Kendrick is a Pulitzer Prize winner. Even though he won for Damn (a good album) instead of To Pimp a Butterfly (a once in a decade classic), nobody could hold it against him because he's just that good. Kendrick is one of the few artists that trends on Twitter for no reason (Frank Ocean is another). So, in the days leading up to the release of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, the info was low, but the speculation was as high as you can get. For some artists that fever pitch level of anticipation would bring near unsurmountable expectations. For Kendrick, it gave him the freedom to produce a double album with the most personal and honest music of his career.
No two Kendrick albums have ever sounded alike and here he tries a few new things while expanding on some elements he's explored on previous releases. The instrumentation on this album is as diverse as it can get yet all works together. From the chaotic drums breaking out from the jazzy pianos in the opener ‘United In Grief’ to the ethereal groove of ‘Rich Spirit’ to the somber ballad ‘Mother I Sober’ you're never going to see this album resting on its laurels. It tries a lot of things and they all pay off, with Kendrick’s vocal performance in some tracks a dejected conversation and in others a full fledged proclamation, sometimes even in the same track, especially on ‘Auntie Diaries’ and ‘Mother I Sober.’ There are simply so many variations and layers through the album that I find a new thing to love with each playthrough. I can't get enough of the trippy-twisted drum beat of ‘Savior’ over the absolute crushing bass drop and the poppy blast of ‘Die Hard’ for example though each listen I have a new favorite track.
I hope I'm not too late to set my demons straight
I know I made you wait, but how much can you take?
I hope you see the God in me, I hope you can see
And if it's up, stay down for me, yeahShimmy, shimmy, coco puff
Serafina, flame in us
Where I'd be without your love
Rest your wings and trust, I feel you
Deep (I feel), deep (I feel), deep (I feel), deep
Deep (I feel), deep (I feel), deep (I feel), deep
Kendrick really knows how to utilize featured guests and everyone shines and elevates each track they guest on. Sampha's chorus on ‘Father Time’ provides a perfectly lovely counter balance to Kendrick's forceful delivery, and Beth Gibbons (from Portishead) adds an appropriate melancholy to the chorus of ‘Mother I Sober'. Kendrick's cousin Baby Keem also makes appearances on the magically orchestral ‘Savior (Interlude)’ and the follow up track ‘Savior’ and gets some memorable bars in between the two.
You ever seen your mama strung out while you studied division?
Your uncle ever stole from you, day after Christmas?
Seen both of those on the county jail's visits
The first and the fifteenth, the only religion.
Kodak Black also makes a recurring appearance throughout the album, jumping in on the intro to ‘Worldwide Big Steppers,’ the spoken word of ‘Rich (Interlude)’ and the second verse of ‘Silent Hill,’ where his laid back flow meshes perfectly with the minimal yet haunting beat.
They don't fuck with me even if they could
Pull out the stick, hit a bitch with the wood
First apart roll would be vert in the hood
Don't worry about us over here, we goodThe AP Roman Numeral
Everywhere I go I need pharmaceuticals
I ran my whole conglomerate
I was just mappin' shit out in the cubicle
Ghostface Killah also brings a number of good bars on the disc 1 closer ‘Purple Hearts’ with Summer Walker joining in, but the real barn-burning feature on this album is unquestionably Taylour Paige on the show stopping ‘We Cry Together.’ She brings one of the most pure and unfiltered performances recently recorded. Her voice cracks and wavers as she and Kendrick argue back in forth, showcasing a toxic love-hate-love relationship that often devolves into full chaos before they ‘make up.’ Enough can’t be said about this track, from the sound design of doors slamming and keys jingling to the creeping intensity of the music as the argument heats up. I could write a full article on this track alone, but I won’t for sake of time.
I mentioned in the beginning that this is Kendrick’s most personal album, though that’s not to say his past albums haven’t been personal. I feel like each album is focused on a different aspect of Kendrick and the world around him but what makes this album stand out is the level of self-reflection that permeates every minute, with much of the album coming from a period of deep self-reflection and, as is noted throughout, therapy. German-born author and spiritualist Eckhart Tolle is frequently name dropped and even speaks a few times on the album to the point where he could almost count as a featured artist.
In tracks like ‘Worldwide Big Steppers’ we are taken through his guilt from fighting with ‘lust-addiction’ and grieves over the results of even our most well-intentioned actions sometimes having unintended consequences, reflecting that we’re all killers in our own way. Kendrick also details an evolving spiritual journey numerous times on the album, at one point praying to nature in ‘Mother I Sober’ and choosing humanity over religion in ‘Auntie Diaries.’
In ‘Mr. Morale’ and ‘Mother I Sober’ we get a wide scope of some of the recurring themes that pop up and were even introduced in the very first track. How can one person overcome generational trauma and end a cycle of abuse? The answer is different for everyone as we all grieve different.
I asked my momma why she didn't believe me when I told her "No"
I never knew she was violated in Chicago, I'm sympathetic
Told me that she feared it happened to me, for my protection
Though it never happened, she wouldn't agree
Now I'm affected, twenty years later trauma has resurfaced, amplified
As I write this song, I shiver 'cause I'm nervous
What we’re invited to witness is not just one man’s break through ‘therapy session’, but rather a exploration of grief, trauma and breaking of a cycle. At the end of the album, we feel like we have. Whether its Kendrick realizing the damage of his words and the words of others in ‘Auntie Diaries’ or setting loose the dependence on material objects in ‘N95’ we feel like, even though people can be imperfect and problematic, they can all be set free and in the end, with the celebratory and self-affirming magic of ‘Mirror’ it feels like we are.
The pressure's takin' over me, it's beginning to loom
Better if I spare your feelings and tell you the truth
Lately, I redirected my point of view
You won't grow waitin' on meI can't live in the Matrix, huh
Rather for sure than your graces, huh
This time I won't trade places, huh
Not about who's right, who's wrong, huh
Evolve, the only thing known, huh
Ask me when I'm coming home, huh
Blink twice again, I'm gone
Speaking of ‘Auntie Diaries,’ it would be malpractice to leave what may be Kendricks most controversial track only briefly mentioned. It’s a brutally honest, warts and all self-examination of homophobia and transphobia that Kendrick illustrates through his relationship with two trans family members. Much can be made of Kendricks use of homophobic slurs and dead-naming, and much has been made. In the end, your opinion on the track will likely rise or fall on whether or not you agree with his use of these words. You may disagree with it and argue that there’s another way he could have gotten the same message across, and you would be valid in that argument just as you could take the opposite stance, and say that hiding the words behind a *beep* or altering them would dull the message. I think both viewpoints are valid and its not my place to tell people (especially those in a community that I am not a part of) why they should or shouldn’t be offended. Having said that, I don’t think you can say it was a track written lightly. Nothing Kendrick writes is without intention, and I find his unflinching honesty a massive step for a world that often isn’t ready for such self-reflection.
Demetrius is Mary-Ann now
Remember church, Easter Sunday?
I sat in the pew, you had stronger faith
More spiritual when these dudes were livin' life straight
Which I found ironic 'cause the pastor didn't see him the same
He said my cousin was goin' through some things
He promised the world we livin' in was an act on abomination and Demetrius was to blame
I knew you was conflicted by the feelings a preacher made
Wonderin' if God still call you a decent man
Still, you found the courage to be subservient just to anoint
Until he singled you out to prove his point, sayin'"Demetrius is Mary-Ann now"
Church, his auntie is a man now, it hurt
He the most 'cause his belief was close to his words
Forcing me to stand now
I said, "Mr. Preacher man, should we love thy neighbor?
"The laws of the land or the heart, what's greater?
"I recognize the study she was taught since birth
"But that don't justify the feelings that my cousin preserved"
It’s very rare for an artist to put out a double-album where no single track seems out of place. The album is easily the greatest accomplishment in music that has released so far this year. While it always takes weeks, months, and years to fully unravel a new Kendrick release it’s safe to say that this is one of his greatest releases. As it stands, it might be my favorite of his but I need to take those weeks, months, and years to fully realize it. I couldn't even spotlight every album highlight here without writing for ages. With this being his last release on the TDE label, there’s no telling what the future holds for Kendrick, but whatever it is, it’s we can only hope its as Earth shaking as everything we were given here.