KENDRICK LAMAR - MR. MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS (Official Discussion)

[Game-Won]

That's a good question.. I don't think its fertile environment any more to produce a "genius" as far as new music goes. 

If we are talking a newer music I think Anderson Paak is someone in hip-hop you could maybe call a genius, I'm also fine with giving Kendrick that label.  I don't really listen to their new shit, or any new shit for that matter but I can recognize them both as genius talents.  I haven't seen Dre do anything genius since COMPTON, and I haven't seen Eminem do anything genius since MMLP2.  I consider Xzibit and Ras Kass to be genius.  Though the last time they put out anything "genius" was at least over 5 years ago.

I agree with ya'll that Quik was a musical genius but what has he done that is "genius" since Addictive with Truth Hurts?

This all just my opinion, I understand that everyone will not agree.

RZA is a musical genius, so is Kanye - Not everything they drop is my style... but they are 100% original, and with very distinct styles.
Quik & Dre to ofcourse.

Neptunes, premier, Timberland, JD, Puff created masterpieces for years to.

[Jay_J]

do you guys think that new kendrick album promoted well? i think there's smth wrong with marketing and promoting. even the first single N95 video has 25m view yet. i didnt see kendrick perform on any night live show also. Dre said nothing on his social media to support the album. He didnt even answer Em's tweet. I think this album is Kendrick's best album and the best shit i ever heard lately in hiphop. I'm still listening it from start to end everyday and not bored yet, it keeps growing on me. Like eminem said, i keep saying "this is ridicilous!!!"... but looks like promotion sucks and also big steppers of black community didnt like to hear what kendrick told.

[Sccit]

do you guys think that new kendrick album promoted well? i think there's smth wrong with marketing and promoting. even the first single N95 video has 25m view yet. i didnt see kendrick perform on any night live show also. Dre said nothing on his social media to support the album. He didnt even answer Em's tweet. I think this album is Kendrick's best album and the best shit i ever heard lately in hiphop. I'm still listening it from start to end everyday and not bored yet, it keeps growing on me. Like eminem said, i keep saying "this is ridicilous!!!"... but looks like promotion sucks and also big steppers of black community didnt like to hear what kendrick told.

the biggest problem is the lack of a catchy single

kendrick hasn’t been writing the best hooks tbh

damn tpab and gkmc all had it

[Soopafly DPGC]

do you guys think that new kendrick album promoted well? i think there's smth wrong with marketing and promoting. even the first single N95 video has 25m view yet. i didnt see kendrick perform on any night live show also. Dre said nothing on his social media to support the album. He didnt even answer Em's tweet. I think this album is Kendrick's best album and the best shit i ever heard lately in hiphop. I'm still listening it from start to end everyday and not bored yet, it keeps growing on me. Like eminem said, i keep saying "this is ridicilous!!!"... but looks like promotion sucks and also big steppers of black community didnt like to hear what kendrick told.

It's deep music. But just not entertaining music.  Nothing is pulling me back to want to listen to this album over and over. 

[Jay_J]

the biggest problem is the lack of a catchy single

kendrick hasn’t been writing the best hooks tbh

damn tpab and gkmc all had it

I think the most catchy and radio-friendly hit on the album is "Die Hard"... I like N995 too, it would make a bigger impact with right marketing. I guess "The Heart pt.5" also stole the show and made lots of people feel like "ok new kendrick is out and this is his 1st single"... so they didnt feel hyped for the real lead single.

By the way this is the album Kendrick sings most and he does it so well. On many songs on the album ("Die Hard", "Count Me out" especially), kendrick really serves great melodic verses, bridges and hooks... Better than ever he is.

[Jay_J]

It's deep music. But just not entertaining music.  Nothing is pulling me back to want to listen to this album over and over.

yes, this album is not a mainstream entertainer. but i also believe black comunity of america didnt enjoy the way Kendrick criticize his own people with very harsh truths while they were waiting for smth to entertain the common message of the whole album is "dont be a tap dancer, stop tap dancing around the problems and have some moral clarity"... only kendrick would do smth like that i think, it made me respect him more, i don't care if this album sells less, it's going to be counted as his masterpiece in future.

[Soopafly DPGC]

yes, this album is not a mainstream entertainer. but i also believe black comunity of america didnt enjoy the way Kendrick criticize his own people with very harsh truths while they were waiting for smth to entertain the common message of the whole album is "dont be a tap dancer, stop tap dancing around the problems and have some moral clarity"... only kendrick would do smth like that i think, it made me respect him more, i don't care if this album sells less, it's going to be counted as his masterpiece in future.

It's easy to point out the problems of society, we all know what they are.  It's harder for someone to point out SOLUTIONS to the problems.  Kendrick isn't bringing attention to anything that social media and the news aren't already bringing up on a daily basis.  i sometimes enjoy listening to music to escape the constant bombardment of "here's what's wrong with society" talk.  I'll go for weeks without watching the news or getting on social media because i need a break.  So to listen to an album that's filled with more of that kind of stuff....not real enjoyable to me. 

I think if he would have 2 or 3 deep songs on the album, surrounded by catchy more upbeat (dare I say 'mindless' type) enjoyable songs to use as a trojan horse to get his message across, that would have been more successful.   ON GKMC, he had deep songs like Sing About Me, and on TPAB, songs like 'How Much A Dollar Cost' and 'Complexion' along with catchy songs that made the listener WANT to listen to the album and in turn, listened to the deeper songs as well.  There's no group of songs on this album that are going to want to make the listener have this album on repeat, play at parties, play on road trips, play while cruising on a Friday night, etc.  So whatever message he's trying to get across 'society has problems'...isn't going to reach or impact the intended audience. 

He's reached the level of success to where no one in his inner circle is going to have the balls to tell him "this sucks" anymore, just like Dre is now.  Coming up, i think people had no issue telling him 'hey you need to fix this, do this, take this song off the album, etc".  Now people just say 'brilliant', 'You're the best', etc..as they are too afraid they'll be ousted and they won't get to work with Kendrick anymore, which is a huge deal for someone trying to make it in the business. 

[Sccit]

It's easy to point out the problems of society, we all know what they are.  It's harder for someone to point out SOLUTIONS to the problems.  Kendrick isn't bringing attention to anything that social media and the news aren't already bringing up on a daily basis.  i sometimes enjoy listening to music to escape the constant bombardment of "here's what's wrong with society" talk.  I'll go for weeks without watching the news or getting on social media because i need a break.  So to listen to an album that's filled with more of that kind of stuff....not real enjoyable to me. 

I think if he would have 2 or 3 deep songs on the album, surrounded by catchy more upbeat (dare I say 'mindless' type) enjoyable songs to use as a trojan horse to get his message across, that would have been more successful.   ON GKMC, he had deep songs like Sing About Me, and on TPAB, songs like 'How Much A Dollar Cost' and 'Complexion' along with catchy songs that made the listener WANT to listen to the album and in turn, listened to the deeper songs as well.  There's no group of songs on this album that are going to want to make the listener have this album on repeat, play at parties, play on road trips, play while cruising on a Friday night, etc.  So whatever message he's trying to get across 'society has problems'...isn't going to reach or impact the intended audience. 

He's reached the level of success to where no one in his inner circle is going to have the balls to tell him "this sucks" anymore, just like Dre is now.  Coming up, i think people had no issue telling him 'hey you need to fix this, do this, take this song off the album, etc".  Now people just say 'brilliant', 'You're the best', etc..as they are too afraid they'll be ousted and they won't get to work with Kendrick anymore, which is a huge deal for someone trying to make it in the business.

well said

[Rudki]

It's easy to point out the problems of society, we all know what they are.  It's harder for someone to point out SOLUTIONS to the problems.  Kendrick isn't bringing attention to anything that social media and the news aren't already bringing up on a daily basis.  i sometimes enjoy listening to music to escape the constant bombardment of "here's what's wrong with society" talk.  I'll go for weeks without watching the news or getting on social media because i need a break.  So to listen to an album that's filled with more of that kind of stuff....not real enjoyable to me. 

I think if he would have 2 or 3 deep songs on the album, surrounded by catchy more upbeat (dare I say 'mindless' type) enjoyable songs to use as a trojan horse to get his message across, that would have been more successful.   ON GKMC, he had deep songs like Sing About Me, and on TPAB, songs like 'How Much A Dollar Cost' and 'Complexion' along with catchy songs that made the listener WANT to listen to the album and in turn, listened to the deeper songs as well.  There's no group of songs on this album that are going to want to make the listener have this album on repeat, play at parties, play on road trips, play while cruising on a Friday night, etc.  So whatever message he's trying to get across 'society has problems'...isn't going to reach or impact the intended audience. 

He's reached the level of success to where no one in his inner circle is going to have the balls to tell him "this sucks" anymore, just like Dre is now.  Coming up, i think people had no issue telling him 'hey you need to fix this, do this, take this song off the album, etc".  Now people just say 'brilliant', 'You're the best', etc..as they are too afraid they'll be ousted and they won't get to work with Kendrick anymore, which is a huge deal for someone trying to make it in the business.

Very very well said.

[Matty]

there's a giant elephant in the room that all mainstream artists & media culture in general is missing. don't think they're allowed to talk about it so it just makes them seem badly out of touch when they go rambling about personal issues or things that effect a single subculture. all 'art' from this period is going to look redundant & backward looking not very long from now.

[Sccit]

there's a giant elephant in the room that all mainstream artists & media culture in general is missing. don't think they're allowed to talk about it so it just makes them seem badly out of touch when they go rambling about personal issues or things that effect a single subculture. all 'art' from this period is going to look redundant & backward looking not very long from now.

why do you say that

[Matty]

why do you say that

lockdowns moving to a global police state, withdrawal of human rights, vaccine mandates, wealth transfer, coming economic meltdown & depression. just things that effect every single person that are well in motion. anyone still talking about racism & rich people problems 2022 is going to look mighty dumb when we zoom out sometime in the future.

[Sccit]

lockdowns moving to a global police state, withdrawal of human rights, vaccine mandates, wealth transfer, coming economic meltdown & depression. just things that effect every single person that are well in motion. anyone still talking about racism & rich people problems 2022 is going to look mighty dumb when we zoom out sometime in the future.

 




 

[Jay_J]

It's easy to point out the problems of society, we all know what they are.  It's harder for someone to point out SOLUTIONS to the problems.  Kendrick isn't bringing attention to anything that social media and the news aren't already bringing up on a daily basis.  i sometimes enjoy listening to music to escape the constant bombardment of "here's what's wrong with society" talk.  I'll go for weeks without watching the news or getting on social media because i need a break.  So to listen to an album that's filled with more of that kind of stuff....not real enjoyable to me. 

I think if he would have 2 or 3 deep songs on the album, surrounded by catchy more upbeat (dare I say 'mindless' type) enjoyable songs to use as a trojan horse to get his message across, that would have been more successful.   ON GKMC, he had deep songs like Sing About Me, and on TPAB, songs like 'How Much A Dollar Cost' and 'Complexion' along with catchy songs that made the listener WANT to listen to the album and in turn, listened to the deeper songs as well.  There's no group of songs on this album that are going to want to make the listener have this album on repeat, play at parties, play on road trips, play while cruising on a Friday night, etc.  So whatever message he's trying to get across 'society has problems'...isn't going to reach or impact the intended audience. 

He's reached the level of success to where no one in his inner circle is going to have the balls to tell him "this sucks" anymore, just like Dre is now.  Coming up, i think people had no issue telling him 'hey you need to fix this, do this, take this song off the album, etc".  Now people just say 'brilliant', 'You're the best', etc..as they are too afraid they'll be ousted and they won't get to work with Kendrick anymore, which is a huge deal for someone trying to make it in the business.

i don't agree at all. worst critic i ever seen for this album and kendrick.
,
"this sucks" really? i don't know if you are following other producers beatmakers and musicians, they think album, production and enginnering is on another level and they find it genius. yeah kendrick doesnt have anybody around him to say "this sucks" because it doesnt suck at all. to me it's his opus magnum.

you say "I think if he would have 2 or 3 deep songs on the album, surrounded by catchy more upbeat (dare I say 'mindless' type) enjoyable songs to use as a trojan horse to get his message across, that would have been more successful." what kind of algorithm is that? i'm glad kendrick can take himself out of this bullshit algorithm. and you know what? kendrick is one of those rare artist can have balls to do that. that made me respect him more today. what the fuck is that "3 deep songs, one catchy upbeat, enjoyable songs, one song for girls to twerk, another one for k-pop lovers and ect..." fuck it man! kendrick has a message, also kendrick chose a vibe for whole album to go for, this is artist's choice. this is his art, what is coming from his heart. you can't tell him to "fuck your feelings or fuck what you like, do it like what me, schoolgirls, clubs and radios like. no way! there are tons of albums follow this stupid algorithm to just be played more in radio and stay longer in lists and of course to sell more. so there are tons of options to listen if you like that way, kendrick's way its way more different than, all you need to do is respect, and if you don't like it, say it's not my taste, i'm ok with it, i can't judge that, but we should have a right to say "you should do it like this". no. that doesnt make sense. i'm glad kendrick also doesnt have people around him like this, its not that they don't have balls to say it, looks like he is surrounded by people who understand and like what he does. i don't know if you are following other producers, beatmakers and musicians on social media, they think the production and engineering on the album is on another level, which i agree a lot.

[Sccit]

i don't agree at all. worst critic i ever seen for this album and kendrick.
,
"this sucks" really? i don't know if you are following other producers beatmakers and musicians, they think album, production and enginnering is on another level and they find it genius. yeah kendrick doesnt have anybody around him to say "this sucks" because it doesnt suck at all. to me it's his opus magnum.

you say "I think if he would have 2 or 3 deep songs on the album, surrounded by catchy more upbeat (dare I say 'mindless' type) enjoyable songs to use as a trojan horse to get his message across, that would have been more successful." what kind of algorithm is that? i'm glad kendrick can take himself out of this bullshit algorithm. and you know what? kendrick is one of those rare artist can have balls to do that. that made me respect him more today. what the fuck is that "3 deep songs, one catchy upbeat, enjoyable songs, one song for girls to twerk, another one for k-pop lovers and ect..." fuck it man! kendrick has a message, also kendrick chose a vibe for whole album to go for, this is artist's choice. this is his art, what is coming from his heart. you can't tell him to "fuck your feelings or fuck what you like, do it like what me, schoolgirls, clubs and radios like. no way! there are tons of albums follow this stupid algorithm to just be played more in radio and stay longer in lists and of course to sell more. so there are tons of options to listen if you like that way, kendrick's way its way more different than, all you need to do is respect, and if you don't like it, say it's not my taste, i'm ok with it, i can't judge that, but we should have a right to say "you should do it like this". no. that doesnt make sense. i'm glad kendrick also doesnt have people around him like this, its not that they don't have balls to say it, looks like he is surrounded by people who understand and like what he does. i don't know if you are following other producers, beatmakers and musicians on social media, they think the production and engineering on the album is on another level, which i agree a lot.

i can tell you really love this album a lot lol

it’s in no way his magum opus

it’s a dope album .. don’t get me wrong. well produced, finely engineered.. he sounds good.

but it’s not even on the level of gkmc, let alone tpab .. and it’s getting praised by other artists, but still, the overall opinion on it is that it’s a step down compared to what others regard as “his classics” (i personally don’t believe he has a classic, but tpab was close)

anyways, we all titled to opinions .. mine is that it’s dope, just lacking on the hooks and sound that can resonate with the masses.