truly didn't care for a handful of the instrumentals he was rapping over. i do think it's a good project and i felt compelled to run it back as soon as it was over, which is a rare thing for me

tbh i think the rapping is uneven as well. he mentions having writer's block for 2 years early in the album. some of his flows and patterns are so basic that i thought that he was still working through it. it seems like the crux of the album is the lyrics and even then he's kind of just plainly stating things. like exposition through rapping. not much in the way of literary devices that rappers usually use. didn't catch much word play, metaphors or even similes. had me wondering if kendrick was always like this. that said i only listened once and generally miss a ton of stuff with the lyrics bc i am so dialed in on instrumentals and flows on my first go. i did catch the themes of the album (therapy, past trauma, infidelity, etc.) but likely missed many of the details. maybe the album will open up more after a second listen