kendrick lamar - mr. morale & the big steppers (2022)

not that grammys mean a fucking thing. but if that's the scoreboard we're going by . . .

not sure how legit this is.

Bad Bunny’s release followed that same schedule so it was a surprise release worldwide so I think it could be true.

can a mod lock this thread if anyone else mentions the grammy awards?

make me mod and i'll lock every thread except this one. literal #onethread now what?

LEVITATE
LEVITATE
LEVITATE

okay, i'll stop now.

his new song is really refreshing. i see what whiney is saying, and my thought is that rappity-rap-rap should come back in vogue.

How many rappity-rap-rappers must get dissed?

Kendrick is so wild because he's the only rappity-rap-rap rapper that cool-kid discourse hasn't completely abandoned or deemed an anachronism

doesn't that make him something of an anachronism anyway or just that the others have been deemed more explicitly retro-throwback acts etc.

Kendrick has never really seemed like a throwback though. When he did his Compton album it didn’t sound like gangsta rap, his jazzy album didn’t sound Soulquarian.

there is realism at the center of his work which makes it contemporary no matter what sounds he is working with.

it also sets him apart from many other rappers on the radio who trade in fantasy.

oh yeah i shouldn't have said 'explicitly', he's not a throwback, just still very distinct in the current landscape

what i was trying to say more is that 'if he's the only one of those left isn't that in itself something of an anachronism'

18 songs, 73 minutes, let’s do this

Quickly glanced the track list to see what kind of wild guests would be on this

And motherfucking Beth Gibbons is on the penultimate track

oh it's shorter than TPAB lol

about the same if you chop off that tupac “interview”

yeah just funny bc this is the one that's being presented as a double, just shows how meaningless the distinction can be

GFK :)

good kid was a double cd in its bonus track version, like 90 plus minutes

first two tracks sound excellent

gonna have to listen twice to actually process this. mostly just processing the decisions he made right now lol

kodak the last poet, ok, sure

hmm "auntie diaries" is well-meaning but a real fucking mess

yah there are some real o_0 moments on the album, but that’s the one that just 100% totally misses the mark for me

i can at least grant that it's well-intentioned just like... totally naive still and he'd rightfully never give some well-meaning-but-naive white person a pass for taking the same approach re: race

https://i.imgur.com/vwzCXPo.jpg

"rich spirit" instant classic

he sounds more conflicted than ever. the way it ends is brilliant. a lot to process on one listen, but it immediately hits me as his most consistently personal work. oh, it's good tho.

it’s very heavy and very busy and much too much for me to process at 1:45am lol

the beat on “silent hill” is sooooo good. and im comfortable saying that the first, penultimate, and final tracks on here are career highlights

there's a lot to take in but i'm a bit underwhelmed overall on first listen idk

those three are certainly highlights yeah

"Rich Spirit" brilliant, agreed. It's gonna take some time to dig in.

Holy fuck

Lol at “beth gibbons from portishead”

Not gonna lie a bit disappointed about the aesthetic

… misdirect on “the heart pt. 5”

oof, "Auntie Diaries" is a hard no

and the first three notes of "Mother I Sober" are irresistibly Vince Guaraldi

featuring Kodak Black is definitely a choice

argh what's the sample on "Mirror" ? I can't remember where it comes from !

"the heart part 5" is a fair bit better than anything on this

👀

« We cry together » is… something. 5.30min of love and tenderness to share in a family setting !

I know I’m shallow, but

where are the bangers?

lmao the RYM shoutbox has already been deleted

Britishes aside, don't you people sleep?!

it was the absolute worst comments section i have ever seen on rym

"we cry together" would have been bad as a minute-long skit and yet it's the second longest track here

Not sure I'll ever willingly listen to We Cry Together again.

featuring Kodak Black is definitely a choice

― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, May 13, 2022 3:04 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

he’s been on every major rap album this year, so it’s a choice many have made.

there’s definitely something “uncanceling the canceled” about his prominence tho, that’s for sure

yeah it certainly feels like he's going for something like that but it also wildly clashes with "mother i sober"

I’m not surprised by the messiness, hypocrisy, and complexity of this album. Kendrick has been on this tip for awhile. The album hit me personally being a black male. So I won’t engage in the ILM snark. I think it’s great art. I will say it challenges the idea that seemingly conscious African-Americans are supposed to lead and have the answers. That’s been so ingrained in American culture that if the trope is challenged then the pitchforks come out.