Watch: Kendrick Lamar rhymes new verse in Reebok ad

New music from Kendrick Lamar has only emerged in bits and pieces. But now there’s at least one new verse to help tide fans over to his next LP.

The locally beloved rapper appears in a new ad for the shoe company Reebok, where he performs a new a capella verse detailing life in his hometown of Compton and his challenges en route to major rap stardom.

The black-and-white ad, directed by Anthony Mandler (Taylor Swift, Lana del Rey), also stars students from Lamar’s alma mater, Centennial High. Lamar said in a statement that he’ll have a custom-designed Rebook show line out in the near future.

Alongside the clip, Lamar’s label president “Punch” Henderson (and one of Top Dog Entertainment’s go-to producers) has a new track featuring Lamar on the hook. “25” (with language some will find offensive) features the rapper singing a lonely, whispery melody on the chorus, while the production sits on a bed of spacey, woozy old soul.

While he’s not the featured artist, the single shows he has a even wider vocal range than some fans might have expected. As they await his follow-up LP to 2012’s “good kid, m.A.A.d. city,” it might be a sign of his growing musicality.

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