The way I phrased this was not right. Forget I said anything about good kid.
This seems to be an autobiography of Kendrick from the prospective of who he is today, but in an alternative universe where his dad was killed and he became a gangsta rapper and gets shot like Tupac.
I think that’s closer to what I meant, and it still a bit trite in comparison to what is actually happening.
“I got a bone to pick!!”
My kids won’t let me mention the song any more because I kept bugging them to listen it. Heck that worked when I needed them to hear Get Up Offa That Thing by James Brown!
Still need to listen more to Damn - hard to be a grown up when new music drops.
What an album. I don’t think it will top GKMC on my list, but it’s damn good.
Even the bad songs (Loyalty) are great.
Finally got a chance to listen to this un-interrupted. I think FEAR is my favorite song. I like the singles too, HUMBLE and DNA.
Not my favoritest album of all time. I think I like Vince Staples’ Summertime '06 better still. But I know my tastes and I know that I am not usually in to albums like this. Deep albums, genre-challenging albums, musically ambitious albums. I know what he’s getting at and I know why you guys are blown away by it, but I am not its audience.
It took me a really long time to get in to Chance’s Coloring Book and I only did because I’m a Chance fangirl. I don’t feel like I’m tight enough with Kendrick to “get it.”
Oddly enough I did really go bananas for Speakerboxx/The Love Below, as a whole piece. So I can get down with genre-bending concept albums.
Any way - “King Kunta” is a great song! Forgot I had downloaded that and have it in my Workout mix.
**Ambivalid **- did you catch Mystikal’s “new” track on the Mark Ronson album? It’s so Mystikal! Mark Ronson - Feel Right (Official Video) ft. Mystikal - YouTube
To update this thread: Kendrick has won a Pulitzer for DAMN.
Also, the album’s grown on me and I listen to “Humble” like once a week or more 
That’s huge for a hip hop album to win the Pulitzer.
Awesome – thanks.
OK.
Never listened to hip-hop in my life(is that the genre) but you people are getting me convinced I should listen to this.
The advantage to my sheltered musical upbringing is I am up for anything.
Which of his albums should I try? DAMN?
No.
DAMN is great, but not super accessible if you aren’t into Hip Hop a little. I would start with Good Kid MAAD City. It’s a concept album with a clear story and that story will help you through the unfamiliar territory that is hip hops musical idiom.
Once you are more familiar listen to DAMN then To Pimp A Butterfly (his best work).
If you want I can put together a brief primer on hip hop for you. Help ease you into the genre a bit.
Mahaloth do you have spotify?
I’d say more Good Kid, TPAB, and then DAMN - but I generally like listening to new artists in chronological order (unless they released a stinker in the middle) to see how they grew and changed (for example, listening to Kanye’s 808s and Heartbreak is essential, IMO, to fully appreciate MBDTF).
Usually I would agree with you but for someone with no exposure to hip hop sending them to TPAP as a second ever hip hop experience feels a little intense. But you do make a good point. Section 80 should come before DAMN also.
Ok, this is probably silly but I got the idea to create an intro to Kendrick Lamar Playlist on Spotify.
I tried to keep it to under 2 hours and give fair representation of all his major projects (untitled unmastered gets a little under represented because it’s so… Different. Which I love but is maybe not so good for a new person).
Let me know what you guys think and if you would make any changes. I left off a LOT of my favorites but my first pass was over 4 hours long, I had to make some hard choices. The idea is that someone like Mahaloth would potentially be able to get into the list. I think it flows well as a playlist too now.
I like it! The only thing I’d do is add ‘The Blacker the Berry’, possibly as the closer? (intense, but a imagine ending a playlist on that “HYPOCRITE” lyric?)
Nope, but I do own DAMN now and am listening to it when I get a chance.
I originally had it ending with completion, the Blacker the Berry, and I in that order but decided it was too heavy, so I traded it out of I and All the Stars to lighten things up a bit.
I really didn’t like taking off Berry, I think your idea would work.
Let us know what you think.
Ditto. Always interested to hear people’s forays into new genres. I used to be that annoying anti-hip hop person, but then Kanye opened my ears. There is just a lot of richness in the variety of musical genres and closing one’s ears to even one of them without really giving it a chance is a pity (one can dislike it when one tries, but one should try). I am always heartened when someone tries to listen to something new.
I’ve never heard a Kanye song, either. Is there an album I should start with for him? I may move my thoughts over to my old “album thoughts” thread. I feel like time is coming for me to re-visit it and find some new music.