Kendrick Lamar - 2017 Album - DAMN

The beat in the middle section of XXX is amazing. Holy shit. The only bad thing about the U2 collaboration is that it interrupts this beat and that's a minor miracle. Good Friday, indeed.

Fear/God/Duckworth is some of Kendrick's best storytelling.

DNA.

DNA.

― ||||||||, Friday, April 14, 2017 3:00 PM

Duckworth is definitely a highlight and a crazy story if true (which it prob isn't)

i love the sound of the sexy line on ELEMENT.

I'd love to see a rundown of all the Drake jabs on this album.

I'm on my third listen already and it's getting better with each listen. Also, marcos OTM, people have been waiting quite a while for this album to come out, so I'd rather see discussion about it without it being hijacked by some idiot hipster Pitchforkian psuedo-Radiohead-fanboy conspiracy theory rumour mill bullshit.

This album rules.

yea this is really good

those keyboards on GOD

DNA.

― ||||||||, Friday, April 14, 2017 3:00 PM (fifty-seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

DNA.

― ||||||||, Friday, April 14, 2017 3:00 PM

― the Rain Man of nationalism. (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, April 14, 2017 3:21 PM (thirty-six minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

even the cover art is growing on me a lot

I'd love to see a rundown of all the Drake jabs on this album.

someone will have to point these out to me, since I remain blissfully oblivious to the nuances of Drake's output

cover art suits the album. no frills just good rap

Slate has an article that Damn is "Finally available" today. Yes, this album we found out about a few weeks ago by an artist with two releases in the past two years is probably the new Chinese Democracy.

In a world...where Future drops two albums in two weeks...

PRIDE, foks

lol Geraldo

http://pitchfork.com/news/72880-geraldo-rivera-responds-to-kendrick-doubles-down-on-rap-criticism/

my friend over gchat today: "Lighting ones head on fire is the only reasonable response to this beat"

cant remember if that was about DNA or HUMBLE but either way it was in praise of mike will made it, and it is correct

Slate has an article that Damn is "Finally available" today. Yes, this album we found out about a few weeks ago by an artist with two releases in the past two years is probably the new Chinese Democracy.

― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Friday, April 14, 2017 4:25 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

slate is bad

this album is great

i enjoy listening to it more than TPAB i would not necessarily say that means "better" but w/e

I know it's a lyrically dark album, but some of these beats ("Feel," "Pride," "Duckworth" "God," the end of "XXX") give me such a warm, fuzzy feeling. It's like he stretched out "Momma" from TPAB and made it into a whole album.

Obviously, on the flipside, he's got beats like DNA, Humble, Element, that are impossibly hard.

I'm gonna enjoy living inside this album for the next few days.

I love that this album is tighter and seemingly simpler but still has a solid conceptual framework. best of both worlds.

Album is spectacular. Also, I like Humble about 300x more than I originally did, and I liked it initially anyway.

Not as obviously dazzling as TPAB, but I appreciate the stripped down beats and greater focus on his raps.

Agreed. And Humble makes so much more sense to me, both sonical and the lyrics, in the context of the album. Booming album. Couldn't have wished for more tbh.

(xp but not xp)

Kendrick totally neutralizes Annoying Bono, and makes it work. No small feat.

seriously. I will never doubt k-dot again

HE IS SO CORNY!!! Yeah, I know all of you hear it but somehow go pass it. TPAB was so impressive I couldn't front but this is just a regular album.

YOU'RE corny

Hi racoon tanuki

lmao

Yup, sharp album. And if Bono can only sing like that from now and only in guest roles I might actually like him again.

I hope that doesn't happen because "Ned will never like Bono again"
is my critical review ideal space

i am listening to the kendrick lamar album "damn." and i am enjoying the experience. some of the beats are a little slight, but he's rapping at a very high level of proficiency.

LOYALTY. and HUMBLE. the only weak songs IMO

Really impressed with dude's career post-GKMC

Kinda Yeezus-y really, albeit more traditional

Loyalty may be the best song, you nincompoop.

he's rapping at a very high level of proficiency

otm. This has been true of him all along obv, but I think he's gotten sharper and more inventive. I love the way he sets up the framework for a verse and then keeps tweaking it, changing up the flow and emphasis and voice, improvising within the structure.

well, the album's got several of his best performances and a couple slips into one of his more annoying tendencies, i.e. cramming so many lines into a song that the damn thing doesn't breathe; it's the rapping equivalent of Steve Vai.

One of my friends said it's the first Kendrick album since Section.80 that doesn't feel like a term paper.

it's the rapping equivalent of Steve Vai.

Yeah, the virtuosity can be exhausting. That's why ELEMENT is so great, it's the force of his voice with lots of space around it.

One of my friends said it's the first Kendrick album since Section.80 that doesn't feel like a term paper.

― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Saturday, April 15, 2017 12:36 PM (nineteen minutes ago)

Yeah tbh I'm glad that this is just a collection of songs

enhh there's definitely still some overarching conceptual stuff but it's less pronounced and also y'know not as long

I kinda lost interest after section80 so I had no particular hopes for this but so far I find it pretty good.
I still need to listen to it more but it catches me much more than his previous work (especially the two latest).
I like the grooves more.
Otm the comments about it sounding less like a pensum/conceptual work and more like a... cool hip-hop album !

"nincompoop," lol

Like pull up pop off make it look sexy

If LOVE isn't the next single, somebody's not doing their job.