I’ve Just Finished Kendrick Lamar’s Newest Album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers”

Clearly, I have overlooked a genius

Fuckin A.

Fuckin…..A

No, FUCKIN.

A.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

First off, I’m a fan of hip hop. I am. But this is usually my go to music to zone out and get into a subspace state of mind. One where every other emotion is obliterated, in the face of a hard kicking beat and strong I dont give a fuck vibes.

Like, hip hop usually accompanies me during flights. Why? Because flying fucking terrifies me, despite all the traveling I’ve accomplished in my life. I need to have some strong sounds pummeling my eardrums in order to overcome the fear of plunging to my death. My favorite records are Illmatic (Nas), Fetti (Curren$y), Madvillainy (MF DOOM), Thank You For Nothing ($kinny), and Seize the Time (Fun Da Mental).

My guess is you may not be familiar with the last two, so I strongly suggest you check them out.

I am a music snob. However, regarding hip hop I’m more interested in the beat itself. I’m hypnotized by a strong beat, and have invested in expensive audio gear simply so I can hear EVERY single frequency range. As anyone would tell you, there’s a reason why 808s are all the rage right now in hip hop and especially sub genres like trap. They’re meditative and if you hone in on them, and they have an impact a little like ASMR almost. So as a result, I’ve largely frustrated my husband (the hip hop guru; seriously the guy knows everything) who keeps stressing to me:

“Honey…listen to the lyrics”.

Do I usually listen? For about 5 seconds. Then I nod and go, “oh that’s nice.” It’s fine. He knows I have the attention span of a squirrel so he’s not too hard on me for it.

Speaking of my husband, he didn’t shut up for the last two weeks about the new Kendrick Lamar album. I always liked Lamar, but I listened to him sparingly. Like the singles basically. “Humble” is a sweet video. I guess.

Well, coinciding with our wedding anniversary was the release of Mr Morale and the Big Steppers. As a gift I decided to give it a listen while he was off to work. He wasn’t able to listen to it the day of…