With so much good music being released all the time, it can be hard to determine what to listen to first. Every week, Pitchfork offers a run-down of significant new releases available on streaming services. This week’s batch includes new albums from Kendrick Lamar, the Smile, Ethel Cain, Leikeli47, Kevin Morby, Say Sue Me, Quelle Chris, and Phelimuncasi. Subscribe to Pitchfork’s New Music Friday newsletter to get our recommendations in your inbox every week. (All releases featured here are independently selected by our editors. When you buy something through our affiliate links, however, Pitchfork earns an affiliate commission.)
Kendrick Lamar: Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers [pgLang/Top Dawg Entertainment/Aftermath/Interscope]
Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is Kendrick Lamar’s long-awaited follow-up to the Pulitzer-winning Damn. After leading the Black Panther soundtrack, performing at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show, and making guest appearances on tracks from Baby Keem, Busta Rhymes, Terrace Martin, and more, the rapper revealed he was working on new material last summer. Lamar revealed the cover art, an image shot by Renell Medrano, two days ahead of the record’s release. With the launch of his Oklama website, Lamar noted that Mr. Morale would be his final release with his longtime label associates Top Dawg Entertainment.
Read “How Kendrick Lamar’s ‘The Heart Part 5’ Video Subverts Deepfake Technology.”
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