“Promise that you'll keep the music in rotation. That's what I call love”

The world has changed so much in the past 5 years. The COVID pandemic caused many of us to reevaluate our values, beliefs, and how we choose to spend our time and mental health has taken a central focus as we try to navigate our way through the world. For many, music is an outlet that helps us cope with whatever it is life brings to us. The sounds are timeless and we can use them to help us move through time and space. Artists create, musicians compose, singers sing, and poets write. The beauty in the sound can elicit emotions, can cause us to dance, and sometimes provide introspection into the mind of the artists.

And that is exactly what Kendrick Lamar has done through his work. While his earlier albums dealt with life as a kid growing up in a community with crime and violence, in more recent albums Kendrick has opened up about the struggles he has with his own mental health. Tracks like “Feel”, “U”, and “untitled unmastered #5”, Kendrick is open and candid with some of the thoughts he struggles with. You gain a sense of the burden that he bears with no real answer as to what caused it, though you can draw your own conclusions.

Apparently Kendrick spent the past 5 years in deep therapy, as “Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers” plays almost like a psychologist's notes on advice and opening up the wounds that were caused. He states as much on the opening track, “United in Grief” - “I went and got me a therapist. I can debate all my theories and sharing it….I wake up in the morning another appointment I hope the psychologist is listening”. And apparently Kendrick was listening. I don’t know if I’ve ever listened to an album with as many Echkart Tolle references as this one. Shoutout “The Power of Now”.

Sonically the album brings an eclectic mix of sounds. Mid-track beat switches, jazz influences, afro-pop, and plenty of flow changes are featured on the album. The track “Mr. Morale” even sounds like something off of Yeezus, in a good way. Kendrick continues his practice of using multiple cadences in songs, sometimes to the point that it is hard to recognize his voice. “N95” is probably the most aggressive song on the album, with Lamar rapping like he did on “Good Kid Maad City”. The piano driven “Crown” offers a unique sound with the refrain, “I can’t please everybody” playing on repeat.

The album covers many different topics. “United In Grief” covers how Kendrick deals with some of the troubles in his life by buying whatever he wants and using his fame for sex. The topic comes up again in “Worldwide Steppers” as he discusses the times he’s fucked white women, bringing concern from his partner….

“Whitney asked do I have a problem, I said I might be racist.

Ancestors watching me fuck was like retaliation”

“N95” asks the listener to take off their masks, from pandemic fear to the psychological mask we wear in our day to day. And in a page out of Eminem’s “Kim” Kendrick and singer Taylour Paige lay out their arguments and commentary about the opposing sexes.

But where Kendrick’s strength lies is in his ability to tell a story. To weave a narrative and take the listener on a journey through his heart and mind. And that’s where the heart of the album is, with 3 tracks in particular. “Father Time” features singer Sampha and goes in depth into Kendrick’s daddy issues and his views on toxic masculinity, which also come into play later in the album. Lines like,

“I got daddy issues, that’s on me. Looking for ‘I love you’ rarely empathizing for my relief”

“My people ain’t got no daddy, grow up overcompensatin. Learn shit about being a man and disguise it as being gangsta.”.... All play to the heart of the song and the issues discussed by Lamar.

The other track is “Auntie Diaries” where Kendrick discusses the love and acceptance that comes with transgender family members. It’s rare, especially in the genre that Lamar operates in, for someone to discuss so openly their views on transexuality and transgender issues. There also is a parallel that is drawn between the use, and who has the right to use, certain slurs. Even taking the church to task with their views, “Mr. Preacherman should we love thy neighbor? The laws of the land or the heart, what’s greater?”

And on the penultimate track, “Mother I Sober” Kendrick addresses the topic of sexual assault and generational trauma. Not any type of sexual assualt, but the kind that happens in familial circles. Hard as it may be to admit, but these instances are more common than we may realize. To hear a mainstream rapper touch on these topics in such a raw way can hopefully help someone who may have dealt with this and may not have anyone to talk to. The chorus offers a familiar refrain for those who have suffered through it… “I wish I was somebody, anybody but myself”. Though there does lie a glimmer of hope in releasing yourself from the guilt, as Lamar ends the track..

“So I set free the hearts filled with hatred, keep our bodies sacred.

As I set free all your abusers, this is transformation”.

“Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers” is a dense, complex, and emotional album from hip-hop’s Pulitzer Prize winning artist. Those 5 years allowed Kendrick to process some of his hurt, anger, and guilt and present those to us in a completely vulnerable fashion. How liberating it must feel to share it with the world. Though not as historically significant as “To Pimp A Butterfly” or as radio friendly as “Good Kid Maad City”, this album will be remembered for it’s poetic significance and Kendrick’s ability to share a small part of his world.