Yeah, it's layered. Good word. There's a bit of a psychedelic bent to it, really. I like how the vocals slow down toward the end of "ELEMENT." Still not sure if that's just "chopped and skrewed" Kendrick or someone else, but it's an excellent touch.
And "LOVE" is a really beautiful song.

Louder, you've gotta read this:

KENDRICK LAMAR'S PRAISE OF 'NATURAL' BEAUTY SPARKED MORE MISOGYNY BETWEEN WOMEN THAN HIS 'HUMBLE' LYRICS DID

Thoughts?

I don't get it.

Kendrick was just talking about his own preference. Rappers say they like thick, curvy girls with big asses all day and no one complains. Kendrick says he's into natural beauty and all of a sudden they're fuming.

Did you read the whole thing? This is so weird. It's indicative of a lager cultural issue where women seem determined to devalue and undermine one another. I can't speak to black culture specifically, but white bitches do the same thing. The way women lambasted Hillary Clinton for her "uppitiness" and supposed lack of authenticity while at the same time championing a known sexual predator... it's shocking.

I just thought that was interesting.

Also, "That's my Bitch" is less sexist than people think. Listen to the chorus. It's borderline feminist. Not saying I like the phrasing or whatever, but ... y'know... that's a weird song to pick. And since when is it "Kanye's" song? It's a WTT joint. Blah. People are stupid.

Just skimmed through it, but I was already familiar with the issue some black women on Twitter have with the song/video before you linked me to the article, I just preferred to ignore it. They already lashed at Kendrick before for being in a relationship with a lightskin woman, although he's been with her since his highschool days. They just come across as angry and bitter for no reason to me.

Of course, if they paid more attention to Kendrick's lyrics, they would've known he said:

Layered it is. Took me a few listens to really get into the album as well. Now I find myself vibing out to every song.

"DNA." is the hardest opener in forever, Kendrick's flow on it blows me away. The hook on "GOD." is catchy as hell and in the same vein as "ELEMENT.", that song is very similar to what trendy rappers like Drake, Young Thug and Future are doing. "PRIDE." reminds me of some really lush indie music.. maybe Yo La Tengo?

"FEEL." is another song where Kendrick's rapping performance is truly scary. That flow switch at the end is so intense. Might be my favorite right now. Either that or "XXX." which is such a weird song; similarly to Yeezus, takes me on a trip. Rihanna and Bono/U2 were executed well.

This album is better than GKMC. Maybe not better than TPAB. But right now it's my favorite Kendrick album.

DAMN. has been more immediately gripping to me than any other Kendrick album. Seriously. Listening to the whole thing just over and over and over again.

The ending of "DUCKWORTH" ties right back into "BLIND" like first/last sentence in "Finnegan's Wake." I didn't realize that at first, and I thought the album was just starting over. What a moment.

Didn't I compare TPAB to "Ulysses" at one point? In any case, the James Joyce comparison still stands.

Kendrick is even a pretty good singer now. I hear some D'Angelo-esque harmonies here and there.

"LOYALTY." is a very good duet, hopefully it's gonna kill the charts. I prefer it to Work. I also want Kendrick to write the next Rihanna album.

Sorry I didn't mean to insinuate that you hadn't read it, or that you weren't aware of the issue.. I hope it didn't sound like that's what I was saying :(

I was just very surprised to see that even the author of the article essentially comes out and labels Kendrick as a mysoginist, even if he implies that Kendrick is not the biggest offender. I found that pretty fucking shocking!

Anyway, I didn't know anyone lashed out at Kendrick for being with a "light-skinned" girl. Jesus. How is that any different from the conceptions of racial purity that the KKK and "Aryan Nation" and Third Reich championed? :confused: What the fuck is that all about?

I know people are mad at Kanye for dating "white girls," but that's a little different. Totally unacceptable still, but somewhat understandable. This is different. And gross. :(

Yeah, apparently there's also a form of racism inbetween black people inside the black community.

"Complexion" basically tackles this issue. Lightskin vs. darkskin, and the conception that lightksin is portrayed as more attractive by the media. I think some darkskin girls were offended that Kendrick chose to date a girl whose skin is lighter, and felt he was "fake" for that.

Who's doing the DJ drops on "DNA?" Is that Mike Will Made-It? Maybe I do like his ass after all.

Yeah, within-group racism. It's self-sabotaging nonsense. Not that all racism isn't that.

Re: "Conplexion"

Don't people realize that the point of that song is, essentiall, that everyone is the same, and that portraying one thing as better than another is fucking bonkers? Kendrick isn't saying "only dark-skinned black women should be dated by black men," and only an idiot would interpret his message that way. He wasn't declaring it his personal mission to only date one "tone." That would be racism on a macro and micro level.
Why are people so fucking stupid?

I think — just throwing this out there — that DAMN. might be Pitchfork's first 10.0 review of a non-classic album since MBDTF.

I know I'm helping to validate the website that I obviously have so many issues with by even thinking about this... but what can I say? I have a love/hate relationship with that fucking place. In an alternate timeline, I think I must have gone to work for them right out of college.

Anyhoo... TPAB obviously isn't a *perfect* album. Too much going on, too many interludes, a bit jumbled to be truly perfect. This one is a no-hitter though. Not a wasted moment.

I'm willing to offer a friendly wager (no $$, just bragging rights) that DAMN. gets a 10.0 on pitchfork.

Or that he gets above a 9.5. Anyone wanna take that action?

Or we could just throw out the scores we think it's going to get. Nobody's going to want to though, cuz nobody cares.

So there's a mash-up mixtape out there called Chance the Dropout on which Chance the Rapper verses are played over classic Kanye samples, beats and instrumentals.

Download Chance the Dropout on XXL

Man this place is deaaaad.

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23147-damn/

Aww DAMN.

I thought they were going to give it a 9.5-10.0 as well.

I get those goosebumps every time...

Bad call, in my opinion. 9.2 doesn't mean anything. And while I myself might not think the album is actually perfect, I think Pitchfok has deliberately avoided giving out 10.0 ratings since 2010. If you're not going to use your system, don't have your system, or change your system. There's no way this is a less consistent album than TPAB. I love TPAB, but it's a bit cluttered. DAMN. just slays or enchants from beginning to end. I don't even mind the Bono factor.

I did like this bit though...


Hah!

My favorite songs are all over the place, but I think "DUCKWORTH." is the real standout, epic moment. "DNA." is as good or better, but I expect people will remember "DUCKWORTH."

I can't wait to see Kendrick play these dogs live. Holy shit.

Did you hear there was buzz about a second Kendrick album coming out on Easter? Reportedly (by Reddit users and conspiracy theorists) titled NATION. Get it? Damn... Nation? Eh?

Kind of glad that didn't happen. Overload is a dangerous thing. I barely even remember those two Future albums from earlier this year. Nobody else seems to.

Yeah, DAMN. is enough. More would be oversaturation.

DAMN. lands at No. 1 on the Billboard album charts with the highest sales of the year. 600,000-plus albums sold.

The nearby stores (Target and the like) still don't have a hard copy. I think DAMN. pretty much has to be one of the few albums that I purchase both digitally and in hard copy. Previous entries include the new Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth's Spin Sessions, Aphex Twin's SYRO, and before that, Yeezus. Probably forgetting a few bug that's life.

I ordered it on CD from Amazon a few days ago, along with Danny Brown's XXX (I still like this album more than Atrocity Exhibition, apparently an unpopular opinion?).

By the way, have y'all heard the new songs Frank Ocean put up on iTunes? "Biking" with Jay-Z and Tyler is absolutely mesmerizing, the other songs are good stuff too.

Wow, you didn't have XXX? I feel like I don't know you anymore!

Come to think of it, I've never thought of myself as a big Danny Brown fan (love him, but don't often think about him or listen to his stuff), but I have Hot Soup, XXX, Old, and Atrocity Exhubition as well as Black & Brown, his collaborative album with Black Milk.

I think Hot Soup and Old are my favorites. Atrocity Exhibition is really goddamn good, but not as good as Old.

Man, 2013 was a good year for music.

Kendrick just announced tour dates. I guess there's a chance I could catch him in Chicago, but he's not coming as close to me as I would like, and that irks me.

I saw him in, um... 2013 I think? But I almost can't count that because I wasn't really into him at the time. Hadn't quite caught the bug yet. Seeing him perform (kid is a fucking athlete, for real) helped cement me as a Kendrick fan, but I wasn't familiar enough with his shit to really experience the show in the way that I like to. Was hoping to catch him this time around, but I probably won't.

It was released as a free tape at the time! I still recall downloading it from DatPiff.

Hot Soup and Old are really good as well! And then there's also "The Hybrid". His discography is super solid. Dude is truly overlooked, unfortunately too weird and polarizing to enjoy the same level of success as the likes of Kendrick, J. Cole and Drake.

I've been digging a lot of the tracks on Rich Homie Quan's new one.

Do you like DAMN.?

Holy shit... "HUMBLE." is a #1 single.

:eek:

That's pretty cool. The club of artists to simultaneously top both the Billboard albums and singles charts has to be a pretty small one.


Hey Drake...

:fuckyou: :cool: :fuckyou:

It's Spinhead Sessions you fucking loser.

Yeah that's amazing. "DNA." also debuted at #4. And when Kendrick puts out "LOYALTY." as a single, he might as well have another #1. Possibly building his way to sell over 1 million first week on his next album.

Well, amidst all the hubbub, there's been a surprising amount of backlash from the "Kendrick's overrated" crowd. At least in my experience. A lot of my hip-hoppy friends are taking issue with the praise being heaped upon him. It's kinda weird.

That's always to be expected no matter how good the person/band is. If something gets too big that they liked early on then there's the reaction against them. Eminem got it, still does tbh.

I've seen it with Kendrick too. I've no time for people who suddenly rile against something just because they've become a massive success.

Well, it's not even that so much. Or rather, that's not exactly what I've been seeing. Instead, I've seen a lot of folks come out of the woodwork and say things like, "I really don't get why everyone thinks this guy is so good. [Insert name of unsigned regional, underground rapper here] can rap circles around this guy! I'd better see this much hype when the new [insert name of rapper nobody knows from Detroit or whatever] comes out."

I'm sure what you're saying is true about former fans turning their backs on Kendrick because they don't want to be the kind of person who listens to #1 records (only unsuccessful music is good!), but what I'm noticing is that there are, like, a SHIT TON of people who haven't paid much attention to Kendrick until now, and think that this level of success happened overnight.

That's startling to me because To Pimp a Butterfly was hyped ceaselessly for all of 2015, and good kid, m.A.A.d city got the same treatment in 2012. But it really seems as though this album is Kendrick's real "breakthrough" record. Suddenly people are bitching about how he's not that great, as though he's new or something.

He's just in a new bracket now I guess. This could actually be a not-great thing for his career. Some fans of his earlier work are certain to be turned off by the sound of this album, and fans of the album will not necessarily appreciate Section.80 or Overly Dedicated. Puts him in a bit of a precarious place.

But that's industry politics, and it's all bullshit ultimately. Just something I've noticed. His long-term fans seem to be pretty down with the new shit.

Yes. Good hard hitting track.