According to Billboard, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers had the biggest No. 1 Billboard debut of 2022 thus far. The project ended up with 295,500 album-equivalent units making this Lamar’s fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart.
Five years later, Mr. Morale follows Kendrick’s last album Damn., for which he garnered five Grammy awards and seven nominations overall after debuting at the top of the Billboard 200 chart in 2017. The Grammy-award winning album also earned Kendrick Lamar the title of being the first hip-hop artist to win a Pulitzer Prize.
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is divided into two nine-track sides and features production from Sounwave and Dahi. The album includes sounds from the songwriting trio Beach Noise, Pharrell Williams, and others. The album came together with vocal features from Ghostface Killah, Baby Keem, Summer Walker, and more!
In songs like “Father Time,” Kendrick opens up about the challenges of fatherhood and marriage. “Daddy issues, hid my emotions, never expressed myself,” he rhymes.
Kendrick’s album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, received a lot of love from peers, including Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg sat down at Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast to give Lamar his flowers. “I get a chance to stand back and watch the youngsters do what they do. I mean, I did my thing with it for 20-something years as far as being the king of the West Coast, gave the crown to Kendrick Lamar — I didn’t give it to him; actually, he took it, but I had to take it off my head and give it to him,” he said. “And he’s been running wild with it and the music that’s been coming out from the West has been very, very good.”
Prior to the release of Mr. Morale, Lamar hasn’t released much other than occasional collaborations. “The Heart Part 5” is Lamar’s newest musical addition. Last fall, he linked up with Baby Keem for “Family Ties” and “Range Brothers.”
Overall, the album was an excellent way for Kendrick to step back into the music game and dominate. Many artists can’t take five years off with minimal collaborations and go number one. That speaks volumes about what type of artist Kendrick Lamar is.
