Kendrick Lamar delivers with DAMN.
His fourth studio album, there’s no signs of anyone coming close to Kendrick Lamar.
When the tracklist to Kendrick Lamar’s fourth album DAMN. was leaked this past week, it noted a feature from U2 in its 11th track, XXX. There was a unified shriek of fear; not least from Irish hip hop connoisseurs who thought only U2 could conceivably destroy a body of work by Kendrick, by their mere presence alone. The world would blame us for allowing Bono be relevant in 2017 pop culture. In a hip hop album. By Kendrick f*cking Lamar.
When the album released early on Good Friday morning, the fears were quickly crushed, for 10 tracks in the listener was already blown away by the glorious grittiness and anger that is exquisitely released through Kendrick’s calm, collected flow. Through the playing of XXX, you would forget U2’s involvement in the track — it takes Bono 2 minutes and 42 seconds to truly chime in — but Kendrick weaves the often overbearing U2 in masterfully, he lets them take a back seat, but also find relevancy to add to their catalogue of politically charged music. Phew; they didn’t make a show of us.
DAMN. is a really good album. It is typical Lamar; political, religious, reflective and ultimately not lacking in quality. I enjoy grittiness, but it’s not the most fun album I’ve ever listened to. There’s no King Kunta, there’s no tracks that will truly take over the airwaves around here, but there’s songs that can set you alight and songs that will get you thinking… “damn”. As an album, it’s absolutely a start to finish banger that you can pick up and take you along an enjoyable lyrical journey.
It’s his fourth consecutive high quality body of work, from his arrival in 2011 with Section.80 through to To Pimp A Butterfly back in 2015. The reception has been critical — the man can do no wrong — and enters a rare pantheon of hip hop legends that released four genuinely great albums in a row, without squandering on class.
BLOOD. is a spectacular opener, with Kendrick narrating a story that ultimately takes your head off. He’s one of the best storytellers in the business — the way he picks you up and drops you in the situation is exquisite, with use of spoken word, fading into a soundbite from Fox News damning Lamar’s racially charged music.
This theme continues in the gritty DNA. Here Kendrick brings the fire, celebrating his black history and culture. He once again blends a snippet from Fox News, but you’re so caught up in the bars that it completely overpowers the nonsensical argument the speakers are trying to convey.
Loyalty, got royalty inside my DNA
Cocaine quarter piece, got war and peace inside my DNA
I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA
Fox News takes another bullet in YAH., where Kendrick lowers things slightly before raising the bar even higher in the spectacular ELEMENT. Here Kendrick asserts himself as the most dominant rapper in the game, his personal journey of self-sacrifice and how himself and his family have brought him to where he is today.
Most of y’all don’t fade, most of y’all been advised
Last LP I tried to lift the black artists
But it’s a difference between black artists and wack artists
Through FEEL., which we got a brief preview of from Lebron James, you can see why Lebron would magnet to this particular track. It has a real me versus the world attitude, comparing Kendrick’s ability on the mic to that of Michael Jordan when he was on the court. In LOYALTY., enter Rihanna in one of her most interesting cameos yet — rapping about the necessity for loyalty in a relationship. Much like U2 in XXX, its not the sort of collaboration anyone would have expected, especially from Rihanna, but it really works.
PRIDE. is another powerful religious track, leading into the first released single from the album HUMBLE. Its powerful, witty and deservingly a major mainstream hit for Kendrick. Most importantly it doesn’t feel out of place on the album — concerns that he released the best single first is arguably upheld, but the first and second halves of the album bookend it nicely.
The second half of the album is more structured. I enjoyed LUST., it’s fun and upbeat and the lyrics are so quick and cohesive, which leads to the more opposite LOVE., a more sweet song that will soon be the soundtrack of first dates and romantic getaways right across America. It introduces us to Zacari and he’s got an awesome voice; it’s not the last we’ve heard from him.
Manager called, the lobby called, it’s 11:30
Did this before, promised myself I’d be a hour early
Room full of clothes, bag full of money: call it loose change
Fumbled my jewelry, 100k, I lost a new chain
At over seven minutes, FEAR. is slow but powerful, it flows really nicely. The beat is neat and pulls you through to the end with little fatigue. I wasn’t feeling GOD. as much, happy to skip on to the amazing DUCKWORTH. A powerslam in storytelling and lyricism, it’s a truly terrific end to the album, tying it up in a bow at the end with a snippet back to the first track.
It’s hard to find any complaints with this album. The lyrics are smooth, deft and hard hitting. The beats are strong and in songs like LUST. and LOYALTY. are fun and repeatable. In tracks like DUCKWORTH. and DNA., you just want to go back and relive the words. As a body of work, its core Kendrick and will instantly go down as an album of the year contender. For K.Dot fans, it’s a continuation of Kendrick Lamar. For casual fans, it may lack that enjoyment to keep them hooked. But for Kendrick, it’s compacted his status as perhaps the best hip hop artist active right now.
Maybe he can’t do no wrong; he’s even made U2 relevant again.
