[3 days...For 3 days this album has been out but the coli's server's been going through something. Long ass post incoming, be afraid lol]
Coli byke (some elements are still wonky/broken but I can post now without that rich text trick)??
Anyway, I listen to this shyt the minute it released. After the first spin, I thought it was a 6 or 6.5/10. I was disappointed. I still think Heart Pt 5 is better than every song on the album.
I gave DAMN. a solid 6 my first listen, back in 2017. Today it`s in my top 3 projects of the 2010`s. TPAB i didn't like at first but it's a 7 MAYBE an 8/10 album to me now if i'm being generous. Really I got to be in the mood for TPAB.
It`s only been THREE DAYS (listened 3 times, seen many other's reactions to it, not that it matters to me but), I now think MMATBS is an 8 or 8.5/10
Disc 1, I didn't like that Therapy Session#9 from the leaks last October was the intro, and that beat switch, and whole second half had me like
this is his worst intro, definitely not better than DNA (I stand on this). or BLOOD for that matter lol. N95 (I liked the song but) I didn`t like that verse 2 was also from the old leaks, and that the bridge, and most of verse 3 was literally removed from Vent (Baby Keem's song) which was first leaked in like 2019/2020. I literally was just waiting for Die Hard & Purple Hearts to be over halfway into those songs. I fukks with ALL these songs now, except Purple Hearts. It's not a bad song, but I'm most likely going to skip that track every listen. Not entirely a good outro either imo.
Disc 2, I didn`t like Count Me Out, Mother I Sober, and I thought Mirror was ok. NOW, I like Count Me Out (the background vocals are HEAVENLY, so beautiful
). The hook is still kind of cringe to me, but that's because I can't help but hear Racks On Racks when he says it, got me thinking of Future hearing it and wanting to sue his ass, lowkey
I still don't like Mother I Sober, I don't know why so many YouTubers are giving that song such high praise. I hated the leak "Somebody" but I would take that version over this version. Mirror is a great song/outro to me now (I choose me I'm sorry is stuck in my head lol). "Sorry I didn't save the world my friend, I was busy trying to build mine again"
I knew my score was going to go up though because I do it with damn near every album, I listen to on first listen. Not even just Kendrick's albums, but his albums in particular I do that to especially. I've seen a lot of reactors on YT say they'll have to spin this shyt about 20 more times before giving it a final score. Probably because it's impossible to process on just one listen, especially since Kendrick raps 400 words a minute. It`s like (for me at least) my brain downloads Kendricks music at gigabyte speeds, Wi-Fi 6 nikka... But Kendrick's music is a hundred Terabytes
It's heavy, and it's a lot to take in, and process like I said.
I don't think my score will go any higher but DAMN. (And KOD from Cole) proved to me any album I call mid; I could possibly call a classic somewhere down the line. I'll call it Kendrick's worst effort for now, but what people got to understand is. Even his worst is still great (up until this point).
Favorite tracks/track reviews:
N95 - THIS SHYT HARD!!!
Worldwide Steppers - VERY UNDERATED, I'm surprised at how many people not feeling it. Kendrick voice & flow threw me off at first but after a few listens, this shyt hard. Breh was riding the beat like NORE at times, anyone else noticed that? This also sounded like GKMC, Art of Peer Pressure Kendrick to.
Father Time
We Cry Together - Was my favorite on first listen. A LQ snippet of this been leaked but I couldn't tell back then it was ol' girl from the movie Zola. I saw that movie for the first time like two, three months ago. I immediately googled to see if it was her on the song, and it was. It's not a song I'm a play over, and over again, as loud as I can but it's a 5/5 track. Someone said they hated the song, and they're just talking at each other. But they are literally rhyming for most of (if not all) of the song. Plus the beat is tough. I love the song at the beginning to. It was actually in a PGLang commercial years ago I believe. Kendrick & ol' girl must've done this song in one of those type studio's that voice actors use. The one where both vocal booths are separated, but they can still see each other (and the engineers could see both of them from the outside).
Rich Spirit - Sounds a lot like Makes No Sense by Baby Keem, but I fukk with that song, and this one.
Crown - I hate how underrated this song is. I love this song, and it has an Andre 3K energy to it. It sounds like an interlude to a play at a theater. Kendrick and his therapist are on stage just sitting down with the spotlight on Kendrick calmingly performing it while the rest of the actors in the play gets ready for the next song, and the rest of the 2nd half of the play.
Silent Hill - I think is my favorite track and will probably be the song of the summer. Kodak Black killed it. I absolutely love how chill this song is, but that 808
KNOCKS my nikka. Every reaction video I've seen (which was also my reaction). When that shyt drops for the first time. Everyone's reaction is "
" I don't even 100% my volume on this one anymore. I'm afraid the 808 is going to blowout an earcup or both out on my Dre Beats Studios.
Savior - Probably my second favorite or 1B. Sounded like a DAMN. era session
Kendrick snapped on every verse, the beat is FIYA, the background vocals oh my gawd, and Keem was perfect on the hook. Everything is so clear, and crisp on the track. I feel like Hov would've been a great feature on this song.
Side note: I have the album in FLAC 24bit, I advise Ya'll to listen in that format downloaded, because streaming Spotify's highest quality literally doesn't compare. I've heard both. The lossless version sounds more crisp (especially on string instruments, synths, piano, chords etc. which are featured heavily on this album), and seeming has more instrument separation (leading to more clarity), and a bigger soundstage. Sounds have more texture to them it seems like. Bass, 808's and Kedrick's voice sounds more upfront as well. Look idk how but to me it sounds like a bigger difference than usual. Almost like it were two different mixes of the album.
Auntie Diaries - Beautiful song. I love how it builds up at the end. Kendrick was pulling heart strings while strings were playing
Another track I wouldn't play over, and over, and at max volume for everyone to look at me like "
" every time Kendrick says that word but it's a 5/5 track to me. Storytelling at its finest.
Mr. Morale - Sounds like a Yeezus track. Fiya. Will probably be on Black Panther 2.
Mirror - I love this song. Sounds like a Jesus Is King track. Great outro
Will probably be on Black Panther 2's end credits.
IDK which Disc I enjoy more. I think disc 1 is more consistent by just a tiny bit. But disc 2 has some of the best songs on the whole project.
More Side notes: I have a work in progress theory on the album. When I listen to it, I feel like I can visualize it. And what I see is (like I said earlier) a play in a theatre (people theorized this before the album dropped). Or at the very least, a hip hop musical sort of like Idlewild (2006) movie. The piece of mind intro plays, then the stage curtains pull back revealing Kendrick and the therapist (and the pianolist). Every song takes place in the therapy room, or in Kendricks head. Rich Interlude, Crown, and Savior Interlude are intermissions. Count Me Out is the start of Act 2. After Mirror all the actors in the play comes out and takes a bow, then the curtain closes (I saw someone say this somewhere, and I 100% visualize, and agree with it). I don't know the full picture yet, but listening to the album with it being a therapy play in mind. Makes it even more enjoyable for me.
On Count Me Out, the part where Kendrick repeats "This Is Me, And I'm blessed". That melody, and lyric itself literally sounds like something you'd hear in a Broadway play.
Kodak (and his Big Steppers) - Hood nikka who dances around the problem, is closed off to the therapist, is in denial, and lashes out because he's had a hard life but doesn't think he needs a therapist. The therapist does eventually have breakthroughs with Kendrick/Kodak (Big Stepper). Worldwide Steppers was one, but it was in a rude, cocky and sarcastic (dikkish, pause) way on Kendrick's behalf. Another breakthrough is Father Time. That was him beginning to bring his guard down a little. He shared his personal feelings on that one. The delivery kind of sounds like he is fighting back tears a little. And he's saying "OK you want the truth, I got daddy isueeees".
Baby Keem (Mr. Morale). Basically, the opposite of Kodak (Big Stepper). By the end of the album Mr. Morale is the conscience Kendrick chooses. His therapy sessions have concluded. Kendrick is 100% Mr. Morale now.
Lowkey MM Is Disc 2 and TBS Is Disc 1. Disc 2 is almost entirely Kendrick sharing his feelings, and personal experiences. This is because he's not side stepping as much anymore.
/ Purple Hearts / Mother I Sober / Silent Hill / Die Hard / Worldwide Stepper beat switch
/ Rich Spirit / N 95 / Savior / Mr. Morale / Crown
& Portishead Songstress reintroduce to a new era