Kendrick Lamar says he is still hoping to release his new album "before 2015", with expectation now ramping up after he debuted the single 'i' on Soundcloud this week.

The rapper dropped into 97.1 AMP Radio for a chat on Tuesday, and pressed for news on his next LP by Carson Daly, said:

"I’m hoping to push it out before 2015. I'ma say that. I'm working hard in the studio."

The follow-up to Good Kid Maad City has always been pegged as a "fourth quarter release", but with its title not having even been revealed yet it seems unlikely Kendrick will meet this deadline – not that we'd want him to – the album is ready when it's ready.

'i' is Kendrick's first proper new single in about two years and attracted over 2 million plays in less than 24 hours on Soundcloud when it dropped on Tuesday.

It has divided opinion, taking a much more optimistic, feel-good tone than the dark storytelling of GKMC.

Kendrick said the Isley Brothers-sampling track sounds different to what you'll hear on rap radio these days for a reason.

"When I go into creating an album or any type of song, I usually cut off everything from the radio because you can easily be influenced from songs that you like, songs that you may not like," he explained.