On the Eve of Kendrick
It's Christmas in May. Kendrick Lamar is set to drop his new album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, tomorrow.
It's been five long years since we've gotten a new body of work from him. Kendrick's last offering DAMN., was beautiful and the rollout, previewed by my favorite player LeBron James, was one of the most memorable moments on Instagram for many.
So what should we expect from the new album? Here's my bold, hopeful predictions:
- We'll get a J. Cole feature. The last time we've heard J. Cole and Kendrick on a song together it wasn't even their own song. It was on Jeezy's "American Dream." I expect this to change and for them to make good on the joint album we were promised after their Black Friday freestyles dropped.
- The album will be a coveted double disc album. I expect Kendrick will look to compete with All Eyez on Me, Life After Death, and Speakerboxx/Love Below with this release for best double disc rap album of all time. My prediction is that it'll fall more in line with Outkast's offering where you have a rap side and a melodic side (and let's hope for an Andre 3000 feature, too).
- Expect a return to soul/funk/jazz. His latest Heart Part 5 I think showcases where sonically he may try to go. Think of his To Pimp a Butterfly soundscape and reimagine it for 2022. On DAMN, he went back to a more traditional hip hop sound. I expect the artist in Kendrick will look to push the envelope a bit further.
- I think this album will be very pro-Africa. There's been a lot of energy around pan-africanism and encouraging Black people to get connected to the continent again.
- Conceptually, I think Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers will be the same story told from different perspectives. Mr. Morale (the Good Kidd) will give you his lone, observant take on "the culture" whereas The Big Steppers (Madd City) will provide the backdrop of what "the culture" has come to mean from a group think (gang) perspective. Basically, I believe the first side will be a no features album and the second will be full of them (Black Hippy!).
- My dream features for this album would be: Mos Def, Talib Kweli, the aforementioned J. Cole and Andre 3000, Jay-Z, Beyonce, Wizkid, Tems, Shotta Wale, Black Coffee, Sarkodie, Ab-Soul, Schoolboy Q, Rihana, Wu-Tang (specifically Raekwon or Method Man), Anderson Paak., Queen Latifah, and Rakim. I know it's wishful thinking all around, but these are some of the people I'd like to hear link with Kendrick on wax.
- I think this is going to be Kendrick's last, proper album. I don't think he has much more he wants to say after this one. I hope I'm not right on this one, but it's hard for me to see a world that Kendrick continues to put together bodies of work in this fashion. Prepare for a world in which we get a few features and loose songs from time to time whenever he feels motivated. Let's all hope I'm wrong about this.
- This is going to be a visual album where every track has an accompanying visual, Beyonce style. I would also expect an accompanying book as merch like the Wakanda Bible, Jay-Z's Decoded, or Hamilton: The Revolution that breaks down all aspects of this album from his perspective. I predict he's going after a grammy, an oscar, and a Nobel Prize in literature (he already has the Pulitzer) for this body of work.
Let's see what predictions are true when this album drops. All I know is that I'll be up listening/watching/reading come 12:01 midnight when it's released.
Here's some Kendrick videos to hold you over until tomorrow: