MR MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS -

MR MORALE & THE BIG STEPPERS - An Album Review + Analyzation

This is my first time writing an album review. In the hours that led up to this review-alyzation I thought about what I wanted to accomplish. For me, writing about this review is to tell it's story; to traverse its soul and the artist's own unique journey. *different colors have been used for different parts of the review, so I apologize to any colorblind people reading this

About OKlama (Kendrick)

Kendrick has been one of the most influential and exciting artists of this generation. To call him one of the best artists in the world, panning the history of Black music would not be an understatement. Kendrick has been one of the most influential and exciting artists of this generation.

Kendrick’s work talks about his unique experiences with black culture, in a captivating form of music, rap, where he constantly tells symbolic stories relating to the varying life experiences of African Americans. The trademark of a generational artist, he has freed himself from the shackles of the genre he is known for, consistently blending his songs with R&B, soul, jazz, pop, rock and metal. The overlying message here, is that Kendrick is good. He is one of the best. One of the most accredited and diverse rappers out there.

My Introduction to Kendrick

I instantly clicked to his music, ever since I first encountered him years ago on “humble”. The music always sounded fresh, unique, flowy. Only recently did I go beyond the sound, diving deep into the meanings of the lyrics I have bopped my head to for hours. If you couldn't already tell, yes, I am a fan.

To see such a diverse artist in his prime, with each song possessing components of lyrical genius, it is no surprise that I chose to review his latest album, Mr. Morale and the big steppers.

Let’s jump straight into it.

The review:

Kendricks Lamars 5th album is a dual album. The dual album, for those who don’t know are 2 album CDs released for one album, a part one and part 2 respectively. The dual album has been extremely symbolic in music history, a trademark release for an artist seemingly “too big to fail”. It’s also an album that represents the beginning of an end. Or the start of a new journey as an artist.

The Beatle's “The white album”, Pink Floyd’s “The wall”, Red hot chili peppers “Stadium Arcadium" are all examples of dual albums with 2 commonalities. They marked the end of a journey for all these artists and secondly, were remembered for their excess saturation with “bangers' spread through the album. Kendricks’s work, however, is not like a “normal” dual album. The record spans only 73 minutes, an amount that would normally fit in one CD. It is a dual, simply because the albums track list represents a before and after for him:

The First part of the album revolves around Kendrick “stepping bigly” around the major issues in his life, while the second part is about him finding his “morale”, his strength and facing his issues, his demons, head on. The art itself is laden with tap dancing in the background of most songs, a symbolic reference that represents the author’s anxiousness and paranoia that he faces during the confines of the pandemic. The album trudges on with the struggles of the black experience, this time peering through the keyhole into the traumas of Lamar and his wider family

Exploring my favorite songs:

N95 The first song, called N95, is a rant about how a new normality has been imposed from above. Referring to the effects of the pandemic, the song reads

“the world in a panic, the women is stranded, the men on a run

The prophets abandoned, the law take advantage, the market is crashin, the industry wants”

The song seems to be an outlet for Kendrick who offers no solution but talks about how the world around us seems to head down a dark spiral.

Though the song seems directed at the world’s misery, it speaks about Kendrick masking himself up(N95), a metaphor that symbolizes how he hides himself from his demons.

The subsequent songs continue to parse through issues that have troubled his mind for 5 years, implementing jazz, funk, soul and rhythmic creations; he adds that extra zing to his introspective, uncomfortable and somewhat forced rambles.

Father Time He further breaks down the Black experience, constantly throwing insights into cultural experiences of Black males in the song Father time.

As his “girl” tells him he really needs therapy at the start of the song, Kendrick responds with “real n*gga need no therapy”, addressing his insecurities associated with being a tough, hardy man. The Black experience equates tough men don’t go to therapy.

He goes on to attribute his insecurities to the fact that he has daddy issues. He is accustomed to not showing emotions after growing up under the care of a rough, cold and emotionally unavailable man. It should be known that this is an address to the larger Black community who grow up under the care of absent or uninvested fathers, and grow up to be trapped in the cycle of turning to seemingly emotionless beings( since Kendrick himself has often spoken about his fantastic relationship with his dad, Kenny Duckworth).

Count me out steps in as the turning point of the album. As expected, it is the beginning of the second disc.

Kendrick confronts his emotions, almost explaining to himself “but a mask won’t hide who you are inside” and in a confronting verse he sings:

“I care too much, wanna share too much, In my head too much, I shut down too, I ain't there too much, I'm a complex soul”

After absolute head banging masterpieces like silent hill and Saviour, Kendrick raps on an extremely controversial, yet relevant topic- His personal Experience with the transgender in the song Auntie diaries:

The song highlights the importance of acceptance, empathy and understanding. His personal acceptance of his auntie’s gender change, shows how a childlike innocence could accept a transgender individual without discrimination and at the same time it shows how adults in his family refused to accept his “auntie” and discriminated against, hated and hurt with a passion, not accepting a transgender individual in the family. The song deals with how another cousin of Kendrick found the courage to come out with his true self, with the phrase “And following my auntie with the same behaviour, Demetrius is Mary Anne now; he’s more confident to live his plan now”. The song teaches me how Courage trickles down, from one generation to the next.

He speaks of how people talk without an understanding the pain words can cause in the song, and how discriminatory cusses hurt beyond the users intentions. ”

“F*ggot f*ggot f*ggot we can say it together, but only if you let a white girl say n*gga"

The album soon reaches its emotional centerpiece, Mother I Sober.

Here, the song talks about Kendrick’s generational struggles with family trauma.

He points out his mother ‘s fight with sexual abuse, coining sexual abuse as the “generational curse” for childhood trauma in the Black community. He opens up about how cheating on his then fiancé made him feel guilt and angst, as he tormented himself, comparing himself to his mother ‘s abuser.

The album is a beautiful tale of emotional awareness, dealing with a complex understanding of self reality for Kendrick, yet a song that can be generalized to the larger public, with implicit messages every step of the way. It deals with Kendrick's unique way of processing grief; first denial and then confrontation.

The album is sometimes, choppy, broken and uncertain, reflecting Kendrick’s uncertainty with his own thoughts.

Kendrick gives me butterflies.

“Karma must return”- Kendrick Lamar *different colors have been used for different parts of the review, so I apologize to any colorblind people reading this