Rick Bricks of THC, interview: ‘Kendrick Lamar is the best rapper’

Kendrick Lamar has been stealing the headlines this year - he dropped his latest album To Pimp A Butterfly a week early and it went straight to #1, he picked up the Best Rap Performance Grammy for his single 'i', and appeared on Taylor Swift's huge new video Bad Blood.

Behind some of Kendrick's greatest beats are THC, who worked on 'M.A.A.D City' from Lamar's 2012 album Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. Rick Bricks, best known for his work in the production outfit, explained that he never thought that the beat that gave them a plaque on the wall of their Hollywood studio would be a hit - until Kendrick worked his magic.

"M.A.A.D City is our least favourite beat that we made," Bricks admitted. "It's so simple, but Kendrick is such an amazing writer and performer - if we would have given it to anyone else, it wouldn't have been a hit."

He added: "When we hear our tracks after Kendrick records his vocals over it, we don't ever have to change anything, it always sounds on point."

While the 27-year old Lamar has seen huge commercial success this year with To Pimp a Butterfly, the producer recalls that Kendrick had always been making music in that image and knew he had something unique.

"I remember going to the club and he would hop up on the stage hitting an acapella. I was like, 'who is this dude preaching while everybody busy drinking?' Then a little while later [Kendrick's debut album] Section 80 came out and he picked some beats from us and I didn't think anything of it, but when the songs came back to us it was perfect.

"When you know somebody is the best rapper, you just know. He was doing classic material even before To Pimp a Butterfly - seven, eight years ago. He just wasn't recognised at the time."

The Californian compared Kendrick's uncompromising efforts to that of London's Dizzee Rascal, who he has previously worked with on the rapper's more recent projects.

"Dizzee was very strong on not having to change his sound to suit America. He always made sure that he wouldn't lose his flavour when working with us, and we ensured that he delivered just that," Bricks explained.

Bricks concluded that Kendrick - whose three LPs have recurring concepts throughout - has helped bring back the importance of crafting albums over just aiming for hit singles.

"You can't listen to Kendrick's songs by themselves, you have to listen to the whole album continuously. It's like watching a movie - you don't just skip to one scene, you have to watch the whole flick, it's a whole body of work."