Much like the man whose vocal strategies he imitates, Kendrick has become both the poster child and rebel of his genre. And like Dylan, he chooses to actively distance himself from the culture of his typified genre and, with “untitled unmastered.,” shows us the beauty and depth that can come by granting artists this freedom. With “untitled unmastered.,” he now cements himself as an independent titan: “push the club to the side for ” as he says in the album’s opener. “TPAB” defined the year in rap with Lamar’s reactionary lyrics, abrasive tone and construction, his rendition of Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe” to the hip-hop machine. Kendrick makes no expressed effort to “top himself” in lyric, sound or concept, yet still gives us an earnest and artful, ultimately very satisfying piece. A graceful and logical follow-up to “To Pimp a Butterfly,” “untitled unmastered.” is unassumingly beautiful. And in the context of Kanye’s album - at times disconnected and ad lib heavy - which has continued to have songs updated and re-released even a month after its debut, the format and nature of “untitled unmastered.” seems to be Kendrick saying, “Oh, so this is what we’re doing? Here, have some B-sides.”īut B-sides aren’t always inferior, and “untitled unmastered.” is fantastic proof. In the second half of “untitled 7,” Kendrick’s words almost point directly to Kanye’s “30 Hours,” speaking to those in his studio about making “jam tracks,” and casually instructing those around him how to play and perform. Furthermore, whereas “The Life of Pablo” was the culmination of much internet hype, single releases, Instagram posts and eye-catching Twitter activity, “untitled unmastered.” came suddenly and without announcement. Conversely, Lamar, who has always had the rare ability to reconcile spiritual pursuits with corporeal struggles, threads gospel themes and religious sympathies throughout all of his music, his latest effort included. Kanye’s album, which he purported through his Twitter account to be a gospel account, received much backlash for this title, given much of the album’s crass and morally bankrupt content. The album is 34-minutes long, and each song is untitled besides a number and a date between 20, which indicates when the song was written, according to Consequence of Sound.įrom one angle, it is visibly reactionary to Kanye West’s “The Life of Pablo,” which was released several weeks prior. The album contains songs that Lamar was unable to release on his critically acclaimed 2015 album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” as Kendrick told Pitchfork.
On March 4, Kendrick Lamar released a compilation album entitled “untitled unmastered.” on Aftermath/Interscope records through Top Dawg Entertainment.
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