10 Best Hip-Hop Albums Of 2016 (So Far)
1. Kendrick Lamar - "untitled Unmastered."
Predictable? Maybe.
Justified? Absolutely.
People will still be talking about Kendrick’s current run decades from now. Still only 28, the Compton MC has churned-out more quality music over his last four releases (starting with 2011’s “Section.80”) than most musicians will manage in a lifetime.
“untitled unmastered.” doesn’t quite hit those kind of highs, but that was never the intention. This hastily thrown together collection of previously unreleased material is knock-your-socks-off good, and most MCs would kill to write a studio album as good as this.
Most of these tracks were recorded before or during Kendrick’s “To Pimp a Butterfly” sessions, and it shows. Just like “TPAB”, “untitled unmastered.” combines free jazz, bluesy sentiment, and the timeless spirit of American soul to create a delicious sonic gumbo to complement Kendrick’s sharp flows an elastic vocal range.
This collection differs from his previous work in that it lacks a consistent, enforced narrative to hold it all together, but it does maintain a series of recurring themes throughout. Equal parts braggadocious and socially conscious, it’s a perfect bridge between “Good Kid, m.A.A.d City”’s self-aware anti-gangsta rap and “TPAB”’s claustrophobic search for identity.
For a compilation of throwaways and loosies, “untitled unmastered." is truly remarkable.