Released: 2022

Genres: Conscious Hip-Hop, West Coast Hip-Hop, Jazz Rap, Pop Rap, R&B, Experimental Hip-Hop

The Musiquarium’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers Review Score: 10 out of 10

Split up into two halves, The Big Steppers (side 1) and Mr. Morale (side 2), Kendrick Lamar gets extra introspective on his fifth album, crafting his most intimate work yet, as well as one of the most unique sounding rap albums I’ve ever heard.

Where Kendrick’s previous albums revolved around his relationship with different environments at different levels (his neighbourhood, city, country, and world), this time everything goes from macro to micro, as Kendrick opens up about himself, his family, generational trauma and his inner demons.

The opener, United in Grief, has a brilliantly jarring beat, accompanied by serene pianos. N95 gets confrontational, using covid masks as an analogy for using something to hide behind. Worldwide Steppers has another cool, unconventional beat, with lyrics describing interracial issues. Die Hard is a beautiful pop track that uses a similar template set by previous songs, like LOVE. and LOYALTY.

Father Time features Sampha and has Kendrick opening up about his daddy issues and how important having a male role model is — it’s up to parents to break the cycle of abuse from continuing on into the next generation and in this case, Kendrick’s decisions will impact his own son for the rest of his life. We Cry Together is an experimental, avant garde track where a heated, profanity-fuelled argument between a couple acts as the song’s vocals.

Silent Hill (named after the survival horror video game) has one of Kendrick’s moodiest instrumentals. Mr. Morale is one of the album’s bangers, opening with a sample of a youtuber criticizing the Dallas Cowboys. Auntie Diaries deals with the transsexualism of a family member in a non-preachy, nor offensive way. Mother I Sober features the always beautiful Beth Gibbons of Portishead.

This was the longest wait between Kendrick Lamar’s albums (5 years, 4 if you count the Black Panther OST), though it was definitely worth the long wait. Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is one of the greatest albums of the decade so far, and is yet another master work by the Compton poet, full of introspective reflection and naked vulnerability.

Trivia: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers won Best Rap Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.

For credit breakdowns and historic release details, view Kendrick Lamar on Discogs.

Back to the 2022 Album Guide or the Kendrick Lamar Reviews page.

Written by Brett Nipaprd