You know
what I love? Waking up on a Friday to a new release from the current god-MC
Kendrick Lamar. The man can do no wrong right now, and this EP/Demo tape/album/whatever
you want to call it DOES NOT put a stopper on his current fine run of form. I
have been consuming it in my headphones all morning and afternoon, so I already
have a pretty fully formed opinion on what he has given us with Untitled
Unmastered. This release has been rumoured since Kendrick started performing
these freestyles on various talk shows, as well as at the Grammy’s last month. Many
people wanted him to reproduce the songs in the studio and properly master
them. Well, he delivered on half of that. The title of the project seems like a
play on the fact that people were asking for these to be mastered and made into
a proper album. It is clear that Kendrick wanted to keep the release low key
and crucially, unmastered.
It is a testament
to his genius that this album still packs the same punch that made To Pimp a
Butterfly such a masterpiece, obviously without the sheen of proper mastering.
But I actually think that in this case it works in Kendrick’s favour. The
muddy, jazzy production perfectly suits the lyrics and delivery he’s throwing
out on most of these tracks. Many of them seem like stream of consciousness freestyles,
with the exception of a few that have a little more structure and form. Every
single track is great, I loved every moment. Untitled 1 sets the tone, with a
seductive monologue from an unknown speaker. Kendrick then comes crashing in
and does not hold back. He mercilessly rounds off the ills of the world around
him, and paints a picture of despair and a world gone wrong. Untitled 2 begins
with an intro that plays with the well known chant “Hip hip, hooray”, changing
it to “Pimp pimp, hooray”, a nice little reference to his most recent album. This
is the track that Kendrick performed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. It
is slightly more formed, with 2 bridges and a really amazing hook where
Kendrick shows once again that he is able to twist and distort his voice in
weird and super-soulful ways that can truly give you goosebumps. Lyrically here
he seems to be riffing on his fame and money, yet clearly he is in two minds
about it, sounding like he’s on a guilt-fuelled ego trip. The beat switch up is
great, and Kendrick brings us even deeper into his psyche. It is definitely one
of the best tracks on the project.
Untitled 3 is
the same song as ‘Untitled’ which Kendrick performed on The Colbert Report last
year. Another mind-blowingly good track.
The beat is light and catchy. Here Kendrick lists off a bunch of racial
stereotypes, with no clear indication as to whether he believes they have any
truth in them or not. I like how he doesn’t discriminate though, simply puts
forward observations about the cultural differences between people of different
colours and nationalities. Untitled 4 is mostly instrumental, with some vocals
from Kendrick and TDE member SZA. It’s a nice break from the relentless cut
throat freestyles that litter the album. Untitled 5 is undoubtedly one of my
favourites. The intro and hook by Anna Wise and Kendrick is heavenly, despite containing
some dark and cryptic imagery. Kendrick’s delivery on the first verse is so
rousing. It immediately lifts the energy of the instrumental and makes the
listener stand to attention. He talks about having lost touch with God thanks
to an obsession with material goods, and calls out the delusion that simply
having a bible “in the trunk” does not justify one’s irreligious actions. People
too often see God and religion as they would like to see it, instead of how it
really is, causing a disparity between their beliefs and their actions. A great
verse from rapper Punch echoes Kendrick’s sentiments and nicely rounds off the
track.
The beat
for Untitled 6 is groovy and more up tempo, it really reminds me of the vibe I
get when listening to Complexion or For Sale? from To Pimp a Butterfly.
Kendrick’s laid back flow is exactly what the beat requires. The lyrics allude
to his mother, and how she raised him to be who he was and not to conform. He
encourages people to look past what is seen as normal, especially for men, and
to seek other ways of finding love and happiness. The wordplay is witty and
creative, overall giving the song a really soulful quality.
Untitled 7
might actually be my favourite. This song is so damn out there, with a delivery
that sounds like it derives from a mixture of pain and euphoria. He explains
that love, drugs, fame, chains, juice, crew and hate “won’t get you high as
this”, indicating that he has tapped into a higher dimension or Hiipower. Perhaps
‘this’ is the song itself, or music in general, or his higher purpose. The shining
light here though is Kendrick’s super passionate delivery, which encompasses a
great range of his vocal ability. He finishes the song with a couple more great
verses, commanding his audience to get out of their feelings and into something
real, yet also acknowledges that he is far from perfect, trying to resist the
temptations all around him. A song of this calibre could easily have fit onto
TPAB, but its just as great to see it show up here. The album closes with
Untitled 8, a really funky track with lots more lyrical excellence. He seems to
be talking to a girl, or a series of girls, trying to pass on some of the
wisdom he’s picked up on his journey. Again there are themes of conformity,
money, poverty and struggle throughout the song. One of my favourite things about
Kendrick is that he has the ability to combine heavy and dark lyrical themes
with an an underlying sense of hope. On this track, the beat and flow are
really uplifting, yet the lyrics still tackle some really personal issues that
can make the listener think.
If To Pimp
a Butterfly secured Kendrick’s position at the top of the hip hop ladder, then
this project just reaffirms it. It is a year since that album dropped and began
to make ripples not only in rap, but all of music. The kid from Compton may
still not have reached his peak, and that’s a scary thought for all the other
MC’s in the game today. This surprise album is not ground-breaking; it doesn’t
want to be. It is just Kendrick checking in and proving that he is still head
and shoulders above his competition right now. The verses on here leave me
desperate for another album, but for now I am content to just enjoy this.
Score:
85/100
