Kendrick Lamar, who is considered one of the best artists in the hip-hop industry today, released the “DAMN” album early this year in April. The album consists of fourteen songs, all having their own meaning to it. I’ve listened to each of these songs on repeat over and over again, and decided I’d give the album a review, giving an in-depth review behind the meaning, lyrics, and overall execution of each song.
BLOOD. 7.8/10
This track starts off with the lines “are we gonna live or die?” Kendrick Lamar uses his storytelling abilities throughout the verses of this song, and he does an excellent job at doing so. However, the song misses intensity and excitement as it’s a bit too much of a laid-back song and isn’t something that fits in with this album.
DNA. 9.7/10
The beat in this song is absolutely insane and everything about this track makes it the best of the entire album. DNA references several disses to other artists and also includes verses that you have to listen to a second time to catch. This is a hard-hitting song and is a must-listen for this album. This album shows off some of Kendrick’s rhyme scheme ability such as “I don’t compromise, I just penetrate. Sex, money, murder — these are the breaks.”
YAH. 8.6/10
The flow in this song is ridiculous, Kendrick Lamar once again shows off his storytelling ability with amazing flow, and makes this one of the best tracks of the album, in my humble opinion. YAH has a wavy beat, creating an easy song to jam to.
ELEMENT. 8.5/10
In the song ELEMENT, Kendrick Lamar talks about the impact he’s had on the rap game and his experiences as a rapper in the past years. He also dares other rappers to challenge him, showing the confidence Kendrick expresses in this song. In the first verse, Lamar shares how he’d do absolutely anything for his career, including putting his own life on the line. Kendrick Lamar takes several shots at a general group of rappers in this song, including in the chorus, making this a very replayed song in the album. If you haven’t listened to this song yet, give it a listen as it has messages you probably won’t get the first time through.
FEEL. 8.5/10
This song starts off with the verse “ain’t nobody praying for me” which obviously shows the listeners that this track has deep meaning behind it along with the slow beat that starts up after the first few lines. In the song, Kendrick Lamar describes feeling as if he’s “losing focus”, and shares other feelings he has throughout the song. The first few lines of the song are then connected with the chorus, as Kendrick Lamar says “I feel like ain’t nobody praying for me”. This song is the complete opposite of some songs in the album such as DNA or LOYALTY, as it has a slow yet fast vibe, possibly standing for the racing thoughts going through Lamar’s head. This song is a must listen, as it takes you on a trip through Kendrick Lamar’s own mind. It’s a deep song, without a doubt- and every lyric is worth listening to.
LOYALTY. 8.3/10
This track is special as it’s the first time Kendrick Lamar’s ever collaborated with Rihanna, creating the perfect track for an album like this. This is easily one of the best tracks in the album and rightfully so as LOYALTY is a summer-themed track that’s just a lot of fun to jam to. Some believe this song shows the example of what it’s like to be in a romantic relationship, and although it seems reasonable, I’m not sure if it’s likely.
FEAR. 8.7/10
The beat immediately starts off with what sounds old-school, definitely something to look forward to. Kendrick Lamar is well known for having the ability to execute any rap style, and well. This is exactly what he’s doing with the beat in FEAR. The main line that you want to remember from this song is “if I could smoke fear away I’d roll that mothafucka up”. And why is this line so important to the overall meaning of the song? Kendrick shares that this song talks about three different fearful occasions he’s experienced in his life, all at ages 7, 17, and 27. This song obviously has deep lyrics behind it, and in October of this year, Kendrick Lamar shared that he believes this song holds some of his best verses he’s ever written. I wouldn’t consider this song a must-listen as much of Kendrick’s other songs from other albums give a better idea of what Kendrick’s music is like, but this definitely wasn’t a bad song at all.
LUST. 8.0/10
I’m personally a big fan of this song, as in LUST. Kendrick Lamar discusses the common life of a rap star today. Lamar destroys this song (in a good way, of course) with his insane verses that are very accurate of how some wealthy rappers spend their daily lives- usually involving lust. “Lately, I feel like I been lustin’ over the fame”. This verse shows Kendrick’s perspective on some current day artists in the rap scene. There’s not much to say to this song, and although the album would be fine without it, I believe it holds a reasonable message that many can agree with.
GOD. 9.2/10
This is one of my favorite songs on the DAMN. album to turn-up to. Kendrick simply has an electrifying voice in this song and the beat makes it even better. The purpose of this song is that rappers who see themselves as “God” aren’t in power. Kendrick Lamar shares his experiences and achievements throughout the song and this in my personal perspective, is a great, positive song. Some may see it as him being negative as he’s against rappers who call themselves God, and he’s boasting throughout the entirety of the song, however it’s more of just a celebration track in my opinion. By saying “this what God feels like” at the opening seconds of the song, it’s showing that Kendrick Lamar’s wealth makes him feel powerful, which, makes perfect sense as he’s paid millions of dollars each year. The album would not be what it is without this song.
HUMBLE. 9.0/10
Although it’s a heavily overplayed song on the radio, HUMBLE is a good song as it discusses Kendrick Lamar’s thoughts on the current world, including plastic surgery, the rap game, and more. This album wouldn’t be what it is without this track, as it’s considered a classic to the DAMN album. This is a hard-hitting song and creates vivid visuals of what Kendrick is saying in his lyrics. If you haven’t heard this song, it’s likely you’ve been living under a box for several months.
LOVE, PRIDE, and DUCKWORTH would have all been given their own reviews, however I decided to begin to wrap things up by putting these all together in a short statement. LOVE was easily one of the best tracks in the DAMN album as the beat sounds simply beautiful, along with the lyrics have deep meaning to it as it explores the meaning of love and what it means to Kendrick Lamar along with other things. PRIDE discusses Kendrick’s belief on how pride will kill you, and DUCKWORTH is in my opinion, the worst song on this album as the delivery isn’t very impressive and the track simply gets stale within the first minute of listening.
XXX. 8.1/10
There’s a lot going on in the first part of the song, however once U2, who’s featured on the track comes in, the song changes into something completely different. At the beginning of XXX the song starts off slow and laid-back, which isn’t bad, but again, isn’t what we expected in this album with the first single HUMBLE being a song that got everyone jamming. However U2 adds vibrations to the song and completely changed my perspective on the track overall. The beat changes around three times in this song, representing three different perspectives of the story Kendrick is telling. Although, the first part ruined my opinion on some of this song- it’s good nonetheless.
OVERALL ALBUM RATING: 8.7/10
“Countless rappers claim to have transcended the game. Kendrick Lamar actually does. There’s the sense his ambitions on DAMN. are even larger, reaching toward something more universal, fateful even spiritual in its reach to find the link tying all contradictions together. On FEAR., Lamar raps: “What happens on earth stays on earth / I can’t take these feelings with me / So hopefully they disperse.” One can spend hours unpacking what he really means.”
This album is definitely one of Kendrick Lamar’s best, and there’s not necessarily any bad tracks in the album.
