DAMN. [VINYL]

Product Information

On March 23, 2017, Lamar released a promotional single, " The Heart Part 4", which contained lyrics hinting at a possible April 7 release date for his fourth studio album. Guests include U2, Rihanna, and Zacari whilst it has production work by James Blake and Steve Lacy from the Internet plus a sample by Essex hellraiser Rat Boy. wrote that Damn "is the first time in Lamar's career that he hasn't broken new ground, explored old themes in new ways or exhibited sonic growth".

Andy Kellman of AllMusic stated that "it contains some of Lamar's best writing and performances, revealing his evolving complexity and versatility as a soul-baring lyricist and dynamic rapper". At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 95, based on 39 reviews. is by far his shortest release to date – but the ideas, thoughts and feelings it contains are massive, weighty things, from sexual tension to deep, dark depression". There’s the sense his ambitions on Damn are even larger, reaching toward something more universal, fateful even spiritual in its reach to find the link tying all contradictions together.

There's none of that album's wilfully jarring quality – its sudden, anxious musical lurches and abrupt, short-circuiting leaps between genres – but the tracks on Damn still feel episodic and expansive. Kendrick Lamar logs highest new entry on Official Albums Chart while Ed Sheeran sticks at Number 1".

Lamar assembled numerous artists and producers to produce the album, including executive producer and Top Dawg Entertainment label-head Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, Sounwave, DJ Dahi, Mike Will Made It, and Ricci Riera, as well as further production contributions from James Blake, Steve Lacy, BadBadNotGood, Greg Kurstin, The Alchemist, and 9th Wonder, among others. The special edition flips around the track list, to give fans a listening experience of how Lamar initially envisaged the album prior to its April 2017 release. After recording, it was initially agreed upon that it would be released on Mike Will's debut album Ransom 2, but others convinced Lamar to keep it for his own next album. When you're making art this substantial, vital, and virtuosic, there's no need to wrap a tidy bow around it".The album has been categorized as conscious hip hop, a genre Lamar incorporated on his previous studio album, To Pimp a Butterfly. Eric Renner Brown of Entertainment Weekly said, "After delving into the personal on 2012's Good Kid, M. As of April 2018, Damn had sold 1,002,000 copies and earned 3,137,000 album-equivalent units in the US.

After the first verse of "DNA" was recorded with the beat that Mike Will had already prepared, Lamar started rapping the second verse a cappella, requesting that Mike Will build the beat around the rap.strips down the rhythms to their essence, flavored with the occasional cameo (notably Rihanna and U2).

Recorded at No Excuses - Santa Monica, CA, except tracks C1 and D3 recorded at Windmark Studios and track C3 recorded at Jungle City Studios. Some CD pressings of the album have slight differences: "Pride" runs for 4 minutes and 31 seconds (4:31), "Love" runs for 3 minutes and 31 seconds (3:31), and "Fear" runs for 6 minutes and 54 seconds (6:54), bringing the total album length to 54 minutes and 2 seconds (54:02).

Anyone who has had the pleasure of seeing Jalen perform live knows that he is one of the most captivating performers on today's soul scene. In the months that followed, Lamar released three singles from the album; " Humble" was released in March 2017, " Loyalty" in June 2017, and " Love" in October 2017, the first of which became Lamar's first number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 as a lead artist.