Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers

What Songs Is Kendrick Lamar Playing On ‘The Big Steppers Tour’?

by
Kendrick Lamar Glastonbury Crown Of Thorns 2022
Getty Image

In July, Kendrick Lamar launched The Big Steppers Tour, which started on July 19 in Oklahoma City. A couple of major shows on the trek supporting Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers are coming up: two concerts at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on August 5 and 6. Ahead of that, what songs has Lamar been performing on his 2022 tour?

Setlist.fm, the most comprehensive resource for concert setlists available online, has the answer: Per their data (as of August 4), Lamar has a dozen songs tied for most-played — including “Humble,” “m.A.A.d City,” and “Backseat Freestyle” — while he’s only played “Auntie Diaries” and “Lust” once so far. The site also shows that when it comes to album representation on the tour, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is No. 1, followed by Damn; Good Kid, m.A.A.d City; and To Pimp A Butterfly.

Setlist.fm also has an “average setlist” for The Big Steppers Tour, which is based on setlists from previous shows, so it’s an indication of how an upcoming Lamar show might be structured.

Find Lamar’s most played songs on The Big Steppers Tour below, as well as the tour’s average setlist. Check out Lamar’s upcoming tour dates here.

T1. “Alright” (12 performances)
T1. “Backseat Freestyle” (12)
T1. “Count Me Out” (12)
T1. “DNA” (12)
T1. “Element” (12)
T1. “Humble” (12)
T1. “Loyalty” (12)
T1. “m.A.A.d City” (12)
T1. “Money Trees” (12)
T1. “N95” (12)
T1. “Savior” (12)
T1. “Silent Hill” (12)
T13. “B*tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe” (11)
T13. “Love” (11)
T13. “United In Grief” (11)
T16. “Family Ties” (Baby Keem cover) (10)
T16. “King Kunta” (10)
T16. “Purple Hearts” (10)
T16. “Rich Spirit” (10)
T16. “Worldwide Steppers” (10)
T21. “Crown” (9)
T21. “Die Hard” (9)
T21. “Father Time” (9)
T21. “Mirror” (9)
T21. “Mr. Morale” (9)
T26. “I” (2)
T26. “Institutionalized” (2)
T26. “Poetic Justice” (2)
T26. “Swimming Pools (Drank)” (2)
T26. “The Art Of Peer Pressure” (2)
T26. “The Blacker The Berry” (2)
T32. “Auntie Diaries” (1)
T32. “Lust” (1)

“Savior (Interlude)” (played from tape)
“United In Grief”
“N95”
“Worldwide Steppers”
“Backseat Freestyle”
“Element”
“Rich Spirit”
“m.A.A.d City”
“Father Time”
“Humble”
“Purple Hearts”
“King Kunta”
“B*tch, Don’t Kill My Vibe”
“Die Hard”
“Money Trees”
“Lust” (played from tape)
“DNA”
“Alright”
“Count Me Out”
“Love”
“Loyalty”
“Mirror”
“Silent Hill”
“Family Ties” (Baby Keem Cover)
“Crown”
“Mr. Morale”
“Savior”

Kendrick Lamar’s Producer Sounwave Discusses The Struggles Of Making ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’

by
Kendrick Lamar
Getty Image

Earlier this year, Kendrick Lamar dropped Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, the follow-up to his critically-acclaimed Damn. The album was polarizing, with some thinking it was his greatest work yet, while others were not into it at all. The rapper, though, has stayed quiet since the release.

Today, GQ shared an in-depth interview with the album’s producer, Mark “Sounwave” Spears, in which he discusses the way he and Lamar “knew this album was going to be a tough listen.” “It was beyond rough,” he told the interviewer about working on the LP during the pandemic. When asked about if they had to work remotely, he said, “This was the toughest and longest creative process for me. We didn’t necessarily have everyone come to us; we traveled.”

When asked about creating the sonic palette, he explained, “It’s always going to be different with every artist, but Kendrick, he’s very specific. He knows what he wants and even when he don’t know what he wants, he knows what he wants, if that makes sense. Comparing him to anybody else is night and day. We lock in and for weeks just create ideas. And maybe nothing comes from it or maybe a whole album comes from it.”

He continued, “Like I said, this is probably one of the toughest creative processes imaginable creating this album. We went through so much: starting in early 2019 we lost Nipsey, and then less than a year later we lost Kobe. For me, creatively, that hurts. It took a lot out of me. And then a few months later, what happens? We get locked down. Pandemic.”

Read the full interview here.

Pusha T Is A Fan Of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ And Considers It ‘Great Competition’

by
Pusha T 2022 SITW
Getty Image

Pusha T has spent most of 2022 promoting his fourth album It’s Almost Dry. The 12-track project is his first full-length effort since 2018’s Daytona, and it’s a body of work that Pusha thinks very highly of. He’s billed the project as 2022’s rap album of the year, something Tom Brady agrees with, and he’s made sure to remind fans about that at every chance he gets. One of those moments came during a recent interview with HotNewHipHop where he spoke about a number of topics regarding It’s Almost Dry. Pusha also took a second to speak about a recent album from one of his rap competitors, that being Kendrick Lamar.

During the interview, Pusha was asked for his opinion on Kendrick Lamar’s fifth album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. “I think he made a strong album,” Pusha replied. “I think his album is definitely a conversation piece, for sure. I think that Kendrick does what he does lyrically. I think… man, it was impressive. I think it was impressive, for sure.”

He continued, “I think it’s great competition. It’s a matter of what you want to hear. I feel like for what it is that I do and what I was going for, and like I said, this is rap album of the year to me. It’s Almost Dry. That is the mood and that is the energy. I think I put out that type of energy. I don’t think me and Kendrick made the same type of album, at all. It’s two different listens.”

Both Pusha and Kendrick are responsible for big moments in hip-hop this year thanks to their respective 2022 albums. Another big moment came last weekend when Pusha T and his brother Malice — a duo better known as Clipse — reunited to perform together for the first time since 2010.

You can read Pusha T’s full interview with HotNewHipHop here.

Tyler The Creator Admires The Honesty Of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’

by
Tyler The Creator Parklife Festival 2022
Getty Image

Throughout Tyler, The Creator’s career, which has seen him evolve from highly controversial to mature and versatile, one resounding theme is his unbridled honesty. Whether it comes through in his raps or his interviews, the former Odd Future leader always tells it like it is. Thus, it only makes sense that the Call Me If You Get Lost artist took a liking to the honesty on one of the biggest releases of this year, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, per his recent conversation at the 2022 Converse All Star Series in Paris.

The initial conversation was about vulnerability and Tyler took it a step further by highlighting the two-disc LP that was released in May. “I love that album, but I feel like he touches on sh*t that’s so, like, open and honest that some people can’t listen to it because they probably feel like he’s looking at them in their eyes and they’re like ‘Oh, I can’t panic. Uh, I can’t listen to this. Put on something else so I can hit my dougie.’ And keep forgetting and numbing the sh*t he’s talking about.”

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers generated a lot of conversation for tracks like “Savior” where Kendrick attempts to remove himself from the pedestal he was put on, “Father Time” where he addresses how Drake and Kanye West’s reconciliation came off as odd to him due to his need to mature some more, and of course, “Auntie Diaries” where he unloads the clip of a certain queer slur while also addressing his family members’ gender transitions in a way that split the LGBTQIA+ community.

Our community, specifically within the internet, often struggles with accepting someone else’s truth, especially when delivered in a way they don’t like (not to justify the use of the aforementioned slurs.) Still, K. Dot overall received some positive reviews and Tyler is understandably within that camp.

Check out Tyler, The Creator’s full interview at the Converse All Star Series above.

Kendrick Lamar Spends A Day In Ghana Chatting About Virgil Abloh And ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’

by

A little over seven months after the passing of fashion designer Virgil Abloh, his global impact is still making itself known. Virgil’s influence is all over Drake’s new surprise album Honestly, Nevermind and in Spotify’s new documentary short film about Kendrick Lamar, the Compton rapper learns just how well-known Abloh was on his first trip to Ghana. Visiting a skate park in Accra, Kendrick reveals he’s been chatting with the local kids about the late designer, discussing “what he means to them, as far as letting them have this creative space to enjoy themselves.”

The park was opened in December, just after Virgil’s passing, with support from Off-White, Abloh’s own brand, Daily Paper, and Surf Ghana. At the time of the opening, Daily Paper co-founder Jefferson Osei said in a statement, “With this initiative, we hope to evolve the skate culture in Ghana to the next level and give locals a platform to grow their talents within a space that will hopefully become their biggest training ground to date. More than board sports, the park will be a creative hub for young Ghanaians to come together, exchange ideas, inspire each other, and build their futures through recreational activities. They now have a place where they can be themselves, freely develop their skills together with like-minded people, and reach their true potential. Hence the name, Freedom Skate Park.”

Kendrick also discussed his favorite lines from his new album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, explaining why a line about going to therapy resonates with him. “We learn to hold all our sh*t in,” he admits. “That wasn’t my forte when people mentioned it to me. I’m still stuck how my pops thinks: ‘F*ck I need therapy for?’” He also allows, though, that going would represent “growth” and seems more open to the idea than he initially lets on.

You can watch the mini-doc “A Day In Ghana With Kendrick Lamar” above.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘We Cry Together’ Had One Of The Biggest Single-Week Drops In ‘Billboard’ Hot 100 History

by
Kendrick-Lamar.jpg
Philip Cosores

Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers set some records after its release last month. For what it’s worth, that shouldn’t be surprising as his loyal fan base spent five years waiting on a new body of work from him. For example, Kendrick broke Apple Music’s record for the most first-day streams by an album that was released in 2022. Shortly after its release, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers also had the biggest debut on the Billboard 200 chart in 2022. A few weeks later, Kendrick had a rare occurrence with one of his songs on the Billboard chart, and it’s not one we might have expected from him.

XXL notes that Kendrick’s “We Cry Together,” which features contributions from actress Taylour Paige, fell down a total of 81 spots — from No. 16 to No. 97 — between the May 24 and May 31 updates of the Billboard Hot 100. This makes for one of the biggest single-week drops ever on the song chart. However, it’s not the biggest that we’ve seen from a song in the past couple of years.

Back in 2020, Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” went from topping the singles chart one week to completely falling off the Hot 100 the following week. Despite this, the track would go on to become the first song to be No. 1 in four separate years after it originally topped the charts in 2019 and did so again in 2021 and 2022.

On the bright side for Kendrick, his 2012 album Good Kid M.A.A.D. City recently became the only hip-hop studio album to spend 500 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.

Kendrick Lamar’s ‘We Cry Together’ Records The Biggest Single-Week Drop In ‘Billboard’ Hot 100 History

by
Kendrick-Lamar.jpg
Philip Cosores

Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers set some records after its release last month. For what it’s worth, that shouldn’t be surprising as his loyal fan base spent five years waiting on a new body of work from him. For example, Kendrick broke Apple Music’s record for the most first-day streams by an album that was released in 2022. At the time of its release, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers had the biggest debut on the Billboard 200 chart in 2022. A few weeks later, Kendrick set a new record on the Billboard chart, but it’s not one we might have expected from him.

According to the publication, Kendrick’s “We Cry Together,” which features contributions from actress Taylour Paige, recorded the biggest single-week drop on the most recent edition of the Billboard 200 chart. The record dropped down a total of 81 spots — from No. 16 to No. 97 — between the May 24 and May 31 updates of the singles chart.

This big drop shouldn’t be surprising for a couple of reasons. First, B-side records on an album typically experience a big drop on the charts once the hype behind the album that they’re on dies out. Other songs from Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers have also experienced this. They include “Silent Hill” with Kodak Black which dropped from No. 7 to No. 49 in the past couple of weeks. Secondly, “We Cry Together” is a lengthy skit on Kendrick’s new album and it features the rapper in an extremely heated argument with his girlfriend, something that most listeners found uncomfortable to listen to. As a result, they most likely steered away from the record during future listens of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers thus launching the song down the singles chart.

On the bright side, Kendrick’s Good Kid M.A.A.D. City recently became the only hip-hop studio album to spend 500 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart.

The Warriors Seem To Win An NBA Title Every Year Kendrick Lamar Drops An Album… Is Another One On Deck?

by
Kendrick Lamar Warriors
Getty Image/Ralph Ordaz

The Golden State Warriors just handled business in the Western Conference Finals and sent the Dallas Mavericks packing with a 4-1 series win. Now the Warriors are heading back to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2019 and will be a likely favorite against either the Boston Celtics or The Miami Heat — especially if the hip-hop gods work their magic with the Dubs again, because, are you ready for this? In the “Woah… that’s crazy!” department, every Kendrick Lamar album drop since 2015 has also been accompanied by a Golden State Warriors NBA Championship.

That’s right: When Kendrick dropped To Pimp A Butterfly in 2015, the Warriors beat the Cleveland Cavaliers for the team’s first title since 1975. Then when DAMN. dropped in 2017, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and company beat the Cavs again in the Finals. Finally, when Kendrick was at the helm of the excellent Black Panther Soundtrack in 2018, the Warriors cemented their dynasty with a third title, against the Cavs again, leaving LeBron James in the dust. Maybe if Kendrick hadn’t started taking a very long break from putting out albums, the Warriors wouldn’t have dropped the 2019 Finals to the Toronto Raptors?

(The exception to this rule is Untitled Unmastered, which was released in 2016, when the Warriors lost to the Cavs in seven games. However, Untitled Unmastered isn’t usually considered a proper studio album, since it’s made up of demos from the To Pimp A Butterfly era. So, objection overruled.)

So does this year’s release of Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers signify that another Warriors title is on the horizon? We’ll find out just how powerful this Kendrick/Warriors synergy is within the next two weeks. And somehow, even with the Raptors not making it anywhere close to the Finals this season, Drake still finds himself as a big winner here no matter what.

Lorde Praises Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ In A Letter To Her Fans

by
Lorde Variety Power of Women Variety 2021
Getty Image / Jon Kopaloff

Perhaps Kendrick Lamar’s music may soon be in rotation on Lorde’s Solarsystym station on Sonos: Today, in an email sent to fans, the “Solar Power” singer shared an update with her fans, just over two weeks after her US tour for Solar Power came to an end.

She shared some of the books she’s been reading, including Fleur Jaeggy’s Sweet Days Of Discipline and Danyel Smith’s Shine Bright: A Very Personal History Of Black Women In Pop. Additionally, she let us know the music she’s been listening to lately, which includes Kendrick Lamar’s new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

“I’m loving Kendrick,” she said. “I cannot get over the most popular and influential artist in modern music displaying a working nervous system, admitting mistakes, trying to process intergenerational trauma and prejudice. I love the way the album opens, the pace and heat of the first few songs, and later ‘Count Me Out,’ the build and strings in ‘Auntie Diaries’ … special.”

Could this mean a collab between the two is in order? Perhaps. But given the fact that both artists love to take long hiatuses in between projects, it’s best not to get our hopes up that we’ll hear a collaboration in the near future.

Every Song From Kendrick Lamar’s New Album Has Entered The ‘Billboard’ Hot 100

by
kendrick lamar billboard
Getty Image

Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers was one of the year’s most anticipated albums. Now that it’s out, it has unsurprisingly dominated the charts, landing at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with the biggest streaming week of 2022. It’s Kendrick’s fourth No. 1 album — even more impressive when you consider that it was his first album in nearly five years, with DAMN. releasing in 2017. Perhaps just as impressive is the fact that every song on the 18-track album has entered the Billboard Hot 100, a feat last accomplished by Drake with Certified Lover Boy at 21 tracks and J. Cole’s The Off-Season — which only had 12 tracks.

Of those, four landed in the top 10, making him one of seven artists to accomplish this feat (including Bad Bunny, Drake, Future, J. Cole, Juice WRLD, and Lil Wayne). While Jack Harlow held down the No. 1 spot for the third week with the frothy “First Class,” Kendrick took No. 3 with “N95,” No. 5 with “Die Hard,” No. 7 with “Silent Hill,” and No. 8 with “United In Grief.”

Meanwhile, the only other artists to have charted more than 13 songs are Drake, with the aforementioned 2021 release and with 2018’s Scorpion; Post Malone, who landed 14 tracks with 2019’s Hollywood’s Bleeding and 2018’s Beerbongs & Bentleys; and Lil Uzi Vert, who got 13 Eternal Atake tracks on the list in 2020. For a full list of Kendrick’s Mr. Morale Hot 100 rankings, see below courtesy of Billboard.com.

Hot 100 Rank, Title:
No. 3, “N95”
No. 5, “Die Hard,” with Blxst & Amanda Reifer
No. 7, “Silent Hill,” with Kodak Black
No. 8, “United in Grief”
No. 11, “Father Time,” feat. Sampha
No. 13, “Rich Spirit”
No. 16, “We Cry Together,” with Taylour Paige
No. 19, “Worldwide Steppers”
No. 20, “Count Me Out”
No. 22, “Purple Hearts,” with Summer Walker & Ghostface Killah
No. 23, “Savior,” with Baby Keem & Sam Dew
No. 33, “Rich (Interlude)”
No. 40, “Mr. Morale,” with Tanna Leone
No. 41, “Crown”
No. 47, “Auntie Diaries”
No. 51, “Savior (Interlude)”
No. 55, “Mirror”
No. 59, “Mother I Sober,” feat. Beth Gibbons
No. 77, “The Heart Part 5” (down from its No. 15 debut)