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This album comes off as an hour-long version of 'u' from To Pimp a Butterfly. Or a really intense therapy session.
I remember Mixed by Ali saying that the album was pulling from rock influences and I can see this. There's a lot of edgy music, at least in the sense of like Hail to the Thief Radiohead. And there's a lot of stuff that sounds like Speakerboxx/The Love Below OutKast. I never really noticed the OutKast similarities in Kendrick's music like others, but I can definitely hear it here.
It's such a challenging listen in the best of ways. The first listen really put me off. He's always probed his subject matter deeply, but he tunnels deep into himself and not only that some of the 'worst' aspects of his identities. I can't think of a particular comp, but it just strikes me like albums from the late '90s that were intentionally difficult to grasp and take in.
Like others have said, I think the structure and his level of mastery push things forward. I can't see others matching this tho. He's just too good at making albums.
I've only listened to this twice and I'm not sure how much more I will listen to it. With his previous albums, I had more spare time and bandwidth to take in heavy emotional material. So, I could put his albums on while riding the bus and zone out for a half-hour or hour and enjoy. But it reminds me of watching Requiem for a Dream or Marriage Story. It's really intense in the best ways. But I can't foresee myself wanting to experience those emotions through art intentionally very often.
I had to step away and come back to We Cry Together. It sounds like a real fight. And I do like how he attempted to handle gender and relationships. It came off as someone still finding their footing with the best ways to communicate his previous internal conflicts. But I kind of like that he put that out there. I still think that there were better ways to communicate his points on Auntie Diaries than using the f-bomb, but as I said, he's still finding his way.
I've gone on long enough, but I want to touch on my block by liking this. And it's not so much the intensity of the depression and trauma he brings up.
In his previous albums, he used that 1st person storytelling technique where he was able to deflect his character weaknesses onto fictional characters. It made it out to be that he had things figured out. Not that as a 30+ man I needed to follow the ways of someone so young, regardless of how sensitive and introspective he is. He wasn't a savior or a prophet to me, but it was still inspirational to see someone so young be so self-aware.
But here, there's no filter here, and not only that he's going deeper into his mind and trauma to reveal something that is unsettling to take in. But I also realize that the reason I don't like that is that it's also causing me to think about aspects of myself that I like to avoid. So, in the end, my issue with the album is more with me than anything with the album.
So, all in all, it was a good experience. I can never get enough Kendrick, but I'm more interested to read about it than listen to it. <--- Me when my head hits the pillow
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