Track 1 Wesley's Theory
Starts off perfectly with the sample of “Every n***a is a Star” which really sets the tone of the rest of the project. The abrupt beat drop is huge and funky with George Clinton really dropping a great intro. I really enjoy Kendrick's singing on here. Thundercat also provides a nice break to the song. I really f** with the verses on here with K.Dot taking on the different perspectives, one from his first getting onto a label mindset and the other of the uncle sam character encouraging the new signee to spend all their money. One of the best songs on the album for sure
10/10
Track 2 For Free?
Nice little skit to start it up. I hated this song on first listen, but after a while this became one of my favorites. The “This Dick Ain't Free” part definitely grew on me a lot too and became an instantly unforgettable. Kendrick himself absolutely snaps on here with one of his best flows on the album with his lyrics getting more and more angry as it goes
10/10
Track 3 King Kunta
Another song that I wasn't feeling on first listen from the leak, but it sounds absolutely amazing in the sequencing of the album and turns out to be my 2nd favorite song on the album. Definitely silences some of the people who complained about their being no bangers on here. This is just some funky brilliance for me with the beat just getting more and more layers added to it with a little auto-tune and guitars added in. More really nice lyrics and this song just feels good to me
10/10
Track 4 Institutionalized
Great hook work from Anna and Bilal as well as a great bridge by none other than Snoop. Once again the beat switch got me hot with a nice piano base and some really funky sh** going on in the background. Some of the best lyrics at this point dealing head on with getting out of the hood and trying to be modest with the newfound fame and not going crazy with it. I love all the features on here because everyone of them actually added good layers to the song
10/10
Track 5 These Walls
Once again another absolutely amazing beat on here and I really really f** with Anna Wise on this song, she just provides great vocals on here. Bilal once again provides a more subtle but just as powerful contribution. A really damn amazing song lyrically here. While at first the walls are referring to p**y, as the song goes you realize that he is actually railing the woman of the man that shot his friend in GKMC. Once you go back and look at the verses again after this revelation you realize the walls take on more meaning than just p**y
10/10
Track 6 u
Well damn this might be one of the most emotional and downright self-loathing songs of the year. This goes through a definite range of emotions with the first verse being a really intense and almost angry sounding rant against oneself. The beat then changes up to an absolutely amazing beat with a super drunk and crying flow which is truly amazing to hear. The drinking effects and the pure conviction of his voice makes this one of the most creative and cool songs to come out in a while
10/10
Track 7 Alright
Proof that Pharrell and K.Dot make great music together, this is my fav song on the whole album. The beat just keeps on going hard with a slight almost ominous lurking feeling to it. Pharrell also does great on the hook. Another nice song lyrically which does a nice job of setting up later songs like For Sale? and How Much a Doller Cost, with their being both references to God and Lucy in this joint
Another banger here that still fits into the album
10/10
Track 8 For Sale?
I love the almost drugged feeling to the production on here which adds to the concept of this song. I like the Lucy metaphor and it is cool to see Kendrick further detailing his struggles with fame/modesty and the even the devil himself. Kendrick can actually sing pretty good too. Some people didn't enjoy it, but I f**ed with his almost slurred delivery here. I think this will be one of the most underrated joints on this album in the future. I love the vibe on here and I think it's as good as the other songs on here
9/10
Track 9 Momma
Originally didn't think this song was that great and kind of paled in comparison to the others, but once again this majorly grew on me. The production is outstanding and the whole song comes across as more of a slow jam. This really has damn powerful lyrics on it dealing more with the effects of the ghetto and the darkness of it. A really cool outro too, with another great beat switch and nice faded out vocals
9/10
Track 10 Hood Politics
I absolutely love the Boo Boo parts of this song and definitely know that this will be one of the most memorable things to come off this album. A super great instrumental here that once again almost has a drugged out feel to it. Kendrick is a lot more aggressive on here really spitting hard bars and the great lines about relating our government to the gangs. The minor little beat switch is great as well as the k**er Mike shoutout. This song goes really hard and definitely has some of the best lyrics and flow from Kendrick at this point
10/10
Track 11 How Much A Dollar Cost
I hate to use the word but I'll go ahead and say that this is a masterpiece for me. I'm a s**er for storytelling raps and this song checks in all the boxes. A really awesome beat that gets you to just vibe out to and Kendrick really has a dope flow on here. A relate-able song on here too for whoever has turned down a homeless person asking for cash (I know I have). The realization at the end that it is Jesus was brilliant and got the goosebumps going
10/10
Track 12 Complexion (A Zulu Love)
Another slower jam on here that really deals with why our colors don't f**in matter. Kendrick does really great with his verses, but Rapsody really stole the song on here. She definitely was the best feature on this whole album and dropped nothing but knowledge on this song. The singing only adds more and more layers to this joint and the production is as usual on this album really damn good. This is the perfect build up to Blacker the Berry
10/10
Track 13 The Blacker the Berry
The hardest and most confrontational song on the whole album is what I consider to be one of the best rap songs of this decade. The beat is hard and almost tribal feeling with Kendrick getting the most aggressive he has ever felt. The a**a**ing contribution is great and the lyrics hit hard as a motherf**er. The 3rd verse is just amazing and brings the whole song to a HOLY sh*t standpoint when he drops the Travyon Martin line. The outro is also great giving you a chance to kind of soak everything in
10/10
Track 14 You Ain't Gotta Lie (Momma Said)
Kendrick raps from the viewpoint of his Mom and drops some really heartfelt bars all over this thing. I really enjoy the sing-song flow that he uses and once again he comes out with some lyrics that basically challenging the people of the hood to change their mindset and do better. A song that provides a vibe like no other and gets the head nodding
10/10
Track 15 i
I enjoyed this song initially but it sounds ten times better in the sequencing of the album. I like things from both the live and studio versions each. I wish that he would have used the live instrumentation and verses but left out some of the adlibs and crowd noises, but I understand that it fits into the album better this way. The accapella verse at the end is very damn powerful with his explanation of the word NEGUS. This song is perfect in context now with a much needed anthem of self love
9/10
Track 16 Mortal Man
I'm gonna be honest here I love the rapping portion of this song which has a great beat and great lyrics which is almost Kendrick prophesizing his own future. The 2pac interview was definitely chill inducing and an all around amazing moment for Hip-Hop heads. With that being said after about 3 listens I can't really listen to the interview any more and it gets a bit tedious. Still amazing within the album though
8/10
Final Verdict
Yup this is my favorite Kendrick album by far and while I hate the word, I think that this will go down as a cla**ic album 10 years from now. This album came at the right time for not just the culture of Hip-Hop, but the entire human culture as a whole. This is a great project to both praise and critique the black culture as well as being a great piece for other cultures to show them that there is no difference between our colors at all
Lyrically Kendrick really came correct here with lyrics spanning multiple songs and different concepts being all over it. The poem that he wrote to 2pac that constantly gets more and more added to it over the album is brilliant as well as the final interview being quite genius. The concept of the bu*terfly is also very well thought out as well. Production-wise this just plain immaculate and is a great representation of both funk and rap
This has overtaken Tetsuo & Youth as my rap album of the year and will definitely be hard to be topped for the rest of this year. A goddman masterpiece that I love the hell out of
9.8/10