"Like Nas – a one-time messiah himself – Lamar, a scrawny 25-year-old from Compton, was a visual poet. You can see Compton — the burger stands, the lights of the police cruisers, the 405 freeway — in every track of “good kid, m.A.A.d. city,” just as you can see the dice games, project hallways and parks of Queensbridge in Nas’s “Illmatic.”

- Jay Caspian Kang, Notes on the Hip-Hop Messiah, NY Times, March 24, 2015

Kang just wrote a great article on Kendrick Lamar, his last two albums, the classic good kid, m.A.A.d. city, and his recent album, To Pimp a Butterfly, and the meaning of "hip-hop messiah," which Kang defines as:

"When he’s anointed, it’s not for the work he’s already done, but more for the work he should do. He must create something that feels as though it has grown organically out of his city, but that is at the same time universal. His work must feel political, but not overtly political. He should be an example and a savior to the young black people who listen to his music. It’s an impossible role to inhabit — at least while the hip-hop messiah is alive."

Kang then lists a number of hip-hop messiahs, including Rakim, Nas, Biggie, Tupac, Eminem, and now Kendrick. Kang interestingly states that a number of reviews on To Pimp a Butterfly have been reluctant to criticize the album claiming the album is too dense to instantly critique. Kang thinks that one of the main reasons may be that the critics are also susceptible to the messianic status that Lamar has and therefore criticizing his albums is hard to do because they believe in him too.

I'm guessing Kang probably hasn't read Tom Breihan's (my favorite music critic) review of the album which includes Breihan saying, "so many of the tracks here are beatless soups of instrumentation," and Lamar's flow sounds like he is "bunching up syllables dramatically in ways that may or may not have anything to do with the music." Contrary to Breihan's disappointment in Lamar's technical execution, I think his flow kills on "Wesley's Theory," "King Kunta," "Alright," and probably my favorite track, "The Blacker the Berry."

After listening to the album a handful of times, I agree with Kang that while really great at times both lyrically and musically, it's not sustainably great like his preceding album and more of a collage of tracks and sounds. Yet this is still one of the best albums of the year to date, it's just that the expectations are so high. Heavy is the crown.

But I'll leave you with Kang's critique of the album and the future hopes for Lamar:

"There is a hoarder’s mania to this album – he seems to have gathered every idea and influence he could find without too much care for what all that clutter reveals, knowing only that there is something beautiful in it. When he homes in on what exactly that is, hip-hop will have another classic. Until then, we will have to be satisfied with watching him make an exciting but still-unfinished transition."

Check out the articles at the links provided above!