**Official Kendrick Lamar Thread 4th Studio Album ''DAMN.''Out Now**

Sonically I definitely agree with you guys about playing it on shuffle as opposed to straight through. I think I prefer that and that's a first for a K. Dot joint. While the story does flow continuously as his perspectives change; sonically I think the randomness is refreshing to not really know what comes next and individually the tracks can stand on their own ultimately.
 
iamjusayn said:
So are we gone keep dancing around why Kodak black was on this album? Really
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For me, he was selected strategically. A few things come to mind, one Kodak is younger artist that seems to find his way into less than ideals situations. He may be looked at by some as ratchet, ghetto, thug etc, but others can see his potential. This album not only allows him to showcase his talents, it’s also an earmark for him to look back on as he progresses in his career. Kendrick symbolically put his arm around Kodak to gesture that he has support.
 
1stwitit said:
For me, he was selected strategically. A few things come to mind, one Kodak is younger artist that seems to find his way into less than ideals situations. He may be looked at by some as ratchet, ghetto, thug etc, but others can see his potential. This album not only allows him to showcase his talents, it’s also an earmark for him to look back on as he progresses in his career. Kendrick symbolically put his arm around Kodak to gesture that he has support.
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Nah. KDot is lame for including him, **** a representation or art. Glad reddit has been discussing this

 
I wanted to give Kendrick the benefit of the doubt on Kodak’s inclusion on the album but then when I sit with the subject matter it just doesn’t feel right. And it’s not like Kodak ain’t being featured on other albums so I just don’t get why he was included. I understand this is a really intimate and personal project given the subject matter but in this particular instance it feels like an oversight by an extremely meticulous artist.
 
when that question was asked about Kodak being on the album, I thought it was from an album standpoint. I am unaware of any rape situation when it comes to Kodak, I really don’t know outside of the music. Before listening to this album I didn’t know Kendrick had a wife and kids.
 
Ive heard Kodak had a few run ins with the law. Didn't realize Kodak had rape charges tho. Wonder if this is something Kendrick knew and took into consideration.
 
MVP said:
I know they've teased it for years but Cole in the space he's in right now would have been such a fit on this project and probably just murdered some of these features.
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Dang shame we never got a proper feature between these two yet

Shame we haven’t gotten anything from Cole/drake or Dot/Drake since early on

Shame we never got a Cole/Dot/Drake collab with Nas

shame Cole never got a proper Jay Verse since Trash mr nice watch or even Dot since Don’t kill my vibe remix
 

So what’s Kodak Black doing here?​

Ever the provocateur, Lamar made controversial rapper Kodak Black a centerpiece of Mr. Morale. Black is credited as a feature on “Silent Hill” but also appears on “Worldwide Steppers” and “Rich (Interlude)” in a sort of narrator capacity. It’s a bit of an odd choice for an album that spends so much time considering both sexual abuse and cancel culture, given Kodak’s history. In 2016, an underage girl accused Kodak, born Bill Kapri, of rape, and he was charged with a count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in South Carolina. The criminal case dragged on for years, and Kodak eventually pleaded guilty to a lesser first-degree assault-and-battery charges in April 2021, for which he was sentenced to 18 months of probation. He also, notably, had a 46-month federal-weapons sentence commuted by President Donald Trump in January 2021. Kodak has continued to have a successful music career since the rape accusation, with his recent single “Super Gremlin” hitting No. 3 on the Hot 100 in March.

Kodak doesn’t say much of substance on Mr. Morale. Introducing “Worldwide Steppers,” he teaches us that Lamar’s alias “Oklama” may actually be pronounced “O-K-lama.” On “Rich (Interlude),” he raps about “smart people makin’ horrible decisions” and takes stock of the struggles he has overcome. He also anticipates confusion over his Mr. Morale features, rapping, “What you doing with Kendrick? What you doing with a legend?” And on “Silent Hill,” he addresses that weapons charge, rapping, “In the studio with K.Dot, fresh out the Feds.”

But Lamar seems to be saying more with Kodak’s sheer presence. Early in the album on “N95,” he asks, “What the **** is cancel culture, dog?” He goes on to discuss cycles of abuse on “Mother I Sober,” using sexual abuse as a particular example. He raps about rappers who have experienced abuse “buryin’ they pain in chains and tattoos” and warns fans, “Listen close before you start to pass judgement on how we move.” This comes after he contemplated R. Kelly on “Mr. Morale,” asking, “If he weren’t molested, I wonder if life’ll fail him.” Lamar concludes “Mother I Sober” by declaring, “I set free all you abusers, this is transformation.” Featuring Kodak so heavily on the album may be his way of putting that forgiveness for past abusers into action. “Like it when they pro-Black, but I’m more Kodak Black,” he raps on “Savior.”

Lamar’s specifically generational perspective on trauma and abuse on “Mother I Sober” relates to a sample at the end of the previous song, “Mr. Morale,” from the writer Eckhart Tolle. In the clip, Tolle discusses one of his signature ideas, the pain-body. “People get taken over by this pain-body,” he says, “because this energy field that almost has a life of its own. It needs to, periodically, feed on more unhappiness.”

Some words from Vulture.



IMO K dot when you think about it had a lot of themes of sex on here.. I mean most rap talks about smashing females. but this album focuses on the different aspects of sex.
Like his infidelity, trans identity(aunt), Kodak, R kelly, mothers abuse, sex during slavery, and revenge sex because of slavery.
 
Honestly my take on the Kodak thing is that he was using Kodak to show why there is generational problems with sexual abuse. It’s not being addressed. He isn’t trying to say Kodak should be forgiven but more so here is the spotlight and Kodak just happens to be the public example of what’s wrong but doesn’t mean it never happens privately either
 
I personally wasn't fully aware of the Kodak situation until the album dropped and people started talking about it. I honestly think he could have had a bar or two about kodak and him needing forgiveness and it would have been fine.

If he didn't care about critics why not have R. Kelly on a chorus and say he needed forgiveness too? Oh his crimes were too bad for him to be featured or sampled? You won't touch that? Is it a big deal to have kodak on the album multiple times....I don't think so...should he have done it? No, i think it was in poor taste. But obviously this is 100% subjective and reflective of my moral compass.
 
jking0821 said:
I personally wasn't fully aware of the Kodak situation until the album dropped and people started talking about it. I honestly think he could have had a bar or two about kodak and him needing forgiveness and it would have been fine.

If he didn't care about critics why not have R. Kelly on a chorus and say he needed forgiveness too? Oh his crimes were too bad for him to be featured or sampled? You won't touch that? Is it a big deal to have kodak on the album multiple times....I don't think so...should he have done it? No, i think it was in poor taste. But obviously this is 100% subjective and reflective of my moral compass.
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He put a Kodak on the album because he fit what Kendrick was going for creatively. You asking about R Kelly as if dude ain’t in prison. How he going to record through the phone? That’s you saying something illogical to try and make a point. I’m sure dude has tons of songs that never made the album featuring all types of artists.
Just enjoy the music or don’t listen if you choose either way nobody wants to hear someone complain about who’s on an album.
 
Remy LeBeau said:
I wonder if K. Dot wrote the narrator portions for Kodak
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I always go back to what MC Eiht said about being on GKMC….he wrote the verse but Kendrick specifically told him what to mention in his verse. I’m sure it was the same with Kodak. He probably steered him in the direction as far as subject matter.
 
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