It appears to be the up and coming trend with artists who consider themselves “statement makers” to drop an album almost entirely last minute and Kendrick Lamar has well and truly jumped on the bandwagon this month, announcing DAMN for April 7^th only for it to be moved back a week to Good Friday. The unexplained date change fuelled a plethora of rumours about the coming of a second album on the following Sunday (16^th April), possibly representing the resurrection of Kendrick musically and perhaps morally.

Alas, Sunday came and no second album was dropped. But this hasn’t taken away from the controversy that DAMN has created regarding Kendrick’s literal and metaphorical message within the release. This is Kendrick’s first full album release since 2015’s To Pimp A Butterfly and it appears to be as inconsistent as its release announcement. good kid, m.A.A.d City and To Pimp a Butterfly are, undeniably, some of the strongest hip hop albums to exist in music let alone Kendrick’s back catalogue. In good kid, he explores the death of a friend and its role in the larger picture of his life, in To Pimp a Butterfly he elevates his revelations one step above, exploring the constantly-emerging revolutionary consciousness of black culture. Both albums had a clear theme that Kendrick drove home poetically and with gracefully intricate beats that complimented the complexity of his message.

With this in mind, the expectation and rumours surrounding DAMN suggested it would be of a similar form instead exploring themes of Kendrick’s longstanding faith, perhaps taking his commentary on black culture one step higher to a more spiritual platform.

Kendrick, however, has demonstrated an entirely different sound and conceptuality with this release that has been delivered in an intriguing but not unpleasant surprise. As an entire piece, DAMN is fractured and inconsistent, with dips in its strength at moments. Kendrick has reinvented himself almost entirely in an impressively short space of time, with the album delivering a whole range of genre-inspired beats, from trap to R’n’B. The theme is not as straightforward as is expected from Kendrick either, with lyrics ranging from boastful taunts to love songs to in-depth analysis of the spirituality of black culture. All of this lends itself to an album that is scattered and hard to compartmentalise, but considering Kendrick’s reputation, this all could be intentional.

DAMN is certainly one of Kendrick’s most raw and intense albums emotionally, and it seems as though he has swapped his poetic lyricism for a simplification that heightens his aggression and tone. The album embodies a fluid change of pace that peaks with a clip from Fox News commentator Geraldo Rivera that claims “hip hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years". It is clear that Kendrick has taken this slander personally, and the hostility of his bars throughout the entire album demonstrate that he has taken this sort of criticism as a challenge.

On the contrary to his antagonism on the album as a whole, Kendrick seems equally vulnerable and unsure of himself. At moments, his lyrics seem to address the issue of his shaken faith and moral compass. Each title of the tracks attempts to take on huge issues but are left unresolved and conflicted. Perhaps this lack of certainty throughout the entire scope of DAMN is a message from Kendrick in its own right: the concept is less about answers and more about the struggle to understand.

One of the most stand-out tracks on the album, although not the lead single, ‘DNA’, stands at the forefront of Kendrick’s ambiguous theme. ‘DNA’ alone is instrumentally exciting and manufactured to be an aggressive hip-hop banger, however its lyricism suggests it explored a subject that is a lot heavier. Kendrick performs impressively on this track, and delves into a narration on his struggle surrounding anything to do with his genetic code, be it good or bad.

On the contrary to this, tracks such as ‘ELEMENT’ describe Kendrick’s arrogance and unapologetic assumption that he dominates the rap and hip-hop industry. This is a stone that is relatively left unturned within Kendricks back catalogue, with his previous releases seeming to be a lot more noble in their approach. ‘ELEMENT’ is most definitely a track that largely gives evidence for Kendrick’s undescribed heightened violence in his bars on this album as a whole. Both tracks are identifiers for a basically bipolar album that has moral inconsistencies throughout.

Kendrick’s track ‘LOVE’, shows its titular romantic themes as soon as the song begins with simple scales playing under a young sounding pop-styled vocal, akin to something an artist like Drake or The Weeknd might pen. As soon as Kendrick begins his own vocal, cleverly weaving in and out of the singing provided by Zacari, making the feature seem cut and chopped and sample-like, the track loses some of its lustre. Kendrick trades in his usual flow for something reminiscent of a less talented MC providing hype noise to a track. To an artist who usually cannot help but flagrantly show his talent, it seems that holding back to fit a certain style means cutting himself short. The track only feels like a weak moment as it makes you yearn for a verse of really well cut and performed bars from Kendrick, something to play against the light feel of the hook.

‘HUMBLE’, the lead track, is an equally confusing hit that seems to blur the lines between being ‘HUMBLE’ and being outright cocky. It is likely that Kendrick’s intentions on this track are to tell other rappers to be humble because writing an entire song about how he views himself as humble seems a bit too ironic. The track is admittedly a chart-topper, the only disappointment being that when it was released there was at least a majority expectation that it would make sense in the greater context of the album, as has been the case with previous releases such as ‘Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe’. However, not much can be taken from listening to this track placed within the others.

While anticipation for a Kendrick release has been in the air since his last seminal album, he left fans reeling with the surprise release of DAMN. The album has many outstanding, strong tracks but the fulfilment usually associated with his releases is lacking as the overall piece feels fractured and, at times, even stagnant. What is expected following good kid and To Pimp A Butterfly is a complete piece of art, a conceptual story from beginning to end. What Kendrick has released with DAMN is a series of tracks that are connected by an inspired conceptual theme, but one that is not explored to its almost boundless potential. It could be that in his rush to meet the already delayed release date, Kendrick has provided fans with the next installment in his thought process, but an installment not fully formed.

Websaite: kendricklamar.com
Facebook: facebook.com/kendricklamar
Twitter: twitter.com/kendricklamar