Kendrick Lamar: Untitled, Unmastered
Untitled, Unmastered
If you didn’t already know by his first 2 albums, this is kid with a lot to say- and he’s gonna see to it that it’s heard, by any means necessary. It’s that kind of passion and drive that is desperately lacking in Hip-Hop with the exception of a select few. Meet the leader of the few……
Lamar’s latest offering “untitled unmastered.” is an 8-song collection of raw, unpolished, unreleased material that originated during the To Pimp A Butterfly sessions between 2013 and 2016. The album is immensely experimental in nature; operating from no distinct playbook & combining Lamar’s own thoughts and words with freeform jazz and funk styles. The album, which was released on iTunes on March 3rd with little fanfare or prior label promotion, instantly became a classic in its own right. Lamar has solidified his place in music as a creative free-thinker, and therefore, one of the most important artist/storytellers of his generation. Each track is labeled with the date that it was recorded, and the overall sound quality is not nearly as polished as that of his previous albums- which is part of its charm. As an artist, if you’re expressing subject matter that is real, that is completely stripped down to its barest essentials, it’s not always going to be pretty or neatly packaged….but nonetheless a gem.
Despite the fact that many of the album’s themes had not been fully developed at the time of their recording, you can clearly hear where they would have fit on TPAB. These tracks weren’t included on the album at the time, due to deadlines and sample clearances. What we hear from Untitled are tunes and concepts that were so near and dear to Lamar’s heart that he couldn’t bear to part with them. For example, in “Untitled 03,” he speaks of stereotypes and cultural divides on the topic of what’s most valuable in life; with each culture providing a different perspective as to what they believe the answer actually is. The Asian man spoke of spirituality; the Indian man spoke of land; the Black man spoke of women; and finally, the White man spoke of capitalizing off the talent of others.
"Untitled 05" provides yet another poignant theme- the everyday struggles of the Black male trying to find his place in society, and how one copes with that. He speaks of how he used to be a spiritual man, but social injustices have twisted his mind so much that he now turns to destructive behavior and other devices as the norm. He says:
“See I’m living with anxiety/Ducking the sobriety/F**ing up the system/I ain’t f***in with society
Justice ain’t Free/Therefore Justice ain’t me/So I justify his name on the obituary
Why you wanna see a good man with a broken heart/Once upon a time I used to go to church and talk to God/Now I’m thinking to myself/Hollow tips is all I got/Now I’m drinking by myself, at the intersection parked”
This type of perspective heard in mainstream Hip-Hop is what clearly separates Lamar from the rest of his contemporaries. You can hear the passion and the pain of his voice as he is painting the picture for each of these scenarios. Much in the same vein that we saw from Biggie and 2Pac during their time on earth. I, for one am extremely interested in witnessing the direction that Lamar’s career will go as he continues forge his journey and bring back the art of storytelling in Hip-Hop. We’re watching this young man grow and evolve before our very eyes; and with that evolution, comes new experiences, and therefore inspirations that will be expressed through his music.
