''Section.80'' is the debut studio album by the American rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

. It was released on July 2, 2011, by

Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...

(TDE). In the years leading up to its release, Lamar produced various

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

s under the

moniker A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

K.Dot. In 2010, Lamar released ''

Overly Dedicated ''Overly Dedicated'' (sometimes stylized as ''O(verly) D(edicated)'' and abbreviated as ''OD'') is the fourth solo mixtape by American rapper Kendrick Lamar, released on September 14, 2010, via Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE). It is the first mixtap ...

'', his fourth solo

. Shortly after its release, he began working on ''Section.80''. The

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

of ''Section.80'' was mainly handled by TDE in-house producers from production group

Digi+Phonics CelcomDigi Berhad (Trade name, d.b.a. CelcomDigi), formerly known as Digi.Com Berhad (Trade name, d.b.a. Digi), is a communications conglomerate and mobile service provider in Malaysia. Its largest shareholders are Axiata and Norwegian-based Te ...

, as well as THC, Tommy Black,

Wyldfyer Wyatt Coleman, also known as Wyldfyer is an American music producer. He produced a promo album (from Jay-Z), The Black Album: Classik. He produced tracks for Nas's ''Hip Hop Is Dead'', and the collaboration between Nas and Jay-Z, "Black Republi ...

Terrace Martin Terrace Jamahl Martin (born December 28, 1978) is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog ...

and

J. Cole Jermaine Lamarr Cole (born January 28, 1985) is an American rapper and record producer. Born in a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his d ...

. A

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

, it features lyrical themes delivered by Lamar such as the 1980s

crack epidemic The crack epidemic was a surge of crack cocaine use in major cities across the United States throughout the entirety of the 1980s and the early 1990s. This resulted in several social consequences, such as increasing crime and violence in Americ ...

, racism and the medication tolerance of

millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...

. The album features

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

s from GLC, Colin Munroe,

Ashtrobot Ash Winston Riser (August 29, 1989 – June 12, 2021), also known by his former stage name Ashtrobot, was an American recording artist and music producer. Born and raised in California, he embarked on his music career when he was 15 years old, ...

BJ the Chicago Kid Bryan James Sledge (born November 23, 1984), better known by his stage name BJ the Chicago Kid (or simply BJ), is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Sledge is best known for frequently collaborating with Top ...

Schoolboy Q Quincy Matthew Hanley (born October 26, 1986), better known by his stage name Schoolboy Q (stylized as ScHoolboy Q), is an American rapper. He began recording in 2007, and released his first two mixtapes, ''ScHoolboy Turned Hustla'' (2008) and '' ...

Ab-Soul Herbert Anthony Stevens IV (born February 23, 1987), better known by his stage name Ab-Soul, is an American rapper. Raised in Carson, California, he signed to indie record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2007, where he eventually formed We ...

and vocals from singer-songwriter Alori Joh. ''Section.80'' received generally positive reviews from critics upon its release. The album debuted at number 113 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and as of February 2014, it has sold 130,000 copies domestically. In April 2017, it was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Background and release

Prior to the album's release,

released various mixtapes under the K.Dot

. The first of these

s, titled ''Youngest Head Nigga in Charge'', landed Lamar a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with

. Through Top Dawg Entertainment, Lamar would release four mixtapes, including ''

''. Lamar felt compelled to create the album after seeing a friend of his go to jail for twenty-five years and experiencing the pain of such an event. Lamar began working on the album sometime in January 2011. The album was recorded at Top Dawg Studios in

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

. Most of the album was written in Lamar's mother's kitchen and his tour bus. While recording the album, Lamar wished for it to be "as organic as possible," at times leaving songs unfinished for extended periods of time. The album art was released on June 29, 2011, photographed by Dave Free and designed by Hassana Lynne.

Music and lyrics

Musically, ''Section.80'' is a

conscious hip-hop Political hip hop (also known as political rap and conscious hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip hop music that emerged in the 1980s as a form of political expression and activism. It typically addresses sociopolitical issues through lyrics, aiming t ...

and

alternative rap Alternative hip-hop (also known as alternative rap and experimental hip-hop) is a subgenre of hip-hop music that encompasses a wide range of styles that are not typically identified as mainstream. AllMusic defines it as comprising "hip-hop group ...

record with "stripped-down"

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

production. Its tracks contain additional elements of

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

boom bap Boom bap is a subgenre and music production style that was prominent in East Coast hip hop during the golden age of hip hop from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. The term "boom bap" is an onomatopoeia that represents the sounds used for the ...

, R&B, and "

funky Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...

ventures" into

southern hip-hop Southern hip-hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip-hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Texas, ...

. Lyrically, ''Section.80'' is a

that dwells on a variety of subjects, such as the 1980s

, medication tolerance, racism, and presidency of

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

. Lamar has stated that he created the album to discuss his

generation A generation is all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It also is "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and grow up, become adults, and b ...

Songs

Several songs on ''Section.80'' revolve around two women, Tammy and Keisha, and their personal hardships. "Tammy's Song (Her Evils)" revolves around two girls cheating on their boyfriends after discovering they were unfaithful, and eventually sleeping with each other because they can't trust men; "Keisha's Song (Her Pain)" is about a

prostitute Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-pe ...

who seeks comfort and control, only to her demise. On " A.D.H.D", Lamar addresses "getting fucked up, going to parties, and just being carefree," while "Kush & Corinthians" notes that

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

and

morals Morality () is the categorization of intentions, decisions and actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of conduc ...

are rarely cut and dried. The album's

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

and final song, "

HiiiPoWeR "HiiiPower" (also stylised as "HiiiPoWeR") is the debut single by American rapper Kendrick Lamar which released on April 12, 2011. The conscious hip-hop song also serves as the lead single from his independently released debut album, '' Section. ...

", explains the "HiiiPoWeR" movement promoted by Lamar and his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. The song came from Lamar's interactions with fellow rapper

and TDE president Punch. The song "Ronald Reagan Era" features uncredited vocal recordings by

RZA Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (born July 5, 1969), better known by his stage name RZA ( ) or the RZA, is an American rapper, record producer, composer, actor, and filmmaker. He is the '' de facto'' leader of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, having pro ...

, which Lamar mentions in an interview with ''

Complex Complex commonly refers to: * Complexity, the behaviour of a system whose components interact in multiple ways so possible interactions are difficult to describe ** Complex system, a system composed of many components which may interact with each ...

'' in 2011 were orchestrated by DJ Fricktion from London, who at the time was working with RZA on various records. In August 2019, the song "The Spiteful Chant" was removed from streaming services without comment from Lamar or Top Dawg Entertainment. There is some speculation that the removal was the result of sample clearance issues, as "The Spiteful Chant" contains an unlicensed sample of the 2011 song "

Iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

" by

Woodkid Yoann Lemoine (; born 16 March 1983), known professionally as Woodkid, is a French music video director, graphic designer and singer-songwriter. His most notable works include his music video direction for Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream (Katy Perry ...

Marketing and sales

''Section.80'' was released on July 2, 2011. In its first week, the album sold 5,000 copies in the United States and debuted at number 113 on the US ''Billboard'' 200, with minimal mainstream media promotion and coverage. Within a two-week period, the album sold a total of 9,000 copies in the United States, and as of February 2014, the album has sold 130,000 copies domestically. On April 14, 2017, the album was certified

by the

(RIAA), for combined sales and

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, often shortened to just unit, is a sales metric in the music industry that defines the number of streaming media, songs streamed and music download, songs downloaded equal to one Record sales, tradi ...

s of over 500,000 units.

Critical reception

''Section.80'' was met with generally positive reviews. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a

normalized Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Science * Normalization process theory, a sociological theory of the implementation of new technologies or innovations * Normalization model, used in ...

rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 80, based on 11 reviews. Andres Tardio of ''

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of Hip hop music, hip hop music criticism and news. ''HipHopDX'' has over 3.5M monthly readers, the website encompassing hip hop news, interviews, music, and reviews. The website's founder and CEO is Sharath C ...

'' praised the album, writing that Lamar "may have been searching for answers, but that journey allowed him to find out of this year's most outstanding albums with ''Section.80''." Reviewing the album for ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'', Tom Breihan believed that, "self-serious flaws and all, ''Section.80'' still stands as a powerful document of a tremendously promising young guy figuring out his voice." In the opinion of '' XXL'' journalist Adam Fleischer, the record reveals "its author's brain is neither lost nor useless, as he weaves together carefully constructed thoughts before spewing raps on each of the project's 16 tracks, ensuring nothing is disposable or without purpose." David Amidon from ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' compared Lamar to an

Ice Cube O'Shea Jackson Sr. (born June 15, 1969), known professionally as Ice Cube, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and film producer. His lyrics on N.W.A's 1989 album '' Straight Outta Compton'' contributed to gangsta rap's widespread popu ...

early in his career, as "he's only telling us what he sees, and while he might not offer solutions as often as ce Cubedid, he's certainly able to paint us vivid a picture." Tom Hull said Lamar "runs a song about 'niggas and ho's' so far into the ground he can raise a flagpole in top of it, but also recalls the evils of the Reagan Era, which is pretty good for a guy who was just born as Iran-Contra piled up." ''Pitchfork'' placed the album at number 45 on its list of the "Top 50 albums of 2011". ''Complex'' named the album the 7th best album of 2011. In honor of ''Section.80''s fifth anniversary, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' columnist Ogden Payne wrote an article explaining how the album had propelled Lamar into "hip-hop royalty," deeming it "the genesis to Kendrick Lamar successfully balancing social commentary with mass appeal, while simultaneously laying the foundation for his label as King Kendrick." ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' placed the album at number three on their list of "101 Albums To Hear Before You Die" in 2014.

Track listing

Songwriting credits adapted from BMI and

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadc ...

. Notes * signifies a co-producer * "A.D.H.D" contains additional vocals from Ab-Soul * "HiiiPoWer" contains additional vocals from Alori Joh

Personnel

Credits are adapted from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. *

– primary artist *

Sounwave Mark Anthony Spears (born February 28, 1986), known professionally as Sounwave, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is a frequent collaborator of rapper Kendrick Lamar, having worked on all of his projects since his 2009 self-title ...

– producer *

– producer * Tommy Black – producer *

Dave Free David Isaac Friley (born November 13, 1986), known professionally as Dave Free, is an American filmmaker and record producer. Born and raised in Inglewood, California, he is best known as the manager and creative partner of fellow California ...

– producer *

Derek "MixedByAli" Ali Derek Ali (born November 1, 1989), known professionally as MixedByAli, is an American mixing engineer. His career started in Los Angeles in the late-2000s, where he began recording and mixing for artists under Top Dawg Entertainment. He initiall ...

– mix engineer *

– featured artist *

– featured artist * Colin Munroe – featured artist *

– featured artist *

– featured artist

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

* – Relevant Mindset {{Authority control 2011 debut albums 2010s concept albums Albums produced by J. Cole Albums produced by Terrace Martin Albums produced by Sounwave Albums produced by Tae Beast Albums produced by Dave Free Albums produced by Willie B Kendrick Lamar albums Top Dawg Entertainment albums Songs about Ronald Reagan