Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers | Album Review
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It’s been a little over two months since Kendrick dropped his long-awaited fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, so I thought I’d give a deep dive into this album, and why I find it to be an incredible, beautiful piece of work.
Disc 1
“I’ve been going through something”
1855 days. That’s how much time elapsed between Kendrick’s previous studio album DAMN. and Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. Right off the top, this play-like opening, preceded by Sam Dew’s singing lets us know that Kendrick is going to have a lot to say on this album.
United in Grief starts with Kendrick firing off a series of questions, stating that he’s gotten himself a therapist to “debate on [his] theories” on women, material wealth, broken families, and all sorts of things. The track swells up in volume as he explores his state of mind before dropping into a hard-hitting, clean yet fast-paced drum loop, where Kendrick goes more into these topics. Spending his pain away, sleeping with someone during a tour, hinting at a sex addiction, because as he declares in the chorus, “I grieve different” through all the hardships in his life. It’s a really strong opening track that succeeds at setting the stage for what this album ultimately entails: exposure, but more importantly, therapy.
N95 is the next track, and it’s one of the harder-hitting, more radio-friendly songs on the project. It opens up with Kendrick asking people to take off all the pointless things we find ourselves distracted with, to take off the “mask” and pay attention to the “real world outside”. The beat is loud and full of energy, trap drums with synth leads and bass. The whole sound of N95 feels very Baby Keem-inspired, which makes sense considering how much Kendrick and his cousin have been working together recently with their music. It’s a great track, although Kendrick’s bar about cancel culture at the end is, well, to put it quite bluntly, a little cringy. It just seems like the same pitfall that we see comedians and the like fall into on Twitter these days.
Worldwide Steppers is a heavy track, from the pulsing beat down to what Kendrick’s saying. We get a quick little introduction from Kodak Black (we’ll get to him later), mentioning Eckhart Tolle, a German spiritual self-help author, whose teachings and philosophy become the driving force of Kendrick’s therapy throughout the album. The track itself delves into self-criticism, as Kendrick explores his five-year writer’s block, cheating on his partner, having children, and the whole “we some killers” attitude. In the hook, Kendrick is using the whole zombie metaphor to point out the “itch” people have of criticizing others to feel superior, comparing the killers to “walkin’ zombies”. The track also has one of the funniest yet hardest-hitting parts on the album to me, where Kendrick reminisces over having sex with white women, feeling the guilt of his “ancestors watchin’ [him] fuck” for retaliation. One of these moments is when he recalls being in school and traveling to a wealthier area near Compton. As it turns out, this one girl that he sleeps with, her father was a sheriff that arrested Kendrick’s uncle, so Kendrick states that “she paid with her daddy’s sins”.
Opening Up
In my opinion, Die Hard is one of the most slept-on tracks in this album. Not only is the production great, but Blxst and Amanda Reifer’s vocals are so good. As for content in this track, Kendrick talks about the fear of opening up and exposing his inner thoughts and demons. He’s actively asking the listener if it’s okay for him to do this, how he’s worried that showing his true self would cause people to use it against him. As disc 1 continues, he gets more into this with Father Time, where over some gorgeous production backed by Sampha’s vocals, Kendrick begins his journey through therapy by talking about issues with his father. Despite having a dad around, unlike many of his peers, Kendrick shows why that doesn’t automatically mean everything’s all good and peachy. The way he was brought up affected how he sees things as an adult, even up until recently when he expresses his confusion over Kanye West and Drake’s sudden reunion and make-up (don’t worry Kendrick, we were all kind of confused at how that happened), showing how even now he’s a little immature.
The interlude by Kodak (again, we’ll get into him in a minute) is surprisingly really well done, a spoken word piece over nothing but piano and some of Kendrick’s vocals towards the end. It leads into Rich Spirit perfectly, another Baby Keem -inspired track, but it’s got a bouncy beat. Kendrick’s vocals are a little different on this, more subdued and relaxed sounding, but also with some sass, like the hilarious “uugh” to be specific. Sam Dew once again backs up the beat with some nice vocals too.
Now, We Cry Together, featuring Taylour Paige, remains one of the best songs on the album. The super Kim by Eminem-inspired track depicts a, while a little exaggerated, real argument between a couple, a back and forth where both show their hypocrisies, swearing to leave each other, only to end with them going back at it again in bed. The end has Kendrick’s partner Whitney (who’s been giving small bits of dialogue through the whole album) saying “Stop tap-dancing around the conversation” since this couple ended up avoiding the bigger issues in their relationship and went back to sex. Disc 1 of this album ends with Purple Hearts, featuring Kendrick and Summer Walker singing smoothly over a rather slow beat, ending with Ghostface Killah delivering a pretty emotion-driven verse at the end. Honestly, this track isn’t my favorite, it feels like more of a “middle of the album” cut than a whole disc concluder. Still, not bad.
Disc 2
Getting Deeper
Disc 2, in my opinion, is where everything I love about this album truly shines. Count Me Out is such a vibey, smooth, “windows down” song, where Kendrick gets deeper into what he wants everyone to know. Crown is another one of those tracks that most people weren’t really feeling, but I couldn’t disagree more. Now, Kendrick isn’t exactly the greatest singer, but the eery piano backed by his dreary vocals works really well for me, and I love the message that “you can’t please everybody”. It’s a struggle for Kendrick to come to grips with how he can’t be this symbol, this source of power and inspiration for every single person he speaks to.
Silent Hill is a strange one. Look, say what you will about Playboi Carti, but the man’s influence is incredible. The chorus is so Carti-like it’s kind of crazy (it’s a little bit of Baby Keem as well), but I got used to Kendrick trying that sound after a few listens. It’s not my favorite song but it’s fun, and Kodak (promise we’ll get to it soon) does surprisingly well on a track with Kendrick, alluding to some of the concepts he talked about in the interlude earlier.
“I am not your savior”
The interlude before Savior features Baby Keem rapping over nothing but some orchestral instruments, and to be honest I was surprised at how good this whole verse was. I’ve always liked Baby Keem, but he was never a “rappity rap” guy to me. On this interlude though, Keem does such a good job. I’ve got to highlight the hardest bar in the song, when Keem says “My uncle would tell me the shit in the movies could only be magic, This year, I did forty-three shows and took it all home to buy him a casket”. But with that, we arrive at my favorite song in the entire album:
Savior. This is where Kendrick spells it all out. We’re in an era where many people look up to rappers and other celebrities in moments of social crisis, and then express disappointment when their actions don’t immediately back up their actions. On Savior, Kendrick is blunt in telling people that he is not their savior. Neither is J. Cole, neither is Future, and neither is Lebron. “The cat is out the bag, I am not your savior, I find it just as difficult to love thy neighbors”. Kendrick is taking himself off the pedestal that he’s been placed on, telling his fans that he is just a guy, a nuanced guy with his own issues and faults, not this god-like entity that’s there to fix all the world’s problems. He relates this concept to certain celebrities and basketball players being anti-vax, and how some people would react to seeing their heroes take a stance so dangerous. That combined with how some people will only protest once or twice for clout, while for people like Kendrick, it’s a protest 365 days a year. And that’s just the excellent content because this is just a flat-out amazing song in every other factor as well. The beat goes incredibly hard, and Sam Dew (who has been killing it the entire album) has the most amazing vocals to back up the beat. Baby Keem has a great chorus as well, and Kendrick’s flow and bars are just on point. My personal favorite has to be “Capitalists posing as compassionates be offending me, Yeah, suck my dick with authenticity”.
Kodak Black, Auntie Diaries, and the Controversies
Content warning: Sexual Assault
It’s difficult to talk about this album without mentioning all of the controversies surrounding it when it dropped, and the discussions that followed. Let’s start with the inclusion of Kodak Black. For those out of the loop, Kodak has always been a troubling figure, but it’s come to a head when he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman recently (yes, there’s some legal mumbo jumbo involved but Kodak hasn’t exactly denied anything either). Kendrick deciding to platform someone like this came off as extremely surprising and “out of character” to just about everyone, although to some extent, that kind of feeds into Kendrick’s points on Savior and other parts of this album: we don’t actually know this person. Everyone has varying thoughts on this, from completely boycotting Kendrick to not caring at all. For me, Kodak’s inclusion does cast a nasty shadow on the project, and I tend to skip his interlude and Silent Hill whenever they come on. However, I did want to at least try to understand Kendrick’s thought process in including him. From my analysis of the lyrics, it seems that Kendrick sees Kodak as a representation of all of the problems and issues plaguing his people and other rappers, and is both directly and indirectly drawing comparisons between his past and Kodaks. Myke C-Town from DeadEndHipHop highlights the problem I have with this approach, which is that it essentially gives people like Kodak a “halfway out” that they don’t deserve when they’re platformed by someone like Kendrick. None of this quite ruins the album for me, I’m not boycotting Kendrick over it, and I sort of get where he might be coming from, but it leaves a sour taste in an otherwise amazing album.
Auntie Diaries is the other one on the controversy list. I do actually love this song to be clear. Essentially, it’s Kendrick talking about growing up with and coming to terms with his trans uncle and cousin. He talks about what it was like hanging out with them, being seen with them, the judgment that would come from various people in his community or family, etc. The problematic part is some of the writing. Kendrick constantly switches between using the correct and incorrect pronouns when referring to his uncle, and also uses the “f” slur, talking about how “we ain’t know no better”, and how it used to be comedic relief to say that word on the playground without realizing what a damaging word that is to a marginalized group. It’s clear that all of this is in good faith from Kendrick, but of course, this language and the pronoun flipping and deadnaming can be triggering to the LGBTQ+ community. So if they take offense to this song, they are in the full right to. The best I can do as someone not a part of that community is to try to explain and understand the song artistically (it should also be stated this song clearly is meant towards Kendrick’s community specifically). Because for me, the fourth verse of this song is so powerful and sticks out. It has Kendrick talking to his local preacher, stating that he disagrees with him and the church’s view on people like his cousin. I’ll highlight the following lines:
I said, “Mr. Preacherman, should we love thy neighbor? The laws of the land or the heart, what’s greater? I recognize the study she was taught since birth But that don’t justify the feelings that my cousin preserved” The building was thinking out loud, bad angel That’s when you looked at me and smiled, said, “Thank you” The day I chose humanity over religion
Kendrick, after struggling his whole life between what he believes is right, versus what he’s constantly taught is right, chooses humanity, acceptance, his heart, and love above all else. It’s a struggle I personally relate to, and hearing someone like Kendrick talk about it in a song was really emotional.
The Final Stretch
Mr. Morale had to grow on me a bit, but I really like how Kendrick raps on it. The Pharrell beat is so bouncy and hard, and San Dew and Tanna Leone fill the gaps between the verses really well. The song delves into generational trauma, with mentions of R. Kelly and Oprah Winfrey and how his own family has seen it.
Content warning: Sexual Assault
Mother I Sober is an emotionally draining, yet simultaneously uplifting and beautiful song. I won’t go into detail summarizing what exactly Kendrick says on here, just know it’s about his generational trauma, and the sexual abuse that is rampant in black families, how every other rapper has been through it and hides their pain in money, and how Kendrick is overcoming that trauma. It’s here we learn what kickstarted Kendrick’s therapy: violation of his marriage. His partner stands by him as he begins the healing process, allowing him to set himself free from all this guilt, hurt, and shame. All of this is over a lush piano backing, with Beth Gibbons’ beautiful vocals as the chorus.
“I choose me”
The closing track, Mirror, is probably my second favorite song on the whole album. This song serves as an incredible conclusion for the album, wherewith everything going on in the world, Kendrick has to choose himself first. This track is so good for me because it, along with the concept of the album, is so risky for a mainstream rapper and symbol like Kendrick to pull off. Deciding to open his therapy up to the world, firmly planting his foot, and choosing to work on himself and his family, regardless of the disappointment that might bring to people, just makes me feel happy for Kendrick as a fan. Lifting that heavy weight off his shoulders, you can tell he’s finally found himself in a new zen, a calmer mindset to keep him moving forward in his career. He reiterates his distaste for the “savior” complex by subtly bringing up the whole Noname situation in 2020, where she called out (not by name) rappers like Kendrick and J. Cole for not “doing enough”. I wanna highlight the most powerful and uplifting lines towards the end of the song:
When will you let me go? I trust you’ll find independence, If not, then all is forgiven, Sorry I didn’t save the world, my friend, I was too busy buildin’ mine again
The last two in particular. After feeling guilt for years, Kendrick is finally unashamed to focus on his life and his family. The image I get in my head is of a man, sitting on a beach, staring out into the sunset, finally at peace with himself, regardless of the constant calls to his name coming from behind him.
And that’s why I’ve been falling in love with this album more and more as the days go by. It’s not the grand return, the bombastic album everyone was expecting, instead, it’s a therapeutic piece of art that really breaks down the artist, and in some ways may seem uncomfortable to us because of prior expectations or images in our head. It’s all backed by incredible production, features, and a narrative and ideas that I think a lot of people needed to hear.