10 Times Popular Musicians Tried Out Completely Unexpected Genres

3. Kendrick Lamar - For Free? — Interlude

The central tenet of Free Jazz - a lack of consistent tempo, pulse or any organisational principle other than wild improvisation - should make it incompatible with the tightly structured mode of hip-hop. Yet that didn’t stop Mr. Lamar, who scat-raps over Robert Glasper's frenetic free jazz jam on To Pimp a Buttterfly’s “For Free? - Interlude”.

Somehow K-Dot pulls it all off, nimbly riding the wave of sound to produce something cogent and thrilling. He varies his line-length, intonation and emphasis with the virtuosity of a seasoned jazzhand, creating a furiously snycopated screed about the exploitation of his talent by the music industry.