Mr. Morale is incomplete

Kendrick DUCKIE Lamar is one of the greatest artists of all time.

He is a honest, insightful, prescient and profound. His music is transformative and infectious. According to Spotify I’m anywhere from his top 5–0.5% of listeners.

So my opinion has some weight.

Mr. Morale is the fourth album in his line up and by far it is the most personal. It is a painfully focused look into his life, his upbringing, his spirituality and stands as a reflection of many black men.

The album describes the state of the world at time of his recording, his perspectives but most openly his sins.

His sins, his flaws, his traumas , his coping mechanisms.

Normally, his albums are narrative heavy, they take you from one point in his life to where he currently is and on the way carries lessons and themes he’s learned along the way. It opens with some conflict and ends with its resolution.

Eg Good Kid MAAD City begins with him blinded by lust going to a dangerous hood and getting jumped. The conflict arises when he tells his boys and they plan to retaliate, resulting in his friend dying. His resolution is that he gives himself over to God and through his music tells his story to inspire kids like him and prevent them from living how he lived.

MMATBS however is scant on the narrative. It’s presented more as snapshots, a series of therapy sessions.

My issue (such that I have one) is that we spend so much time in difficulty across its runtime with only five tracks that can be considered as answers. Father Time, Mother I Sober, Mirror, Count Me Out and The Heart part V.

They aren’t bundled together either so between them it feels like we’re still amidst so much grief.

I think, then, that Kendrick hasn’t finished healing. Therefore the album’s resolution is incomplete. There’s still a lot of work to be done.

Maybe that’s the point right? That we’re always healing. That we’re always growing. This is a lifelong process and the album certainly makes you feel that way.