Kendrick Lamar is one of my favourite rappers and the news of his new album sent my brain into a frenzy. I was wondering: Whats he going to rap about now? Who’s it going to feature? Will it be the first Kendrick Lamar album I don’t like?
This album is amazing! I know their is a bandwagon that comes around whenever Kendrick drops something but I’m not part of it. I have been a fan since “good kid m.A.A.d city” I do not claim to be a fan of Kendrick since day one but I have been a fan for a long enough to pass a fair judgement on the album. I can honestly say I was not disappointed at any point throughout listening to this album.
The album starts with “Blood.” a song about Kendrick offering to help a blind women but she shoots him. The blind woman represents the consequences that lead to Damnation (where people are condemned to internal punishment in hell). This may seem confusing but the album is actually made up of two storys. The first where you listen to the album from start to finish. This is a story of kendrick being damned and killed for his sins.
Or if you play the album in reverse starting with “Duckworth”, its a story about Kendrick redeeming his soul from being cursed because of the actions of his father Ducky and Top Dawg.
This is what the intro is meaning when it says:
“Is it wickedness?
Is it weakness?
You decide
Are we gonna live or die?”
It is up to the listener to decide if its a story of redemption for Kendrick or its a story where Kendrick is punished fro his sins.
One of my favourite songs on the album is “LOYALITY.” which features Rihanna. The combination of Kendrick and Rihanna is nice to hear and it feels like was an obvious combination and I’m really glad it happened. Its just an overall good song to listen too.
I’m also glad the song “XXX.” wasn’t a disaster because I have never heard a U2 song I liked. I remember going through the struggle a few years ago of trying to remove their album from my iPod as iTunes decided to gift it to every apple customer whether they liked it or not. However this song is so intriguing and they are only in it a matter of seconds so they didn’t have much time to ruin it.
“GOD.” Is also a song, I just hit replay on. Its light hearted and its just a nice listen. The chorus of the song is also so catchy and infectious.
“Humble.” is one of the best songs on the album. The lines are so quotable and its just a catchy song. The beat produced by Metro Booming is also so different that its just fire. I’m always feel hyped when I listen to it.
Overall this album is solid and it will probably go down in history for being a classic. It has solidified the idea in my mind that Kendrick is one of the greatest rappers alive. It shows that he is consistent. He has released so many albums that are considered classics. Rappers can spend years working on an album and they can not come close to this one. He is a master lyricist and way too smart for me. I have spent hours reading the meaning to his lyrics and I’m amazed. The content in his songs is another standard of rapping that many can only dream of producing. This album will probably be one of the best albums of the year and probably one of the best albums I will hear in my lifetime.
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