Kendrick Lamar Debuts New Song on The Colbert Report

K Dot season is coming! Kendrick Lamar appeared as a musical guest on The Colbert Report last night to show off one of his latest works, a groovy untitled song presumably from his good kid, m.A.A.d. city follow-up LP. With Bilal on background vocals and jazzman Terrance Martin playing sax, the charged Compton MC goes from zero to one hungry rapper, real quick. Unless he pulls a D’Angelo, expect Kendrick Lamar’s next album in 2015.

Watch it at Vibe.

Rihanna Named Creative Director of Puma

Rihanna plans to make Puma shine bright like a diamond in her new role as the brand’s Women’s Creative Director and Global Brand Ambassador. Yesterday (December 16), the foxy fashionista took a trip out to the Puma HQs in Germany for her first creative session with the design team. She picked out colors and fabrics and discussed overall direction and style, which basically oozes from her pores.

“We can experiment and take risks, that’s what I’m most excited about—the creative freedom,” the 26-year-old Pisces told Women’s Wear Daily, laughing at the possibility of adding suspenders to the line. “Whether it’s apparel or shoes or accessories, I want to modernize it by highlighting the classics and going from things that make Puma Puma—give it a youthfulness, make it hip, basically [make it] Rihanna.” Given her sexy yet fly swag, don’t be surprised to see Rih Rih pair Pumas with poom-poom shorts once her multi-year stint officially begins in January.

Read it at Women’s Wear Daily.

D’Angelo Rushed Out His Album After Police Protests

The surprise album of the year was the product of social outrage and last-minute impulse. After a 14-year break since 2000’s Voodoo, D’Angelo’s rushed out his Black Messiah LP as a response to nationwide protests of police killing unarmed Black men, women, boys and girls.

The New York Times reports that the album was slated for a 2015 release. But then following the grand jury’s decision not to indict Darren Wilson for killing Mike Brown, D’s manager Kevin Liles received a phone call from his reclusive artist. “Do you believe this? Do you believe it?” Liles recalls D’Angelo saying to him. “And then we just sat there in silence. That is when I knew he wanted to say something.”

The iconic singer reportedly told tour manager Alan Leeds, “The one way I do speak out is through music… I want to speak out.” What resulted was a month of all-nighters by the RCA staff to finalize the album’s details, including the tracklist and artwork. Now that Black Messiah is out, Hits Daily Double predicts sales of about 100,000 first-week copies.

Read it at The New York Times.