In the interviews surrounding To Pimp A Butterfly, Terrance Martin revealed that there was an extremely high number of unfinished tracks that were scrapped from the album. In addition to this, during various live performances Kendrick Lamar performed "untitled" songs that were not present on his recent masterpiece, and were, until the release of this "album" believed to be tracks that the general public would never hear outside of those live settings. Those that have followed his TV performances will immediately recognize "untitled 3" and "untitled 8". "untitled 3" remaining a captivating song that explores racial stereotypes, although the recorded session lacks the fire of his Colbert Report performance, and "untitled 8" being a great song with extremely funky and soulful instrumentation, with Kendrick's verses being accompanied by background vocals which sing throughout the entire track.
There will always be speculation over whether Kendrick had always planned on doing this - the record is creepily well sequenced for what is essentially an unintended compilation album. What was the tipping point? Was it was the deafening cries from fans to have these tracks that filled up the internet each time Kendrick performed on TV? Or was it just the tweet from LeBron James that convinced T.D.E. to release it? Regardless of why it was released, at the end of the day all that matters is that it’s out now.
If there is one that comes to my mind when listening to untitled unmastered it is definitely "prime". Obviously there is no way to tell right now, things like this are determined long after, but this release presents an extremely strong argument that this is the creative prime of someone who is surely one of the best hip-hop artists of his generation. As the title suggests, these songs are obviously throwaways - songs that Kendrick felt like didn't fit in with, or maybe were just not good enough, for To Pimp A Butterfly. That said, it seems that Kendrick's outtakes are better than his peers' entire albums, because untitled unmastered is likely to end up among the best hip-hop albums of the year,
Being from the sessions that created To Pimp A Butterfly, it should come be no surprise that these tracks carry many of the traits that made that album so great. The tracks here have very jazzy and funky instrumentation that occasionally wanders into a certain type of darkness - a brilliant weirdness that one could expect after hearing To Pimp A Butterfly. Despite this, one of the best aspects of this record is that it shows Kendrick in a more unhinged and experimental state than on that album.
The album starts off with an apocalyptic bang, with Kendrick putting in an incredible lyrical performance describing the end of the world over a sinister boom-bap instrumental ("untitled 1"). This is followed by, "untitled 2", one of the stand-out tracks of the project. Kendrick's flawed, pained singing vocals combined with the bass, muffled sax and keys create a spine-tingling, ominous dark vibe - and the way Kendrick, seemingly effortlessly comes in and starts rapping on this beat ("cornrow kenny he was born with a vision") is fantastic. Next there is the short, but eerily hypnotic - brilliant how the bass lightly comes in and out of this one - "untitled 4", which essentially serves as the interlude of the album. "untitled 5" is another highlight here, along with "untitled 2", it could rank among one of the best songs that Kendrick has ever penned. Thundercat's great bass work is key in this track and Kendrick's delivery is outstanding, rapping with the energy of a man on a mission as he addresses justice and racism - Jay Rock and T.D.E. president Punch also drop in to add some great verses.
The album then takes a few turns that are a bit unexpected, but welcome, with "untitled 6" and "untitled 7". "Untitled 6" is a gorgeous song based around some bossa-nova styled drumming over which Kendrick describes himself and his flaws to a lover. The song also happens to be blessed with the beautiful vocals of Cee-Lo, who steals the show. "Untitled 7" is on the other side of Kendrick's talents - a song that can be divided into three portions - the last and longest of which is a fun, but relatively useless recording of Kendrick messing around - singing - in the studio. The first part of "Untitled 7" features a catchy segment of him rapping simply over a trap-ish beat, though, unfortunately the rapper never takes it on with his more intricate lyrical style. The second part is an impressive braggadocio-centered few minutes of him lyrically destroying an instrumental that has a great use piano at the beginning of every loop.
This LP is unmastered and was not intended to be released, and at times that shows, but it is still a great album. Throughout the 35 minutes, Kendrick maintains that ridiculously high level of quality that he has been at for some time now. To those who thought that the wait for a release like this would be years - in the form of some sort of To Pimp A Butterfly anniversary edition - this will be more than a pleasant surprise. Fans who did not like To Pimp A Butterfly may not find much to like here, as some of this is definitely a bit more left-field than the tracks on that album. However, for those that did enjoy that record, untitled unmastered serves as an extremely captivating gateway into the creative process of one of the best artists out right now.
