It has been five years since the Pulitzer-Prize-winning album DAMN. from Kendrick Lamar, and now he’s stepping it up to a double album with Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. It’s an album split in two — The Big Steppers confronting and owning the faults and flaws for everyone, and Mr. Morale on the path to healing.

Nothing is taboo or off limits on this album. It’s the purge and teachings of Kendrick Lamar.

It starts with the line, “I hope you find some peace of mind in this lifetime,” in “United in Grief” and the last song, “Mirror,” ends with “I choose me, I’m sorry.” And maybe that’s the conclusion, to look in the mirror and heal.

There are many themes throughout this record: finding spirituality in nature, his opposition to cancel culture, working through traumas, being open about his missteps, and advancing toward change to give his children a chance at betterment.

More than a few times Kendrick admits that he is in therapy which I find really powerful and the result is the unpacking of this record.

Throughout this journey you hear the voice of Eckhart Tolle, most known for his self-help best-seller The Power of Now, almost acting as his therapist throughout Kendrick’s unveilings.

The collaborators are endless and surprising. Notably the trip-hop pioneer Beth Gibbons, of Portishead fame, guests on “Mother I Sober.” More controversially, embattled rapper Kodak Black has a lot of real estate on the album. It’s a likely conscious decision as Kendrick points out cancel culture throughout the record with lines like, “Don’t you point a finger, just to point a finger/ ‘cause critical thinkin’ is a deal-breaker” in “Mirror.” 

Sampha appears on the hook for “Father Time,” a track with Kendrick talking through his daddy issues, admitting his need for help and shouting out to those who fought these issues and didn’t pass them on to their children. He also addresses issues no rapper that I’m aware of has ever talked about, acknowledging two of his trans family members in “Auntie Diaries” expressing his love and acceptance for them while also giving credit to his aunt with the lines “The first person I seen write a rap, that's when my life had changed.”

These are just a few names and themes on the endless list of artists and topics of the diverse excellency of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. And this all hints at the variation of the sound from blending jazz and hip hop to some R&B, and even funk and chamber music.

I personally appreciate realness of these words and the owning of these words, but also the invitation to the listener to internalize and question themselves along the process.

In “Purple Hearts,” Kendrick says, “I’m not in the music business, I been in the human business”

Vulnerability is everything. That’s how we heal.

Being uncomfortable is how we learn.

That’s what you get in Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

Let us know what you think of this new album in the comments.