Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers - Album Review 

I don't wanna be rude, but considering how his fans salivate over everything he makes I don't think that they're gonna listen to anything that sounds like Kendrick that isn't Kendrick

@@man4437 I dont wanna be rude but stop generalizing people based on some twitter comments you see. Those people are not representative of actual Kendrick fans who love shit like Ka and Mach and Simz.

The step can also be seen as people tap dancing for fame and money instead of looking inside themselves and realise there’s more to life

Sorry you feel that way

It's so interesting seeing how differently we interpret music lol.

He talked about N95 a fair bit, but i will agree with you on United in Grief since that is such a great opening track

This whole "people are afraid to critique kendrick" thing is such a dumb lie. He isnt running from anything, hes establishing boundaries. He took accountability of the fact that he holds partial responsibility for the savior complex but he doesnt owe it to anyone to explain why he had it when he's already released himself from that.

*Let's do this shit!!!

Woah is this noneleft in Spectrum Pulse's comment section

@@thinkingspace6220 someone knows who I am o_o

Ridiculous take. If someone doesnt like something they dont like it and you shouldnt let some fans bother you

He's talked about it a few times, I think. The most recent time I remember was during an episode of Billboard BREAKDOWN during the week that "You Should Probably Leave" by Chris Stapleton debuted. He stated that it reminded him of his last relationship, but never said his partner's gender outright.

not overhyped at all. it got mixed reception

It's actually his best album, when you really absorb it every song is solid and has its place. Literally the only song I skip is we cry together, not because i think it's bad, but to me, it's the only part that feels like a "skit," so it's sort of boring. Every other song is Kendrick's sound refined and layered to a tee.

"If an artist makes an album that goes against what is unanimously accepted then their art gets ripped to shreds-" Stop. If you think this review is me ripping the work to shreds, despite the number of times I've stated it's a good album, you're not paying attention. Also, I've criticized plenty that is "unanimously accepted" and praised plenty that's not - any of my underground rap reviews prove that, especially of anyone out of the Doomtree or Armand Hammer clique that go hard left against mainstream acceptance. And at no point did I attack Kendrick's character? Did I question his methods and motives, absolutely, and this sort of project made it clear he was setting himself up to be challenged, and as I said, I like to keep the same energy. If anything, my frustration with Kendrick with this album is rooted in what he's provided in the past, which is fair game for context in a review like this, especially when I know he can do better with a solid five years of time to work on it. If you have examples of me saying otherwise, cite it. I'm happy to have that conversation :)

...in what world is TPAB straightforward? Distilling it down to a simple message of 'racism = bad' kind of misses the entire moral weight to Kendrick's journey across the album, layers of temptation and guilt and rage that have no clear outlet? That's a snarled nest of moral contradictions only reinforced by songs like 'How Much A Dollar Cost' (my second favourite song on the album), neither of which cleanly aligns with vulnerability nor oppression. Now is there an entire subset of white critics who placed Kendrick on a pedestal because of his socially conscious activism? Yep, absolutely - and those are not the critics that praising 'The Blacker The Berry', which is considerably more militant and uncomfortable not just for black audiences. They tend to default to 'Alright', which is a good song but never caught the same weight for me. Now for 'Auntie Diaries' - I get exactly what Kendrick is doing with that song and it's not simply the usage of slurs that irks me - it'll age the song poorly with time but I get his intention, which is pretty far from the 'status quo woke utopia' to support trans folks in his community and turn away from his church to do so (a pretty fucking radical thing for Kendrick coming off of DAMN., a religious element I discussed at length when I reviewed it). Where I find it discomforting is that there'll be a whole slew of straight guys shouting along every bar at live shows because they didn't grasp that greater message, and Kendrick absolutely has - look at how he ended the song with the reference to the white girl he brought on stage to sing 'mAAd city'. My point has always been that he's aware of what he's doing, but there's a systemic collective consequence and I think it's a dicey move. And to drill into your point, there's a difference between 'The Blacker The Berry', where his incisive words impact his own community, and 'Auntie Diaries' where it does not. It's the reason why he doesn't play 'The Blacker The Berry' live the few times I've seen him. And that does not impact any artistic liberty he has to highlight any of this at length, even if it's discomforting to those who don't have the same views as I do ;)

@@SpectrumPulse obviously Alright doesn’t hold the same weight for you, since you’re white. While people aren’t going to be able to understand the racial politics of what Kendrick has talked about, the way his own people do. Like…of course.

@@AGEE_95 by that logic "The Blacker The Berry" should have the least weight or be the most alienating to a white audience... and yet it's my favourite Kendrick song. Seems like your point is missing a few complicating steps here.

Imo 1. To Pimp a Butterfly (10/10) 2. Good Kid mAAd City (10/10) 3. Section.80 (9.5/10) 4. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers (9/10) 5. Untitled Unmastered (9/10. This is more than just TPAB b sides. It’s its own thing and it’s really well put together.) 6. DAMN (8.5/10) 7. Overly Dedicated (8/10)

@@jesuspernia8031 I agree so much with Untitled Unmastered. It's fantastic!

He doesn’t rate albums anymore

Prolly a low 7 tho, but watch the vid if u wanna see his opinion, it’s honestly really insightful

He's not giving ratings to reviews anymore. And there's no need for that anymore honestly.

@@ruke2566 How am I supposed to know what he thinks about an album without a rating? I watched the whole video and I have no idea what his opinion is without a number attached to it

@@wherewego6960 I think Mark did a good job removing the ratings this year because folks are just there for the ratings and move on. And while this review might need more time than usual (it's his longest review in the history of the channel), seat back and listen again or read the entire text transcript on his personal website, because that's how you get a person's opinion on things. It's just common sense.

does the fact that he stumbles make the song one of the worst songs of the year? I most certainly get ur frustrations with the song, but let’s take a moment to think here. The fact that a mainstream rapper made a song with a message about supporting trans people is incredibly positive. It is important to note Kendrick’s target audience with this song, his listeners who aren’t comfortable with trans people. While I’m not saying he’s absent of criticism from the song (I do think he could have handled it better for sure), the song in many ways isn’t really about “yay let’s go trans people”, it’s trying to make people who don’t already think that think about their beliefs and question themselves. Is it better for a rapper to make a vaguely sexist song with a negative message but not stumble on their words or for somebody to make a song albeit imperfect but with an overall good purpose? Is it somehow worse that he spoke on the issue and made an effort than being silent? If u think it is one of the worst songs of the year due to ur social beliefs than u better be writing of 90% of the bullshit on that future album, or really almost any mainstream trap artist for the content in their songs. In addition, if anything I think the context is lost more on LGBTQIA+ people. They will hear him misgendering and deadnaming (which I think generally serves the purpose of the story of the song and his arc in it. Tho he didn’t need to deadname Caitlyn Jenner) and using the f slur and get upset rather than look at the context of the song. And their frustrations aren’t invalid, but I’m saying that the people who aren’t super concerned with the trans community, the people who need to hear the song, aren’t going to be thrown off by that stuff, if anything the message of the song will be much more clear to them. They will here “love everybody, don’t say the f-slur, support trans people” and won’t be caught up in the missteps that Kendrick makes. Not that the missteps aren’t missteps, but I think overall the fact that the song exists is a positive thing, and much more positive than many other songs out there. So just because he makes mistakes but chooses to speak out doesn’t make it one of the worse songs of the year. People need to be having these conversations, things like this need to be said, nobody is perfect and Kendrick could have done better, but it’s not one of the worst songs of the year because it’s philosophically in the right place. Take what I said with a grain of salt, I’m cis het. I do have many LGBTQ friends (I hate to be that person but it is relevant given what I’m going to say) who have differing opinions on the song so I do get it. And in some ways it isn’t my place to have a secure opinion. But I do feel strongly that it is better for the song to exist and be a little controversial than some inoffensive song that plays into misogyny or generally bad systems and structures of society.

@@ldhdjzjjaklzjdbd6610 deadnaming is transphobic. misgendering is transphobic. good intentions are fine and all, but if this song is intended to reach people who would behave like this anyway and is trying to teach them to be more respectful then i think it fails. if anything, it feels like it's validating this behaviour. as a trans non-binary person who lives with exclusively other trans people, we are pretty much all of the opinion that this song misses the mark, even though his heart is in the right place.

@@lizasophia6669 I mean that’s fair, and I can’t be mad at u as somebody who is actually part of the community the song is about for being upset with the way it was handled. However, my point about it not being one of the worst songs of the year still stands, I still stand by the fact that if the reason the main commenter thinks it is one of the worst songs of the year is because of it’s problematic nature, then there are plenty of songs that came out this year that aren’t merely problematic, but also promote bad messages (this song is problematic while promoting an overall good message). So I think it’s a little silly to say it’s one of the worst songs of the year.

Let ppl like what they like

@@jamesmiley6146 Yeah I don't wanna be toxic like that but *to be fair* people hold him up like a God for no fair reason

Does it make you delusional to like something.

@@man4437 Well he is better than Drake, that I know for sure. He also specified in the album that he is not our Savior. A Drake Stan talking about somebody being overhyped.

Just say you dont like the album I dont know what this insistence is with believing other people are wrong for enjoying something you dont

The tutorial was a parody video. It was a joke video lmao

@@twintimeproductions8700 This, surprised that people legitimately watched that video a bit too seriously.

You're pretty dense dude that was a parody video you took seriously lol

@@twintimeproductions8700 TwinTimeProductions Nope he was serious listeners didn't really understand the songs and they had to go through repeat listens to understand what these songs were about alot of people don't get whatever this double album is about.

@@BKLYN_TZU it was a parody off of something on Twitter where someone asked Anthony his thoughts on a reddit where Kendrick Lamar fans were giving other Kendrick Lamar fans instructions