Kendrick Lamar new single 'i' played over 2m times in less than 24 hours on Soundcloud

The song achieved almost 1 million plays in six hours

Rapper and singer Kendrick Lamar (Getty)

Kendrick Lamar’s new single “i” has been played over 2 million times in less than 24 hours since its release on Soundcloud.

The song, which marks the rapper’s first release since 2012’s good kid, mAAd city, racked up almost 1 million plays in six hours.

In comparison to other trending tracks on the music streaming site, “i” has achieved almost the same number of listens as Childish Gambino’s “Sober”, which was released on Soundcloud nine days ago.

Taylor Swift and Nicki Minaj’s most recent music videos reached over 1 million views on YouTube a day after their release, but it is rarer for a track alone to reach a similar number of plays on Soundcloud.

“I”, which includes Kendrick singing the refrain “I love myself”, has been dubbed the 2014 hip hop version of Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise”.

The upbeat track takes a different direction to good kid, mAAD city, with a groovier feel and looser, jazzier beats.

It is not yet known whether the single will appear on Kendrick’s new album, which currently has no release date.

Earlier this month, the singer said there would be few guest appearances on his new record having previously worked on tracks with the likes of Dre Dre, Drake and Busta Rhymes.

The rapper told Rolling Stone: “I have so much to say. It’s almost selfish of me.”

Read more: New Kendrick Lamar album to feature few guest appearances
New Kendrick Lamar set for winter 2014 release date