Kendrick Lamar - Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (May 13th, 2022) Album • Page 30

Taken with a grain of salt because 1. Not a monolith and 2. I haven’t listened to the album yet, just popped in on that one song. I don’t think any two queer and/or trans people are going to have the same opinion on it. Also, I’m definitely not speaking to the trans narrative in the song because that’s not my place. For me at this point, I appreciate what he’s trying to do and understand the context but I really wish we could move away from using slurs and then stepping away from them to show how we’ve changed. It’s a song that’s already going to be a tough listen for many and I don’t really see the benefits in making your audience flinch more. I can’t imagine he couldn’t have gotten the point across another way. With everything going on right now politically, it’s probably gonna be a minute before I sit down with the album or at least I’ll skip the track. Other queer people can make what they will of it and I think it’s ultimately an interesting conversation to be having but the number of straight people I’ve seen telling queer people who are even remotely upset about it to shut up because “there’s a reason” isn’t really helping the cause. I don’t fault any queer person for being fine with it but there needs to be room and understanding for the wide spectrum of feelings there are going to be on this one.
Also appreciate everyone in the thread discussing it and including many perspectives. I think we all know this one’s going to be pretty polarizing and it seems like the conversation is being handled with care which is really nice to see.

 

I think it might be that while his intention is pure, his execution is a bit hypocritical. If his point is hip hop artists shouldn’t say it because it’s not ok for a white girl to say the other word, why is he saying it at all when he could’ve reworked it to reference what word he was referring to. I can also see how him saying it and the amount he says it could be a trigger for people who have had to deal with homophobia, regardless of what his intention is behind using it. Just my thoughts on it

 

I do get, and agree, with this. It reminds me very much of the prison scene in Atlanta, which stuck with me for days because of how uncomfortable it made me and how unsure I was about its execution. I just think suggesting what Kendrick is doing here is on par with actual malicious uses of the word is way off base.

I’d rather just everyone not use the f word.

 

Is that in the new season? Got some catching up to do haha

 

Nah, first season. I think it’s the second or third episode, actually.

 

The song is intended to invoke hurtful or triggering feelings, the themes, characters, and word choice are intended to challenge and put the listener on the defensive, like much of Kendrick's work. It's a large part of why I'm always so interested in his music: he's willing to lay out intimate personal contradictions and questions of morality in his storytelling (mostly) without lecturing, instead providing narratives and characters for an audience to interpret however they may. Lots of people engage with serious books, films, and television shows with that understanding, but rarely extend it to pop music, especially hip hop.

I think some criticism I've seen going around is oversimplifying/overlooking the careful craftsmanship of the song. Yes, he's using language and dead names in ways that are jarring and fairly lead any listener to question his intentions, but there is an intention that is ultimately trans affirming and humanist. The song is about many things, features multiple characters expressing different thoughts, and is as open to critique as any other work of art, but some of the critique I've seen seems to be focusing on the song and lyrics at face value, or in purely those word's meanings divorced from context, with either no attempt at further introspection with the song, or outright dismissal of whatever artistic merit there might be. I understand divided perspectives, and am particularly interested in critiques that meaningfully engage with the art at least halfway.

I think a lot of reactions I've seen on Twitter, not just to "Auntie Diaries" but also the album as a whole, have been too quick and "have to have a take-y", so (apart from my two cents on the "Auntie Diaries" discourse), I'm fine sitting with the album before trying to talk too much more about it. That said, the Kodak Black feature is an ethical and artistic/thematic mistake that maybe shouldn't be reconciled.

 

Halfway through my first listen and I already removed the Rich interlude and We Cry Together (which, IMO, is just a less good version of For Free?)

I like the rest so far though. Yeah babeee

 

"N95" beat is wild too but I don't love what he's doing with his voice in the second verse or his flow in the beginning

 

I listened to the baby keem part of this album and now I’m listening to baby keem album it’s how it be

 

Idk why i couldn’t get into the Keem album

 

We Cry Together is the kind of song that exists to get aux cord privileges revoked

 

because it's not very good

sorry cobra

 

Listened to the first half. Rich spirit was the highlight and I was expecting we cry together to be way worse based on some of the over reactions in this thread.

 

it isn’t so much bad as it is something i never want to hear again. anti-music

 

It's weird enough when I'm at the doctor's office and they play "Stan" on XM and we all have to sit around pretending like we're not hearing a song about someone murdering their girlfriend.

 

I’m about to camp the next Coachella just to be parked next to you so I can only play the melodic blue on repeat

 

get tickets for both weekends cuz i won't tell you when I'm goingggg

 

jokes on you I was already planning on that if frank is headlining

 

"Already, a whole lot of people are calling out the way Kodak Black appears multiple times on the album. This is an intentional move on Kendrick’s part, a provocation. Kodak and Kendrick come from different generations and different rap traditions, but Kendrick apparently sees some of himself in Kodak. Kodak is a troubling figure. Years after being arrested for sexual assault, Kodak pleaded guilty to assault and battery while insisting that he’d never raped anyone, and that’s not enough for Kendrick Lamar to distance himself from someone. In fact, it’s the opposite. Kendrick seems to use Kodak as a vessel to show how he’s not the figure that some fans want him to be: “Like it when they pro-Black, but I’m more Kodak Black.” Kodak does sound pretty great on Kendrick’s ornate productions; he didn’t sound anywhere near that good on the sloppy-ass album that he released earlier this year. But Kodak isn’t on this album strictly for musical reasons, and it’s worth asking why Kendrick wants to die on that hill."

Premature Evaluation: Kendrick Lamar 'Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers'

 

I didn't outright hate we cry together, but the back and forth is pretty corny.

 

Need more (and more focused) listens to really have a complete opinion, but album is more great than not after my first.

 

Is that a everything I’m not homage near the end of Father Time?

 

The only thing more exhausting than this album is all the takes on this album

I don’t think I’ll listen to this again after reading about how fucked up the Kodak situation is. I’m out.