That process allowed producers like Dahi and South London multi-disciplinarian Duval Timothy, the jazz pianist responsible for keys on four tracks, including the eerie, ploddingly melodic Crown, to shift away from the formulaic structures that dominate a lot of rap music.īut like other album contributors outside of Kendrick's core team, Timothy's involvement in the final project wasn't always a sure thing - until the release date, when he sat hastily refreshing streaming sites at midnight, he didn't know which of his contributions would make it onto the project, if any made it at all. Then you get a pool of ideas that feels a little bit unexpected.' So it created a melting pot of interesting drum grooves or interesting sample choices or interesting styles of playing. Certain people in the room kind of add a certain taste or a certain outlook on music.

Literally all together working and jamming. 'A lot of artists that I've worked with write to the beat first,' said long-time Kendrick producer Dj Dahi to Rolling Stone last year. And while many rappers treat the creative process like an assembly line – a producer will send over a beat, they'll write a verse to it, then head to the studio, before an engineer delivers the finishing touches – Kendrick opts for a more collaborative approach. The key names that crop up repeatedly on the credits list are DJ Dahi, Beach Noise, Sounwave, and J.LBS. Morale & The Big Steppers, Kendrick Lamar enlisted a wide range of producers, engineers, and instrumentalists, many of whom he's been working with for a decade or more. Unsurprisingly, production plays a huge role here. Just like he did with the experimental jazz-rap fusion of To Pimp A Butterfly or the moral dilemmas and twisted street stories of good kid, m.A.A.d city before it, the LA rap icon challenges the listener, his dives into murky, uncomfortable waters only boosting the power of his storytelling. From the moody, stunted old afro-funk sample that forms the beat for Worldwide Steppers to the disjointed piano chimes and harrowing domestic argument featured in We Cry Together, it's an album shaped by dark sounds and disturbing images. The sonic atmosphere created across the record is crucial when it comes to developing this narrative and conveying the fact that, as Kendrick's first words on the project sum up, 'I've been going through something'. It's an important point in a world of unchecked, tribal celebrity idolisation, but ultimately the result can be difficult to stomach. The heavy creative role played by rapper and alleged abuser Kodak Black confounds this issue, and contributes to the record's concerted attempt to deconstruct the Kendrick God complex - as he raps in Savior, 'the cat is out the bag, I am not your savior'.

Morale & The Big Steppers is laden with difficult subject matter. Whether it's exploring generational cycles of abuse on Mother I Sober or rapping about the need for 'grown men with daddy issues' to 'give the women a break' on Father Time, Mr. A deeply ambitious project that narrates the Compton rapper's process of accepting and, through therapy, overcoming deep-rooted trauma and a sex addiction that has repeatedly damaged his relationship with long-term partner Whitney Alford, it never swerves the heavy stuff. Kendrick Lamar's fourth studio album is not always an easy listen.

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