Kendrick Lamar’s double-length album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers has ignited cultural conversations amongst music critics and fans as of late.
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Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers follows the Pulitzer Prize-winning DAMN, released in 2017. Five years later on his new project, Lamar examines heavy subject matter such as generational trauma, sexual politics and high expectations as a verteran artist. According to critics, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is an intense and polarizing listen with iconic earworms. In the latest episode of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour, music writer Christina Lee and author Marcus J Moore join host Steven Thomposn to talk about Lamar’s new album.
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“I think thorny is a really good way to describe it [the album],” says Lee “I think coming out of my first listen, I immediately wanted to peg this as his most polarizing, if not his most antagonistic album yet. I think the second and third time I heard it, my views have softened. I've become a bit more sympathetic towards it. But I would say that maybe this is his most uneven album.”
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