DAMN.
Hip Hop, R&B, Trap.
Aftermath Entertainment/Top Dawg.
Listening Format: CD
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN!!! It's a brand new album from Kendrick Lamar and it pretty much dropped out of the blue, first on digital format and then the CD followed a week or so after. Hip Hop used to revel in hyping up a big release through singles, radio play and underground mixtapes, but times have shifted and big artists such as KanYe West, Jay Z, Frank Ocean, Drake and Beyonce just seem to drop their new albums out of the blue these days! Not that I am complaining right now, as hype ravages through social media like fire.
So... Kendrick Lamar... Easily THE most critically acclaimed and popular Hip Hop artist of the current decade. He has this incredible ability to appeal to a wide audience. He has not only earned respect from underground Hip Hop heads, but is popular among more casual Pop and radio listeners, and even people who aren't fans of the genre have approved of his music. He has already dropped two albums in the last five years that are already considered masterpieces and modern classics, 'Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City' and 'To Pimp a Butterfly' respectively. Kendrick Lamar represents the very best in modern Hip Hop production, and delivers conscious, poignant and aggressive lyrics with a diverse flow of rapping styles making him a talented chameleon on the mic. These two modern masterpieces displayed a diverse cinematic production, with all the tracks being part of a story, like a film for the ears. Can he possibly strike gold for a third time, even with such pressure to follow up two incredible albums?!
The most important thing you will notice about 'DAMN.' that is blatantly obvious from the first listen is that it actually sounds almost nothing like his previous two albums. It doesn't quite go for that cinematic, storytelling aspect quite as hard as its predecessors. That doesn't mean that it isn't as deep or diverse, but it doesn't have that feel of being a unifying concept album this time around. The biggest change in sound is that the majority of tracks on 'DAMN.' very much exploit the current "Trap Rap" sound. For those not familiar with what a Trap beat sounds like, you might have to do a little digging on YouTube or Wikipedia, but this type of beat very much stands out from the traditional Boom Bap old school style Hip Hop beat. This isn't to say that Lamar has been a stranger to the Trap beat, as 'Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe' (taken from his 2012 opus) is a great example of that sound, with those massive drum fills in the chorus. But 'DAMN.' goes all out for those Trap beats. This is a bit of a double-edged sword because, yes it makes the album sound very current and modern, but in a few years time Trap might die out and be remembered as a fad. Will this album still hold the timeless quality that its predecessors have? I think it is less likely as even old school Hip Hoppers who have got on board with Lamar's music will find this 55 minute record a harder pill to swallow.
Whether you like Trap beats or not, it is hard to deny some of the absolute talent displayed on this album. When second track 'DNA.' kicks in, the listener is thrown into a swamp of thumping bass and hard hitting snare runs, as Kendrick Lamar absolutely tears into the microphone with a similar intensity to the way Nas kicks it on 'NY State of Mind' over 20 years prior. The following track 'YAH.' continues on a very high note, but flips the mood to a more downbeat and slower one, with a lovely dusty and atmospheric production. Songs in the latter half such as 'FEAR.' get closer to the old cinematic feel, and 'PRIDE.' is a highlight which actually does have more of an old school Hip Hop beat and vibe.
However, there are some total sore spots on this album. As good as Kendrick Lamar's album cuts usually are, he does have a tendency to crop on some rather Poppy tracks such as his collab with Taylor Swift and I think when he does this it isn't living up to the immense talents he has, perhaps making him look like a sell out. Lead single 'HUMBLE.' is just horrendous... The beat sounds like lowest common denominator Hip Hop... Remember Chuggo's hilarious (for all the wrong reasons) viral hit 'Come On Fucking Guy'?!... Yeah... As if the verses weren't awful enough, the chorus hook of "Holla, Holla, Bitch, Bitch" is just as excruciating as it sounds! 'LOYALTY.' is equally as crass, sounding like a dated mid-00s "hey we just discovered autotune for the first time!" Akon or Nelly kind of track. Why something like this has a place on a Kendrick Lamar album is beyond me. These tracks in particular stick out like sore thumbs in the tracklisting.
'DAMN.' is just a pretty good album with some great moments here and there. And whilst most people would kill to make an album with that description, because it is Kendrick Lamar it almost feels like a shortcoming for him to just put out an album that is "pretty good". His previous two albums really were near perfect. Every single track on them works, the production was cutting edge and Kendrick had something vital and urgent to express. In particular, previous album 'To Pimp a Butterfly' went beyond Hip Hop. It had some genuinely brilliant Jazz, Soul and Funk which is pretty much all gone on this album. "DAMN." feels like a one track minded affair and much smaller in comparison. I do admire that Kendrick Lamar has managed to reinvent his style in such a short time, and make a completely different sounding album in comparison. But 'DAMN.' sorely lacks that timeless quality that he is capable of. I still listen to his previous two albums frequently, and I listen to them from start to finish every time. But with 'DAMN.' it's already starting to wear off on me after just a month, to the point where I'd rather just stick on one of his other albums instead. 7/10.
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