“Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers”: the Triumphant Return of Kendrick Lamar

After 1855 days after his last solo release, rapper Kendrick Lamar presented his new project. With this, he closes his time at the Top Dawg Entertainment label, after seventeen years in which he produced the five albums that elevated the artist from Compton, California, to the point of making him a legend of the genre. “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers” was released as a double album made up of nine songs on each disc. However, it should be noted that the album has only been published on digital distribution platforms and has not been released on the market in physical format.

Speculation about a new Lamar album had been around for years after his last work released in 2017, called "DAMN", which earned him the Pulitzer Prize. This is because through his music, with its detailed crafting and complex lyrics, Lamar has become the voice of a generation and has been a standard-bearer for the Black Lives Matter movement. "DAMN" followed up on their two previous recordings that also smashed hits: "To Pimp a Butterfly," released in 2015; and “Good Kid, Maad City”, which was released in 2012.

Album Background

Kendrick Lamar disappeared from the scene after his last album, which left very pleasant sensations in the musical world. Praised by critics and fans alike, K-Dot, as he is also known, took a break from his solo music and dedicated himself to collaborating with other artists. Such is the case of the compilation album for the movie Black Panther, which was produced by the rapper and was one of the high points of the Marvel Studios feature film in 2018.

It was in August 2021 when the rapper went viral again after posting on his social networks the link to a website called oklama.com in which he made the production process of his new album public knowledge.

With his most recent appearance in the public eye, the Super Bowl show in February, alongside his mentor Dr. Dre and other big-name rappers like Eminem, 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg, and singer Mary J. Blige, Kendrick was expected to will release his new full-length album in later months to herald his return to the rap scene.

On April 18, 2022, on the Oklahoma site, Lamar announced the name of the album and the official release date. And on Sunday, May 8, before the publication date of the complete project, he released the single "The Heart Part 5" along with a music video in which his face is transformed into various African-American celebrities who have caused controversies such as Kanye West, Will Smith, OJ Simpson, Jussie Smollett, and the late Nipsey Hussle. Both the video and the lyrics of the song caused a brutal impact and increased the voltage. The desire to hear the award-winning rapper's new proposal was sky-high.

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The “K-Dot” Effect

Once officially released on May 13, 2022, the album became a definite hit. Both the rapper's fans and specialized critics highly approved of the double album. Featuring production collaborations from talented artists and lyrical collaborations from rappers and singers, both popular and rising, the eighteen tracks are enriched by Lamar's production talent and witty lyrics that explore different themes related to music. African-American culture and contemporary issues.

“Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers” mixes fine West Coast hip hop with funk and jazz, other genres that Lamar had already incorporated in his previous projects with good results. As with all of his work, Kendrick stands out with his controversial lyrics and highlights personal issues he's dealt with in recent years. Known for being one of the emblematic voices of African-American culture, Lamar once again expresses the constant fear to which his generation is subjected in the United States, a country that he has openly called racist.

Kendrick expresses in his lyrics the problems that wealth and fame have brought him, having to undergo therapy and suffering to be able to create music in recent years, alluding to a mental block that denied him the making of new songs before being able to perform. the album. In the song “N-95”, Lamar criticizes the various reactions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. In “We Cry Together”, actress Taylour Page, both hold a heated argument for six minutes representing a couple with problems.

In addition, the song “Auntie Diaries”, perhaps the most profound on the album, tells the story of her aunt and cousin belonging to the LGBTQ community and the problems they go through as they are judged by society and the church. At the same time, he takes the opportunity to criticize himself for a controversial situation that occurred at a concert in 2018 when Lamar allowed a white fan to sing with him on stage. Hearing that she used the word "black", which is not accepted by African-Americans when it comes to Caucasian people, Lamar asked her to censor the word when singing with him, an act that caused strong criticism of the artist.

The album was a commercial success from the day of its release when it surpassed 60 million streams on Apple Music, setting the best record for a new album on the platform. Also, crashes were reported on other platforms when trying to play the album.

Other celebrities applauded the work of the rapper, who again sets the bar high for both the competition and himself.