untitled unmastered.

It may be a while before Lamar releases a project with such low stakes again, so take Untitled for the casual gift that it is: a bonus disc that improbably holds up as an essential album in its own right.

He continues to hold our attention as he makes sense of his own findings on God and race and legacy and perfection.

His harrowed and ongoing metamorphosis into a butterfly is the narrative he’s chosen and is the story he’ll likely will stick with for the foreseeable future, but untitled unmastered shows that the holes in his willed chrysalis might be more interesting than the beauty promised by the cocoon.

We've come to expect nothing less than near-perfection from K.Dot and he comes pretty damn close on his most recent effort.

What’s revealed by this new project--call it an album, EP, compilation, mixtape, outtake, sketch--is a fiercely independent artist escaping the trappings of hip-hop conventions, both mainstream and otherwise; he seeks ascetic salvation through intense introspection and, in the process, created a great release, no matter where it’s filed.

Kendrick Lamar does an impeccable job of wrapping up the entire Butterfly process in a tidy bow.

What strikes you most is the sheer joy present in the sessions, imperfections galore. The free-flowing yet concentrated totality of Kendrick’s method.

Untitled, Unmastered is presented as an unfinished work, though it rarely sounds like one.

As with TPAB, untitled unmastered. demands to be approached on its own terms, even when you don't know what those terms are. You can't say he didn't try for you, ride for you, or push the club to the side for you.

Ultimately, untitled unmastered isn’t TPAB, and anyone expecting something of similar cultural impact is only depriving themselves of one of the year’s early musical gems.

The songs here appear to be fragments sewn together so looking to find any cohesive narrative is beside the point, nor is there any pressure for there to be any obvious hits on the album. The effect is that the focus is shifted to Lamar’s vocal performance and serves as more evidence that he’s not only the foremost rapper of his generation, but is fast becoming one of the most effective vocalists full-stop.

Kendrick Lamar’s talent is superficial in the extreme, plumbing his own creative depths with an unerring attention to detail. With untitled unmastered., he has found another way to sheathe people in his compelling vision.

The result might be a different kind of journey, complete with detours and dead-ends, but its as compelling as any he's taken so far. [Jun 2016, p.111]

untitled unmastered. is no mere offcut dump. It's as vital as anything else its maker has released.

Seeking peace of mind and understanding while speaking to the human condition, Kendrick drops poignant gems on the idiosyncrasies of life, as well as his own, over the rich production provided by his trusty platoon of boardsmen on untitled unmastered.

untitled may have an amount of unfinished, scattered ideas, yet it still feels essential and vital. There’s no narrative, and the music may not be as rich as we know it can be, but Kendrick Lamar can still command attention like no other.

A perfectly fine release, Untitled Unmastered doesn't exist to change anyone's mind about Lamar.

An eight-song, 34-minute miniature more substantial than just a handful of outtakes, but also in execution not as complete or united as his album-ass albums (starting with 2011’s Section.80).

To call untitled unmastered a follow-up would be unfair, but what it reveals is that rap’s most innovative has a lot more left in his locker.

All said, untitled unmastered. is a brilliant mini-album that stands well on its own, but it works even better as a fascinating To Pimp a Butterfly appendix, expanding on and balancing the themes of that album both sonically and lyrically.

There are few unfamiliar messages and it’s all dense and considered, but never overwrought or explicitly angry. What really emerges is Kendrick's nuanced worldview.

It’s a confident and powerful statement, and one that underlines his complete and utter dominance of the genre at this moment.

A collection whose understatement allows different facets of Lamar’s talent to shine.

The short length and minimal production means Untitled Unmastered occasionally lacks the dynamics of Lamar’s previous work, but it remains an enthralling postscript to his masterpiece.

For all of its discordance, there is both the degree of palpable cohesion belying To Pimp A Butterfly and the unorthodox narrative of GKMC that lures the listener close.

Lamar is as cutting as ever in his rhymes, and adjusts his flow to great effect.

In a way, it’s all as tightly woven as his Grammy-winning work, even if none of these cuts fit that album’s meticulous narrative.

Lamar delivered untitled unmastered. as if it were a whim, and yet it works as such a powerful statement of the duality of his existence--driven yet humble, fed up yet excited, frustrated yet joyful, casual yet serious.

It's typical of Lamr's artistry that even a comp of offcuts comes formatted and conceptualised. [Jun 2016, p.75]