Kendrick Lamar's Album Will, In Fact, Make You Say "Damn."

How do you talk about this album in a way that hasn't already been talked about? That is what has been swirling around in my mind in the weeks since Kendrick Lamar released DAMN. Or, put another way, how do you navigate the insane amounts of hype surrounding Lamar's album, as well as your own fandom bias, in order to sing this album's praises in an objective manner? With every project Kendrick releases, his aura grows, and the task of critically analyzing him becomes more and more difficult. That being said, I'll endeavor to do so fairly here.

First of all: the hype. It's impossible to escape. Look at the headlines surrounding the latest release. Publications from rap blogs to The New York Times proclaim Kendrick Lamar rap's "king," "Messiah," and "Savior" as if it were an undisputed fact. No pressure though, right? Such praise and exposure inevitably causes backlash (call it a stronger case of La La Land Syndrome), and that has been every bit the case with DAMN., as the occasional review from music outlets and social media alike declaring 'Come on, this isn't that good!' is easy to find. The truth, as is often the case in these times of sensationalism, is likely somewhere in between.

The contrarian in me feels the need to play devil's advocate and join the 'Let's all just calm down a little!' crowd. And it's true, this is not a flawless album, with more than one low point to talk about. First of all, its lead track "Humble" fails to meet the absurdly high bar of past lead singles from Kung Fu Kenny. The production is simplistic, which isn't necessarily a problem, but when coupled with lyricism beneath the maturity we've come to expect, it renders a somewhat disappointing follow-up to past greats. Make no mistake, the song is still a banger, and will surely be one of the better realized earworms of the year. But to mee, it's a shame that Kendrick's first-ever #1 Song in America is "Humble," and not "Blacker The Berry", "King Kunta," or "Swimming Pools."

On a larger scale, DAMN. isn't nearly as sharp thematically as its two predecessors. By and large, it is neither as heart-achingly personal as good kid, m.A.A.d city, nor as ground-stompingly political as To Pimp A Butterfly. Though this is a concept album, the concept seems slightly more convoluted and less obvious to pin down.

Now, with all of that out of the way, it's time to address the reality. DAMN. is still an incredible album; one of the better rap releases of the last decade at least, and easily the best record of young 2017. Kendrick Lamar is on his 4th full-length album, and each feels like it is too magnificent overall and different in style to be accurately compared to another.

You may have been able to surmise this from my tone or diction, but I had to reach a little bit to find issues with the songs on DAMN. Though not a start-to-finish masterpiece, there is very little (none, really) deadweight on this tracklist. The self-exploratory, Fox News-eviscerating "DNA" stretching to the soulful groove of "Pride." The hilariously obvious yet poignant contrast between the consecutive tracks titled "Lust" and "Love." The smooth, Rihanna-infused summer groove of "Loyalty." The Bono-aided explication of the black experience in America in "XXX." The calm, relevatory conclusion in "Duckworth." There is so much in the 50-minute album to write home about.

So where do I fall? Yes, DAMN. deserves the hype. If you're new to Kendrick Lamar, or rap in general, and are wondering why people lose their minds over the short, harmless-looking 29-year old, this is why. He's changing the game entirely, doing things no other mainstream rapper can dream of replicating successfully. There's a reason President Obama shouted out him and the upstart Chance The Rapper specifically, saying "when I look at who’s breaking new ground, Kendrick and Chance, those guys are doing just amazing work."

I said this upon my first listen: working through DAMN. gives one the feeling that they're witnessing a G.O.A.T. in his prime. People my age didn't get to witness Pele play fútbol, Jordan play basketball (for long), Hitchcock make movies, or Shakespeare write. But we've got Kendrick.