It does not matter if that acquiescence is in the name of satire, or if that acquiescence is an attempt to add nuance to a currently straightforward genre of music: “DAMN.” sounds the same either way. Lamar could never afford to acquiesce to the tropes of mainstream rap because he frankly does not have the raw, unquantifiable, star personality of Migos, Drake, and J. That is why “ELEMENT.” could serve as a precise metaphor for poor musical decision making. Lamar never really could sustain a song on the force of his own personality. And say what you will about Lil Uzi Vert-he always sustained a persona somewhere between amusing and charismatic. His voice tends to sound pubescent when his lyricism wanes, one reason “LOVE.,” “GOD.,” AND “LUST.,” work poorly. The spirit of Lil Uzi Vert sounds palpably present when Lamar raps “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah” on “DNA.”īut, say what you will about Drake-he always could sing. “GOD.,” “LOVE.” and “LUST.” all sound like disciples of the Drake school for sing-song-rapping. He acts the role of the influenced rather than the influencer. Lamar appears to be playing with someone else’s sound (even if the intent is to satirize it). Most problematically, in order to do it, Lamar has to embody a musical style that he never sounds comfortable in. It is nearly impossible to make satire the basis of an entire album. Nevertheless, it is difficult to sustain the listener’s interest in satire even over the course of a song (although Lamar has done it successfully in the past in “Swimming Pools (Drank)” and “A.D.H.D.”). Perhaps it should make a difference that this imprisonment was self-imposed, that “DAMN.” seems to be working to satirize many of the worst tropes of rap, that by embodying the spirit of unwarranted self-aggrandizement (“DNA.” and “HUMBLE.”) and sensitive misogyny (“LOVE.” and “YAH.”), Lamar places himself in a position to criticize them.
![kendrick lamar albums rating kendrick lamar albums rating](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f576f188c633b0f4f28944a/1610952652006-SH00RH2XE7QWSMUFM56Y/GettyImages-1134174735.jpg)
“DAMN.” is a return of sorts-a return to the “Overly Dedicated” days of Lamar’s career, a time when Lamar was a brilliant soul trapped in the body of a bad rapper. His latest effort is “DAMN.,” out 25 months later, on April 14. city,” and followed it with the well-received “To Pimp a Butterfly,” a brilliant and occasionally incomprehensible piece of art. After another year, he released one of the two best rap albums of the decade, “good kid, m.A.A.d.
![kendrick lamar albums rating kendrick lamar albums rating](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/A1r-m2odnnL._SX355_.jpg)
#Kendrick lamar albums rating series#
He had just released a series of deeply mediocre-and occasionally outright bad-mixtapes and EPs, culminating in the inconsistent “Overly Dedicated.” A year later, he had improbably released the brilliant, deeply underappreciated “Section.80”-an album predicated on a prodigious gift for storytelling (“Kesha’s Song”) and a sudden discovery of lyrical talent (“Rigamortis”). About seven years ago, it would have been impossible to envision Kendrick Lamar’s rise to prominence.