When Top said that a TDE project would be dropping by the end of the week, I doubt anyone could’ve predicted it to have been coming from the desk of Kendrick Lamar.
Untitled Unmastered is a compilation of all the loose and untitled tracks that Kendrick has either performed live, or stuffed into a past music video.
Seeing all of these songs, that fans have been itching for, brought together on one record is beautiful to say the least. These nine tracks, despite being made without the intention of becoming an album, (as far as we know) are incredibly cohesive. All the songs hang around the funk sphere for the most part, diverging only for a bridge or hook before sliding back into a thundercat bassline. A few of the tracks also have Kendrick spending more time on working in the melody of his flow into the instrumental, shifting just the slightest bit of weight off of lyricism. This direction divulges into a straight up ballad on the second half of “Untitled 07”, which has Kendrick harmonizing over some stuttering guitar riffs.
Of course “Untitled 07” can’t be mentioned without noting the subtle jabs taken at both Drake and Jay Electronica. Saying he “feels charged” (possibly referencing Drake’s initial diss to Meek Mill “Charged Up”) and dropping “just know the mechanics of making your choice and writing your bars” might be more coal to throw on the tension between Kendrick and Drake.
It’s been obvious as of late that there’s some sort of beef present between the two, but neither has made it blatant.
On top of that “I could never end a career if it never start” seems to be an easy shot to Jay Elec who had yet to drop an album yet still found himself in a position to diss Kendrick.
Beef aside, the album is really solid, and feels like a full project which adds to the hype of it coming as a surprise. If you’ve been a fan of the recent direction Kendrick’s been heading in, then you’d be at a loss if you didn’t pick up Untitled Unmastered.
Art by your homie, Arthur Banach
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