Kendricks pen on s80 wasn't nearly as polished as it was on GKMC. Both in lyrics and song structure. He was great on section 80 but he elevated to all time great on Good Kid. When I first heard "Money trees" I was in complete awe. That's when I knew he was the one. Nothing on section 80 was on that level from a pure song writing standpoint.
Section 80's sequencing and production was also all over the place. I hold s80 in the same regard as OutKast southernplayalistic. Elite potential shown. But still very unpolished as an overall artist. Everything just came together on good kid and he never looked back. Section 80 was a necessary step in his journey, but I will always place it last in his catalog. Kendrick is a completely different level than he was then.
That's a fair assessment regarding the song writing. I disagree on the sequencing and production for Section 80.
But technicals aside, there is what I call "the replay factor" and whether or not the album makes you feel good enough to want to revisit it repeatedly over time.
For example, there's no question Kendrick's production, lyrics and songwriting abilities are light years ahead on Mr. Morale compared to Section 80. But Section 80 is a better album to me. It's a better
listen.
I can vibe to it, remember what was going on in my life at that time, and I remember thinking "wow this kid is going to be great" and he proved that one year later with GKMC.
This is all subjective and I respect everyone's right to what they consider their fave Kdot album.
Section 80 is an incredible debut album and there's no way I could put it last in his catalog when Mr. Morale exists.
To use your Outkast analogy, that would be like putting Speakerboxx/Love Below over Southernplayalistic. I can't see it
