#KENDRICK LAMAR ALBUMS WORST TO BEST FULL#

This dedication to the album format continues in King KendrickвЂ™s latest royal proclamation, Damn. (The only rappers who beat him in first-week sales that year were J. And for a collection of odds and ends, it did remarkably well on the charts: It sold more copies during its first week than most other rap albums in 2016. LamarвЂ™s commitment to the album format is so strong that even his collection of B-sides, Untitled Unmastered, has more connective tissue and thematic links between its eight untitled songs than most rappers can muster for their вЂњproperвЂќ albums. Although the narrative was a bit more abstract, Lamar was able to thread this disparate collection of cosmic jazz/rap songs together by talking about his struggles with God (the haunting вЂњHow Much a Dollar CostвЂќ) and the devil (personified as Lucy on several songs) and calling back to an imagined conversation with Tupac. To Pimp a Butterfly continued this trend. It became less and less likely that a radio rapper would drop an album that wouldnвЂ™t make you smash that skip button. More street rappers like Biggie and Nas were dropping classic records that would give the greatest rock concept albums a run for their money.ДЄt some point, though, things started to shift. or Daisy Age disciples like De La who put care and craft into making front-to-back great albums. Wu-Tang Clan albums had narrative spines, considered sequencing, and beats and musical production that sounded unified (as opposed to a lot of modern albums that have five different production teams on each track).ДЄnd it wasnвЂ™t just the вЂњwokeвЂќ rappers like P.E. They include the occasional bit of filler (every вЂњgive the DJ someвЂќ track ever), but there was a real commitment to making their albums more than a delivery mechanism for one to three hits. Groups like Public Enemy, De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, Boogie Down Productions, and Eric B & Rakim put out LPs that hung together as coherent artistic statements. Hip-hopвЂ™s major players have always been interested in being a part of the pop conversation, but there was a period from the mid-вЂ™80s to early вЂ™90s where rap took the album format seriously.

#KENDRICK LAMAR ALBUMS WORST TO BEST FULL#

In no other genre was this shift more evident than in rap, where an MC could drop an album full of filler and still get rich off one platinum banger. This is a singles age, pop culture pundits declared as the entire musical landscape buckled and shifted in the wake of digital downloads and streaming. People have been sounding the death knell for albums as a format since Napster. HeвЂ™s raised the profile of rap albums as a format back to their place of glory. Lyrical mastery aside, thereвЂ™s one thing that Lamar has done thatвЂ™s put him head and shoulders above his peers. In a few short years, heвЂ™s become ComptonвЂ™s golden son, the rapper every other serious hip-hop artist canвЂ™t help but compare himself to. His sharp and incisive lyrics, his dexterous flows, and the fact that his guest verses often are better than most rappersвЂ™ whole albums are just a few. Kendrick Lamar is king, and there are several reasons why.

Kendrick lamar albums worst to best