I saw that this has a 9.5 rating on Pitchfork. That got my attention real quick, but I listened to one song that the review was gushing about... and was not impressed. At all. I'll take ya'lls words for it and not download it.

Goofle11 > Pitchfork

The world needs to know.

it's probably not even that bad, KL's an artist I'm going to keep at. So I will give GKMC another few chances.

I mean, I all but dismissed Ab-Soul's Control System on first listen, went back to it and it was actually really good.

Of course it's not Section 8.0, there'd be people slating him if he made another record too similar for a lack of musical progression, but I have a belief that if we are not too hasty to judge and keep it at, Kendrick will have delivered on this one.

As for RYM/Pitchfork/wherever, I don't judge what music I listen to by what another person tells me to think, I'm capable of formulating my own opinions.

Me too. I just found it today and was headed to give it a listen. I decided to stop by and see what MB had to say about it. I don't hate it; I don't love it. It's listenable. I can see myself enjoying it on occasion.

This is my first exposure to Lamar, so I have no expectations from his previous work.

I like it. It's good album. I still think Kendrick gets a lot of unwarranted praise. He falls into a lot of hip hop tropes that his contemporaries (jay electronica, yassim bey, even ab soul) have avoided. When i hear Kendrick make grandiose statements, i never get the sense he's astute enough to actually back them up.

The production is superb and that's why i like listen to it. Especially the dre stuff, and backseat freestyle goes super hard. I even like swimming pools as a single.

I just can't shake the impression that his praise has more to do with the state of the genre itself,rather than him being exceptional.

i amount most praise to the state of the genre.

See but other releases-jay electronica, shabazz, etc, weren't just good because of the state of the genre, they were just really, really good.

Kenderick isn't at all new or stands out based on his own range as a rapper, he just does it better than the state of the genre, meaning, he does it better than rick ross, school boy q or the other quasi pop/gangster rappers. He encompasses the persona of being intelligent, affluent and conscious (even though he in no way is) more so than the others in his same class.

Super on point. :clap:

Kendrick Lamar is a good artist.
He still has alot to prove though.
There is nothing that he has done yet to wow me.
I would say if he is around in five years cool.

Saw him do a song (it's either called Drunk or Swimming Pools) on Conan and it was decent. It definitely had its moments but it didn't blow me away or anything. I liked the somewhat minimal beats that aren't too overwhelming, but his emceeing is alright, nothing past that.