The lyrical contrast is equally stark, with Lamar taunting on the first verse (“Shut your fuckin’ mouth and get some cash, you bitch”) to contemplating his impact and spending habits (“Hope it’s evident that I inspired a thousand emcees to do better / I blew cheddar on youth centers, buildings, and Bimmers, and blue leathers”). Most of the individual cuts on untitled unmastered don’t have the same internal sonic sprawl as TPAB, but “untitled 07” manages a tricky beat change from a Future-like codeine snarl to a shimmery, piano-driven number. Adrian Younge’s instrumental is built upon a warm electric piano melody and breezy reeds, and the two vocalists’ lines are stitched together beautifully. “Untitled 06”, Lamar’s collaboration with Cee-Lo Green, is the kind of ode to individuality that could easily have ended up saccharine in the wrong hands. TDE president Punch even pops up to spit a verse on “Untitled 05” and proves the reason he’s had so much success with smart, introspective MCs is because he’s one himself. They are primarily frequent Kendrick conspirators like Jay Rock and Anna Wise, and like the features on To Pimp a Butterfly each are utilized to maximize their strengths. Much like Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment’s Surf, the handful of guests on untitled unmastered reveal themselves over the course of the eight tracks. The studio version lacks the “We don’t die we multiply!” rallying cry of the debut performance, but it remains an enthralling listen and one of the few rap tracks you’ll hear that delves into nuances of race besides the black-white binary. Lamar’s Colbert Report song, now renamed “untitled 03”, pops up on untitled unmastered as well. “I see jiggaboos, I see Styrofoams”, he warns on the hook, lambasting both the racist perception of black people in poverty and the rappers who are exploiting it. Here, Lamar is looking at the ills of his culture both from an internal and external perspective.

“untitled 02” finds Lamar atop an instrumental from Cardo and Young Exclusive that blends nightmarish synths with blasts of horns and keys that sound culled from a drawing room mystery. The power of Kendrick has always been his ability to see all sides of the world around him, especially those most rappers don’t dare immerse themselves in. Again, no topic is too weighty or broad for Kendrick’s scope, and he wrestles with oft-explored issues like race relations, poverty and industry stereotypes by presenting his internal conflict baldly.

Recorded largely during the same period as TPAB, this collection of demos plays as equally fascinating, if not quite as sonically developed.

Kendrick untitled unmastered review