Five years ago, Kendrick Lamar unleashed DAMN., which would win him a Pulitzer Prize and cement the MC as a generational talent. With plenty of turmoil going on in America at the time, Lamar grappled with weighty topics like racism, gun violence, and religious ideation in daring and complex ways.
Now, we have Lamar's fifth and final record for Top Dawg Entertainment, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Clocking in at more than an hour, the album marks a rare opportunity to see the Omega from Compton deliver another soul-stirring and conversation-starting opus to dissect and delve into for years to come.
As is the case with most things dealing with the man formerly known as K. Dot, details of any kind were kept hidden like Keyser Sozé in The Usual Suspect — with updates only arriving tantalizingly close to its release on May 13.
This moment is bittersweet for multiple reasons: Mr. Morale arrived only four months after Lamar performed at Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood alongside Mt. Westmore legends such as Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. But it also marks the end of an era with the Carson, California-founded label that he helped turn from an indie hip hop superpower to a dominant and culture-shifting force.
As the rollout began, it involved another installment of Lamar's popular “The Heart” series, and the album's cover reveal showed him as the father of a newborn son. It all signifies one of the most influential rappers of his generation coming into his own as an artist, entrepreneur and keen observer of this thing we call life.
With so much to unpack still regarding Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers, here are five takeaways that stood out after a few listens.
Beach Noise Now Has The Music World's Attention
Longtime listeners and day-ones can take a look at the liner notes on Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers and note a few familiar names: Boi-1da, Sounwave, DJ Dahi, and Tae Beast have laid their aural fingerprints on some of Kendrick's most cherished songs.
But the three-man team of Beach Noise — Matt Schaeffer, Johnny, and Jake Kosich — showcases the new audio adventure that Lamar and pgLang are embarking on.
As breakout producers on Baby Keem's The Melodic Blue, the trio also produced “The Heart Part 5.” The track — which does not appear on Mr. Morale — builds on a sleek, modernized reconstruction of Marvin Gaye's “I Want You” master recording and became red meat for rap fans who were reminded that only the good kid from the m.A.A.d city could create fervor like this.
Beach Noise's work serves as the centerpiece on tracks such as “United in Grief,” “Silent Hill,” and “Auntie Diaries,” which have become some of the most talked-about entries on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.
This Old-School Gemini Doesn't Play Around
Songs like “Control,” “King Kunta” and “Deep Water” have always hinted at how Kendrick Lamar could turn up the temperature, not just subliminally emit lyrical smoke.
Here, “Father Time” might make your ears perk up. Holding the middle spot on the first half of the album, Kendrick delved into his “old school Gemini” bag to address one of hip-hop's most engaging brouhahas between Kanye West and Drake.
“When Kanye got back with Drake, I was slightly confused/ Guess I'm not as mature as I think, got some healin' to do/ Egotistic,” he raps on the song that revolves around “grown men with daddy issues.”
The two rap titans have been at odds for years, only reconciling last December in the name of Gangster Disciple Larry Hoover. And while there's been no definitive update on whether Ye and Aubrey remain cool, Kenny sounds more surprised than incensed that the two high-level competitors were able to bury the beef, making hardcore rap fans happy to be engaged in all of the theatrics.
Mr. Morale Contains Family Ties — In More Ways Than One
The story behind Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is still being unpacked, but what is apparent from the album's cover art — it is a family affair in various unexpected ways.
From the surprising reveal of Lamar becoming a father of two; to his reported wife-to-be, Whitney Alford, credited as a narrator on “We Cry Together”; to his cousin, Baby Keem, appearing on “Savior”; it's clear that Lamar wanted Mr. Morale to be a close-knit affair.
Elsewhere on the album, Eckhart Tolle — the German spiritual teacher and author behind The Power of Now and A New Earth — serves as a narrator on multiple songs: “Count Me Out,” “Savior (Interlude)” and “Mr. Morale.”
Therein, Tolle's messages about transcendental meditation and enhancing one's essential identity help make Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers a spiritually rewarding work.
Big Steppers Arrive From Many Directions
Earlier reports about Kendrick Lamar's fifth album found many believing he would take a hard-rock edge, given how To Pimp a Butterfly merged the most powerful components of jazz and hip-hop.
But with the rapper's penchant for the unexpected, no one would have predicted a billing quite like the artist on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Portishead's Beth Gibbons (“Mother I Sober”) and the controversial rapper Kodak Black (“Silent Hill”) on the same LP — who would have seen that coming?
For good measure, add in rising singer/rapper/songwriter Blxst, a surprisingly effortless verse from Zola actress Taylour Paige, R&B's resident mixxy mystic Summer Walker, and a touch of veteran appeal from Ghostface Killa.
Together, they set the stage for Lamar and his pgLang stable of artists (the aforesaid Baby Keem and Tanna Leone) to fulfill grand aspirations.
Mr. Morale Rewards Repeated Listens
As with any Kendrick Lamar offering, Mr. Morale is a heady experience full of layers, lyrics, and processes that take listeners on a roller-coaster ride.
Throughout, major questions abound: Who is Mr. Morale? Why is it important to be a Worldwide Stepper? How will Kendrick's lyrics on “Auntie Diaries” impact the conversation about trans issues in America? Is he coming for Kyrie Irving on “Savior”?
On top of that, does “I am. All of us.” from “The Heart Part 5” play itself out throughout the album?
The rapper takes us on a wild ride that will require multiple playthroughs to break down — which, like the MC himself, is complicated, nuanced and always worth communing with.