Reviewing a Kendrick Lamar album feels like cracking the Da Vinci code. There is just so much to unpack, from the album cover art, to the song titles, track sequencing, theories and easter eggs hidden throughout; it’s truly a body of work in every sense. Despite the overall rankings listeners tend to do with albums, there is no doubt Lamar’s albums grow in complexity with each release and “DAMN.” is more of the same.
Opening up with the line, “Is it wickedness? Is it weakness?”, Lamar instantly poses questions on intro “BLOOD.” that insinuate the music to come is sinister, passionate and introspective. The narrative then moves to Lamar being killed by a blind woman and a sample of Geraldo Rivera chastising Lamar’s song “Alright” in which he is critical of police brutality.
Without delving too deep into every song individually, it’d seem more fitting to look at how the tracks work with or against each other. The album sequencing has a recognizable duality to it. The track “HUMBLE.” follows “PRIDE.”, “LUST.” then “LOVE.”, “FEAR.” then “GOD.”, a visible hint for the listener to get the main theme surrounding the album. That theme is the human emotions Lamar has come to grips with, as he mentioned during his latest interview with Zane Lowe for Beats 1.
Along with that tidbit, Lamar mentioned “DAMN.” as him looking inward to change the world, following his second studio album “To Pimp a Butterfly” looking outward at the social ills of the world. If “DAMN.” is an inward look, a mirror essentially, than that mirror reveals a hip-hop savior who is still trying to save himself. Damn indeed.
The actual music on this album is sonically more commercial than the sprawling “Butterfly”. As is customary with each of his releases, Lamar totally shifted from the jazz-funk fusion of “Butterfly” and instead opted for trap, boom-bap, soul and 808’s heavy sonics. The result is an array of hard-hitting tracks mixed with mellow vibes and more direct lyrics than “Butterfly”.
As far as the rapping on the album goes, Lamar seems less interested in making words bend, stuffing metaphors and similes ad nauseam, rather aiming to be more direct yet subtle, aggressive yet paced. This makes the rapping more digestible for the average listener in comparison to “Butterfly” and is similar tone-wise to his famed debut, “Good kid maad city”.
Although towards the end of the album, there is a sense of clarity and what feels like a conclusion of the point Lamar is making, the dizzying outro “DUCKWORTH.” in which his label boss Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith almost killed his dad “Ducky” or Duckworth puts into perspective how tight of a rope Lamar’s fate and life has been since he was introduced to the world on “Section. 80”. Album guest, Kid Capri tells us to listen to the album in reverse on the song and that creates an alternative universe that concludes with "BLOOD." in which Lamar is killed because of his progressively growing sins, straying away from God.
In an interview before the album, Lamar said the album would focus on God. But instead of directly mentioning God in every way imaginable, or being overtly positive like Chance the Rapper’s “Coloring Book”, “DAMN.” is filled with spiritual vibes, references to the Old Testament and a distraught Lamar concerned of his soul burning for eternity because nobody is praying for him. He’s trapped in a god complex as he wants to be the savior of the world, praying for everyone, while he believes nobody is even praying for him, leading to self-destruction.
What “Butterfly” lacked in accessibility, “DAMN.” more than makes up for as Lamar bares his soul across 14 wonderful tracks. The album packs a punch and feels like a code to crack, but is an enjoyable task, much like a puzzle. If anything, “DAMN.” showcases Lamar as the best rapper and artist of this generation bar none and shows an artist always upping the ante on his quest for greatness.
Photo courtesy of Top Dawg Entertainment and Interscope Records
