some badly organized thoughts:

I strongly disagree with pretty much most of the criticisms that have been said in this thread, despite the fact that I see where they are coming from; many of them seem to be a bit reactionary to the fact that this is a gigantic leap stylistically away from GKMC; a move many were not expecting. To each his own though, I can see how this could turn some fans off, but I still think there is something to be said about the fact that an album by one of the most popular rappers right now seems to not live by any of the rules of popular rap today. I wasn't expecting anything this funky/jazzy either, despite the fact that on GKMC the Kast' influence was obvious, now it is even more apparent. Anyway I love this album; I dig every single track except for "i", which I think is only ok, thank god they used the live version though, because it sounds much better (less corny) than the original studio recording. This shit is so good I can't every choose what my favorite song is, so many instrumental/lyrical highlights for me...stuff like the bass on "Wesley's Theory" (thundercat killed it); the way the sax playing contributes to the dark atmoshpere in the first half of "u". Lyrically Kendrick absolutely destroys it and again it is an album which features him using a number of flows/vocal styles, "Hood Politics" is addicting. "Mortal Man" is a fantastic closer (much better than "real"). "You Ain't Gotta Lie" is mad Kast-ish (second half he channels 3k a little).

This is a great time for rap, Joey Bada$$, Lupe and now this. To be honest this is probably my favorite one out of the 3 (already).