Is anyone else eagerly awaiting the release like I am? Just a couple hours to go before I'm fully submerged and dissecting this thing from every possible angle.
When the album drops Ill update with the track listing and all that jazz.
Kendrick is one of the few artists who's albums that I genuinely look forward to hearing... every time. I don't have any problem in saying that he's truly one of the best rappers alive right now.
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I loved Humble and have high hopes for the new album. Good Kid, m.A.A.d city is still one of my favorite rap albums of all time.
I've played Humble and The Heart Part IV endlessly since their releases.
I heard that this album is going to have heavy Memphis influence, so I would expect more tracks like Humble if that's the case, ... and I'm completely fine with that.
100%. If that's the direction he's going, then I'm fully on board.
DNA goes HARD.
bruh!
Upvote for The Wire reference!
DNA. Has been on straight repeat so good
LUST and DNA are my two favorites so far. If HUMBLE hadn't been released early, that would easily be my favorite but I've listened to it so many times in the past 2 weeks that it's starting to lose its spunk on me. Totally my fault tho.
I've been listening to Humble 3 times a day since it came out, and with where it's place in the album I think I actually like it more now.
Yeah it's a great song. The music video was sick
I made it almost halfway through the album on my commute this morning and I'm loving every second of it so far. I can't wait until my commute back home to finish it.
Kendrick done did it again
I'm about halfway in. All I got to say is:
DAMN.
MRW I listened to this album at work
Mark my words: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth will go down as the Greatest Rapper of all Time when it is all said and done.
Classic albums, classic videos, sick live show, socially responsible, true to himself, represents black culture in a positive way, mass appeal across races and ideologies, transcends hip hop musically and symbolically, a true artist, willing to take chances musically, etc. He doesn't make music, he makes experiences.
Everything you could ask for in your favorite rapper ever, he has it.... and he's nowhere near done (hopefully).
I completely agree
I'd argue he's ALREADY the greatest rapper of all time
Shit I'm old. I have no idea what any of this means.
Me too (the old part), but good is good.
And great is rare.
Kendrick is gifted.
I can't wait to dig into his latest.
If a middle-aged white guy with kids, etc that doesn't frequent rap can get something from an artist, it gives you an indication how powerful is his catalogue.
(Great thread by the way....)
and now I have to go find out.....had no idea who he was/is. But I'm in your category so now I gotta check it out.
good kid, m.A.A.d city is a good place to start. He calls it a "short film by kendrick lamar" and is structured as a pretty straight forward narrative. It's also got a lot of his catchier songs.
Opinions on the U2 feature?
I'm a fan, one of my favorite songs on the album after the first listen
XXX is one of my favorite cuts on the album, to be honest.
Love that song, cannot tell where U2 comes into it though. Is it a sample?
It's not a sample, it's the jazzy part at the second half of the track (it's not really U2's typical sound).
So we do a release thread for Kendrick but completely ignore the fact that Lil Dicky dropped arguably the best 11 minute music video in the history of history? Okay, I see how it do.
for a two year old song.. bout damn time
I'm a huge dick head... the Pillow Talking music video was awesome and Dicky makes easily the most entertaining music videos out there right now. Also, did you happpen to see the segment ESPN did with him as the fourth forgotten Ball brother? Classic, dude can also hoop
This album, its perfect.
Love the tempo of his music. this album is intoxicating
2.5 times through, as good or better as the first two, and those are both classics in my mind. His arsenal of flows is beyond any other rapper I've heard. I honestly can't think of another performer in any genre who can go from pensive to boastful to furious to heartbreaking as seamlessly as Kendrick, and the fact that the lyrics and ideas build on each other to create a unified concept and experience is a talent that very few possess. Will probably take a dozen more listens before I can parse out the entire thing, but it's an addictive listen.
Hold up, this conspiracy might be true
https://www.reddit.com/r/KendrickLamar/comments/659sj8/second_album_comi...
I haven't even pieced my mind back together after it got blown apart by Damn.
Yeah man, I've been trying to not get my hopes up about this theory... But shit it turns out to be true...
This is giving me flashbacks to when Radiohead's King of Limbs came out and the internet pieced together irrefutable evidence that it was only part 1 and part 2 was coming out next week...only for nothing to happen. Still, hard to argue with those facts.
This album is great. Thematically, it fits the progression of his albums, but musically, I'd have expected this to come between the more commercial-friendly good kid, m.a.a.d. city and the more avant-garde To Pimp a Butterfly. Damn. really exemplifies what makes Kendrick the best in the game: versatility with the flow, the depth in his lyrics, the social consciousness, the self-awareness. I've only gone through it twice, but I'm still excited to listen again. And if there is really a part 2, I'm pretty sure heads will explode.
Anyone ever heard of Run DMC?
I would assume many people have, since they're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and were the first rap group to get a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. But what's that got to do with K-Dot?
It was actually a joke...Condescension about Kendrick Lamar not necessary.
Pretty full of yourself...K-dot lol.
...I seem to be lacking versatility in my flow and I am not socially conscious like you.
C'mon man I think three replies is a bit much. But you do you I guess.
Me being me. It's called waking up with a migraine and getting a condescending remark about what I meant as a joke. Yes, everyone knows Run DMC....Figured that was obvious. Sorry for the 3 replies. The comment that prompted it was unnecessary as well.
Okay, so I'm a little slow to respond here, but I admittedly haven't been Key Playing very hard lately. I'd first like to note that not one of the downvotes above was me. I took no offense to your replies. But I feel I need to clarify my own comment here. I was being a bit of a dick. You made a non sequiter comment with little relevance to an explictly Kendrick Lamar thread, and absolutely zero context. So yeah, seeing it, I instantly went for smart assery. It was intended as good natured ribbing, not as outright condescension. Your delivery sucked, my delivery apparently sucked.
For future reference:
1. I am, by nature, a smart ass. So if you see a comment from me in the future, it's safe to assume I'm just having fun with you. If I am legitimately being an asshole, it will be pretty clear to the community at large, and I'm doing so because you have done something egregious enough that I am tempting the ban-hammer. For reference, this has never happened in my 6+ years on TKP.
2. If you come to a thread about a very specific topic, and post something apparently off topic, you should expect pushback.
3. K-Dot is a widely known persona of Kendrick Lamar. I didn't just invent it to seem cool.
On a related note: don't drink and tkp
Meh
What didn't you like about the album, if you don't mind my asking
Just not really a fan of his style. To each their own I guess
I feel you on this. I like Kendrick but I've listened to this album three times through now and still not feeling it as much as his older stuff. The new Drake album More Life is absolutely outstanding however. I liked it much better than Views and is easily the best rap album I've listened to since Travis Scott's Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight. I'm more of a sound guy than a lyrics guy and I kinda thought the production behind DAMN. was a bit lacking. But that's just me. I liked good kid m.a.a.d. city the best of all of Kendrick's work. To Pimp a Butterfly and DAMN. didn't live up to the hype as much as I thought they should IMO.
Did the same thing with every Zep album. Could not wait for their releases. Put on the Kosses and would dissect every nuance. Yeah Yeah old school.
I love Zep, page was a big influence for me when I was playing guitar
God damn, we been bamboozled fam.
BUT KENDRICK FUCKING KILLED IT AT COACHELLA, MY GOD
I was there and not at all impressed. The performance was choppy and had interludes at weird times. Surprise guests had all already performed, and were random (why bring out future??? A$ap, 2chainz and drake were all in town, and you don't play fucking problems???).
Also, minor complaint, but it kind of sucked that the album dropped Friday, on day 1 of the festival. Wish I could've given the album at least one listen before his performance, I didn't have a chance to. Looking forward to listening on the way home.
Me in this thread:
I admit I finally opened the thread to find out who Kendrick Lamar actually was. Rapper, huh.
Let me know when he sells as main albums as Billy Joel. (I might be dating myself here).
Elementary Stat time!
So Kendrick has sold a total of about 5 million albums over 5 albums. That's about 1 million per album. Billy Joel has sold a total of around 150 million albums over 32 albums to average around 5 million per album. (Disclaimer: Includes compilations, and live albums as well.)
Kendrick will never sell as many albums and the main reason would be streaming services and the current music industry. Most of the population will stream instead of buy an album unlike when the majority of Billy Joel's albums were released. I can't give a coefficient to normalize the two album sales, so there is no definite answer. You could definitely argue Kendrick would be right there with Billy Joel on sales per album without streaming services.
And I looked up Taylor Swifts sales for fun. Over 50 million albums sold over 5 albums. Crazy.
And yet Taylor Swift would be competing against Kendrick in the same generation for album sales.
So the conclusion would be Pop>>Rap to a 10:1 ratio?
While I disagree that Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar serve the same demographic (there's some overlap, not much), I'd agree that Pop sells more records than Rap/Hip-hop. After all, 'Pop' is short for 'popular'.
I'm with you. I saw Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden this past December....Right before Christmas. Amazing, as always. Guess I am dating myself also....But you know what? My teenage kids live Billy Joel also...
I love Billy Joel as well. Probably listen to him more than rap.
Lol...apples to oranges, man.
You should give him a listen.
Haha you just made me want to watch the music video for Pillow stalking by Lil Dicky again.
Thought the album was miles behind Coloring Book. Didn't like it at all. Loved DNA though. Only track I've kept on the playlist.
I didn't like Coloring Book at all when it first came out but now I appreciate it so much. I feel the same way with DAMN. so maybe it'll grow on me eventually.
Count me in as a member of the 'Old Guy/Not my Genre' crowd. First thing that popped into my head when reading the thread title was:
Not my thing, either.
But leg for the Harvey Korman reference.
I can't stop listening to it. I feel like I still need to listen to his other albums back to back with this one to really compare, but...DAMN. Aptly named.