Overly Dedicated
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Overly Dedicated
| type = mixtape
| artist = Kendrick Lamar
| cover = Kendrick Lamar - Overly Dedicated.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|2010|9|14}}
| recorded = 2010
| venue =
| studio = {{ubl|TDE Red Room|{{small|(Carson, California)}}}}
| genre = Hip-hop
| length = 59:18
| label = TDE
| producer = {{hlist|Dave Free|Dude Dawg|Kendrick Lamar|Jairus "J-Mo" Mozee|King Blue|Drop Beatz|Sounwave|Tae Beast|Tommy Black|Willie B|Wyldfyer}}
| prev_title = Kendrick Lamar
| prev_year = 2009
| next_title = Section.80
| next_year = 2011
}}
Overly Dedicated (sometimes stylized as O(verly) D(edicated) and abbreviated as OD) is the fourth solo mixtape by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, released on September 14, 2010, via Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). It is the first mixtape to be released under his modern stage name. The mixtape features guest appearances from Dash Snow, Jhené Aiko, Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul, Ash Riser, Dom Kennedy and Murs, among others. The album's production was handled by several TDE in-house producers, including King Blue, Sounwave, Tae Beast and Willie B; other producers such as Tommy Black, Jairus "J-Mo" Mozee, and Wyldfyer, also contributed production.{{cite web|url=http://www.2dopeboyz.com/2010/09/23/kendrick-lamar-o-d-mixtape/ |title=Kendrick Lamar – O.D. (Mixtape) |publisher=2DopeBoyz |date=2011-09-23 |access-date=2012-05-28}} The mixtape had sold a total of 12,000 copies as of October 2012.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/474529/kendrick-lamar-the-story-behind-good-kid-maad-city |title=Kendrick Lamar: The Story Behind 'good kid, m.A.A.d city' |magazine=Billboard |publisher=Prometheus Global Media |date=October 22, 2012 |access-date=November 4, 2012 |author=Meadows-Ingram, Benjamin}}
Background
On September 4, 2010, Lamar unveiled the cover art for Overly Dedicated, which was designed by Hassana Lynne and Dave Free.{{cite web | url=http://www.2dopeboyz.com/2010/09/04/kendrick-lamar-o-d-artwork/ | title=Kendrick Lamar - O.D. (Artwork) | publisher=Complex Music | work=2Dopeboyz | date=September 4, 2010| access-date=March 10, 2013}} On September 14, 2010, the music video for "P&P 1.5", a song taken from the Kendrick Lamar EP, featuring his Black Hippy cohort Ab-Soul, was released.{{cite web | url=http://www.2dopeboyz.com/2010/09/14/kendrick-lamar-pp-1-5-f-ab-soul-video/ | title=Kendrick Lamar – P&P 1.5 f. Ab-Soul (Video) | publisher=Complex Music | work=2Dopeboyz | date=September 14, 2010| access-date=March 10, 2013}} On September 14, Lamar also released Overly Dedicated to digital retailers under Top Dawg Entertainment, the label that signed Lamar after he released his first mixtape, when he was 17.{{cite web | url=https://www.amazon.com/Overly-Dedicated-Explicit/dp/B004332E2M | title=Overly Dedicated
Overly Dedicated includes a song titled "Ignorance Is Bliss", in which Lamar glorifies gangsta rap and street crime, but ends each verse with "ignorance is bliss," giving the message "we know not what we do."Hanna, Mitchell. (2010-09-27) [https://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.12358/title.mixtape-release-dates-kendrick-lamar-k-os-terrace-martin-sheek-louch Mixtape Release Dates: Kendrick Lamar, K-Os, Terrace Martin, Sheek Louch | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales]. HipHop DX. Retrieved on 2011-05-03. It was this song specifically that made fellow West Coast rapper and legendary hip hop producer Dr. Dre want to work with Lamar, after watching the song's music video on YouTube.Jacobs, Allen. (2010-12-17) [https://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.13385/title.dr-dre-says-in-2011-hes-focusing-on-west-coast-hip-hop--kendrick-lamar-slim-da-mobster Dr. Dre Says In 2011, He's Focusing On West Coast Hip Hop – Kendrick Lamar, Slim da Mobster | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales]. HipHop DX. Retrieved on 2011-05-03. This led to Lamar working with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg on Dre's Detox album and him considering signing to Dre's label, Aftermath Entertainment.Graham, Nadine. (2011-01-06) [https://www.hiphopdx.com/index/interviews/id.1641/title.kendrick-lamar-the-west-coast-got-somethin-to-say Kendrick Lamar: The West Coast Got Somethin' To Say | Rappers Talk Hip Hop Beef & Old School Hip Hop]. HipHop DX. Retrieved on 2011-05-03.Paine, Jake. (2010-12-25) [https://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.13463/title.kendrick-lamar-reacts-to-dr-dres-cosign-considering-aftermath Kendrick Lamar Reacts To Dr. Dre's Cosign, Considering Aftermath | Get The Latest Hip Hop News, Rap News & Hip Hop Album Sales].[https://www.xxlmag.com/news/2011/02/kendrick-lamar-says-j-cole-collabo-mixtape-is-gonna-shock-the-world/ Kendrick Lamar Says J. Cole Collabo Mixtape is Gonna “Shock The World”]. Xxlmag.Com. Retrieved on 2011-05-03. On the topic of the project's genre, Lamar called it "human music."{{cite web |url=http://nahright.com/news/2011/03/31/video-kendrick-lamar-interview-w-lu-parker |title=Video: Kendrick Lamar Interview w/ Lu Parker |publisher=Nah Right |date=2011-03-31 |access-date=2013-11-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204002053/http://nahright.com/news/2011/03/31/video-kendrick-lamar-interview-w-lu-parker/ |archive-date=2013-12-04 |url-status=dead }}
Critical reception
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = Rolling Stone
| rev1Score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Reeves|first=Mosi|date=July 14, 2017|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/mixtape-primer-reviewing-kendrick-lamars-pre-fame-output-126139/|title=Mixtape Primer: Reviewing Kendrick Lamar's Pre-Fame Output|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=July 13, 2020}}
| rev2 = Tom Hull
| rev3 = Vice (Expert Witness)
}}
Writing for Vice, Robert Christgau gave Overly Dedicated an "A−" and found it to be as good as Lamar's first official album Section.80 (2011): "Only three classics: the besotted "Alien Girl," the merely sexed-up "P&P 1.5," and "Average Joe," a position paper for the gangsta realism to follow. But the many cameos document a party-crashing crew utterly delighted by how good they are at this shit. There’s a sense of fun and antic possibility here Lamar abjured on his road to iconicity. In pop music, that’s a spiritual resource there’s never enough of."{{cite web|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|date=March 18, 2016|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/expert-witness-with-robert-christgau-kendrick-lamar-anderson-paak/|title=West Coast Warriors: Expert Witness with Robert Christgau|department=Noisey|magazine=Vice|access-date=March 22, 2016}} Mikey McCray of Creative Loafing wrote: "Compton, Calif. emcee takes his place among the best of the new West," however also wrote: "A couple tracks felt out of place. 'Michael Jordan' had a Weezy flow and Jeezy beat but the weak chorus was far from a MJ fadeaway. Don't know who was imitating Bilal on the 'ROTC (Interlude)' but they killed an otherwise stellar track with a cover fail of Common's 'The Light.'"{{cite web|last=McCray |first=Mikey |url=https://clclt.com/vibes/archives/2010/09/23/ep-review-kendrick-lamars-overly-dedicated |title=EP Review: Kendrick Lamar's Overly Dedicated |publisher=Clclt.com |date=2010-09-23 |access-date=2017-04-08}}
Track listing
{{track listing
| headline = Overly Dedicated track listing
| extra_column = Producer
| title1 = The Heart Pt. 2
| note1 = featuring Dash Snow
| extra1 = The Roots
| length1 = 4:54
| title2 = Growing Apart (To Get Closer)
| note2 = featuring Jhené Aiko
| extra2 = Tae Beast (of Digi+Phonics)
| length2 = 3:41
| title3 = Night of the Living Junkies
| extra3 = Sounwave (of Digi+Phonics)
| length3 = 3:32
| title4 = P&P 1.5
| note4 = featuring Ab-Soul
| extra4 = King Blue (of Sore Losers)
| length4 = 6:02
| title5 = Alien Girl (Today, W/ Her)
| note5 =
| extra5 = Sounwave
| length5 = 4:00
| title6 = Opposites Attract (Tomorrow, W/O Her)
| note6 = featuring JaVonté
| extra6 = Willie B (of Digi+Phonics)
| length6 = 4:32
| title7 = Michael Jordan
| note7 = featuring Schoolboy Q
| extra7 = Sounwave
| length7 = 5:51
| title8 = Ignorance Is Bliss
| note8 =
| extra8 = Willie B
| length8 = 3:28
| title9 = R.O.T.C. (Interlude)
| note9 = featuring BJ the Chicago Kid
| extra9 = J-Mo
| length9 = 2:43
| title10 = Barbed Wire
| note10 = featuring Ash Riser
| extra10 = Sounwave
| length10 = 4:26
| title11 = Average Joe
| note11 =
| extra11 = Wyldfyer
| length11 = 4:16
| title12 = H.O.C
| extra12 = Drop
| length12 = 5:17
| title13 = Cut You Off (To Grow Closer)
| note13 =
| extra13 = Tae Beast
| length13 = 6:04
| title14 = Heaven & Hell
| note14 = featuring Alori Joh
| extra14 = Tommy Black
| length14 = 3:12
| writer1 = {{hlist|Kendrick Duckworth|Dashiell A. Snow}}
| writer2 = {{hlist|Jhené Aiko|Duckworth|Donte Perkins}}
| writer3 = {{hlist|Duckworth|Mark Spears}}
| writer4 = {{hlist|Herbert Stevens|Brandon Blue|Duckworth}}
| writer5 = {{hlist|Duckworth|Spears}}
| writer6 = {{hlist|JaVonté Pollard|Duckworth|William Brown}}
| writer7 = {{hlist|Quincy Hanley|Duckworth|Spears}}
| writer8 = {{hlist|Duckworth|Brown}}
| writer9 = {{hlist|Bryan Sledge||Duckworth|Jairus Mozee}}
| writer10 = {{hlist|Ash Riser|Duckworth|Spears}}
| writer11 = {{hlist|Duckworth|Wyatt Coleman}}
| writer12 = Duckworth
| writer13 = {{hlist|Perkins|Duckworth}}
| writer14 = {{hlist|Duckworth|Fredrik Halldin}}
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Bonus tracks
| extra_column = Producer(s)
| total_length =
| title15 = She Needs Me (Remix)
| note15 = featuring Dom Kennedy and Murs
| extra15 = Sounwave
| length15 = 3:16
| title16 = I Do This (Remix)
| note16 = featuring U-N-I, Skeme and Brown (of Sore Losers)
| extra16 = Sounwave
| length16 = 4:08
| writer15 = {{hlist|Nicholas Carter|Dominic Hunn|Pollard|Duckworth|Spears}}
| writer16 = {{hlist|Yannick Koffi|Lonnie Kimble|Yonas Semere Michael|Duckworth|Spears|Vincent Brown}}
}}
Charts
| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |
| scope="col"| Chart (2010)
! scope="col"| Peak |
|---|
| {{album chart|BillboardRandBHipHop|72|artist=Kendrick Lamar|rowheader=true|access-date=January 18, 2017}} |
| {{album chart|BillboardHeatseekers|46|artist=Kendrick Lamar|rowheader=true|access-date=January 18, 2017}} |
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Kendrick Lamar}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Kendrick Lamar albums
Category:Top Dawg Entertainment mixtape albums
Category:Albums produced by Sounwave
Category:Albums produced by Tae Beast
Category:Albums produced by Dave Free