Yeah the interlude sucks and is the only song that isn’t good. I don’t listen to we cry together every time but it’s still great.
After 10+ listens, i'm gonna do it: 1. To Pimp A Butterfly 2. good kid, mAAd city 3. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers 4. Untitled, Unmastered 5. DAMN 6. Section.80 7. The Black Panther Soundtrack 8. Overly Dedicated NO MISSES BTW everything ranges from good to one of the greatest things i've ever heard in my life
Hey y'all first post . Found the site as I was trying to find a good conversation regarding the album. First I wanna say we all have our own expectations of kendrick sonically, lyrically and production wise. It's difficult to hear something that isn't expected. With that being said I feel like a lot of his songs have been designed to have the casual listener tune out before the beat switch. Also feel this album he basically tried to get himself canceled or have the conversation of him being considered , Chapelle has been the only one to survive this wave. He put himself out there, Regarding his addiction, weakness, the culture. More importantly he still put out quality while going thru writers block for two years .
Production is top notch. Based on production alone I think 1.We cry together slapps hard alchemist on a crazy run 2.Mr. Morale also goes sounds like Pharrell on the beat The tap dancing and the build up at the end for silent hill or ending of auntie diaries makes it seem he may have a whole band for the concert. I can vision the transitions between the piano and tap dancing .
I’m assuming the tap dancing is somehow tied to the “big steppers” whether it’s thematically or something that he could do on the tour indeed
Tracks : We cry together I feel was well done, I understand a lot don't appreciate the back and forth cussing but I feel like a lot missed the tribute to lucky (2pac) and justice(janet) in the scene from poetic justice while they were driving. If that was where the inspiration came from I def can see pac and Janet during that part of the track. The lyrics were great, well paced and many can relate unfortunately. Savior is great, he basically takes all the celebrities off their pedestal including himself. My fav line is CC, Ben a qui always gets me hype Auntie diaries was story telling at its finest- I take the f word in the same context as white actors using the N word in movies or shows to depict the story telling. Same thing like he said in the last line. N95 is great, addressess all the fake in the world. Reminds me of the same messaging from humble Die hard very smooth has feel as all the stars is very nice I can see a lot of older people 2 stepping to this .
Rich Spirit rules. His flow on the second verse is my favorite part of the album: “The morality can wait, feedback on low latency I’m glitchin from the face as my thoughts grow sacredly I’m running out of space, ask Whitney she okay? Nevermind a hundred K, why you lying on Benjamin he turnin’ in his grave I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t give this shit away The aloof Buddha, I’m Christ with a shooter Praise to Muhammad, I might n—— news ya”
I can't speak to Kodak black, I'm indifferent. I see it in two ways, kendrick showing that the nee generation of rappers can still sound decent over funk /jazz. The other is thst ekert tolle line basically talks about trauma done when younger and how it impacts and comes back full circle later in life. This could be specific to Kodak, R Kelly, smollet and Simpson although the latter weren't mentioned on the album specifically or in lyrics
All the quick takes after first listens seem so dumb/incorrect now. This is a messy, deep, thoughtful record that takes more than 2 seconds to digest. It’s fantastic.
The only quick take I've enjoyed is the Premature Evaluation from Stereogum, because it acknowledges how silly it is to try and do that for this record. I personally haven't been able to listen a second time to the record just because of how intense the discourse is right now - I'm waiting for it to cool off so I can form my own feelings about the record.