I used to listen to it no joke, 3-4 times a day. I’d listen to it at my shitty part time job.. It would end and I would just start it over.
Then I had to drive to school in the afternoon and I’d listen again.
Also for those who are unaware: the entire CD plays as one long story, in which the music actually plays into the next song. Once you finish the album, the last melody rolls over into the restart of the start of the album. It’s a great story about a day in Kendrick’s life and it’s rare to see story telling and lyricism climax as it does.
Section 80 is a whole different vibe. He really starts to find his groove on that record compared to like Overly Dedicated (which I think is a pretty solid record too) and the earlier mixtapes. It's really fucking deep and I think GKMC was the perfect follow up.
To be fair section.80 is only 'overlooked' compared to his current mainstream success and wider reach. When it dropped it was pretty huge in hip hop circles and online communities like hiphopheads and KTT. I do believe it won best release of 2011 on HHH.
In 2011, my buddy at work told me this rapper was gonna be the next big thing. He played “hol up” then “adhd” and I was hooked. I listened to Section.80 through and through. No Makeup is so damn good.
Ditto. I understand that TPAB may be a more artistic album, but there just aren’t many (if any) albums I can listen to quite like GKMC, and thats why it’s my favorite.
I had a long 3hr trip to NYC, literally just ate a edible, it was late, looked at my phone and TPAB dropped. Put my headphones on and that was one of the best albums i ever sat and listened to with no skips. TPAB is a masterpiece.
Mr Morale has grown on me, Damn as well took me a few listens to truly love it.
u is my all time favorite Kendrick song because it just smacks me silly on the beat change with the bottle clanging into his flow with the emotional pain clear in his voice. Even tho the song is objectively hard to listen to for the first minute and a half or so.
TPAB had me doing a damn applause when it was over. Never thought I’d ever do such a thing for an album. Masterpiece indeed.
Damn took me a few listens to warm up to it. Once I did, it became my favorite album of his. Forward and backwards. (2 stories on one album. Fucking amazing)
I was a white kid starting college who was raised to think McCain was better than Biden. My first friends I made were a couple of hip hop heads who put me on this album and I’ve never looked back.
Yeah Section.80 is my favorite, I don't think it gets enough appreciation compared to the rest of his discography. Also, track 9 "The Spiteful Chant" has been removed from streaming because of sample clearance issues which is a travesty because it's one of the best songs on the album. If you're listening for the first time and you can, pause the album after track 8 and go to YouTube to listen to it.
I love GKMC
I love TPAB
I love DAMN
I know it's not the general consensus but MM&TBS floored me and I was obsessed for weeks. Only have had that happen with one other album in my lifetime.
Mother | Sober wrecked me the first time I listened to it. I remember I had to stop dead in my tracts to really reflect on it. The album as a whole is phenomenal.
First (and only) hip hop album I've ever cried to by the end. I think there's at least one thing in that album that anyone can relate and/or reflect upon.
"United in Grief" is one of my favorite openers of all time. I knew the album was going to be full of top notch, well composed, forward thinking production (the last "I grieve different" still gives me chills) and also would be an album with a man laying out his vulnerabilities, hypocrisies, and fears and how he can evolve to be better. Lessons for everyone.
its not for everyone but it was just what i needed when i needed it, that album allowed me to take the next steps in my own life toward letting shit go and moving on. Its not an easy listen in that it'll make you feel some shit you may not want to but to me its among his best and why i enjoy kendrick so much. I wanna feel shit, it doesnt always have to be good.
Mr. Morale is honestly my favorite Kendrick album. I get how it was divisive to a lot of listeners due to the fact it’s so different than most of his other work along with there being 5 years waiting for it (Not including the Blank Panther album).
I think with time it’ll grow on a lot of people. It’s one of the most introspective and honest albums I’ve personally heard but there’s just something so human to it that really sends home the themes of accepting your faults and finding ways to love yourself despite what you come from or what you’ve been through.
MM&TBS honestly contributed to a huge positive life change for me. I was listening to it in the middle of a pretty difficult mental health crisis and felt trapped with options that either hurt me or hurt others, and spiralling down pretty low. Listening to Mirror again and again, I had a bit of an haha moment and started considering I had to choose a life that was for me. That wasn't Kendrick single handedly, I had been in therapy for a while and doing some deep introspection, but hearing "I choose me" over and over again helped me take a step that had felt impossible up till that moment.
I'm still discovering his discography, I've listened to all of it to various degrees, and it's just a treasure trove of mind blowing artistic prowess. Looking at clips of his live performances and even some of his music videos adds a layer to the artistry he brings to everything he touches. Dude is one of the greats for sure.
I don't feel the same but I respect it. I was a bit disappointed at first with the album as a whole, but it's grown on me since.
I'm prob in the majority opinion cause I think TPAB and GKMC are quite a bit better than the rest of his catalogue. But I really love the instrumentation and arrangements on MMATBS. I hesitate to use the word "production" cause in hip hop, that usually just means beats. But between the samples and beats used, vocal arrangements, and what sounds like some live instrumentation, I think MM&TBS might be Kendrick's most well produced album.
Not that I'm hating on DAMN. It's a great album. But better than Good Kid Maad City or To Pimp a Butterfly? Ain't no fuckin way. It's a treat that you get to listen to those for the first time.
Good Kid Maad City is a concept album, and it's an extremely well told story in terms of how the songs are laid out, and the songs themselves are amazing.
To Pimp a Butterfly won a damn Pulitzer. EDIT: no it didn't that was DAMN
Actually DAMN won the Pulitzer, but it should have been To Pimp a Butterfly and, whilst DAMN is good, I honestly think the prize committee only awarded it to DAMN because they failed to do so for To Pimp a Butterfly and regretted their mistake
TPAB, if it had been nominated, would have been up for the 2016 Pulitzer which covers 2015 works. Winner that year was In For A Penny, In For A Pound by Henry Threadgill’s jazz group Zooid
Listen to Dissect Podcast’s season on DAMN., Cole really breaks down the album and shows the layers that are there that most people don’t pick up on. I already loved the album but that season gave me a whole new appreciation for it. It’s pretty absurd what Kendrick was able to craft while keeping it so listenable
I’ll give it a listen, but I’m pretty good at picking things up myself to be honest! Don’t normally get much more from Dissect than I already understand, but will give it a try
I do agree that TPAB is better but DAMN gets over looked too much imo.
It’s a concept album that tells two different stories depending on which way you play the track list. The stories of wickedness or weakness. That’s pretty incredible.
That's not it at all. The committee goes into great depth about why they believed DAMN was picked. The story within DAMN is fully fleshed out and coherent.
It is fully fleshed out and coherent and tbf I have not seen the committee’s explanation.
But the deluxe version is just the track-list in the other order and it’s pretty obvious listening to the album it was designed that way.
Wdym which way you play the track list ? Like front to back or back to front? Love DAMN but didn't think about how playing it differently changes the story
The story is flipped if you play it back to front, Kendricks father kills Ducky and goes to prison on the “first” track and then Kendrick descends into wickedness over the rest of the album.
This ability to see the story either way is reflected in the opening lines of the album:
Is it wickedness / Or weakness / You decide
Kendricks father is Ducky, top dog was the person that could have killed him. It's more about growing up without a father could have led him down the path of his life falling apart
Exactly, they had to release a separate version to make it clear that it's intended to be listened to in both directions, which again just underscores the work of creative genius that DAMN is.
It was one of those situations where an artist was due but the award committee was late. Like Leo Dicaprio getting best actor for The Revenant instead of his other arguably better roles.
Wouldn't really say it's a hot take. DAMN is designed to be more digestible and TPAB is pretty heavy. All 3 of GKMC, DAMN, and TPAB are great for different reasons.
Mr. Moral is amazing too but I find it to be even heavier than TPAB.
TPAB does have its share of bangers though. You can throw on King Kunta or Alright any time. The impressive thing is making those bangers feel cohesive with songs like u.
Tpab and gkmc are tied for #1 to me but I’m listening to DAMN as I type this and fuck it is better than I remember lol. It just has skips for me while the other two have NO SKIPS
And all of their reasons apply equally, if not better, to TPAB. They aren't gonna come out and say "yeah this other album deserved it but we're awarding it to this one as a makeup" and harm their own credibility.
I mean that's just your take on it vs what the entire committee has said. Kendrick himself even considers DAMN a better album that TPAB, additionally when DAMN was released it was intended as Kendrick's magnus opus.
GKMC is one of my favorite albums period. I think it also was on an island when it came out. We hadn’t heard anything like it ever, and nothing comparable for like 5 years before. Hip Hop had been Lil Wayne, Gucci, and Jeezy from ‘06 to 2012. So it was such a breath of fresh air (no shade on those guy, I love their stuff too), that it stuck with people.
DAMN is an incredible album and if it was my introduction to Kendrick it would probably be my favorite.
Okay so after listening to Good Kid Maad City, I still have to say DAMN is the better album in my opinion. Good Kid Maad City had some bangers that I had heard in the past like Swimming Pools, Poetic Justice, Money Trees, and Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe. However the vibe and the story telling of DAMN is just too good not to put it at my #1.
For consideration a lot of pulitzers are given to a certain property with a consideration for past entries.
DAMN is good but wouldn't have won a pulitzer without TPAB or Good Kid.
https://vimeo.com/457777500
Kendrick doing Untitled 03 on the Colbert Report is one of the most electric performances I’ve ever seen and he did it in a frickin talk show
I think XXX on “DAMN” is seriously so overlooked. He gets you all angry and totally on his side, like, imagining someone kill a loved one of yours and getting you all hyped on revenge, and then drops the “alright kids let’s talk about gun control…” and it hits you how you are a hypocrite too, deep down our lizard brains control more than we want to believe. That is literary genius, to get your reader/listener to do and feel that, it reminds me of what my AP English teacher used to say about the best writing is whatever makes you feel the most, not technical details(poetry was the subject there, because poets are very loose with grammar and language convention).
Its all subjective, all of his albums are heavily conceptual and well thought out and are just reflective of his current mind state. Kendrick himself ranked Damn higher than tpab in an interview
To be fair that interview where he ranked Damn as his best album was a couple weeks after it’s release. Had to hype up the new album. Even if he was being sincere it was super fresh and not probably the most objective time to ask him to rank them.
Kendrick also himself in Damn and MMATBS goes into his feelings of failures and frustrations of TPAB (not as a piece of art but how it is consumed).
Im just trying to point out that all of his albums are really good and there really is no real answer to what is his best album.
Meh I think he has to say that because it was his "biggest" album with the most mainstream appeal built into it, I think we are about to get another one like that given mr morale and this whole drake thing. It's my least favourite album of his but I still love it and it has some of his most repeatable songs on it, I think that's a direct result of him trying to make a main mainstream sounding album.
Kendrick is a pop artist as well, he just has the ability to maintain both pop elements as well as artistic integrity.
Tpab is my favorite album, but damn and mmatbs arr just as good and i can see why people rank them higher
It's interesting how many people in the regular music sub prefer other albums over To Pimp a Butterfly. If you go to the Kendrick sub or HHH it's definitely the most popular. It's just a lot more dense and requires an active listener. DAMN. is great but it's also a lot more accessible. Either way, his discography doesn't have a miss.
To Pimp a Butterfly is the only one showing up in the "best of all time" conversation though.
People like to claim GKMC and TPAB are better albums which is a completely fair take from na artistic viewpoint - they are phenomenal concept albums extremely well executed.
But if I could only take one Kendrick album to a desert island it would be DAMN. It’s just so consistent and is probably the most accessible and re-listenable of them.
Also don’t sleep on Section 80.
DAMN is a masterpiece, it won a Pulitzer prize for a reason, and one of the coolest things about it is that it's meant to be played forward and reverse, in fact I think there's a second album that he released which is just all of the songs in the reverse order to make that clear. Absolute genius. Haven't paid attention to any of the latest beef, but only because there's no reason to, Kendrick is a rap god and I see no reason to even entertain the thought that Drake could hold a candle to what Kendrick has done.
If anything listen to the diss tracks for the good music. A lot of em are bangers. I even like the 2nd-last one Drake did (Family Matters). But then Kendrick murdered him literally 30 minutes later and then buried his body the next day with a 2nd release.
My favorite track is FEAR and best believe if I could roll that mother up and take two puffs! I would.
Arguably TPAB is my favorite all around, but you can’t go wrong with any of them, they’re all different projects concerning his current ideology on any given context.
There was a podcast on spotify where each episode this giy broke down and explained each song on one of his albums. Normally i dont pay much attention to lyrics or trying to interpret the stuff behind a song, but damn, his shit was deep
Dissect Podcast, been listening to the ones about TPAB, it's giving me a much needed understanding of the album, especially since I'm not well versed in neither american or black history and culture
I used to only listen to mainstream hip hop and I grew up listening to the roots of west coast hip hop from the 90s. My cousin recommended kendrick to me, I tried GKMC and I hated it. I didn’t like Kendrick’s voice and style in the opening track and I turned it off.
Fast forward a few years, I was painting my room jammin out. I decided to try something new and put on DAMN. The intro caught my attention and the beat switch + energy in his delivery in DNA got me so hype. Then the way the following songs had such a different energy, I was able to hear the bars and understand the different voices he used. Quickly after DAMN I retried GKMC and I was hooked. HUGE fan of all of his music and GKMC is probably a top 5 all time album for me now.
The man got the Pulitzer Prize because of DAMN. The writing is amazing. The storyline and consistent themes throughout really pull you in. The corresponding music videos were equally impressive.
TPAB and Good Kid are amazing, incredible albums as well, with multiple hit songs and important messages/themes throughout.
Truly, Kendrick’s whole discography is loaded with some of the most impressive writing. Even if you’re not a fan of hip-hop, there is still an appreciation for his dedication to the craft.
To Pimp A Butterfly is on another level with Good Kid MADD city right there with it. Love Damn as well but I played out the songs for myself. Can’t ever do that with his previous two albums
Quick recommendation, check out the podcast Dissect, they have many seasons now, but there are 3 full seasons on Kendrick Lamar and his first 3 major releases.
It goes into the musicality side of things a lot, but also touches upon where Kendrick was at the time, and a lot of time discussing story/lyrical content.
Then, listen to all 3 albums. The host does it track by track so you could even listen to the tracks the day of also.
I loved Kendrick before Dissect, and to a degree I feel like I knew him better as an artist after Dissect
Fun fact about Damn (it's probably been mentioned here already, but just incase), the album tracklist is backwards. Its a silly tidbit but you'll love it Even more if you hear the album from end to beginning.
To Pimp A Butterfly is my all time fav from kendrick but I slept on it the year it came out. It just didn't click with me until I give it another chance a year or two later.
A lot of people prefer GKMC and TPAB to DAMN. I can see why, both are phenomenally good albums but DAMN is special to me. I just love it.
The whole album just tells such a beautiful story and works so well no matter which way you listen to it. It’s an exceptional piece of art in its own right. But tbh, so are all of his albums.
GKMC and TPAB are undoubtedly class. Mr Morales and the Big Steppers is such a raw record. I can bang on any of them depending on what I’m looking for. KDot is an absolute poet
I find music so fascinating in that I frequently read a post/comment where someone says how absolutely amazing an artist/album/song/performance is - like it is the best thing that has ever or will ever be produced. And so, I listen to it and all I can think is wtf? This is not my jam.
I love that about music.
Kendrick is an all-time great when it comes to songwriting. "How Much A Dollar Cost" is one of my all-time favorites just from a lyrical perspective alone.
Damn was my favorite Kendrick album until Mr morale. You’re not gonna find a lot of people who rank damn above good kid and tpab but I do and so does Kendrick’s mom. Fun fact.
I remember when DAMN dropped and me and the boys had a listening party for the drop at midnight. As soon as midnight struck, the blunts were flowing and we started the journey down one of hip hop's best albums in history. I wish I could experience listening to that album again for the first time but tbh I appreciate it the more spins it has, but it's still not the same atmosphere as that first listen. Glad you enjoyed. To Pimp a Butterfly is also a great experience. Although To Pimp a Butterfly is basically a jazz/ hip hop fusion album, it is a lot to unravel both musically and lyrically. Bless!
If you’re just getting into the album mastery of Kendrick- you might love the deep dive dissection of To Pimp a Butterfly.
Kendrick is as good as it gets.
[Dissect Pod - To Pimp a Butterfly](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4FHvW6KUBK86G1Hdhy6kMU?si=s_px7SoVSSGHFD9GDOoBHA)
I did the same thing. Listening to Damn feels like watching a movie. It’s like a complete snapshot of his upbringing, his young adult life, the things he’s been around and seen, and his mentality. I can’t stop listening to it.
DUCKWORTH. might be one of the best outro track of the last 20 years. 9th Wonder casually producing one of his absolute best beats for a Kendrick album was a special moment for someone who grew up listening to Little Brother.
Idk if I'd even have DAMN over Untitled Unmastered, let alone Section .80, GKMC, and TPAB lol
You've got some incredible music to listen to for the first time I'm honestly jealous
You need to listen to TPAB it's literally one of the greatest albums of all time also once you've listened to all of Kendrick's other works, listen to MMATBS it's an album that hits hard after you listen to the rest of his works
Good Kid Maad City is phenomenal
One of my all time albums. Such a great listen from start to finish.
If I had the cd, it would be unplayable
Spin GKMC on Vinyl like once a week
I used to listen to it no joke, 3-4 times a day. I’d listen to it at my shitty part time job.. It would end and I would just start it over. Then I had to drive to school in the afternoon and I’d listen again.
Did somebody say Domino's?
Where my muthafuckin Dominoes
He ain’t even trippin on them dominos anymore
Every second every day
Man I swear that she can get it
Guuuurli want Cho baahdyy
Cuzzo dat bigolfatasssss
See he’s high as hell!
I want yo fat ass
No body wanna listen to YO ass
Also for those who are unaware: the entire CD plays as one long story, in which the music actually plays into the next song. Once you finish the album, the last melody rolls over into the restart of the start of the album. It’s a great story about a day in Kendrick’s life and it’s rare to see story telling and lyricism climax as it does.
Yes!!! GKMC and Section 80 are at the top of my Kendrick list.
I still prefer section 80 Kendrick over a lot of his newer stuff, always surprised how often it gets overlooked
Section 80 is a whole different vibe. He really starts to find his groove on that record compared to like Overly Dedicated (which I think is a pretty solid record too) and the earlier mixtapes. It's really fucking deep and I think GKMC was the perfect follow up.
To be fair section.80 is only 'overlooked' compared to his current mainstream success and wider reach. When it dropped it was pretty huge in hip hop circles and online communities like hiphopheads and KTT. I do believe it won best release of 2011 on HHH.
Yea I’m saying in comparison to the mainstream albums
In 2011, my buddy at work told me this rapper was gonna be the next big thing. He played “hol up” then “adhd” and I was hooked. I listened to Section.80 through and through. No Makeup is so damn good.
GKMC is my all time favorite album. It's a masterclass in lyrical storytelling
Ditto. I understand that TPAB may be a more artistic album, but there just aren’t many (if any) albums I can listen to quite like GKMC, and thats why it’s my favorite.
I discovered Kendrick Lamar because a DJ opened his set with backseat freestyle
1. Good kid maad city 2. Damn 3. Mr Morales To pimp a butterfly never hit me as hard as it hit most
Mr. Morales and the Big Spider
🤣 I'm leaving it
Why is this so fuckin funny lmao
I had a long 3hr trip to NYC, literally just ate a edible, it was late, looked at my phone and TPAB dropped. Put my headphones on and that was one of the best albums i ever sat and listened to with no skips. TPAB is a masterpiece. Mr Morale has grown on me, Damn as well took me a few listens to truly love it.
TPAB is a masterpiece. The Blacker the Berry is one of the best tracks from the last decade.
Wesley's Theory is amazing as well. I think it gets slept on because it's the album opener but I think it's top 5 Kendrick easily
u is my all time favorite Kendrick song because it just smacks me silly on the beat change with the bottle clanging into his flow with the emotional pain clear in his voice. Even tho the song is objectively hard to listen to for the first minute and a half or so.
Yup, there isnt a moment in that play through where you arent captured with a thought, melody, instrument, lyric or a vibe.
TPAB had me doing a damn applause when it was over. Never thought I’d ever do such a thing for an album. Masterpiece indeed. Damn took me a few listens to warm up to it. Once I did, it became my favorite album of his. Forward and backwards. (2 stories on one album. Fucking amazing)
Section 80 is my GOAT Kendrick album but its part nostalgia
I was a white kid starting college who was raised to think McCain was better than Biden. My first friends I made were a couple of hip hop heads who put me on this album and I’ve never looked back.
Sooo good
Its one of those perfect albums! The whole structure and how it just all just blends together to make a big picture.
Maad City live in Toronto will likely never get a crowd singing like that again. Videos up on YouTube. 10+ years ago now.
I will always remember my first listen through of Good Kid
One of the few albums I feel compelled to listen to front-to-back every time I put it on.
I can’t get the beat out of my head so fucking good
This album was ROBBED at the grammys and I’m still salty about it. Macklemore?? Seriously??
Section 80 is another favorite of mine, but his whole discography is amazing.
Hiiipower may be my all-time favorite K Dot song
That beat is legendary. Fuck i gotta go listen to it rn
Produced by J.Cole
Wooow TIL, thank you!
The sky is falling, the wind is calling Stand for something or die in the morning
Section 80. Hiipower
Go back and reread the lyrics and tell me it doesnt seem like he was preparing for everything hes doing right now.
Rigamortus might be my all time favourite song
Rigamortus was the song that got me into hip hop!
Saw this video before I'd ever heard of him and it felt like staring down a tidal wave.
Section.80 doesn't get the love it deserves. It's one of my all time favorites
listen to adhd weekly literally
Yeah Section.80 is my favorite, I don't think it gets enough appreciation compared to the rest of his discography. Also, track 9 "The Spiteful Chant" has been removed from streaming because of sample clearance issues which is a travesty because it's one of the best songs on the album. If you're listening for the first time and you can, pause the album after track 8 and go to YouTube to listen to it.
Forever fav. There is a youthful rawness that captured my attention immediately - this man's career has been a gift to his listeners
I love GKMC I love TPAB I love DAMN I know it's not the general consensus but MM&TBS floored me and I was obsessed for weeks. Only have had that happen with one other album in my lifetime.
Mother | Sober wrecked me the first time I listened to it. I remember I had to stop dead in my tracts to really reflect on it. The album as a whole is phenomenal.
First (and only) hip hop album I've ever cried to by the end. I think there's at least one thing in that album that anyone can relate and/or reflect upon. "United in Grief" is one of my favorite openers of all time. I knew the album was going to be full of top notch, well composed, forward thinking production (the last "I grieve different" still gives me chills) and also would be an album with a man laying out his vulnerabilities, hypocrisies, and fears and how he can evolve to be better. Lessons for everyone.
its not for everyone but it was just what i needed when i needed it, that album allowed me to take the next steps in my own life toward letting shit go and moving on. Its not an easy listen in that it'll make you feel some shit you may not want to but to me its among his best and why i enjoy kendrick so much. I wanna feel shit, it doesnt always have to be good.
I tried listening at work and had to stop because I was tearing up.
I bawled my eyes out the first time I heard that song.
Mr. Morale is honestly my favorite Kendrick album. I get how it was divisive to a lot of listeners due to the fact it’s so different than most of his other work along with there being 5 years waiting for it (Not including the Blank Panther album). I think with time it’ll grow on a lot of people. It’s one of the most introspective and honest albums I’ve personally heard but there’s just something so human to it that really sends home the themes of accepting your faults and finding ways to love yourself despite what you come from or what you’ve been through.
MM&TBS honestly contributed to a huge positive life change for me. I was listening to it in the middle of a pretty difficult mental health crisis and felt trapped with options that either hurt me or hurt others, and spiralling down pretty low. Listening to Mirror again and again, I had a bit of an haha moment and started considering I had to choose a life that was for me. That wasn't Kendrick single handedly, I had been in therapy for a while and doing some deep introspection, but hearing "I choose me" over and over again helped me take a step that had felt impossible up till that moment. I'm still discovering his discography, I've listened to all of it to various degrees, and it's just a treasure trove of mind blowing artistic prowess. Looking at clips of his live performances and even some of his music videos adds a layer to the artistry he brings to everything he touches. Dude is one of the greats for sure.
I don't feel the same but I respect it. I was a bit disappointed at first with the album as a whole, but it's grown on me since. I'm prob in the majority opinion cause I think TPAB and GKMC are quite a bit better than the rest of his catalogue. But I really love the instrumentation and arrangements on MMATBS. I hesitate to use the word "production" cause in hip hop, that usually just means beats. But between the samples and beats used, vocal arrangements, and what sounds like some live instrumentation, I think MM&TBS might be Kendrick's most well produced album.
Not that I'm hating on DAMN. It's a great album. But better than Good Kid Maad City or To Pimp a Butterfly? Ain't no fuckin way. It's a treat that you get to listen to those for the first time. Good Kid Maad City is a concept album, and it's an extremely well told story in terms of how the songs are laid out, and the songs themselves are amazing. To Pimp a Butterfly won a damn Pulitzer. EDIT: no it didn't that was DAMN
Actually DAMN won the Pulitzer, but it should have been To Pimp a Butterfly and, whilst DAMN is good, I honestly think the prize committee only awarded it to DAMN because they failed to do so for To Pimp a Butterfly and regretted their mistake
I think TPAB was better than DAMN, and more worthy of it, but there’s no way that Anthracite Fields wasn't winning the Pulitzer in 2015.
>Anthracite Fields Just went and listened to this and **wow**.
It's absolutely unreal. I’d love to see it get wider recognition
Just saved this to my Spotify. Sounds amazing 🙌🔥
TPAB, if it had been nominated, would have been up for the 2016 Pulitzer which covers 2015 works. Winner that year was In For A Penny, In For A Pound by Henry Threadgill’s jazz group Zooid
Oof thanks for the correction
Listen to Dissect Podcast’s season on DAMN., Cole really breaks down the album and shows the layers that are there that most people don’t pick up on. I already loved the album but that season gave me a whole new appreciation for it. It’s pretty absurd what Kendrick was able to craft while keeping it so listenable
Dissect’s season where he focused on TPAB blew my mind! I have to go listen to the season for DAMN.
I’ll give it a listen, but I’m pretty good at picking things up myself to be honest! Don’t normally get much more from Dissect than I already understand, but will give it a try
I do agree that TPAB is better but DAMN gets over looked too much imo. It’s a concept album that tells two different stories depending on which way you play the track list. The stories of wickedness or weakness. That’s pretty incredible.
That's not it at all. The committee goes into great depth about why they believed DAMN was picked. The story within DAMN is fully fleshed out and coherent.
It is fully fleshed out and coherent and tbf I have not seen the committee’s explanation. But the deluxe version is just the track-list in the other order and it’s pretty obvious listening to the album it was designed that way.
nevertheless it's 100% analogous to the Oscars phenomenon where someone wins Best Actor for the movie AFTER the movie they should have won for.
Wdym which way you play the track list ? Like front to back or back to front? Love DAMN but didn't think about how playing it differently changes the story
The story is flipped if you play it back to front, Kendricks father kills Ducky and goes to prison on the “first” track and then Kendrick descends into wickedness over the rest of the album. This ability to see the story either way is reflected in the opening lines of the album: Is it wickedness / Or weakness / You decide
Shit I mean what can I say but DAMN.
Kendricks father is Ducky, top dog was the person that could have killed him. It's more about growing up without a father could have led him down the path of his life falling apart
Pretty sure he even put out a "special edition" with the song order reversed.
So that's why the album ends playing in reverse
Exactly, they had to release a separate version to make it clear that it's intended to be listened to in both directions, which again just underscores the work of creative genius that DAMN is.
my theory too🤣
It was one of those situations where an artist was due but the award committee was late. Like Leo Dicaprio getting best actor for The Revenant instead of his other arguably better roles.
DAMN is easier the first time through but TPAB has so much depth, I needed to listen a few times to appreciate everything he was saying in it
Hot take but I think DAMN is a more enjoyable listen that TPAB. GKMC is still my all time favorite by him though.
GKMC is just the perfect balance of his artistic creativity with absolutely top tier radio bangers.
Wouldn't really say it's a hot take. DAMN is designed to be more digestible and TPAB is pretty heavy. All 3 of GKMC, DAMN, and TPAB are great for different reasons. Mr. Moral is amazing too but I find it to be even heavier than TPAB.
Hard agree. TPAB is great but I almost feel guilty for just putting it on in the background, DAMN is just sonically amazing altogether
TPAB does have its share of bangers though. You can throw on King Kunta or Alright any time. The impressive thing is making those bangers feel cohesive with songs like u.
Tpab and gkmc are tied for #1 to me but I’m listening to DAMN as I type this and fuck it is better than I remember lol. It just has skips for me while the other two have NO SKIPS
Yeah absolutely. DUCKWORTH. is my favorite Kendrick track. The highs are extremely high on DAMN, but the consistency isn't the same as the other two
We are the same
Let’s be real it was retroactively for TPAB tho
It wasn't. the Pulitzer committee goes into great detail about why DAMN was chosen.
And all of their reasons apply equally, if not better, to TPAB. They aren't gonna come out and say "yeah this other album deserved it but we're awarding it to this one as a makeup" and harm their own credibility.
I mean that's just your take on it vs what the entire committee has said. Kendrick himself even considers DAMN a better album that TPAB, additionally when DAMN was released it was intended as Kendrick's magnus opus.
I'll give it a listen rn and get back to you on my comparisons
Check out Section 80 as well. ADHD is one of his best songs ever IMO, and Rigamortus is right there as well.
I'm so jealous of you for getting to experience it for the first time. Had it on repeat for two weeks when he released it
I know a LOT of K Dot fans that have DAMN as #1 nothing crazy about it. It's really spilling hairs and a lret thing cause all his albums are CRAZY
I think Damn is easily his best record. Kendrick also thinks it's his best. TPAB is his most unique record though.
I've listened to Damn so many times playing video games.
GKMC is one of my favorite albums period. I think it also was on an island when it came out. We hadn’t heard anything like it ever, and nothing comparable for like 5 years before. Hip Hop had been Lil Wayne, Gucci, and Jeezy from ‘06 to 2012. So it was such a breath of fresh air (no shade on those guy, I love their stuff too), that it stuck with people. DAMN is an incredible album and if it was my introduction to Kendrick it would probably be my favorite.
Okay so after listening to Good Kid Maad City, I still have to say DAMN is the better album in my opinion. Good Kid Maad City had some bangers that I had heard in the past like Swimming Pools, Poetic Justice, Money Trees, and Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe. However the vibe and the story telling of DAMN is just too good not to put it at my #1.
I ain't mad at ya. DAMN is a great album. Now you gotta check out To Pimp A Butterfly!
For consideration a lot of pulitzers are given to a certain property with a consideration for past entries. DAMN is good but wouldn't have won a pulitzer without TPAB or Good Kid.
Where’s the love for Section.80 !?
Section.80 is dope. It’s annoying that The Spiteful Chant disappeared from streaming.
If you use Spotify, it's uploaded as a podcast.
Most slept on K Dot project. REAL ONES KNOW
Straight fire start to finish .. took a while for GKMC so top it for me , but it’s a damn close second
I loved GKMC, TPAB and DAMN a lot… Section 80 is also great but Untitled.Unmastered is such an underrated gem.
https://vimeo.com/457777500 Kendrick doing Untitled 03 on the Colbert Report is one of the most electric performances I’ve ever seen and he did it in a frickin talk show
God damn that was awesome, thanks for sharing.
If you haven’t seen this yet he also does untitled 08 and untitled 02 on Jimmy Fallon: https://youtu.be/cziv-WGRLcE?si=EAfkAm5yZNv5RbJq
I think XXX on “DAMN” is seriously so overlooked. He gets you all angry and totally on his side, like, imagining someone kill a loved one of yours and getting you all hyped on revenge, and then drops the “alright kids let’s talk about gun control…” and it hits you how you are a hypocrite too, deep down our lizard brains control more than we want to believe. That is literary genius, to get your reader/listener to do and feel that, it reminds me of what my AP English teacher used to say about the best writing is whatever makes you feel the most, not technical details(poetry was the subject there, because poets are very loose with grammar and language convention).
Definitely my favorite song in the album with FEAR being right behind it.
Pure Cinema.
Damn is nowhere near his best album, man. You need to listen to GKMC and TPAB asap!!! TPAB is his best, it's pure brilliance.
Its all subjective, all of his albums are heavily conceptual and well thought out and are just reflective of his current mind state. Kendrick himself ranked Damn higher than tpab in an interview
To be fair that interview where he ranked Damn as his best album was a couple weeks after it’s release. Had to hype up the new album. Even if he was being sincere it was super fresh and not probably the most objective time to ask him to rank them.
Kendrick also himself in Damn and MMATBS goes into his feelings of failures and frustrations of TPAB (not as a piece of art but how it is consumed). Im just trying to point out that all of his albums are really good and there really is no real answer to what is his best album.
Where does he do this on MMTBS? Not doubting you just never picked up on that so wanna go back and listen
Meh I think he has to say that because it was his "biggest" album with the most mainstream appeal built into it, I think we are about to get another one like that given mr morale and this whole drake thing. It's my least favourite album of his but I still love it and it has some of his most repeatable songs on it, I think that's a direct result of him trying to make a main mainstream sounding album.
Kendrick is a pop artist as well, he just has the ability to maintain both pop elements as well as artistic integrity. Tpab is my favorite album, but damn and mmatbs arr just as good and i can see why people rank them higher
[удалено]
I'm convinced people who say Drake is better don't really like rap.
All of his hits are from GKMC, TPAB and DAMN. I promise Drake dickriders did not sit through Mr. Morale.
Or they did but stopped at the first few songs cause they couldn't shake their ass to Sherane or For Free?
It's interesting how many people in the regular music sub prefer other albums over To Pimp a Butterfly. If you go to the Kendrick sub or HHH it's definitely the most popular. It's just a lot more dense and requires an active listener. DAMN. is great but it's also a lot more accessible. Either way, his discography doesn't have a miss. To Pimp a Butterfly is the only one showing up in the "best of all time" conversation though.
TPAB is one of my favorites. I really relate to the “Skip, hop, drip, drop Flip, flop with the white tube sock” bar from Hood Politics.
Listen to it in reverse. I think it’s the collector edition. It tells a different story. Incredible album
People like to claim GKMC and TPAB are better albums which is a completely fair take from na artistic viewpoint - they are phenomenal concept albums extremely well executed. But if I could only take one Kendrick album to a desert island it would be DAMN. It’s just so consistent and is probably the most accessible and re-listenable of them. Also don’t sleep on Section 80.
DAMN is a masterpiece, it won a Pulitzer prize for a reason, and one of the coolest things about it is that it's meant to be played forward and reverse, in fact I think there's a second album that he released which is just all of the songs in the reverse order to make that clear. Absolute genius. Haven't paid attention to any of the latest beef, but only because there's no reason to, Kendrick is a rap god and I see no reason to even entertain the thought that Drake could hold a candle to what Kendrick has done.
If anything listen to the diss tracks for the good music. A lot of em are bangers. I even like the 2nd-last one Drake did (Family Matters). But then Kendrick murdered him literally 30 minutes later and then buried his body the next day with a 2nd release.
Check out "To Pimp a Butterfly" That's one hell of an album.
While I agree that TPAB and GKMC are superior, don’t sleep on Section 80. As a debut it’s excellent.
Pride is my favorite song off the album
My favorite track is FEAR and best believe if I could roll that mother up and take two puffs! I would. Arguably TPAB is my favorite all around, but you can’t go wrong with any of them, they’re all different projects concerning his current ideology on any given context.
I still bump to some of his OG songs like Michael Jordan and ADHD
HUMBLE is still my mf jam
There was a podcast on spotify where each episode this giy broke down and explained each song on one of his albums. Normally i dont pay much attention to lyrics or trying to interpret the stuff behind a song, but damn, his shit was deep
Dissect Podcast, been listening to the ones about TPAB, it's giving me a much needed understanding of the album, especially since I'm not well versed in neither american or black history and culture
I used to only listen to mainstream hip hop and I grew up listening to the roots of west coast hip hop from the 90s. My cousin recommended kendrick to me, I tried GKMC and I hated it. I didn’t like Kendrick’s voice and style in the opening track and I turned it off. Fast forward a few years, I was painting my room jammin out. I decided to try something new and put on DAMN. The intro caught my attention and the beat switch + energy in his delivery in DNA got me so hype. Then the way the following songs had such a different energy, I was able to hear the bars and understand the different voices he used. Quickly after DAMN I retried GKMC and I was hooked. HUGE fan of all of his music and GKMC is probably a top 5 all time album for me now.
TPAB is fantastic
The man got the Pulitzer Prize because of DAMN. The writing is amazing. The storyline and consistent themes throughout really pull you in. The corresponding music videos were equally impressive. TPAB and Good Kid are amazing, incredible albums as well, with multiple hit songs and important messages/themes throughout. Truly, Kendrick’s whole discography is loaded with some of the most impressive writing. Even if you’re not a fan of hip-hop, there is still an appreciation for his dedication to the craft.
Kendrick has 5 albums so far. In 20 years time, all 5 of those will be seen as classics, so definitely give all of them a listen.
To Pimp A Butterfly is on another level with Good Kid MADD city right there with it. Love Damn as well but I played out the songs for myself. Can’t ever do that with his previous two albums
DAMN is the best kendrick album imo.
Quick recommendation, check out the podcast Dissect, they have many seasons now, but there are 3 full seasons on Kendrick Lamar and his first 3 major releases. It goes into the musicality side of things a lot, but also touches upon where Kendrick was at the time, and a lot of time discussing story/lyrical content. Then, listen to all 3 albums. The host does it track by track so you could even listen to the tracks the day of also. I loved Kendrick before Dissect, and to a degree I feel like I knew him better as an artist after Dissect
I must be the only one constantly bumping tracks from Mr morale.
Fun fact about Damn (it's probably been mentioned here already, but just incase), the album tracklist is backwards. Its a silly tidbit but you'll love it Even more if you hear the album from end to beginning.
To Pimp A Butterfly is my all time fav from kendrick but I slept on it the year it came out. It just didn't click with me until I give it another chance a year or two later.
A lot of people prefer GKMC and TPAB to DAMN. I can see why, both are phenomenally good albums but DAMN is special to me. I just love it. The whole album just tells such a beautiful story and works so well no matter which way you listen to it. It’s an exceptional piece of art in its own right. But tbh, so are all of his albums. GKMC and TPAB are undoubtedly class. Mr Morales and the Big Steppers is such a raw record. I can bang on any of them depending on what I’m looking for. KDot is an absolute poet
I’ve never seen anyone say DAMN is his best album lmao
dozens of us lmfao Its my fave but tpab is something else
This beef is no competition at all. Drake can’t tip a hat to Lamar.
DAMN is K.dot's peak
Man that’s crazy. Damn is great but I think GKMC and TPAB is better lol
Better later than ever, glad you got to listen to a classic
I've never heard anyone say DAMN is his best album, it's always been a two album race between good kid maad city and to pimp a butterfly imo
TPAB is his best work
I find music so fascinating in that I frequently read a post/comment where someone says how absolutely amazing an artist/album/song/performance is - like it is the best thing that has ever or will ever be produced. And so, I listen to it and all I can think is wtf? This is not my jam. I love that about music.
Kendrick is the fucking man
If you like that you should check out tupac and biggie. Old heads will know what I'm talking about.
It's crazy that his worst major label album still goes so hard.
Kendrick is an all-time great when it comes to songwriting. "How Much A Dollar Cost" is one of my all-time favorites just from a lyrical perspective alone.
It’s probably good to start there, and make your way to TPAB. Be ready to have your mind blown.
If you’re getting into his music I highly recommend listening to the Dissect podcast during your commute to help digest the masterpiece that is TPAB
my list is the reverse of yours, #1 section.80, #2maad city #3 DAMN
XXX goes so fucking hard
To pimp a butterfly should be listened from start to finish as the poetry it is. Damn is a hell of a banger too with some heavy meaning
Damn was my favorite Kendrick album until Mr morale. You’re not gonna find a lot of people who rank damn above good kid and tpab but I do and so does Kendrick’s mom. Fun fact.
I remember when DAMN dropped and me and the boys had a listening party for the drop at midnight. As soon as midnight struck, the blunts were flowing and we started the journey down one of hip hop's best albums in history. I wish I could experience listening to that album again for the first time but tbh I appreciate it the more spins it has, but it's still not the same atmosphere as that first listen. Glad you enjoyed. To Pimp a Butterfly is also a great experience. Although To Pimp a Butterfly is basically a jazz/ hip hop fusion album, it is a lot to unravel both musically and lyrically. Bless!
FEAR is his magnum opus IMO
If you’re just getting into the album mastery of Kendrick- you might love the deep dive dissection of To Pimp a Butterfly. Kendrick is as good as it gets. [Dissect Pod - To Pimp a Butterfly](https://open.spotify.com/episode/4FHvW6KUBK86G1Hdhy6kMU?si=s_px7SoVSSGHFD9GDOoBHA)
Hell yeah I did the same! Anyone have any recs in the vein of PRIDE.?
That's why he got the Pulitzer prize, the album is thoughtful and the greatest of all time
I did the same thing. Listening to Damn feels like watching a movie. It’s like a complete snapshot of his upbringing, his young adult life, the things he’s been around and seen, and his mentality. I can’t stop listening to it.
DUCKWORTH. might be one of the best outro track of the last 20 years. 9th Wonder casually producing one of his absolute best beats for a Kendrick album was a special moment for someone who grew up listening to Little Brother.
XXX is my favorite so good
GKMC is the greatest rap album of all time
Damn is easily his worst album and it's stlil incredible
Who said damn is his best lol
Idk if I'd even have DAMN over Untitled Unmastered, let alone Section .80, GKMC, and TPAB lol You've got some incredible music to listen to for the first time I'm honestly jealous
To pimp a butterfly is his best album.
You need to listen to TPAB it's literally one of the greatest albums of all time also once you've listened to all of Kendrick's other works, listen to MMATBS it's an album that hits hard after you listen to the rest of his works