--- description: The rapper was the show's last-ever musical guest (sob) title: Watch Kendrick Lamar Debut a New Song on 'The Colbert Report' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdee3ea07a80fd5bc/69876f61e53aba25c64d699b/kendrick-lamar.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Kendrick Lamar Debut a New Song on _The Colbert Report_ by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 17, 2014 3:19 PM CUT  Musician Kendrick Lamar performs onstage at the State Farm All-Star Saturday Night during the NBA All-Star Weekend 2014 at The Smoothie King Center on February 15, 2014 in New Orleans. Musician Kendrick Lamar performs onstage at the State Farm All-Star Saturday Night during the NBA All-Star Weekend 2014 at The Smoothie King Center on February 15, 2014 in New Orleans.Mike Coppola—Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 17, 2014 3:19 PM CUT Kendrick Lamar debuted a brand new song on _The Colbert Report_ last night. The rapper needed to pull out the big guns, because he was the final musical guest _ever_ on the late night talk show. Colbert joked about the big shoes Lamar needed to fill: “Keep in mind that Paul McCartney, R.E.M., Jack White and Nas were the opening acts.” Lamar performed the new untitled track alongside a band that featured singer Bilal and Thundercat, who is rumored to be producing on Lamar’s highly-anticipated follow-up to _good kid, m.A.A.d city_, along with Dr. Dre, Pharrell Williams, Rahki and Soundwave. The new album is expected to drop sometime in 2015. Colbert took a moment to ask his guest about his “stage name”: “Why did you decide to name yourself after Anna Kendrick and Senator Lamar Alexander?” before questioning Lamar about being an artist. “I always want to stay true to who I am,” Lamar said. [**The Colbert Report**](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/ "undefined") Get More: [Colbert Report Full Episodes](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/full-episodes "undefined"),[The Colbert Report on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/thecolbertreport "undefined"),[Video Archive](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos "undefined") [**The Colbert Report**](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/ "undefined") Get More: [Colbert Report Full Episodes](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/full-episodes "undefined"),[The Colbert Report on Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/thecolbertreport "undefined"),[Video Archive](http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3637443/kendrick-lamar-colbert-report/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3637443/kendrick-lamar-colbert-report/"},"headline":"Watch Kendrick Lamar Debut a New Song on The Colbert Report","datePublished":"2014-12-17T15:19:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:15:24.532Z","description":"The rapper was the show's last-ever musical guest (sob)","url":"https://time.com/3637443/kendrick-lamar-colbert-report/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Music","Kendrick Lamar","stephen colbert","the colbert report"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdee3ea07a80fd5bc/69876f61e53aba25c64d699b/kendrick-lamar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdee3ea07a80fd5bc/69876f61e53aba25c64d699b/kendrick-lamar.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"State Farm All-Star Saturday Night - NBA All-Star Weekend 2014","caption":"State Farm All-Star Saturday Night - NBA All-Star Weekend 2014","creditText":"Mike Coppola—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3637443/kendrick-lamar-colbert-report/","name":"Watch Kendrick Lamar Debut a New Song on The Colbert Report"}}]}] ```