For the first time in five years, one of hip hop’s biggest icons Kendrick Lamar has finally dropped his fourth album “Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers.” This is one of Lamar’s unique albums, as it differs so much from his other three and sold 295,500 units in the album’s first week.

     First off, this is his first-ever double album with 18 tracks and 75 minutes of listening, making it the most “stuffed” album of his career. This will also be his last album as part of Top Dawg Entertainment which Lamar has been a part of for over 17 years

     The album carries many themes as  Lamar expresses his thoughts, ideas, and feelings through his music and flawless lyricism. The album starts off with “United in Grief” where Lamar explains how “he’s been going through something”, and shows us just how human he is.

     “United in Grief,”  one of the most confusing yet meaningful songs, sets the tone for the whole album and reveals Lamar’s thoughts on the “rap game” and the extensive amount of money he had made while dominating it.

     Throughout the album, Lamar talks about his personal life and  his past.“Father Time,” conveys struggles with his father and how they affected his view on the world. He raps about how mental illness is pushed aside in the black community and how the way he was brought up caused him to deny mental health issues.

    With mental health prevailing as one of the major themes throughout the album, Lamar looks back and explains how he has realized the importance and seriousness of mental health.

     In only the second track of the song “N95 ”,  Lamar speaks on how culture has torn apart not only the hip hop world but also the whole idea of freedom of speech. He speaks on the death of freedom of speech and how artists are being controlled by the industry. “Oh, you worried ‘bout a critic? That ain’t protocol,” Lamar says on N95, contradicting the idea of being a tough and “ following protocol,” that so many rappers seem to hold above everything. Lamar does not stop there, as he presses cancel culture throughout the album on other songs such as “Saviors” and “Worldwide Steppers.” 

     Lamar criticizes his peers and other entertainers worldwide, claiming that they are letting cancel culture control them. “ Bite their tongues in rap lyrics/scared to be crucified about a song but they won’t admit it.”

     During Lamar’s 5 years away from the rap game, he built a family and came to an understanding of love. Relationships and love play a major role in the album as we hear Lamar speak on four of the best performing tracks about love and the relationships he’s had and built. “DieHard”, “We Cry Together”, “WorldWide Steppers”, and “Purple Hearts” are all songs that, although imitating modern pop songs, allow Lamar and other artists to express themselves through describing feelings and past experiences of love.

     It seems “Mr.Morale and the Big Steppers” will go down as one of Kendrick Lamar’s best albums as it has already received the largest first-day streams of 2022 on Apple Music, garnering over 60 million streams, as well as one of the greatest comebacks/returns in hip-hop history.