It may seem a bit obvious why so many people think "DAMN." is a good album: it’s well produced, written, it has a cohesive narrative working throughout the album and oh, by the way, it’s written and performed by a talented and focused artist. All of these things are true and people can have their own personal interpretations and judgements, but personally, "DAMN.", and Kendrick Lamar’s work in general, does something that few artists can do:
Make every song satisfying for the listener.
Allow me to elaborate. I will admit that I am not great at listening to music. It takes me usually months to listen to a new release by my own decision, even if it is by an artist that I like. Also, even when I do finally listen to it, I may not have my full attention on the music that I am just now witnessing.
The only types of songs that grab my attention during these sessions are usually songs with good melodies underpinning the song or are so aggressive and uplifting that they almost grab my attention by force. While my first listen through "DAMN." wasn’t much different, something was able to seep in.
A few months after the album was released and I had listened to it, the music video for the song “ELEMENT.” was released online. Besides the bangers, I hadn’t given the album much thought, but I wanted to watch the music video anyway. I focused more on the great visuals than the music, but it was not long before I was watching the video, and then repeatedly listening to the song.
“ELEMENT.” does not have a loud or in-your-face beat; it carries the emotional theme of the song in the background and puts all of the focus on Lamar’s rapping. It’s well made and also a bit subdued for the most part.
It was not long after that I began listening almost entirely to the more subdued songs that make up most of the album, and having to hear one after the other, because they were so satisfying, in that way that is so hard to describe about music. I think that these kinds of songs need to be well-made to avoid the labels of "boring" or "filler." These songs that I am writing about give Lamar room to breathe and speak what on his mind.
When it is done well, it is no surprise then that I have a few whole verses memorized from the album, just from listening, not trying to accomplish anything from it.
Now, this is not some sort of "how to" guide or even any sort of in-depth look at what Lamar is saying and what it all might mean. I am no music critic; just someone that listens to a lot of it, and any album that can be so memorable and consuming from just letting the song go through your ears.
I don’t know if it’s the best album of the year, or even if it is the best of Lamar’s discography, but it does accomplish what I believe is the basic goal that any song should strive for, simply allowing the music to exist for the time that it is played.
