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It’s not only the techno-feel of the songs that makes them stand out, but also the way Lamar mixes Hip-Hop/Rap with R&B and Blues, and then throws some Ragtime echoes in there as well. There’s an almost robotic vibe to some of the songs, which rather than taking away from the stories, adds to them. There’s an almost techno feel to all of the songs because Lamar employs some type of voice modulation, which gives his songs a distinctively ‘80s feel to them, but not in the same way those of you who are familiar with Taylor Swift’s 1989 (2014) album would know. But the lyrics are not only what drives the stories forward, it’s the way the songs, themselves, are arranged. The stories, all about those good ol’ ‘80s babies, are deep and highly complex, and most often, moving. His “simplest shit” runs circles around more verbosely complex rappers simply for the fact that Kendrick Lamar has mastered the art of storytelling in a way that most rappers, most musicians, often fail to do. Lamar even goes so far as to state in one of his songs, “ I know some rappers using big words to make they similes curve / My simplest shit be more pivotal,” and he’s absolutely right. It’s got the laid-back, no care attitude of Snoop-Dog or Tu-Pac, but just like most West coast rap, that “laid-back” vibe is deceptively simple. When you initially listen to Section.80, Lamar’s first studio album–he released an EP and a Mix-Tape prior to this–the notes strike you in the same vain as most California rappers. Notable Songs: “F*ck Your Ethnicity,” “No Make-Up (Her Vice),” “Ronald Regan Era (His Evils),” “Chapter Ten,” “Keisha’s Song (Her Pain),” “Kush & Corinthians (His Pain),” “Ab- Soul’s Outro (feat. *Editor’s Note: This originally appeared on Alex’s old review Tumblr last fall.*Įditor’s Notes from iTunes: “Created for, by, and about ’80s babys…’ “ I know some rappers using big words to make they similes curve / My simplest shit be more pivotal.”- Kendrick Lamar