Kendrick Lamar delivered his fifth studio effort, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers (Interscope/Aftermath Entertainment/TDE), in May to critical acclaim. Billed as a double album, the 18-track project debuted at #1 with roughly 295k album-equivalent units moved in its inaugural week and netted Apple Music’s largest first-day streams of the year with more than 60m.

The ambitious set is also garnering significant Grammy buzz in the Big Four categories—including Record and Song of the Year for “The Heart Pt.5”—in addition to Best Rap Album and Song. With Lamar’s proclivity for dense lyricism, potent metaphors and introspective musings, the album provoked tough conversations on social media—especially with the jarring “We Cry Together” f/ Taylour Paige, which takes an essentially spoken-word approach to the topic of domestic violence. His willingness to be vulnerable on songs such as “Father Time” f/ Sampha puts him in a class of his own in a genre that’s hellbent on bravado and posturing. “The Heart Pt. 5” alone illustrates the immense amount of pain he’s experienced that some wouldn’t be so quick to put on wax.

“The streets got me fucked up, y'all can miss me,” he raps, reflecting on the seemingly endless string of murders in the rap community. “I wanna represent for us/New revolution was up and movin’/I'm in Argentina wiping my tears full of confusion/Water in between us, another peer's been executed.”

Sonically, Lamar is at his most daring, bucking familiar trap beats du jour in favor of more stripped down production, really allowing his voice to take centerstage. After all, what he says matters, although he’s keenly aware his position as a rap beacon can be a burden to bear. “Heavy is the head that chose to wear the crown/To whom is given much is required now,” he says on “Crown.”

At 35, Lamar has crafted a career most MCs only dream of—with 14 Grammys, 39 nominations, a Pulitzer Prize for 2017's DAMN. (making him the first non-jazz or classical artist to collect the honor) and respect from his peers. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers has only further established his iron-clad legacy and proven, once again, his commercial viability. He’s also grown in leaps and bounds since his early days running around the streets of Compton, his hometown. The elusive family man rarely speaks on social media, and when he does, he sticks to business. He shocked his fans in August 2021 when he announced Mr. Morale would be his final project for TDE, his longtime label home, shrouding his subsequent potential moves in mystery.

While his course is still uncertain, Lamar will presumably focus on pgLang, his label venture with Dave Free, which has already found success with rising rap star Baby Keem, Lamar’s cousin. Their collaborative single, “family ties”(Columbia/pgLang), from Keem’s 2021 debut album, The Melodic Blue, peaked at #18 and earned Grammy nominations for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. Needless to say, all signs point to K.Dot walking away with some additional hardware for his mantle this year, as crowded as it already is.