People just didn't like the album, while others did, and others took a while for the album to grow on them. It's not some grand conspiracy lol

i do also think the mainstream leaning songs (Die Hard, Rich Spirit, Silent Hill etc.) aren’t as well produced nor executed compared to the tracks he did on DAMN either personally, i feel like he struck that balance of substance and mainstream appeal nearly flawlessly on DAMN

i find that most of the tracks that i enjoy the most are the ones that aren’t trying to be listenable or catchy necessarily (e.g. Worldwide Steppers, Savior, Father Time, Mother I Sober)

decent project all in all though. they talk about this album like he dropped The Big Day or some s***

Top 2

The wait (fuck you covid) between DAMN to Morale raised expectations to a point where some felt he was gonna drop his best album

Stans and critics were using the long wait as a reason he would surpass expectations, commercially and quality wise

I think he reached the expectations quality wise for me, and anyone grounded in reality knew he wasnt gonna sell one mill fw like that twitter account stan said that people jumped onto

its still his worst album so im gonna say no

I'm a massive Kendrick fan, but this album just didn't hit like his previous albums did and you guys have to be able to see why. If you ask me would I rather listen to We Cry Together, Crown, Auntie Diaries, Purple Hearts or Loyalty, Love, Humble, God - it's an easy choice And these are some of the mid songs on their respective albums imo

Props to Kendrick for making this vulnerable album. But the music just isn't enjoyable for most of the album and I have little desire to go back to most of those songs. I'm sure plenty of other Kendrick fans feel the same way

I hate this "It has to be bots/trolls" mindset like Kendrick is beyond criticism. The album just didn't connect for a lot of people. I know plenty have turned around on it, but I don't think I can ever put this album up there with GKMC or TPAB

I don’t know, even people who found TPAB hard to get into or just didn’t like it seemed to like Mr Morale.
You don’t break a touring record with an album that had the public split.

Not that recently because i aint remember that

People were negative towards TPAB at first aswell, some still are. When you drop a more left field album (production and subject matter wise) you’re naturally gonna be met with mixed feelings

It’s why i respect him as an artist though, even when i heard songs like Mother I Sober i thought ‘fuck this is alot to digest on one listen’ and im a big fan, so i will relisten multiple times to take more things from it each time. It’s a high risk of alienating alot of listeners, but when it hits, your appreciation is even higher than something you understand and love from first listen

I cant blame people for not wanting to give something multiple listens to appreciate the subject matter or direction of the song

nah but people were memeing themselves into thinking it was gonna be mysterious trash before it came and then when it finally did come out, people would hyper-focus on the f slurs and We Cry Together and all that piano theatre. The album never stood a chance among certain listeners which is a shame really cause it's amazing

Exactly. Don't know why fans of the album are so confused by this. I think even if I really f***ed with the album, I would see why others would consider it a disappointment compared to his previous ones

No, it was his own fans and the general public. It's a subpar album and nothing will ever change that.

The fact that we had to wait so long for it did it no favors.

I think TPAB does a better job of balancing heavy topics and themes in a more thematically and sonically interesting way

But also, TPAB is a top 5 rap album for me so im bias about it lol

it was when we were naming drake classics.

i think you feed into the classic or trash polarization

8 out of 10 albums deserve love too

i loveee the album but no probably not lol. theres defo anti kendrick bots (especially now, post drake), but i feel like 'bots did this' is an easy cope.

it wasn't what most fans wanted especially after the long ass gap. it's pretty obviously challenging for a big rap studio album from one of the biggest guys. i don't know how big the actual portion of people not being into it initially was, but it isn't surprising some people's wishes were just not met

100% and thats exactly why i can't call it a classic

the mainstream sounding ones are so confusing and detract sm from the record for me

i pop the pain away song sounds like a cut off KOD by cole ass chorus

its like half of each disc is brilliant but then the other half is just head scratching material that makes me wonder where his head was at.

united in grief is like his best track imo the subject matter the flow the beat its all top 5 kendrick

but then u get hit with n95 immediately after and im just so dissapointed.

the mix makes it interesting but the beat itself and that chorus just makes me sick like wtf was bro thinkjn

rich spirit is just ok, its just kinda boring to me and doesn't really add to the themes hes working on

father time is the best commercial friendly song tbh it feels like a lr/grad level kanye song to me

Oh yeah i remember now

Half of the polirizing picks i included were bait

Tho i do think post 2016 Drake albums are for the most part overhated, even if dissapointing

any attempt at earnestness in this era will be met with an audience unwilling to engage deeply and instead triees to poke fun at it

also mirror sucks too

if this album was just the best tracks i'd say its TPAB level. but the half that foesnt resonate with me really brings the whole record down for me. damn is tied with this one for me, some of his greatest career highs, with questionable and corny lead singles

nah it was manufactured by ignorance

Yo brother your points were all valid before but i cant accept Mirror slander

Seeing the overnight revisionist history with Mr Morale & The Big Steppers has been a delight to watch

I genuinely cannot understand listening to this album and not thinking it is an objectively good hip hop album

its s*** bro