“I seen it vividly jogging my brain memory, life is…”

 

The first words Kendrick Lamar uttered on the opening song of his new album “Untitled Unmastered” blared through the speakers of my car. The first time I listened to the opening song, I was amazed. Captivated by the beat. I had to keep listening.

 

“Untitled Unmastered” is Kendrick’s unedited cuts that did not make the To Pimp A Butterfly album released this past year. None of the songs have a formal title, instead they each have numbers and dates to distinguish the songs. The untitled songs add to the intrigue of the surprise album and allows each listener to form their own titles and meanings of songs.

“Untitled 01| 08.19.2014”

This track was a great start to open my ears and prepare me for what I was going to be listening to in this album. The opener made me want to experience more of the album and fast.

“Untitled 2 | 06.23.2014”

This track is a personal favorite of mine. The melody combined with the beats along with Kendrick’s singing/rapping made for an amazing track. One of my favorite things about Kendrick is his ability to use a song to tell a story/ his story. This track mixes everything I love about hip hop into one song: great beat, catchy hook and story line.

Plus the song starts off with “pimp pimp hooray!” who doesn’t love that?

“Untitled 3 | 05.28.2013”

The third song on the album is Kendrick interacting with different ethnic groups, Asians, Native Americans, and Blacks and understanding their cultures and what relevant issues those groups are being faced with.

“(What did the Indian say?)

A piece of land

That’s what the Indian said, I needed the man

Telling me longevity is in the dirt, should buy some property first

Should profit a better dollar with generational perks

Equity at his best, really, you should invest

These tangible things expire, don’t you expect

Income with so much outcome and yes

Look at my heritage, we blessed”

Kendrick also talks about how the white man is taking “pieces” of each group for his own profit and how the white man takes his “piece” from Kendrick and other rappers.

“A piece of mine’s

That’s what the white man wanted when I rhyme

Telling me that he selling me just for $10.99”

“Untitled 4 | 08.14.2014”

The fourth song is the smoothest song on the album. Between the beats and a general message of free thought the song is easily one of my favorites. Although the song does not state the other artist who appear in it, Sza, Jay Rock, and Lance Skiiiwalker are featured in the song.

“Untitled 5 | 09.21.2014”

The fifth song on the album is the perfect thing to listen to at a kickback. The beat is relaxed and the vocals are chill. The song is great “I wanna chill music.” It is not one of my favorites but I still like it. The hook of the song is sung by Anna Wise and artist Jay Rock and Punch are also featured in the song.

“Untitled 6 | 06.30.2014”

I cannot express how much the music in the album has moved me. Especially in this song with the simple drum beat going in the background coupled with CeeLo Green’s voice makes this another great song on the album.

 

“Untitled 7 | 2014-2016”

The seventh song starts off with one of my favorite lyric ever “Pimp pimp! (hooray!)” also found in the beginning of the second album. A sweet singing voice enters the speakers then Kendrick starts to rap.

One of my favorite music techniques is panning where the music moves from one speaker to another during a song and this song uses it so perfectly.

A couple of minutes into the song a little boy comes in saying,

“Compton is where I’m from

Is where I’m from, where is I’m from.”

The boy is named Egypt (age 5)  and is the son of producer Swizz Beatz and singer Alicia Keys. Aside from his verse in the song, Egypt also produced the song.

After that the song changes again and the listener enters part 2 and Kendrick begins to rap.

Then Part 3 begins and Kendrick opens and starts to sing to a background of soft guitar and ends the songs.

I love how I feel like I got three songs in one and the progression to one song to the next as well as the storyline interweaved throughout.  

“Untitled 8 | 09.06.2014”

The last song talks about the struggle of being black in America but he talks about his success in spite of that. The song  was a great way to end the album on a high note with a high tempo beat but still continuing to spread a message.

“In today’s day and age we practice the self pity of taking the easy way out

You wait on them, him and her

But when a blessing takes too long, that’s when you go wrong”

After experiencing both albums, “To Pimp A Butterfly” and “Untitled Unmastered,” I like them both individually. “Untitled Unmastered” had a completely different vibe from the “To Pimp A Butterfly.” The vibe of the second album is smoother and has a more relaxed tone to it.

“Untitled Unmastered” is the perfect album to play when you just want to hangout with friends and chill out.

Overall I really liked the album. It was music to my ears and I look forward to more untitled unmastered music from Kendrick.