Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers

by

Kendrick Lamar

Mr. Morale is a oddly sequenced album. You start with a song, United in Grief, that sets you up thinking the next 17 songs are going to be this creative and stand out. Instead we get N95, which is fine but absolutely nothing new from Kendrick, but instead a radio song through and through. We get to Worldwide Steppers next which revives hope yet again that maybe N95 was just a one off and production akin to To Pimp A Butterfly will be happening, creating memorable songs. It never does though with this album.

Kendrick teases you the entire time with what could have been a stand out album, trying to be something that can stand on its own. What we got here instead is half radio hits that blend in with most 2022 production qualities, and songs that could have been part of another classic album to stand the test of time. Morale was scrapped so many times that it actually makes sense as to why the album is so disjointed. Songs that were created during the terribly aged production of DAMN. are next to those from 5 years later. Overall the album isn't bad, but it's not good either. It's just disappointing we don't get more effort to create a cohesive experience resembling something unique.