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Kendrick Lamar · S7 E7
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
A double album about healing. Kodak Black, Eckhart Tolle, and the hardest mirror Kendrick ever held up
May 13, 2022. Kendrick Lamar drops a double album about therapy, and half his fanbase doesn't know what to do with it.
Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar, The Hillbillies (official music video, 2023). The pgLang family on screen together, Kendrick and his cousin trading energy over a beat that bounces between chaos and control. Released a year after Mr. Morale, this is the sound of Kendrick loose and free, the other side of the therapy.
The Hillbillies, Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar (2023)
A pgLang family affair. Keem and Kendrick trade verses over a beat that shifts tempo and mood without warning, the same unpredictability that defines both artists. Kendrick sounds lighter here than anywhere on Mr. Morale, like someone who did the work in therapy and came out the other side. Listen for the chemistry: two relatives who rap like they're competing and celebrating at the same time.
Sources
Baby Keem & Kendrick Lamar. "The Hillbillies." pgLang / Columbia, 2023.
The Double Album
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is split into two halves: Disc 1 opens the wounds, Disc 2 begins to heal them. Eighteen tracks covering infidelity, transphobia, cancel culture, generational abuse, and the burden of being Kendrick Lamar. Fans who wanted TPAB Part 2 got a therapy journal with beats instead.
Sources
Kendrick Lamar. "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers." pgLang / Aftermath / Interscope, 2022.
“As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years. The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood.”
— Kendrick Lamar
TAP TO REVEAL: Why did Kendrick feature Kodak Black on Mr. Morale?
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is structured as what?
Auntie Diaries, Kendrick Lamar (2022)
One of the most debated songs on the album. Kendrick tells the story of two transgender family members and his own evolving understanding of their identities. He uses language he now recognizes as harmful, letting the listener hear the ignorance before the growth. Uncomfortable by design.
Auntie Diaries, Kendrick Lamar (2022)
Read the lyrics while you listen. Kendrick deliberately includes the slurs he used as a child, not to shock but to document the journey from ignorance to empathy. The final section, where he corrects his own language in real time, is the song's emotional core.
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers
Disc 2 goes deeper than anything Kendrick has ever recorded. On the penultimate track, he confronts his mother's secrets, his father's abuse, and a cycle of pain that stretches back generations. Next: Mother I Sober.
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