In December 2020, the Roskilde Festival announced that Kendrick Lamar would be headlining the festival in 2021, noting that "new material [was] on the way".[1][2] On April 14, 2021, during an interview with Complex in commemoration to the fourth anniversary of Damn, Lamar's engineer MixedByAli was asked if the album would arrive in 2021 and replied: "It might, it might, you never know".[3][4]
In a blog post on August 20, 2021, Lamar announced that he was in the process of producing his final album under the Top Dawg Entertainment label, writing:
I spend most of my days with fleeting thoughts. Writing. Listening. And collecting old Beach cruisers. The morning rides keep me on a hill of silence. I go months without a phone. Love, loss, and grief have disturbed my comfort zone, but the glimmers of God speak through my music and family. While the world around me evolves, I reflect on what matters the most. The life in which my words will land next. As I produce my final TDE album, I feel joy to have been a part of such a cultural imprint after 17 years. The Struggles. The Success. And most importantly, the Brotherhood. May the Most High continue to use Top Dawg as a vessel for candid creators. As I continue to pursue my life's calling. There's beauty in completion. And always faith in the unknown. Thank you for keeping me in your thoughts. I've prayed for you all. See you soon enough.[5]
In "Auntie Diaries", Lamar recollects a story concerning his transgender uncle and cousin, while referencing issues regarding societal and religious views of gay and trans individuals and those who associate with the LGBTQ+ community.[26][27][28] The eighth track, "We Cry Together", samples Florence and the Machine's song "June". Lyrically, it revolves around a heated argument enacted by Lamar and actress Taylour Paige.[6][7][29]
Release and promotion
Lamar formally announced the album and its release date on April 18, 2022, through a PGLang-headed letter.[30] Following the announcement, his website was updated with a new page entitled "The Heart", containing 399 empty computer folders.[31] On May 3, Lamar confirmed that the project would be a double album by sharing a photo of the album's master copy.[32] He released the promotional single "The Heart Part 5", the fifth installment to his "The Heart" song series, on May 8, with an accompanying music video.[33] On May 11, he revealed the album's cover.[34][35] The album will be released on CD on May 27.[36]
Singles
On May 14, 2022, Lamar released the music video for "N95".[37] It was sent to Italian contemporary hit radio on May 20, as the album's lead single.[38] On May 20, 2022, it was revealed the song "Silent Hill" (with Kodak Black) would be serviced to urban and rhythmic radio formats in North America on May 31.[39][40]
On May 13, 2022, following and in promotion of the album's release, Lamar announced a 68-date concert tour, The Big Steppers Tour which will visit the United States, Canada, Europe, and Oceania. Baby Keem and Tanna Leone will join as the opening acts on all three legs of the tour.[41]
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers was met with widespread critical acclaim.[49] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 89, based on 21 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[43] Aggregator AnyDecentMusic? gave it 8.8 out of 10, based on their assessment of the critical consensus.[42]
Ben Bryant of The Independent called the album a "tender opus from the defining poet of his generation", writing, "The rapper's first album in five years is a haunting and surprising meditation on fatherhood and family".[20] In a five-star review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis praised the themes, lyricism and style.[21] Robin Murray from Clash enjoyed the album, saying, "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is one of his most profound, complex, revelatory statements yet, a double album fuelled by sonic ambition, the will to communicate, and Kendrick's staunch refusal to walk the easy path".[50] Steve Loftin of The Line of Best Fit said, "It being one so vulnerable and exposing (including using his family for the artwork), stripping the skin down to the bone, is bold, beautiful, but most importantly, a reminder that an artist like Kendrick Lamar is once in a generation".[51] Reviewing the album for NME, Kyann-Sian Williams stated, "The rapper's first album in five years sees him overcome "writer's block" to triumph with a collection on which his observational skills go into overdrive".[48] Rob Moura of PopMatters said, "On Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, renowned rapper Kendrick Lamar observes the strife plaguing his kingdom and consciously abdicates the throne".[14] Writing for Exclaim!, Riley Wallace stated, "Kendrick Lamar lets it all out, and even if it's the last time we hear from him in this form, he's metaphorically put his whole heart on the table, with yet another body of work worthy of multiple spins and endless dissection".[52] Fred Thomas from AllMusic also stated that "While not always an easy listen, the album shows more of its intention as it goes, and ultimately makes sense as the next logical step forward in Lamar's increasingly multi-dimensional artistic evolution".[44]
In a four-star review for The Daily Telegraph, Will Pritchard praised the album's concept and the Kendrick's ability to take "big swings" on songs such as "Father Time" and "Worldwide Steppers". Pritchard lightly criticized the "occasional blip" on the album, citing the command to "stop tap dancing around the conversation" in "We Cry Together" as the album's most obvious misstep.[46] In a positive review, Pitchfork's Matthew Trammell said, "On his fifth album, Kendrick retreats from the limelight and turns to himself, highlighting his insecurities and beliefs. It's ambitious, impressive, and a bit unwieldy".[10]Rolling Stone critic Jeff Ihaza said, "The Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper spends much of his fifth studio album deconstructing his own mythology. The result is at moments brilliant but on the whole, frustratingly uneven".[12] In a more mixed review, MiloRuggles of Sputnikmusic praised the album's writing and performance, but criticized the production and perceived lack of cohesion, stating that "the instrumentals rarely serve the performances they exist to enhance", and that "the listening experience is defined by languorous stretches between big moments, and becomes more of an exercise in patience than an engaging and enlivening journey".[53]Jon Caramanica of The New York Times opined that "Mr. Morale is probably Lamar's least tonally consistent work", "rangy and structurally erratic, full of mid-song beat switches, sorrowful piano and a few moments of dead air".[54]
Controversy
The inclusion of rapper Kodak Black on the album garnered controversy due to him having been accused of rape in 2016 and pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and battery.[55][56][57][58]
While "Auntie Diaries" was met with praise from critics and transgender listeners,[59][60] the song was also met with heavy criticism due to Lamar's repeated usage of "faggot", in addition to deadnaming and misgendering his trans relatives.[61][62][63]
Commercial performance
Upon release, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers received the largest first day streams of 2022 on Apple Music, garnering over 60 million streams.[64] In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, opening with 295,500 album-equivalent units that consisted of 35,500 album sales and 258,500 streaming units calculated from the 343.02 million on-demand streams the album's tracks received. Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers became Lamar's fourth consecutive number-one album in the country, and the largest opening week for an album in 2022 so far.[65]
"Worldwide Steppers" contains samples of "Break Through", written by Vincent Crane and Pat Darnell, as performed by The Funkees; contains samples of "Look Up Look Down", written by Phillip Hunt, as performed by Soft Touch; and contains an uncredited excerpt from the clip "When There is No Cheese at the Cookout", as performed by Radel Ortiz.[66]
"Father Time" contains samples of "You're Not There", written by Kennis Jones, as performed by Hoskins 'NCrowd.
"We Cry Together" contains a sample of "June", written by Florence Welch, as performed by Florence and the Machine; and contains samples of "Valentine" written by Gary Peacock, as performed Gary Peacock, Art Lande, and Eliot Zigmund.
"Crown" contains samples of "Through the Night", as performed by Duval Timothy.
"Mr. Morale" contains an uncredited excerpt from the clip "Dallas Cowboys look pathetic vs the Seahawks", as performed by Josh Shango, courtesy of The Dallas Cowboy Show.[67]
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 202220 on the field besides the word "Zobrazit", and then click over the word to retrieve the correct chart data. Retrieved May 23, 2022.