Section.80 (studio album)
by Kendrick Lamar

Phenomenal debut; def a little all over the place. Love Hol' Up, A.D.H.D, and Keisha's Song, but man is No Make-Up ever corny.

Section.80 is one of the best debut albums of the 2010s. On this record, Kendrick finds his footing as an artist, creating tracks that blend great storytelling, witty lyricism and wordplay, and social commentary. Storytelling tracks such as Tammy’s Song and Keisha’s Song tell the story of two women who face adversity from their harsh environment in Compton. Tracks such as Rigamortus and HiiiPower have incredibly profound rapping ability and lyricism. The record contains socially aware songs such as Ronald Reagan Era that criticize the harsh position of the lower class that Ronald Reagan had left behind in the 1980s, or Fuck Your Ethnicity which exposes the racism that is continuing to plague our society. While the tracklist is very messy and non-cohesive, and tracks such as Chapter Ten and Ab-Soul’s Outro feel very unnecessary (and don’t even get me started on No Make-Up, which is one of the worst songs of his career), Section.80 is still great. While I think it is the weakest record in his catalogue as of 2025, that by no means makes it bad.

Favorites: Rigamortis, ADHD, and HiiiPower.

Great debut, Hol' Up is my fav, but ADHD, Keisha's song and Hiii Power are strong. some weak songs, and a bit inconsistant, but as mentioned, could be another artist's masterpiece

From Timestarter 06/24/2020 10:41

Fav. Tracks: Fuck Your Ethnicity, A.D.H.D., HiiiPower.

This album introduced me to Kendrick Lamar. Hiii power is a contender for song of the decade IMO.

Awesome album. Ab-Soul's Outro is my favorite song on the album.

From LebowskiRams 02/18/2019 04:30

I've been sleeping on this album a lot. Maybe his least consistent, but some excellent storytelling at the sake of album flow

From Lukeanaderdude 01/21/2019 03:08

Though not his best work, it still has some fire ass songs (ADHD, Tammy's Song, Ronald Reagan Era)

It is just amazing how Kendrick can impress me. This album is often seem as a minor on his career, but I mean, everything that made him big is already here, altough in a lesser scale. The jazzy beats, the narrative lyrics, the social commentaries.
I think the only thing that didn't turn this into one It his best works, was the fact that Kendrick holds his influences on his sleeves, Eminem and especially Kanye can be heard echoeing here. I mean "Hiiipower" is like an alternative version of kanye's "POWER".