Kendrick Lamar - 2017 Album - DAMN

killer verse here
https://www.audiomack.com/song/bottomfeedermusic/mask-off-rmx

was listening to this on the living room stereo the other day and started after skipping to the middle - made me realize how *slow* so much of this album is, tempo-wise.

GIMME SOME GANJA!
GIMME SOME GANJA!
GIMMIGIMMIGIMMIGIMMIGIMMIGIMMIGIMMIGIMME SOME GANJA!

Well, this has been out for a while now and a lot of listens and this one seems to be threatening to burn out a little faster for me than GKMC or TPAB, both of which I'm still listening to a lot, but 'DNA.', 'ELEMENT.', 'FEEL.', 'LUST.', 'XXX.', 'FEAR.' and 'DUCKWORTH.' all rule.

The only reason I don't play this album 24/7 is because I don't want my kids to pick up the cursing and the n-bombs.

If you discount the opener, that's more than half the album!

xpost

this is also a great album to listen to while hiking, especially when you're carrying a heavy bag

this is gonna be one of the best albums of the year for me (and everyone else), no problem.

Oh yeah, this is without a doubt one of my favourite albums released this year too, and yet another installment of what is turning out to be an incredible run. I don't think it's a 5-star, 10/10 album like GKMC or TPAB are, but it's incredibly close - more like a 4.999-star, 9.999/10 album. The only flaw I can really find with DAMN. is that it doesn't seem as endlessly replayable as GKMC or TPAB, but since those albums are (IMO) masterpieces, that's not really much of a flaw when it comes down to it.

this album is the best

The only flaw I can really find with DAMN. is that it doesn't seem as endlessly replayable as GKMC or TPAB

I find the album to be endlessly replay-able. More so than Butterfly (I still prefer Butterfly). Replayability one of those things I can't explain.

I've listened to this way more than the others

I can't stop listening to this record. First Kendrick record that I really got all the way into - I liked the last one but it felt like such a Big Weighty Artistic Statement that it was harder for me to find a way in (especially at my age, where I have less time to really delve into Big Weighty Artistic Statements). Maybe I'll go back and give it more time now. Damn has more straight bangers on it AFAICT, and that hooked me enough to dig more into the weighty artistic statement aspects of the album, which are also great. DNA is the first rap song I felt compelled to memorize in many years.

Also the story on and behind Duckworth is insane.

At least four or five tracks I can have on endless repeat.

DNA seems to get a lot of play on Hot 97 too, which just makes me happy that something that amazing can still be a hit.

agree w you ive played/enjoyed this 1 more than tpab

I still think To Pimp a Butterfly is better, but DAMN. is still one of the albums of the year.

Having children at an age where they parrot whatever they hear has cut down on the amount that I listen to this album but it's still my favorite of the year.

Believe me I get it. The only reason I even got to give this record a chance is that I now drive to work. And with that it was sill totally by chance that I flipped the radio one day to hot 97 and had a head explosion, pull the car over moment when the beat change in DNA happened

I've been impressed by its chart longevity too -- it hit #1 again a couple weeks ago and hasn't left the top ten.

xp the *drama* of this record is one of its biggest hooks - the gunshot cutting off BLOOD, the escalation in DNA, that bit in FEEL where he snaps and rants for a few bars, the rage in XXX. He's just at the top of his game.

So many high points on this album but that first verse in woozy-as-fuck Pride where his voice keeps subtly mutating lower and higher makes me seasick every time in just the best way. What a triumph.

I think this is his best album, hits a middle ground between the strengths of Good Kid, Maad City and To Pimp a Butterfly

It's his best album the way that Yeezus is Kanye's best album. It's not the album he'll be remembered for, but it's awesome and exciting and bold and perfect for what it is

I don't understand that comparison at all

in part because Yeezus is three quarters crap

that's a good starting point for skepticism, to be sure

Half is Yeezus is very good and half of Yeezus is intolerable bullshit. DAMN. runs the gamut from "good" to "holy shit where has this song been my whole life".

they're both lean, no-bullshit, hard-hitting, personality-driven mid-career album by an elite A-list rapper with several more "prestigious" albums already under their belt. Not really a stretch?

yeah if you think Yeezus sucks the comparison doesn't hold but thinking Yeezus sucks is a pretty bizarre position imo

That is 100% stretch considering the entire second half of Yeezus is filler.

Also, if Yeezus is mid-career Kanye album god help us all

Again, the comparison won't hold at all if you hate Yeezus for some bizarre reason.

Yeezus has a few duds in the second half but it also has Send It Up, I'm In It and Bound 2. That's still pretty good for any side of a record. DAMN. has some silly shit in its second half, too, but it doesn't dampen my love of that record much either

yeah this album gets flabby towards the end c'mon. i think it's cool that he pulled back from the sprawling ambition of TBAP w/ a record like this, i would have guessed he'd keep going down that hole. i play this one a lot and about half of it feels canonical to me but i'd still rate it as his third best tho... even as an album of bangers i still think it's less good than GKMC.

right now I want to say damn. is my favourite but I think that's just me being v immersed in it. his command of all the peculiarities of his voice feels virtuosic & agile, so many neat little hooks, phrases & flourishes. I always liked him woozy but this is comparatively breezy and I really love that about it

imo TPAB and the follow-up outtakes were where Kendrick really came into this fully-developed persona and DAMN is him going back to a more regular album format while sitting in that established position

better than GKMC, not as transcendently brilliant as TPAB

DUCKWORTH is one of my favorite songs ever, though

jOrdan otm

for a guy who does a fair amount of guest verses he rarely if ever feels like he's phoning it in, this is great (and rapsody is great too)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVsehWDsoR0

Yeah, I think To Pimp a Butterfly is a better record, but this is still one of my favourite albums this year.

I don't this album can be compared to Yeezus, which has a sort of comedy value for a couple of spins before it never gets played again, and rightly so because Yeezus is fucking terrible.

I'm liking Yeezus more by the minute

you can never compare an album to another album on ilx without someone chiming in with 'but that comparison is preposterous; i like one of these records and dislike the other!'

Lol

Okay, I'll put it another way: if you think Yeezus is anywhere near in the same league as DAMN. then there's something seriously wrong with you.

one day, turrican will learn that taste is subjective, and only then will we all be beamed up

Not before you learn that while taste is subjective, there is still such a thing as objectively good and/or bad music.

"objectively" lol no, there isn't

i like this album

Of course there is, else the entire globe would be jacking off to Playing With Fire by Kevin Federline instead of rightfully calling it out for the piece of shit it is.

Hey friend please stop