Surprise!!!
The TDE camp keeps their promise with an impromptu album guaranteed by Top Dawg (Founder and CEO of TDE) after sending out a few tweets hinting at something special in store for all the fans. The biggest surprise was which artist the project would be coming from. Many people, including myself, were expecting some new music from Isiah Rashad or Schoolboy Q, but nearly no one guessed Grammy winner and front man Kendrick Lamar would be bringing a new sound to the world so soon. "Untitled Unmastered" seems to be an extension on the ideas and messages from "To Pimp A Butterfly", but in a more raw form. Overall the album appears to be live tracks and concepts that didn't make the album, but were great enough to be placed onto a project for listeners to dive into.
The album starts out with a dialogue from a man who appears to be speaking to a woman about sex, then dives straight into vivid imagery of a world on the brink of pure chaos. The instrumental is simple, yet fits the delivery and aggression so well that any additional layers would ruin the meld. The lyrical ability of Kendrick Lamar was not only top notch, but it carried on a vibe and message that came right back to the concept of his previous works which emphasized on self awareness, empowerment, and eliminating the desire of a materialistic lifestyle.
What may rub some listeners the wrong way is the production, personally I love the G-funk and jazz incorporated production (especially live), but some may be looking for the Good kid, M.a.a.d City pure Hip Hop and melodic beats, unfortunately you won't receive much of that here. There aren't many machine made instrumentals used to put this project together except for tracks 2 and 8 (which fit the GKMC sound), but that shouldn't be anticipated when dealing with a unmastered version of live musical production.
I personally did not enjoy any additional tidbits that weren't purely music. The dialogue opening the album seemed out of place, and the "pimp pimp hooray" track intros were counter intuitive. The other downside to this album was the delivery and vibe of the Untitled verses performed live at the Grammy's, Colbert Show, and Jimmy Fallon show. The aggression behind his bars at the live performances was absent, which would be fine if we didn't tune in to those programs to hear them for the first time. What helps Kendrick with this release is not only the timing, but also the insight to his creative process. Since there are no titles, has diverse features, and a variety of sound, we the listeners can express our ideas of what direction we desire his music to go next. More importantly we get to hear what's on his mind and the issues of his concern.
Social injustice, cultural empowerment, vanity, and sex are the main focus of his lyrics and is layered in metaphors and imagery which are creative and impacting.
This project isn't groundbreaking overall, but it does find itself being grounded in some of the same ideals and pursuits of past Kendrick Lamar even dating back to his K. Dot days. Hopefully the next full blown studio project from Kendrick Lamar continues to develop on the message he wants to spread and ventures into boundaries never crossed. Until then, we have plenty of food for thought and vibes to enjoy.
Get God on the phone!!! (love that line)
Standouts: Untitled 2, 3, 5, 8
Beats: 8
Lyrics: 9
Originality: 9
Concept: 8
Lyrics: 9
Originality: 9
Concept: 8
Overall: 8.5
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