In December 2014 , while preparing for the release of his third album '' To Pimp a Butterfly '' ( 2015 ) , Lamar performed an unreleased , untitled track as a musical guest on '' The Colbert Report '' . In January 2016 , he performed another untitled song on '' The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon '' . Following his acclaimed performance at the 2016 's Grammy Awards , which included aspects of another new untitled track , Lamar revealed the existence of a collection of tracks that did not make it onto '' Butterfly '' : " I got a chamber of material from the album that I was in love with where sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album . " Following hints of a new release from Lamar 's label Top Dawg Entertainment , and allegedly aided by NBA player LeBron James 's public request to TDE head Anthony Tiffith that Lamar 's untitled work be released , '' Untitled Unmastered '' first surfaced on Spotify on March 4 , 2016 containing eight untitled tracks but without an apparent release date . The project was officially released on the iTunes Store later that day . It spans 34 minutes and features eight untitled tracks , each dated . These dates indicate that the songs were written and recorded at various points between 2013 and 2016 . Later that day , Lamar confirmed that the tracks were unfinished demos from '' To Pimp a Butterfly '' . In an interview with '' Spin '' , vocalist Anna Wise , while recalling the demos that appear on '' Untitled Unmastered '' , claims she knew of the compilation album 's existence for an undisclosed amount of time , and was asked to keep it a secret until its release . '' Untitled Unmastered '' was released to digital retailers and streaming services on March 4 . The physical CD release of its explicit edition followed on March 11 and an edited version was released on March 18 . On March 23 , 2016 , " levitate " was released separately on iTunes Store as the lone single
2016 's Grammy Awards
58th Annual Grammy Awards
Untitled Unmastered