- #1
- Posted: 04/20/2026 20:00
- Post subject: Album of the day (#7087): Damn. by Kendrick Lamar
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Today's album of the day
Damn. by Kendrick Lamar (View album | Buy this album)
Year: 2017.
Country: 
Kendrick Lamar discography rank: 3 (out of 10 listed on BEA)
2017 rank: 1
2010s rank: 28
Overall rank: 237
Average rating: 80/100 (from 1311 votes).
Tracks:
1. Blood.
2. DNA. 
3. Yah.
4. Element.
5. Feel.
6. Loyalty. (Feat. Rihanna)
7. Pride.
8. Humble.
9. Lust.
10. Love. (Feat. Zacari)
11. XXX. (Feat. U2)
12. Fear.
13. God.
14. Duckworth.
indicates a top-rated track.
Top voted comments:
"After giving this a half-dozen more listens, I've got a few thoughts:
As has been mentioned, DAMN. asks the question "Who is Kendrick Lamar?" We think we know Kendrick. And we do, don't we? This is that Compton kid, that Section.80 kid, that good kid, who broke out of his M.A.A.D. city with one mission: To give back. And how does Kendrick Lamar give back? By doing his best to give life, hope, and power back to his community, back to his black brothers and sisters. Is it enough? Fox News doesn't understand him. He's exhausted by the work. Blind women might shoot him dead if he's at the wrong place at the wrong time when he's just trying to do right.
Why do we demand great things from Kendrick Lamar? Kendrick Lamar is not shy about comparing himself to Jesus, albeit implicitly. The complement to DAMN., I'm finding, is none other than Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy: Another record about a distinct personality aiming to be understood. Kanye West is a brilliant, frustrating genius. On MBDTF, he asks that we forgive his humanity. DAMN. is coming from the other direction. We put Kendrick, King Kendrick, on a pedestal--one for which he did not ask. But he'll do what it takes to keep his family secure. He'll be the example his nieces and nephews need. He knows he's lucky to be a success. Yet, why can't he make mistakes? Why can't he let down his principles once or twice? Why can't he do a Maroon 5 feature for other reasons than to make some side cash? What does Kendrick Lamar owe us, if anything at all?
DAMN. may not be a great record. Personally, I think it falls ever so short. Maybe that'll change for me. What I do believe is that, for once, Kendrick Lamar gets to tell his story. It doesn't have to be for Tammy or Keisha. It doesn't need to be about Compton. It doesn't need to be about the black experience in America. Maybe it's because he finally gets to speak to his wants and concerns, about his own well-being, that this, while not Kendrick's best work, is maybe his most important as an artist, because DAMN, it's really hard being Kendrick Lamar."
- HoldenM (Rating: 80/100)
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"The "double album" controversy/rumor almost overshadowed this album itself. He releases an album seeped in Christian allegory where the central theme of the album is that Kendrick dies and some of the songs are him looking at life after he's passed on. He releases the album on Good Friday - the day that Jesus died - and in the album Kendrick himself dies. Finally the music video of the lead single "Humble" is Kendrick sitting at the last supper with his disciples. He also - on Easter the day Christ rose from the dead - headlined one of the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festivals in the United States and all over the world, and didn't mention anything at all.
In fact, during his performance, Kendrick made subtle disses on the internet community expecting some sort of "double album" or response. He brought Future on the stage (who released a double album himself earlier this year) and made audience hold up "two fingers" and finally holding up a "L" - which is internet slang for loss - of which there were dozens of memes predicting the internet communities response if there were no "double album"
I'm not sure how much of this was coincidence / intentional, but I feel like Kendrick knows at some level what he was doing. We can debate whether or not DAMN. solidifies Kendrick as the GOAT rapper, but it certainly has certified him as the GOAT reddit troll, if this was indeed something he orchestrated at some level. I get that the Coachella show was likely planned weeks in advance, but at some level Kendrick had to know what he was doing.
Musically: In addition to my earlier comment more (20+) listens convinces me that the "successful life of pablo" description is pretty accurate. No TPAB but Kendrick is the GOAT, calling it now."
- corenfro (Rating: 75/100)
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About album of the day: The BestEverAlbums.com album of the day is the album appearing most prominently in member charts in the previous 24 hours. If an album, or artist, has previously been selected within a x day period, the next highest album is picked instead (and so on) to ensure a bit of variety. A full history of album of the day can be viewed here.
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