Song of the Day #5,288: ‘Count Me Out’ – Kendrick Lamar

Guest blogger Daniel continues his countdown of the year’s top albums…

Best Albums of 2022 – #5
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers – Kendrick Lamar

I vividly remember when this album dropped because it was the same day my family was going on a cruise. I thought to myself: “How will I be able to download this album on Apple Music in the middle of the ocean?” How could something I love so much cause me such an inconvenience?

All was good as luckily my parents had splurged in paying for some minutes of wi-fi in the interest of not ruining their respective Wordle streaks. Luckily, in this sacred time I was able to download the album and prepared myself emotionally for the journey I was about to go on both nautically and musically.

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Song of the Day #3,860: ‘All the Stars’ – Kendrick Lamar & SZA

This week I’ll count down my favorite movies of 2018, two per day, from #10 down to #1.

This was the hardest top ten movie list I’ve made in years. I saw 70 films this year and enjoyed the great majority of them. It isn’t until you reach the bottom ten or so that I really disliked anything I saw (unlike actual movie critics, I have no obligation to see something I don’t think I’ll like).

Any of the films in my 11-20 slots could have easily found their way into this top ten, and might do just that if you ask me to revisit the list over time.

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Song of the Day #3,566: ‘Pray For Me’ – The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar

The movie soundtrack game isn’t a high-volume business. Currently the #3 album on Billboard’s soundtrack chart is Moana, in its 71st week.

But a handful of recent films have produced soundtracks worth at least a cursory listen.

The current big dog (or cat, I should say) is the Black Panther soundtrack, curated by Kendrick Lamar, who also appears on many of its tracks.

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Song of the Day #3,505: ‘DNA’ – Kendrick Lamar

Lorde’s ‘Green Light’ lands at #4 in the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll, giving women artists three of the top four spots. Kendrick Lamar’s ‘DNA’ rounds out the top five, giving him the best showing in a top ten that is split between men who rap and women who pop (plus Cardi B, a woman who raps).

I kind of get the praise for this song, though it by no means wins me over to the Kendrick Lamar cult. It’s more interesting lyrically and musically than anything else of his I’ve heard.

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Song of the Day #3,503: ‘HUMBLE’ – Kendrick Lamar

If the Academy Awards can be held in March, I can post about 2017 at least through February, right?

Over the next two weeks, I will take my annual dive into the Village Voice Pazz & Jop poll — now in its 45th year. This ranked list of the year’s best albums and singles is, according to famed critic Robert Christgau, “America’s most comprehensive survey of ‘rock critic’ taste.”

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