Kendrick lamar untitled unmastered review how to#
Kendrick even makes time to show these up and coming rappers how to do trap music without compromising their lyrical content. Spitting, “This the first time I confess/ Me and Top is like a Kobe and Phil/ A father figure fuck with him, you get killed/ Fuck with me and he will kill you himself/ TDE the mafia of the west,” you’re made aware of the type of camaraderie at Hip Hop’s most exciting label since Aftermath. Immediately following on ‘Untitled 02’ you’re privy to a TDE roll call. Undermining government institutions and criticising the worldly beliefs of modern day America on the album opener, over what could so easily have been a early nineties Wu-Tang Clan beat, you’re thrown into what sounds like a To Pimp A Butterfly offcut. One thing you can never say about Kendrick Lamar is he lacks variation. An electric slide theme song with a topic so far from the party, it’s typical Kendrick: a message you can dance to. Originally performed earlier this year on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, ‘Untitled 08’ plays like a musical paradox. If you don’t wear out the rewind button on this particular record then you don’t deserve to have ears. Featuring neo soul visionary Bilal, Terrace Martin, and Anna Wise, instrumentally it feels like a rain dance while lyrically Kendrick is offered life advice from representatives of various races. This is music for the soul.įinally gifting fans with the record he performed on The Colbert Report in December 2014, the CDQ version of Kendrick’s ‘Untitled 03’ was well worth the wait - even if a little short. It’s not all about how many bottles you pop, or how many cars you cop. But that’s precisely why Kendrick is winning, he’s willing to make the music he loves and people relate. Hell, it’s not something you’d see Jay Z do. Hearing Kendrick harmoniously go toe to toe with Cee-Lo Green and then firing off an uninterrupted 45 second rap verse to a woman he’s urging to see him for who he really is, imperfections and all, over a double time drum tap and xylophone, is not something you’d see Future do. He’s having fun making music and being a messenger for the streets, and when this happens experimentation comes easy, especially to someone as talented as Kendrick. Now while the backdrops are a thing of beauty put together by names such as Adrian Younge, Hit-Boy, Frank Dukes, Astronote, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and DJ Khalil, as well as input from Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys’ 5-year-old son Egypt (crazy right?), lyrically, and melodically, is where Kendrick excels on this go around.Īdopting an almost Andre 3000 tone throughout - coupled with a deepened vocal delivery that has gradually appeared since good kid m.A.A.d. The difference here, amongst the jazz, the Hip Hop, and the funk, is a mesmerising atmosphere, caked in soul, created by live instrumentation.
Kendrick lamar untitled unmastered review free#
As raw and uncut as the title suggests, this album is free from song titles (just the track number and date they were recorded is displayed), credits, and even a substantial piece of cover art - if you were wondering why yesterday morning your timeline looked like a dirty green woodland, you’ve now got your answer.įree from the restraints of label pressures, creative interference and conforming to a trend, this eight track masterpiece fuses together Hip Hop and jazz in a similar way the likes of De La Soul, Digable Planets and A Tribe Called Quest did when they helped usher in the native tongues movement in the late 80s/early 90s. Dot conversation, Untitled Unmastered drops out of nowhere and sends the Hip Hop community into a frenzy. Adding yet another reason to kick off the K.