A stunning and raw celebration of rap’s reigning king
Kendrick Lamar’s latest release untitled unmastered arrived online on March 4, 2016, boasting a compilation of tracks that Lamar has dated between 2013 and 2016. As the title suggests, these tracks are unfinished demos, littered with imperfections and lacking the pristine production expected from a standard studio release. The project has evident flaws, but given that these tracks found life during the same sessions that brought the world the universally acclaimed album To Pimp A Butterfly, hip-hop fans have plenty of reason to rejoice.
Neo-soul singer Bilal opens the record with some devilish dirty-talk toward a “little lamb,” as a walking bassline and simple drumbeat stumble along intoxicatingly in the background. As Bilal’s tension builds, Kendrick launches into a furious verse that sets an apocalyptic scene, straight out of the Book of Revelation. Near the end of the track, Lamar himself is being judged by his creator, and points to his discography to prove his worth.
“I made To Pimp a Butterfly for you, Told me to use my vocals to save mankind for you, Say I didn’t try for you, Say I didn’t ride for you, I tithed for you, I pushed the club to the side for you, Who love you like I love you?”
Here, Lamar contends that pandering to the masses for club and radio appeal would be disingenuous, and perhaps even unholy. To Lamar, or at least this iteration of him, avoiding such pandering is the way of the righteous, an act to be praised.
It’s obvious that K-Dot had no intention of creating radio singles with these tracks, or anything on his last studio release To Pimp A Butterfly, which saw its most successful track only reach number 39 on the Hot 100 chart. TPAB was a rich, dense album with intense storytelling and Lamar’s easily recognizable flow dancing over lush and experimental live jazz instrumentation. The tracks found on untitled unmastered are much of the same, with standout jazz improvisers Terrace Martin and Thundercat all over the record.
Throughout the record, Lamar examines social, political, and religious subject matter. While some tracks seem incomplete conceptually, they still fit together cohesively on untitled unmastered.
On “untitled 2,” Lamar raps about the racial stereotypes that he believes hold his culture back.
“I see jiggaboos, I see Styrofoams, My hood going brazy, Where did we go wrong?”
On the same track, Lamar raps about his inner struggle with fortune and fame, a theme which was prevalent throughout TPAB.
Perhaps the most complete song on the record is “untitled 3,” which is a conscious and cutting observation of race and the modern music industry. It highlights cultural stereotypes, and Lamar receives life lessons from an Asian man, a Native American man, and a black man, before rapping about the greedy and exploitive nature of the white man, capitalizing on Lamar’s talent.
“A piece of mine’s, That’s the white man wanted when I rhyme, Telling me that he selling me just for $10.99, If I go platinum from rapping, I do the company fine.”
Sonically, untitled unmastered is ambitious, but unpolished. For some, this may be a polarizing factor when combined with some underdeveloped song ideas. Others, however, will revel in its callousness, and draw enjoyment from the record’s unpolished state.
Some of the more exploratory jazz instrumentation would benefit from the mastering process, but in their current state they highlight the proficiency of Lamar’s collaborators like Terrace Martin and Thundercat.
This kind of instrumentation is exemplified by “untitled 5,” which features a Thundercat bassline that walks masterfully over a jazz progression with velvety horns. The bass is backed by a kick-heavy drum beat with washed out ride cymbals, and Terrance Martin shines on this track with quick chromatic punches on the saxophone throughout the song.
Other tracks, like “untitled 6,” feature funk infused choruses mixed with bossa nova grooves that lend themselves well to vocal features from CeeLo Green, Anna Wise, and SZA. Lamar is accompanied by fellow Black Hippy members Jay Rock and Ab-Soul, and even TDE manager Punch, but untitled unmastered is undoubtedly centred around Lamar’s performance. His vocal inflection and flow varies across the tracks, creating a diverse tonal range that matches the individual songs and sections.
Kendrick Lamar’s untitled unmastered is impressive in its unabashed, organic state. In a genre often dominated by its own emphasis on production quality, these eight tracks seem to percolate in their own rawness, highlighting quality lyricism, delivery, and instrumentation.
Perhaps the recurring cheer of “Pimp, pimp: hooray!” found throughout the project is a cheer for Lamar himself. A celebration of his creative excess, which left fans with an entire album worth of leftovers that simply attest to the artistic prowess of a man who is at the top of his game.