My Favorite Song From Each Kendrick Lamar Album
Week one of two straight Thursday Kendrick posts
1,854 days.
It has been 1,854 days — over five years — since Kendrick Lamar has released an album. There has been songs and a movie soundtrack since, but this level of excitement for anything only happens every few years.
There are a handful of artists that will keep me up past midnight to listen as soon as it is released — Frank Ocean, Taylor Swift, Brockhampton and Phoebe Bridgers to name a few — but nothing is more exciting than a Kendrick release.
I thought about ranking his four albums, but my list isn’t creative and I wouldn’t be able to give each album it’s proper due unless this post went 5,000 words. So, here’s that list:
To Pimp a Butterfly
good kid, m.A.A.d city
DAMN.
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But what’s special about Kendrick is that the “worst” album he’s made would be the best album for 99 percent of other artists. He has raised the bar to a place that feels impossible to surpass at this point. Then, he drops “The Heart Part 5,” and he raises the bar again.
This is one of the best songs of 2022 and one of Kendrick’s finest works, and it almost definitely won’t even be on this new album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.”
Next week will be a review of that, but for now, let’s talk about the best song from each of those four earlier albums. There are so, so many choices on each one of these albums, these just happen to be my favorites. As always, don’t yell at me.
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The Pick: “Rigamortus”
Runners-up: “A.D.H.D,” “HiiiPower,” “Fuck Your Ethnicity”
Kendrick’s debut album may have not had the conceptual highs of his other efforts, but it still has the exceptional lyricism, energy and creativity that makes him such a special artist.
There are plenty of good picks here where he slows it down, but the highs of “Rigamortus” stand out among them all for me. The horns and build up of the drums make for stellar production, and Kendrick’s flow keeps up with the intensity throughout the entirety of the track.
The lyrics are crisp, but it’s the flow that impresses me the most with this song. There’s barely a breath to be had here between the chorus and the verses, but it never gets tiring thanks to Kendrick’s delivery and intensity.
good kid, m.A.A.d city
The Pick: “Sing About Me, I’m Dying of Thirst”
Runners-up: “m.A.A.d city,” “The Art of Peer Pressure," “Money Trees”
Picking the best song on nearly every Kendrick album feels impossible. This is the one that doesn’t.
There are infinite highlights on Kendrick’s masterpiece sophomore effort, but none compares to the 12-minute odyssey that is “Sing About Me.” The way Kendrick is able to be introspective without coming off as preachy or annoying is unmatched by anyone else in the industry, and this song is an excellent example of that. Here, Kendrick sings through various perspectives to look inward and bring it out, and the results are something truly special.
The first half is art through words over a laid back beat, and it might have been good enough on its own to earn this spot. Instead, there’s a second half, which ramps up the intensity dramatically while keeping the same themes, the same arc that we’ve listened to throughout the album to this point. It’s brilliant, the climax of an unbelievable album, and it might still be his best individual work nine years later.
To Pimp a Butterfly
The Pick: “u”
Runners-up: “Alright,” “The Blacker the Berry,” “Mortal Man,” “Wesley’s Theory”
The answer for my favorite song off “To Pimp a Butterfly” should really be all of them. It’s a perfect album, one of my favorite albums of all-time, and my favorite song has changed on it multiple times over the years.
Currently, my pick would be “u.” If “Sing About Me” is Kendrick’s lyrical tour de force, this is his emotional one.
This song sees Kendrick at rock bottom, drunk in a hotel room yelling into the abyss about how he sees himself as a failure for not being there for those he loved. Again, the introspection here is unmatched among his peers. But what makes this stand out is the delivery: unhinged without sounding even a little bit comedic, like he’s on the verge of losing it all with every line that continues.
It is a dark, dark listen with an exceptional jazz instrumental going on in the background, a stable background to go with the manic performance in front of it. There are certainly songs I would return to on TPAB before this one, but I think this is his best.
Note: The first half of this video is “u,” the second half is the “For Sale?” interlude.
DAMN.
The Pick: “XXX.”
Runners-up: “DUCKWORTH,. “DNA.,” “FEAR.”
I think “DAMN.” went from properly appreciated to full-on underrated in the years that have gone since Kendrick has released a project. This album is incredible, even with a less direct narrative than the past two works.
Again, so many songs to choose from, but the three-part banger of “XXX.” has always stood out to me. This one follows a storyline about gun violence, how Kendrick’s emotions can get the best of him, and it also had plenty to say about the political climate at the time.
The way Kendrick can shift tones in the blink of an eye is most notable here, especially with the switch in the second act that has one of my absolute favorite beats of any of his songs (that use of a police siren, good lord). Hell, U2 is even a terrific addition in the closing portion here. It all just works, and it’s a song that goes through so much, sonically and lyrically, in just over four minutes of runtime.
I’ll see you back here Thursday, when we will (hopefully) have a new classic to talk about.
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