Review: Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Moral & The Big Steppers

After a five-year hiatus, the highly anticipated album by none other than Kendrick Lamar has finally dropped: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. This double LP came after a few features on his cousin Baby Keem’s works and an always fittingly esoteric Kendrick album rollout. It would be an understatement to say there was hype leading up to this project, especially since Kendrick remained relatively silent for most of the pandemic—a politically arousing time for Black Americans in the US four years after Kendrick’s masterpiece of Black American political commentary that is TPAB (not to mention its musical merit). Personally, much of the hints throughout the rollout and the general hype gave me extremely high expectations for this record, and at first, it did not really meet those expectations. Everything was great; Kendrick was spitting flawlessly with perfectly mesmerizing instrumentals that were clearly well thought out. However, the title implies a jazz influence, and especially with The Heart Part 5 fitting that, the beat experimentation, and the double LP is usually emblematic of the artist’s magnum opus, yet all those failed to realize, in my opinion. Nevertheless, as I listened more and opened myself to taking this work on as something completely independent of context, it became an extraordinarily personal insight on issues I would never expect to here about from Kendrick. Track-by-track analysis:

Part 1:

United in Grief - Introduced in an effortlessly grandiose, elegant and yet precise execution of this melody that will be repeated later propels the listener into a very focused verse. The cut transitions to a fast-paced drumbeat, incorporating thematic pianos and synthesizers makes for a beautiful record with many sections of great atmosphere. Lyrically, he starts by defining a myriad of human labels, tying in storytelling of personal occurrences in his life all under the premise of the concept of grief itself.

N95 - Extraordinarily pleasant to hear Kenny experimenting with what he can do with his unorthodox singing, combining almost childish-like vocals with the hardest-hitting rap performances on the entire album. It's hard to admit, but I'm glad Kenny reserved his original verse on Baby Keem's "vent" for the latter half of this song. The production is so fittingly apportioned so that his oscillation between rapping and singing feels even more dynamic and impactful.

Worldwide Steppers - It's surprising to find the controversial Kodak Black here and throughout the record, but this is one of the most profound tracks on the album in terms of the weight of the epistemologically troubling situations Kendrick speaks on. The ominous minimalistic intro with light instrumental and vocal effects in the background perfectly backs his commentary on essentially reducing humans to a level playing ground of pleasure satisfiers "trying to scratch an itch." It feels very much tied to his statement of the normalization of murder in The Heart Part 5 but just widened in scope. The multitude of historical and sociocultural contexts that backs his experiences having sexual interactions with white women as a black man is a lyrical tool he uses to pose an interesting absurdity yet realization of those contexts. He relates them back to so many different social problems Kendrick cares about but somehow tied to this primal pleasure of human nature.

Die Hard – Frankly, this track is one of the weakest lyrically as it is just focused on the idea of being a “die hard” with songwriting skills that any formulaic pop artist probably could’ve come up with. Kendrick’s second verse feels like a silly Kanye verse. Sadly, I know this will be one of the more popular songs because of accessibility, featured artists, and just a lighter vibe geared for entertainment.

Father Time – I’m not going to lie, but I cannot listen to this song the whole way through without cringing. He has great things to say, great instrumental transitions he uses, and a groovy Sampha chorus. However, the repetition of “daddy issues” is just so excessive I think he goes way too over his point to the point that it is diluted, and no listener can wholly understand it. The bar about Kanye and Drake is good, though.

Rich (Interlude) – Kodak talks over a cascading piano at the most solemn he’s ever been. It brings to light the unique circumstance of “rags to riches” stories for Black Americans, especially in the music scene, that is, predisposed to bad circumstances that strongly encourage bad behavior yet hastily plunged into a new environment with amounts of money they never imagined being able to spend. I feel this is especially important since YSL has been RICO charged recently.

Rich Spirit – This is kind of how I would want Die Hard to be like. Vibey and lyrical. It still is a bit shallow, though.

We Cry Together - An extremely visceral and abrasive dialogue between Kendrick and a supposed partner in the past about their personal problems, this track exemplifies much bigger gender issues in western working class black society. Taylour Paige showcases one of the most impressive rap debuts I've ever heard as she plunges listeners into one of the most critical and savage critiques of Kendrick's "character" in both personal and social ways. This is a track that truly speaks infinitely on its own and deserves to be experienced to be understood, especially because it is concise and to-the-point enough for anyone to understand. The unexpected devolving into the beginnings of "argument sex" is a funny and weird touch to conclude the song.

Purple Hearts – Another miss for me, I am slightly dissatisfied with the ending of this first part with such a mediocre performance by Kendrick’s singing parts and even rapping. Some cool references here and there but Summer Walker just cements this commercial love song (in a form of a pseudo-indie hip-hop) feel of this cut. By this point, Ghostface Killah can’t save the entire track.

Part 2:

Count Me Out - I absolutely love that the second side of the project begins with the same melody as the prior first track, showing a clear beginning of a new part. Less ominous and much warmer, this is a great introduction to what, in my opinion, is a much more musically and thematically interesting half of the record overall.

Crown – A purely story-telling track, this is where I enjoy Kendrick’s singing. Mainly talking about love in a very personal way accompanied with personal examples for defining love (unlike the cliché’s in the others). Everything is over a very laid-back piano instrumental without any hip-hop production. This track shows when less can be more, completely contrary to Die Hard, Rich Spirit, and Purple Hearts (to some degree). I could see this track getting annoying after multiple listens, though.

Silent Hill – A humorous and weird chorus with his “huh” noises somehow are executed in a catchy way even though I thought it would be annoying after a few listens. With some nice, short verses in between, Kendrick performs effortlessly over a minimalist synthesizer beat that perfectly matches the energy of the following Kodak feature. Serving as probably the best chill break from the “heavy” songs, this is the best light-hearted track on the album.

Savior (Interlude): This is seriously seeing Baby Keem at the pinnacle of his career in terms of artistry. A phenomenally poetic delivery, Keem raps about his past and current experiences in terms of his similar social and socio-economic circumstances as Kendrick, being his cousin that is. The stunning and beautiful outro that ends with “Mr. Morale” is one of the most evocative ways I’ve heard the concluding section of an album be introduced. It cements a complete plunge of the listener into the next five songs of utter vulnerability.

Savior – Focused on the false assumption that black figures (especially rappers) are saviors for many that even extend beyond the black community, this track gives great insight about the sheer social dissonance between non-black communities and black ones. From critiquing people who only are pro-black to the convenience of their already biased views on what should be politically acceptable to the funny jab at Kyrie’s originally seemingly meaningful anti-vaccination stand, Baby Keem’s chorus is playful yet complementary to Kendrick’s critical verses. The “capitalists posing as compassionates” line posits the inherent contradictions of philanthropy and charity needing to exist in a capitalist system yet asserting an entitlement to gratitude (feeling like they are being compassionate).

Auntie Diaries – One of the less complex productions on the album, this song is definitely more about the lyrical content. He juxtaposes his experiences with close people in his life—one a trans man and the other a trans woman. A very direct storytelling of both of them, Kendrick takes us through his own journey coming to terms with their situations and understanding them as people. It’s a very sweet yet revealing dialogue with the effective one-liners of “my auntie is a man now” and “Demetrius is Mary-Ann now” that everyone should listen for themselves. He seamlessly ties this track into the next with his conversation about using the F-slur as a heterosexual, cis male being treated as wrong if he personally believes white people shouldn’t use the N-word.

Mr. Morale – Beginning by referencing a performance where a white woman he brought on stage at said the N-word, this is one of the most musically interesting tracks on the album with subtle alto chorus vocals in the background with a very interesting autotuned Tanna Leone bridge surrounding Kendrick’s hard-hitting verses. With his line “my mother abused young,” he sets up his later conversation about his mom’s sexual assault experience as well as black artists in general.

Mother I Sober – An extremely solemn and touching track about his mother’s experience with sexual assault and her constant making sure of Kendrick’s sexual safety. Again, this can only really and best be understood through one’s own experiencing of the song. However, here is a section that embodies a commentary of one of the most misunderstood aspects about hip-hop: “I know the secrets, every other rapper sexually abused / I see 'em daily buryin' they pain in chains and tattoos / So listen close before you start to pass judgement on how we move / Learn how we cope, whenever his uncle had to walk him from school / His anger grows deep in misogyny / This is post-traumatic Black families and a sodomy, today is still active / So I set free myself from all the guilt that I thought I made / So I set free my mother all the hurt that she titled shame / So I set free my cousin, chaotic for my mother's pain / I hope Hykeem made you proud 'cause you ain't die in vain.”

Mirror – This is a much better ending than Purple Hearts with a great combination of impressive orchestral instrumentals, rapping, and singing. All tied together with Kendrick’s chorus emphasizing the importance of working on himself that many neglect who direly view him as a savior figure.

Even though the album wasn’t the highly experimental rapping on cut-time jazz instrumentals reminiscent of The Heart Part 5 (especially when thinking about notoriously experimental records production-wise like Danny Brown’s Atrocity Exhibition or Q-Tip’s recent feature on Jack White’s album, I imagined a never-before-seen Kendrick over some of the most objectively difficult beats to rap over, while continuing his amazing story telling), it proved to be deeply personal and nuanced in Kendrick’s social commentary on a myriad of topics, especially in the second half. From gender roles/relations to the Black American experience to discrimination of trans people to sexual assault, Kendrick truly took his time to think about very pressing socio-political issues right now. With the motif of Ekhart Tolle, a German author who writes critically about America’s economic foundations as a tool to unpack the “pain bodies” of the Black experience in America, there’s an even more mature or educated perspective Kendrick offers different than TPAB (although TPAB is a masterpiece in its own right coming from perspectives of arguably more important details of immediate experience). However, many tracks in the first part of the album seemed distracting and very unfocused towards the album, making it much weaker. The thoroughly meaningful nature of the second half could have been a project alone, albeit short, but it was really succinct and outshines the first by far even if the first has some memorable bangers. In summary, the merits of this project are rooted deeply throughout the songs and thus, I compliment and analyze them thoroughly in my track-by-track analysis, but there are just parts of this album that cut it short of a masterpiece. However, still a phenomenal and important experience by Kendrick, nonetheless.

Favorite Tracks: N95, Worldwide Steppers, We Cry Together / Count Me Out, Savior (Interlude), Savior, Auntie Diaries, Mr. Morale, and Mother I Sober

Least Favorites: Die Hard and Purple Hearts

Score: 8.9