While the rest of the world was obsessed with this album, I was obsessed with Ninja Sex Party's cover album. What kind of music critic am I, right? Pfft. But really, I love Kendrick. He's everything Kanye West claims to be and more. And that's going off mostly To Pimp A Butterfly. Maybe one day I'll listen through good kid, m.A.A.d city. But for now, I'm listening to this. Basically an outtakes reel from TPAB that wound up being just as popular and critically acclaimed. Going into this, I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm set up for something great. Hopefully I'm not disappointed again.
1. untitled 01 | 8.19.2014.
It takes a while to get going, but once it does, Kendrick does what he does best. The melody is pretty minimal, light amounts of bass and drums.
2. untitled 02 | 06.23.2014.
Kendrick's doing his his higher-pitched voice here. I'm honestly not a fan of that, but it's thankfully not that grating here. He's still compelling here, and the jazz instrumentation is great here.
3. untitled 03 | 05.28.2013.
The bass sounds a bit rough. I feel like if it was fine tuned it wouldn't stand out as much, though, so maybe it's best left as is. Besides, it makes me appreciate the groove of this track. Good stuff.
4. untitled 04 | 08.14.2014.
This one has much less focus on the instrumentation and more focus on the vocal performances. It's cool sounding I guess, but...I don't get it? It really doesn't have any time to say anything.
5. untitled 05 | 09.21.2014.
Drum and bass working overtime, hell yeah! You know how to best cater to someone like me, Mr. Lamar. Because I know that's important to you. Also there's two vocalists here that clearly aren't Kendrick. Makes me wish featured artists were credited here.
6. untitled 06 | 06.30.2014.
I can explain. There's your title there. Apparently Cee Lo Green is on this track, and man, it's been too long. Lyrically, it is kinda similar to i, and I kinda wish this made it on TPAB now.
7. untitled 07 | 2014 - 2016
Those untuned guitars honestly come off as kinda distracting. Also Kendrick's being as obnoxious as possible with his voice. If any track on this album is avant-garde, it's this one. And I'm honestly not a fan. At least Kendrick spits something harsh at one point. But then he just kinda jams and, eh...
8. untitled 08 | 09.06.2014.
Ooh, love those synths. Bring the funk, boys!
Final verdict: I was promised leftovers from To Pimp A Butterfly, and I got just that. It's kinda clear why these were cut from the final product, as none of them really feel like complete songs. Regardless, I'm glad we got to hear them anyway. There's great bars throughout, as you would expect, and interesting musical ideas. Even if not all of them stuck the landing. This feels a bit like a novelty listen, and TPAB is the better album, but this is still very much worth a listen.
Rating: 7/10
Best songs: untitled 06, untitled 05, untitled 01
Worst songs: untitled 07, untitled 04
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