Performer Notes

Audio Mixer: Derek "MixedByAli" Ali.
Recording information: Henson Recording Studios; Jungle City Studios; No Excuses, Santa Monica, CA; Windmark Studios.
Photographers: Roberto Reyes; Dave Free.
To Pimp a Butterfly's proper and oft-biblical follow-up arrived on Good Friday, 13 months after untitled unmastered., an intermediary release that eclipsed the best work of most contemporary artists. If Kendrick Lamar felt pressure to continue living up to his previous output, there's no evidence on DAMN. He's too occupied tracing the spectrum of his mental states, from "boxin' demons" to "flex on swole," questioning and reveling in his affluence, castigating and celebrating his bloodline, humble enough to relate his vulnerabilities, assured enough to proclaim "Ain't none of y'all fuckin' with the flow." Throughout, he intensely examines most of the seven deadly sins, aware all along that his existence is threatened by anyone who objects to the color of his skin or clothes -- or, in the case of the blind stranger who shoots him during the album's opener, nothing that is apparent. Compared to the maximum-capacity, genre-twisting vastness and winding narratives of Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City and To Pimp a Butterfly, DAMN. on the surface seems like a comparatively simple rap album that demands less from the listener. There's relative concision in the track titles and material, and a greater emphasis on commercial sounds -- such as Mike WiLL's lean and piano-laced trap beat for the strong-arming "HUMBLE.," Lamar's first Top Ten pop hit, and a couple productions that are merely functional backdrops lacking distinction. In a way, however, DAMN. is just as lavish and singular as the preceding albums, its quantity and weight of thoughts and connected concepts condensed into a considerably tighter space. It contains some of Lamar's best writing and performances, revealing his evolving complexity and versatility as a soul-baring lyricist and dynamic rapper. Although it's occasionally distorted, stretched, smeared, and reversed to compelling and imagination-fueling effect, his voice is at its most affecting in its many untreated forms. Take "FEAR.," in which he switches between echoing hot-blooded parental threats to enumerating, with a 40-acre stare, various death scenarios. His storytelling hits an astonishing new high on "Duckworth," the album's finale. Over ethereal funk sewn by 9th Wonder, Lamar details a potentially tragic encounter between his father and future Top Dawg CEO Anthony Tiffith -- and the conditions leading to it -- that occurred long before Kung Fu Kenny was known as K. Dot. ~ Andy Kellman

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "The rhymes on songs like 'DNA,' 'Element,' 'Feel,' 'Humble' and 'XXX' come fast, furious and almost purist in nature."

Spin - "Kendrick is at his best when he's rapping through the abyss, and better when his flow pulls in rappers from times past. On 'ELEMENT,' he catapults through Kid Capri's brooding, copping Juvenile's 'Ha' flow and working in a 2Pac conspiracy reference."

Entertainment Weekly - "Lamar deploys his generational lyrical gift in a search for answers to 2017's pervasive chaos....His dazzling verbal flows prove he's still hip-hop's best..."

Uncut - "A rapper at his peak, blessed with a flow, nuance and unostentatious authority that currently feels unparalleled."

NME (Magazine) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "`DAMN. is by far his shortest release to date -- but the ideas, thoughts and feelings it contains are massive, weighty things, from sexual tension to deep, dark depression."

Clash (Magazine) - "[H]is most cerebral and self-conscious offering yet, making sense of his thoughts with the listener as a fly on the wall inside his brain."

Album: Damn CD by Kendrick Lamar 1Disc
#	Song Title		Time
1)	BLOOD.	More Info...	0:02
2)	DNA.	More Info...	0:03
3)	YAH.	More Info...	0:02
4)	ELEMENT.	More Info...	0:03
5)	FEEL.	More Info...	0:03
6)	LOYALTY. (Feat. Rihanna)	More Info...	0:03
7)	PRIDE.	More Info...	0:04
8)	HUMBLE.	More Info...	0:03
9)	LUST.	More Info...	0:05
10)	LOVE. (Feat. Zacari)	More Info...	0:03
11)	XXX. (Feat. U2)	More Info...	0:04
12)	FEAR.	More Info...	0:07
13)	GOD.	More Info...	0:04
14)	DUCKWORTH.	More Info...	0:04

Album: Damn CD by Kendrick Lamar 1Disc
#	Song Title		Time
1)	BLOOD.	More Info...	0:02
2)	DNA.	More Info...	0:03
3)	YAH.	More Info...	0:02
4)	ELEMENT.	More Info...	0:03
5)	FEEL.	More Info...	0:03
6)	LOYALTY. (Feat. Rihanna)	More Info...	0:03
7)	PRIDE.	More Info...	0:04
8)	HUMBLE.	More Info...	0:03
9)	LUST.	More Info...	0:05
10)	LOVE. (Feat. Zacari)	More Info...	0:03
11)	XXX. (Feat. U2)	More Info...	0:04
12)	FEAR.	More Info...	0:07
13)	GOD.	More Info...	0:04
14)	DUCKWORTH.	More Info...	0:04