The only thing that has brought Glastonbury music festival to its knees in its over 50-year history is an international pandemic. In fact, Glastonbury has only been cancelled on three occasions with each one relating to a major viral outbreak, the most recent postponement of which coming in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Though absence only makes the heart grow fonder, and in 2022 Glastonbury has received an abundance of attention, with 200,000 festival-goers crowding through the gates to enjoy an extended weekend of musical ecstasy and bohemian bliss. With an eagerness to make an impression after a two-year hiatus, the lineup for this year’s festival contains some of the finest artists of modern music.
This year’s lineup sees the likes of Pet Shop Boys, Sam Fender, Foals, Noel Gallagher, Diana Ross, Wolf Alice and The Libertines, whilst the headline slots are reserved for the likes of Billie Eilish, Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar.
Recently releasing his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, in May 2022, Lamar has seen great success from the release of the new project, claiming the most first-day streams for an album released in 2022 so far on the Apple Music streaming platform. Whilst the whole album is celebrated for its frenetic energy and innovative creativity, the track ‘N95’ has seen a particular amount of life, amassing 96 million streams on Spotify at the publication of this article.
This album, and indeed the ones that preceded it, have made Kendrick Lamar into one of the most important rappers of modern hip-hop, particularly as his influence reaches even further than the music industry.
Earlier this year, for example, Lamar announced that he would be producing a new movie with the creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. As reported by Variety, the film will “depict the past and present coming to a head when a young Black man, who is interning as a slave re-enactor at a living history museum, discovers that his white girlfriend’s ancestors once owned his.”
Clearly a considerable fan of cinema, Lamar previously discussed one of his favourite modern movies in a Twitter post in 2015. Signposting the release of Straight Outta Compton that hit cinemas in the very same year, Lamar told his 12 million followers, “Straight Outta Compton Movie in Theaters 2day. Salute to the Gate Keepers of Gangster Rap for making a Timeless film. Inspiring”.
Helmed by the director of Friday, F. Gary Gray, Straight Outta Compton tells the story of the emergence of the rap group NWA from the streets of Compton LA to the very height of the 1980s Hip-Hop revolution. Starring the likes of O’Shea Jackson Jr, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell and Aldis Hodge, the Oscar-nominated movie was a favourite of music fans across the world, not just Kendrick Lamar.
