Kendrick Lamar dropped his latest album "Damn," on April 14, 2017. In my opinion, the album further solidifies Lamar's claim as being one of the greatest rapper's alive. It is further placing Kendrick on a throne. And it says that he is one of the greatest artist's out right now. Kendrick is the big star or philosopher of Top Dawg Entertainment. The album showcases Kendrick's clever rhymes and wordplay. The album is filled with great beats, good topics, and encompasses a decent length of time. I believe that his latest project is one of the best ever this year. Drake's latest work "More Life," lags behind by just a little bit. Kendrick's album portrays his own journey through life and overcoming barriers or struggles throughout his existence. It also pinpoints harsh truth's about where America is headed to and his place in society today or his destiny.
Each song is in caps for good reason as each song shows a different theme or emotion. Almost every song has a theme or story to tell. The opening track "BLOOD," opens up with taking a walk or being on a journey as a gunshot ends the track. The closing track "DUCKWORTH," closes the album out with the gunshot and finishing the journey. A highlight song on the album, "DNA," is a war chant that is explosive and packs a huge punch where Kendrick unleashes on his enemies. The beat starts off and changes midway through the song to give it a gritty feel, where Kendrick rings about his rise to fame and the struggles he has had to go through in his life. Kendrick states, "I'd rather die than listen to you. My DNA not for imitation, your DNA an abomination. Peace to the world, let it rotate, sex, money, murder-our DNA." The song also uniquely stands for "Dead Ni**** association," as said on his YouTube video for it. This song is definitely a favorite of mine on the whole album.
Other stand-out tracks are "ELEMENT," "FEEL," "LOYALTY," "HUMBLE," "XXX," "FEAR," and "GOD." The track "XXX," is a great track where Kendrick warns anyone to not even try to hurt his family or himself. Like "DNA," the track's beat switches in the middle of the song. The beat changes to a cop car siren-like beat that Kendrick is able to rap on pretty well. Honestly, I do not know of many rappers that can rap like Kendrick on these complicated and shifty beats. The track "FEAR," is a highlight song on the album and one of my favorite of the year where Kendrick raps about his fears and his place in society. Kendrick also adds a voice speaking to God in the beginning that fits the song and makes it even more interesting. Some ancient language that is hard to depict is stated to further solidify. Kendrick raps in monologues with his mother telling him what to do and to stay out of trouble. It starts off with powerful images, "Why God, Why God do I gotta suffer? Pain in my heart carry burdens full of struggle. Why God, why God do I gotta bleed?" He raps about what it means to be an African American in society today and the dangers that come with it. The powerful lyrics go like, "I'll prolly die anonymous, I'll prolly die with promises, I'll prolly die because these colors standin' out." These lyrics hit hard and are very powerful, just like how the whole album is as a whole.
I can honestly not point out many weaknesses on the album besides the truth of it being short running at about 55 minutes. Truthfully, it is not short, but it is short for Kendrick Lamar specifically, his projects or albums usually run about an hour or more. It is his shortest project to date besides his album titled "Untitled Unmastered." I would have liked to see more angry rapping in the project, but the whole album does hold a good combination of hardcore rapping and some singing.
The song "LOYALTY" is a surprising song, where Rihanna gives a good verse. The song is passionate and about love. Both Kendrick and Rihanna have good chemistry and put a great song together. The track "GOD," adds humor to the higher power about being rich and doing whatever he wants to do. The song "HUMBLE," is a great song that shows Kendrick's clever wordplay, lyrics like, "I make a play fu*** up your whole life, I'm so fuc*** sick and tired of the photoshop, show me something natural natural like ass with some stretch marks." The whole song has clever lyrics and Kendrick is able to do a rhyme scheme like other artists like Lil Uzi Vert. Kendrick is able to do it even better.
What happened after listening to this album personally has left me with a lasting effect. I could see that Kendrick Lamar is expanding his sound and getting even better. It is an album where Kendrick is getting things off his mind. Kendrick has crafted another masterpiece centered on religion and struggle. He has expanded more on the religion concept with his past two projects "To Pimp A Butterfly," and "Untitled Unmastered." After listening to the whole album as a whole multiple times, in my head, I had an immediate response, "Damn."
Review: 9.1 out of 10
Essential Tracks: "DNA," "ELEMENT," "FEEL," "LOYALTY," "HUMBLE," "XXX," "GOD."
