01. DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar

Coming in at number one, we've got King Kendrick 🙌🏼

I know that many people don't think this album necessarily compares to To Pimp A Butterfly, but I think a lot of that comes from the fact that on the surface this album *sounds* like a radio album. TPAB caught a lot of attention for its interlacing of poetry to direct the narrative, but if you go back and listen through the album you'll realize that Kendrick's poem walks you through the album. What I like so much about DAMN is how he didn't feel the need to hold the listener's hand, and managed to disguise deep subjects such as his fear of God as radio hits! With this album, Kendrick put on display his lyricism, thoughtfulness, and ability to create some 🔥

I wrote a bunch about this album on Manila Folders which you can read here (scroll to the bottom). In the piece, I draw some parallels between Kendrick’s album and Natasha Trethewey’s poem “Myth.” If you give it a read, I'd love to hear your thoughts (because tbh I spent a lot of time thinking about/writing this piece and I have no clue if anyone has even read it yet, and this is my attempt to guilt you into reading it) ❤️

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I also recorded a 2-hour process video of (re)making this match box which you can watch here.