Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (Discussion Thread)

[Guvnor]

Mason’s aren’t evil. God damn where do people get this shyt. It’s highly likely if u are a black american ur grandparents or great grandparents are Mason’s.

Where in my post did I say they were evil. Just pointing out he kinda hints at being one in this project.

 

[mobbinfms]

I’ve listened a few times. I’d say this is a 3.5 mic album. Too much singing. A few tracks that aren’t rap at all. I’m not crazy about most of the production, too modern for my taste.
The end of the album is flat out amazing. auntie Diaries is phenomenal.
I think this album will be like Damn where I listen for a couple weeks and then never revisit.

 

[KillerB88]

I give the album a ‘B’ for now. The depth of the topics will give it legs and room to grow, but I gotta vent a lil bit: this is one pandering ass album.To women with the ‘men need to be re-wired’ narrative, to being extra pro-therapy, to the lgbtq community. I’m not rubber stamping albums as great simply bc he tackled progressive topics. It’s still music at the end of the day.

Musically some of these songs feel both forced and underproduced/too minimalist. Aunty diaries sounds like it was made to be performed holding hands with elton John at the Grammy’s. Mother I Sober sounds like it was made for a serious scene on the season finale of Euphoria.

What makes it frustrating is damn near every song that’s produced in a more traditional manner is a home run. Silent hill, Purple Hearts, mr. Morale, etc. Phonte said it best ‘dope beats dope rhymes this rap shyt really ain’t that hard’.

Yet Phonte had HIS career extended via Foreign Exchange singing over Nicolai’s production.

 

[KillerB88]

nikkas don't realize they're shytting on the genre they claim to love when they say stuff like that.

"He's not just a rapper...HE'S AN ARTIST! A TRUE WRITER."

Like....okay? Rappers not artists now? They don't write? Lol.

nikkas letting them cacs make them ashamed of our own genre

Ye talked about that in his Drink Champs… the subliminal components of someone saying “Rapper”.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Kendrick Lamar – Interscope Records

 

[tinnyskillz]

I put everything pretty much in the exact order of how I rank each track (as of today, after multiple listens). The B tier is all interchangeable. That was a difficult tier to rank in order.

I averaged out the tracks (add then divide by 18). It lands on 88.8. Which I would say is absolutely accurate. I want to do one of these for DAMN., and TPAB.

After many listens I have to say MM&TBS at worst is in the middle of his catalogue imo. Still have to give it time though. I may say it's just alight 2, or 3 years from now. I might think it's a masterpiece, idk. Only time will tell.

 

[Mike the Executioner]

I listened to the album. Obviously, I'm going to need some more time with it but some of you guys are going overboard with the takes here. The album is solid at worst. And he's not really doing anything that different from his previous work. This might be Kendrick’s most vulnerable album yet. I'm definitely going to be revisiting a lot of these tracks.

Also, if you're going to listen to the album, play "The Heart Part 5" immediately after. It's a nice victory lap.

 

[Braman]

Yet Phonte had HIS career extended via Foreign Exchange singing over Nicolai’s production.

?? I don’t get your point. Just bc Nicolay was known for being alternative doesn’t mean he wasn’t making straight up hip hop tracks. He was. And Regardless of the producer Phonte was still spitting …or singing if it was their r&b kick. I’m good with either. Kendrick tho tends to overvalue his lyrics/message and chooses a super minimalist almost acapella beat and I’m not a fan of that

 

[Mike the Executioner]

nikka please. U wanna test each others musical palette? I’m a fan of mad different genre’s of music not just rap. Which is why I’m not THAT impressed by TPAB like y’all are. nikka don’t got one song on that shyt better and more heartfelt than Sing About Me. And GKMC ain’t even my fav Kendrick album. Section 80 is. But I can acknowledge the impact GKMC made on the youth, hip hop world, and the public. It’s funny because before TPAB came out Kendrick fans was acting like GKMC was the deepest shyt in the world and even comparing it to Illmatic. Now nikkas in here damn near dismissing it. It goes to show how goofy people are when it comes to this nikka. Lol. I’m more a fan of GKMC because it sounds better. He raps better. He’s more concise with his message on that album as well. Kendrick is scatterbrained as fukk on TPAB and that’s cause he has no real stance on anything and he’s not really THAT type of conscious rapper. TPAB was a reactionary album based on the backlash he got from his Mike Brown comments and a few conversations he had with Cole. Who is far more sensible when it comes to that type of content.

The majority of TPAB was recorded when exactly? I know he started writing "The Blacker the Berry" shortly after Trayvon was killed.

 

[Roid Jones]

Maaaaaaan Kendrick is not thinking about Logic

Breh really gave Logic that much credit, coli is the height of idiocy LMAO

 

[CoolinInTheCut]

Rich Spirit is the greatest song ever made any genre.

the slow + reverb version tho

 

[Fiji Water]

Kendrick Lamar – Interscope Records

I didn't know rappers could make affordable merch anymore. Wow.

 

[tuckgod]

the slow + reverb version tho

Man why you show me this?

Finna be on repeat for an hour

 

[Piff Perkins]

nikka please. U wanna test each others musical palette? I’m a fan of mad different genre’s of music not just rap. Which is why I’m not THAT impressed by TPAB like y’all are. nikka don’t got one song on that shyt better and more heartfelt than Sing About Me. And GKMC ain’t even my fav Kendrick album. Section 80 is. But I can acknowledge the impact GKMC made on the youth, hip hop world, and the public. It’s funny because before TPAB came out Kendrick fans was acting like GKMC was the deepest shyt in the world and even comparing it to Illmatic. Now nikkas in here damn near dismissing it. It goes to show how goofy people are when it comes to this nikka. Lol. I’m more a fan of GKMC because it sounds better. He raps better. He’s more concise with his message on that album as well. Kendrick is scatterbrained as fukk on TPAB and that’s cause he has no real stance on anything and he’s not really THAT type of conscious rapper. TPAB was a reactionary album based on the backlash he got from his Mike Brown comments and a few conversations he had with Cole. Who is far more sensible when it comes to that type of content.

Nah I can't let this go. There may be some white fans somewhere who diss GKMC but I don't see that shyt on the Coli or any other rap place I congregate. The only people I see hating on GKMC are the Indian spammer poster here and a couple other Kdot haters.

In terms of TPAB that album was brewing for awhile and was NOT a reaction to backlash. He had the remnants of multiple albums in 2013/2014, including something that basically sounds like GKMC 2.0 about his uncles/gangstas. This was basically the direction:


TPAB was birthed by the Yeezus tour, seeing Kanye's live show shift from era to era within his catalog and deciding that repeating GKMC wasn't a good idea. As well as his trip to South Africa. When he came back he scrapped all the shyt Interscope was hyped about, and instead went all the way left with Terrace Martin. Rest is history.

I remember when "i" first came out and Cole mentioned his convos with Kdot seemed to reflect in the direction of the song. And yea they're homies and share info/inspiration, Cole wasn't the major factor compared to Yeezus and South Africa.

 

[Sad Bunny]