kendrick lamar untitled unmastered review

Many of the songs sound like they were meant to flow into one another, like at the end of “untitled 02,” where Kendrick raps “Alright, from the top!” before exploding into the delightfully grooving “untitled 03.” It may only be the unreleased extras from TPAB, but untitled unmastered. While the record is essentially a collection of b-sides, it’s much more cohesive than a mixtape or any other collection. While some of the tracks aren’t the best they could be, the fact that none of them necessarily sound like “rough cuts” is a testament to Kendrick and his collaborators’ skill in the studio, and sort of proves Kendrick’s skill as a rapper it’s like the tracks and lyrics didn’t need any further work or mastering. As the title suggests, the songs are uncut and unmastered, raw and in their original form. Coming less than a year after the multiple Grammy nominated To Pimp a Butterfly, this record is a collection of demos and unreleased tracks from throughout TPAB’s gestation, and many of them are essentially tracks that were cut from that album. Perhaps he was exaggerating, but considering his output, the idea that he’s just always making music isn’t that unbelievable. In an interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, he said that while he used to play videogames when he was a kid, now he spends his free time making music, always writing verses and freestyling. He’s also a notoriously single-minded hard worker.

He’s perhaps the biggest name in music right now, and I’d argue that he’s never made anything close to a bad song.

Then he went and topped it with the masterful, revolutionary To Pimp a Butterfly last year, and it feels like the rest is gonna be history. City, a massive concept album that skyrocketed to become the vanguard of modern hip-hop. What’s left to say about Kendrick Lamar? After two great independent albums he made his major label debut with Good Kid M.A.A.D.

Kendrick lamar untitled unmastered review