If we gonna have a honest convo, rapping for the sake of rapping places you in a certain box. And it’s why Section 80 as incredible as it is, is placed so lowly in his discography for so many people. It’s only so much you can stretch the linguistics of metaphors and multi syllables before it honestly becomes redundant.
All genres taken into consideration, it doesn't matter what you like, tpab is still a much better album than gkmc.
I can live with this, although gkmc is too high imo.Dz just released their list as well
They got:
8. OVERLY DEDICATED (2010)
If Kendrick is the undisputed king of the rap universe today, then Overly Dedicated was him competing in the rap regionals. Featuring Black Hippy co-collaborators Schoolboy Q, Ab-Soul and Jay Rock, as well as local LA legends like Jhené Aiko and Murs, sonically the project sat within established trends rather than setting them on later releases. Still, in tracks like “Ignorance is Bliss” and “Average Joe”, there are glimpses of the senior social voice that Kendrick became as years went by.
7. DAMN. (2017)
Sit down, Damn., be humble. It slaps, don’t get me wrong – “Humble” and “DNA” are some of the biggest and most viral moments of Kendrick’s career. But, in terms of the experimental production and unparalleled storytelling that really made him a world-class artist, the project left a little to be desired. Sonically, it feels more on the nose compared to his other releases, and, thematically, lives ever so slightly in the shadow of “The Heart Part 4” single that immediately preceded it.
6. SECTION.80 (2011)
His first official album and following just one year after Overly Dedicated, Section.80 feels like the birth of Kendrick proper. Its title a portmanteau of American social housing scheme Section 8 and the 80s crack epidemic, the album unveiled his unique ability to embody different voices and perspectives in his storytelling. Combined with the incorporation of organic live jazz elements, Section.80 is a debut that has really stood the test of time.
5. UNTITLED UNMASTERED (2016)
Raw, unfiltered and dripping with funk, Untitled Unmastered is the sort of unorthodox classic that only Kendrick could have made. Taking chaos as its unifying theme, and lacking a standout track to tie it all together, it’s hard to rank this project against the rest of his releases (and, indeed, some argue that it isn’t an album at all), but it is underpinned by such an undeniable virtuosity that it can’t not be mentioned here.
4. GNX (2024)
Even looking back at GNX’s surprise release last Friday, I still get tingles. It felt like the world over was stopped in their tracks when it dropped, and the gloriously menacing energy of opening track “wacced out murals” only heightened this sense of a cataclysmic global event taking place. Sending shots at Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne and comedian Andrew Shulz over his most West Coast production yet, Kenny definitely seems riled up. This anger is incredibly compelling on tracks like “tv off” and “squabble up” but, as hinted on Tupac homage track “reincarnated”, I can’t help but feel that it is slightly unbefitting of a voice as refined as Kendrick’s. Ultimately, in contrast with his normally pensive discography, GNX emerges as rather reactive.
3. MORALE AND THE BIG STEPPERS (2022)
Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers is The Sopranos of the rap game, and equally as legendary. The hour-plus epic follows a series of developments in Kenny’s personal life – the deaths of Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant, becoming a father and starting therapy. It’s painfully honest, sprawling and, in tracks like “Father Time” and “We Cry Together”, his most emotionally compelling release to date.
2. GOOD KID, M.A.A.D. CITY (2012)
If Overly Dedicated was Kendrick cementing himself as a leading figure of LA, then Good Kid, m.A.A.d City was him going truly global. Kicking off what would become characteristic of Kendrick releases to follow, the project immediately made hip hop fans everywhere turn their heads when it was released, standing out both sonically and lyrically from anything that had come before it. It slapped at the party and the walk home, and struck a balance between intensely personal and narratively ambitious subject matter. As an album, there’s only one other project that can beat it to the number one spot…
1. TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY (2015)
To Pimp a Butterfly isn’t just Kendrick’s best album, it’s not even just one of best hip hop albums – it’s one of the best albums of all time. Tying together elements of jazz, funk, neo-soul and G-funk, with the legendary fingerprints of Thundercat, Dr Dre, Knxwlxdge and more felt throughout, the album listens like a sonic tour through the prolific canon of African-American music, and sports the thematics to match. It’s fearlessly political, astutely self-aware and, at its core, is the unparalleled lyricism of one of this generation’s most respected voices.
Personally I don't rank it low just because it's just "rap", but because its not as good as them other projects in my book
s80 is his worst, by far.
By the way, and thats not even an insult, you'll never see a jay album ranked high on any respectable music list... Jay is the definition of someone that never transcended rap music.
Well with GKMC his later albums are just better overall pieces of work. His rapping got better, the production got better, the layering of themes and sequencing got better, the editing of song lengths/transitions got better as well.
By transcending rap, I'm not saying a rap artist has to try a different genre, I'm saying the merits of his rap album will be considered outside of the hip-hop world.
