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Kendrick Lamaralbums are dense enough to merit dissertations.
Thats once again the case onthe rappers latest,Mr.
Morale & the Big Steppers.
Suffice to say, Lamar is one of the defining rappers of his generation and onMr.
Heres our big guide toMr.
Morale & the Big Steppersto help.
How long has this been in the works?
Well, it depends whom you ask.
Thundercat, who co-wrote two tracks on the project,mentionedworking on new music with Lamar in 2020.
And 2020 was, of course, the yearLamar launched his at-service company, pgLang, which co-releasedMr.
As for what Lamar himself says?
Ive been going through something, he declares at the outset of opening track United in Grief.
One thousand eight hundred fifty-five days.
So is it a double album?
Details were few and far between before Lamar releasedMr.
Morale & the Big Stepperslogs 18 tracks, the most stuffed album of Lamars career.
Who are the returning players?
When Lamar finds someone he likes to work with, he keeps them close.
This album pulls together collaborators from across Lamars career, including:
Sounwave:Produced 13 ofMr.
Producer for Lamar since his mixtapes.
J.LBS:Produced nineMr.
Previously produced Cartoon & Cereal and Baby Keems Vent, featuring Lamar.
DJ Dahi:Produced fiveMr.
Moralesongs, also contributed vocals on one.
Previously produced Money Trees and five tracks offDAMN.
Bekon:Produced fiveMr.
Moraletracks, also contributed vocals on two.
Previously produced eight songs and contributed vocals to four songs onDAMN.
Matt Schaeffer:Produced fiveMr.
Moralesongs, as part of Beach Noise.
Previously engineered Humble, mixed Element, and played guitar on DNA and Feel.
Boi-1da:Produced N95 and Silent Hill.
Previously produced The Blacker the Berry.
Thundercat:Co-wrote and played bass on Die Hard and Mother I Sober.
Previously featured, produced, wrote, and played bass onTo Pimp a Butterfly,untitled.
Pharrell:Produced Mr. Morale.
Previously produced good kid andAlright.
The Alchemist:Produced We Cry Together.
Previously produced Fear and The Heart Pt.
DJ Khalil:Produced Purple Hearts.
Previously produced County Building Blues.
Blxst:Featured on Die Hard.
Previously produced Hitta J3s Do Yo Gudda (Remix), featuring Lamar.
Who did Lamar bring to the party this time?
Tanna Leone, featured on Mr. Morale, is signed to Lamars label, pgLang.
As for the surprises?
Meanwhile, the song-skit We Cry Together featuresZolaactor Taylour Paige in her first musical performance, arguing with Lamar.
(Expect to hear her voice clipped all over TikTok.)
Ever the provocateur, Lamar made controversial rapper Kodak Black a centerpiece ofMr.
He also, notably, had a 46-month federal-weapons sentencecommuted by President Donald Trumpin January 2021.
3on the Hot 100in March.
Kodak doesnt say much of substance onMr.
Introducing Worldwide Steppers, he teaches us that Lamars alias Oklama may actually be pronounced O-K-lama.
He also anticipates confusion over hisMr.
Moralefeatures, rapping, What you doing with Kendrick?
What you doing with a legend?
But Lamar seems to be saying more with Kodaks sheer presence.
Early in the album on N95, he asks, What the fuck is cancel culture, dog?
Lamar concludes Mother I Sober by declaring, I set free all you abusers, this is transformation.
Like it when they pro-Black, but Im more Kodak Black, he raps on Savior.
In the clip, Tolle discusses one of his signature ideas, the pain-body.
It needs to, periodically, feed on more unhappiness.
Wait, whos Eckhart Tolle?
A self-described spiritual teacher, Tolles work more closely resembles self-help.
After seeming to appear ina 2020 pgLang videowith his face blurred, Tolles influence looms overMr.
Morale.Kodak first name-drops him on Worldwide Steppers.
Reach out to Eckhart.
Tolle himself first appears on Auntie Diaries, delivering the line, This is how we conceptualize human beings.
Theres also that previously mentioned Tolle sample at the end of Mr. Morale.
Wait again, Lamars fiancee is on this?
And his kids, too.
Lamar dropped a bit of a bomb when he revealed theMr.
Moralealbum art, which shows him holding a child and Alford holding a second.
(He calls his son part two of his genetic multiverse.)
Say Thank you, Dad, she tells their daughter.
So could anything else here make people mad?
Aside from those three Kodak Black features?
Well, theres the song where Lamar says a gay slur ten times.
Its a bit more complicated than that, though.
But thats not to say its not a bit heavy-handed.
Lamar raps about a transgender uncle, along with a cousin who transitions.
He goes on to rap about continuing to use those slurs despite that uncle and cousin.
I was taught words was nothing more than a sound, Lamar raps.
Except that the lesson seemingly didnt sink in, with Lamar still actually using the word throughout the song.
Okay, but K.Dot can still rap, right?
If you somehow havent, youve got to listen to the album for yourself.
But heres a sampling of some of the best (and most Kendrick) bars onMr.
(Savior)
Wheres my faith?
Told you I was Christian, but just not today (Mother I Sober)
And whoisMr.
Oh, yeah, him!
And on Mr. Morale, Lamar raps, Better known as myself, Im a demigod.
Lamar very well could be both its his album, after all.
But as with most of K.Dots music, things arent always how they seem.
Well have to send you to the Reddit theories for that one.
