTUS / KENDRICK LAMAR - "Eyes Above"

Flying Lotus is without a doubt my favorite alternative producer right now, or at least top 3 (depending on who you count among the alternative beat maestros), but I just love how serious the LA producer and artist is about his craft. To me he really came into his own as a true virtuoso artist in his own right with "Until the Quet Comes", a tripped out front-to-back album that truly grows on each listen - still to this day, some five years laters. In early 2014 he released his follow up album (not counting his experimental album by rap alter ego Captain Murphy, though that's without a doubt an enjoyable album that I strongly recommend to lovers of experimental hip-hop). I included the album in my countdown of best albums of that year, and as a true jazz and hip-hop afficionando as it's one of the very few albums, along with Robert Glasper's stuff and a few other artists, I really feel that FlyLo is pushing the boundaries of his hip-hop past by introducing more and more free jazz into the concept which I absolutely love. There's still a hip-hop foundation, and Kendrick Lamar appears on the slamming single "Never Catch Me" while Snopp Dogg and Captain Murphy appears on "Dead Man's Tetris". 

I don't know this but apparantly during the sessions for the album, K. Dot didn't only record the full-length collaboration for "Never Catch Me" but this live session with FlyLo reveals that Lamar also originally was supposed to rock at least one verse on "Eyes Above" (featuring session playing by Thundercat and Dentoni Parks. During Lotus' set at the "You're Dead" tour at the North Park Theater in San Diego. Luckily, the sound quality is good, Kendrick's verse is complete and it really adds to one of my favorite tracks from one of the best joints on the album in my honest opinion. I don't have much more information, maybe Kendrick had several verses on this track but for some reason (perhaps because he thought it was overkill having K.Dot do two solo tracks on there), but maybe he only did an intro verse before the rest of the track flowed in to the instrumental. Either way this is fucking SICK, and I really hope we get a CDQ or iTunes release of this in full sooner or later. I haven't seen any clips from Lotus live shows previously but this looks mighty, so I'm hyped as hell as I'm going to see the prdoucer/DJ perform with my homie Mariam a few months from now and whoever else want to join!