DAMN by Kendrick Lamar... My only hip-hop record (for now)

Damn.

I have 40 records now in my record collection and Kendrick Lamar DAMN is my first straight up hip-hop album. I say “straight up” because I own Lauryn Hill’s “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” and though the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill contains hip-hop throughout the album, I think it blurs the line between hip-hop and soul. DAMN, with its gritty beats and Kendrick Lamar's lyrical mastery is pure hip-hop of the highest caliber.

I don’t know exactly why it took me so long to buy a hip-hop record or why DAMN is my first record but I think it may have something to do with what I think about Kendrick Lamar as an artist in relation to most of his peers. Among this current group of young hip-hop stars Kendrick stands out. I think it’s simply because he has something to say. That is something other than the amount of money he has, the jewels he wears, the women he has sex with and people he didn’t shoot. Don’t get me wrong, his music is aggressive and at times depicts violence, but like many of the legendary hip-hop artists that came before him, Kendrick Lamar shows us the world he came from through the lens of his artistry. This is as to opposed to saying the same old thing that everyone says in the same old way everyone says it.

This album is definitely a must have of any hip-hop fan.