 This video is brought to you by CuriosityStream. Follow the link in the description to get 26% off an annual subscription to CuriosityStream and full access to Nebula, where you can watch my videos early and ad-free. And oh, if you like this video, maybe think about subscribing. Last week, Kendrick Lamar dropped what might have been the most anticipated album in music history. Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers. The album has been five years in the making, five years that have seen unprecedented global change, and five years that have seen Kendrick's profile raise to almost mythical levels. And somehow, despite all of the waiting, despite all of the expectations, Kendrick still managed to knock it out of the park. It's still a little too fresh to say how we'll look back on Mr. Morale and where it fits in Kendrick's discography, but I know that I've been listening to it non-stop since it dropped. I'm certain that it's the kind of album that will be picked apart by pretentious video essayists like yours truly for years to come, but I wanted to talk a little bit about it while it was still fresh. There's a whole lot to pull from the album, but there was one big thought that I had upon first listen that stuck with me ever since. When the dust settled and I was trying to think what the message of this album is, I found myself asking a question that I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to. Is this Kendrick Lamar's last album? Let's take a closer look. Thematically, Mr. Morale might be the most personal album of Kendrick's career, which is really saying something. Kendrick frames the album as a series of therapy sessions, unpacking his own generational trauma while discussing the pressures of fame and family, all put against the backdrop of our own strange historical moment. And all of this is expressed perfectly in the album artwork. We see Kendrick in a hotel room with his family, a gun tucked into his belt, and a crown of thorns around his hand. The crown of thorns obviously depicts how he's perceived in the public eye. In Kendrick's mind, people are viewing him as a savior, hoping that this album would come out and be a historical turning point, shining light on dark times. It's an amount of pressure that no human being should really have to put up with, and a pressure that he explicitly rejects throughout the album, most notably, on savior. The result of this pressure is represented by the gun on Kendrick's hip. He feels that because he's in the spotlight, everybody's out to get him, and he needs to protect his family. You can also see this throughout the album, which is full of dark, paranoid soundscapes. But even as Kendrick is trying to protect and love his family, he's distant from them, a distance created by his own trauma and exacerbated by the pressures of fame. On the album, this plays out through raw cinematic songs like We Cry Together. All of these pressures building throughout the album culminate in the final song, Mirror. While there's evidence throughout the album, it's this song in particular that makes me wonder if Kendrick might be calling it quits. The song opens with an explicit statement of what Kendrick has been discussing throughout the album. The pressure's taking over me, it's beginning to loom. Better if I spare your feelings and tell you the truth. This is unaddressed to the audience, and the truth that Kendrick wants to tell them is simple. You won't grow weight in on me. The end of the verse offers a line with a dual meaning to it. Ask me when I'm coming home, blink twice again, I'm gone. When taken as Kendrick discussing his relationship with his fans, he's expressing the ways that we spend too much time and energy anticipating his releases and following his every move. But when we turn it the other way, this could also be a message to Kendrick's family. Kendrick wants to be present in his children's lives. He doesn't want to get caught up in his career and have his family suffer for it. And then we get the hook. I choose me, I'm sorry. When given the choice between being an imagined savior for the world and growing as a person, Kendrick is choosing himself. It's not a triumphant moment though, it's apologetic. Kendrick does seem genuinely sorry that he can't possibly live up to what everybody wants him to be. While this could just be Kendrick rejecting the role given to him, I think in the third verse we get clearer signs that this might be the end. Because all of it's toxic. Girl, I'm not relevant to given-on-profit. Personal gain off my pain, it's nonsense. Darling, my demons is off the leash for a mosh pit. Throughout his career, Kendrick has talked a lot about the ways that the trauma and pain of black artists is exploited by a money-hungry music industry. In this verse, he's once again revisiting these themes. From the early stages of his career, many of Kendrick's most raw, intimate songs have been used as party songs for people to let loose and mosh to. Just look at Swimming Pools, a song about how alcoholism perpetuates generational trauma that most people just use as a drinking song to this day. Kendrick has spent his career trying to elevate people's consciousness through his music. But now he finds himself questioning what good any of it is if the end result is just people holding him to impossible standards and then getting angry when he fails to reach them. Don't you point a finger just to point a finger? Because critical thinking is a deal-breaker. Faith in one man is a ship sinking. Then, Kendrick ends the verse on a thought. Maybe it's time to break it off. Run away from the culture to follow my heart. Kendrick has had all the success he could possibly dream of. He's sold records, won Grammys and Pulitzers, wrote the Anthem to a protest movement and staked his claim as the greatest of all time. But in all of this, he doesn't find himself happy. All of the fame and pressure has given him new sorts of demons to deal with and has put a target on his back. Add to this the new responsibility of becoming a father and it makes sense as to why Kendrick might call it quits while on top. I'm not saying this is a sure thing. This could well be about something different than retirement. After all, Kendrick is about to embark on a world tour. But I think when we look at the last words of the song, it really starts to feel like a farewell. When will you let me go? I trust you'll find independence. If not, then all is forgiven. Sorry I didn't save the world, my friend. I was too busy building mine again. And then packed with new levels of meaning, Kendrick finishes on the same chorus. I choose me. I'm sorry. So maybe this is the end for Kendrick and maybe it's not. People have certainly speculated this and been wrong before. And personally, I hope Kendrick proves me wrong. I hope that he continues to make the music that he wants to make, the music that he loves making for the rest of his life if he wants to. But if I'm reading the album right and this is the last release of Kendrick's career, well then it's been an incredible career and I personally just feel lucky to have witnessed it. In high quality and with no ads. And signing up to Nebula gets you access to all sorts of original content. I've got a couple originals up already, but as I speak, I'm putting some of the final touches on a new series that will be up on Nebula soon. A series that will actually see me talking to artists who are out there making interesting music today. 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