''Untitled Unmastered'' (stylized as ''untitled unmastered.'') is a compilation album by American rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

. It was released on March 4, 2016, through Top Dawg Entertainment,

Aftermath Entertainment Aftermath Entertainment is an American record label founded by hip hop producer and rapper Dr. Dre. It operates as a subsidiary of, and is distributed through, Interscope Records. Current acts include Dr. Dre himself, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, ...

and

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mu ...

. It consists of previously unreleased demos that originated during the recording of Lamar's album ''

To Pimp a Butterfly ''To Pimp a Butterfly'' is the third studio album by American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was recorded in studios throughout the U ...

'' (2015), continuing that work's exploration of politically charged and philosophical themes, as well as its experimentation with

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians dur ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original eleme ...

, and funk styles. The album received widespread acclaim from critics, and it debuted atop the US ''Billboard'' 200.

Background and release

In December 2014, while preparing for the release of his third album ''

'' (2015), Lamar performed an unreleased, untitled track as a musical guest on the final episode of ''

The Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show focu ...

''. In January 2016, he performed another untitled song on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh in ...

''. Following his acclaimed performance at the 2016's Grammy Awards, which included aspects of another new untitled track, Lamar revealed the existence of a collection of tracks that did not make it onto ''Butterfly'': "I got a chamber of material from the album that I was in love ithwhere sample clearances or something as simple as a deadline kept it off the album." Following hints of a new release from Lamar's label Top Dawg Entertainment, and allegedly aided by NBA player

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest pl ...

's public request to TDE head Anthony Tiffith that Lamar's untitled work be released, ''Untitled Unmastered'' first surfaced on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

on March 4, 2016 containing eight untitled tracks but without an apparent release date. The project was officially released on the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

later that day. It spans 34 minutes and features eight untitled tracks, each dated. These dates indicate that the songs were written and recorded at various points between 2013 and 2016. Later that day, Lamar confirmed that the tracks were unfinished demos from ''To Pimp a Butterfly''. In an interview with '' Spin'', vocalist Anna Wise, while recalling the demos that appear on ''Untitled Unmastered'', claims she knew of the compilation album's existence for an undisclosed amount of time, and was asked to keep it a secret until its release. ''Untitled Unmastered'' was released to digital retailers and streaming services on March 4. The physical CD release of its explicit edition followed on March 11 and an edited version was released on March 18. On March 23, 2016, " untitled 07 , levitate" was released separately on

as the lone single.

Recording and production

The songs performed during Lamar's appearances on ''The Colbert Report'' ("untitled 03 , 05.28.2013.", plus a new coda), ''The Tonight Show'' ("untitled 08 , 09.06.2014." plus the end of "untitled 02 , 06.23.2014.") and the end of the 2016 Grammys (part of his first verse from "untitled 05 , 09.21.2014.") were all included on ''Untitled Unmastered''. ''The Tonight Show'' performance was previously known as "Untitled 2". Previously, part of Lamar's "untitled 08" verse had been used for remixes of

Funkadelic Funkadelic was an American funk rock band formed in Plainfield, New Jersey in 1968 and active until 1982. The band and its sister act Parliament, both led by George Clinton, pioneered the funk music culture of the 1970s.John, Bush. Funkade ...

's "Ain't That Funkin Kinda Hard on You". Swizz Beatz has said that his and

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Colu ...

' 5-year-old son Egypt produced "untitled 07" and played a large contribution in the productions of "untitled 01" and "untitled 02" through uncredited samples. TDE producer Sounwave has confirmed on Twitter that Egypt produced the second half of the track. "untitled 06 , 06.30.2014" features uncredited vocals from American singer

CeeLo Green Thomas DeCarlo Callaway - Burton (born May 30, 1975), known professionally as CeeLo Green (or Cee Lo Green), is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actor. He is known for his work in hip hop and R&B, including the Gnarl ...

, while it was produced by both

Adrian Younge Adrian Younge (born May 7, 1978) is an American composer, arranger and music producer based in the Los Angeles area. Background Younge grew up in Fontana, California. His father is a lawyer and Younge himself earned a Juris Doctor degree fro ...

and

Ali Shaheed Muhammad Ali Shaheed Muhammad (born August 11, 1970) is an American hip hop DJ, record producer, and rapper, best known as a member of A Tribe Called Quest. With Q-Tip and Phife Dawg (and sometimes Jarobi White), the group released five studio albums ...

A Tribe Called Quest A Tribe Called Quest was an American hip hop group formed in Queens, New York City, in 1985,Q-Tip

Fuse TV Fuse is an American pay television channel launched in 1994 which was originally dedicated to music. After merging with the Latino-oriented NuvoTV in 2015, Fuse shifted its focus to general entertainment and lifestyle programming targeting multi ...

described the album's tracks: "they have no official titles, have fascinating imperfections, and represent Kendrick in his rawest form while shedding insight into his creative development over the last three to four years." According to an interview with '' Complex'', Sounwave mentioned that Kendrick Lamar opted against mastering the tracks of ''Untitled Unmastered'', because Lamar "wanted 'Untitled Unmastered''to feel 100 percent authentic." Comparing the unusual nature of the album's presentation to that of

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

's ''

The Life of Pablo ''The Life of Pablo'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper and producer Kanye West. It was released on February 14, 2016, through GOOD Music and distributed by Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions took place from 2013 to 2016, in ...

'' (2016), ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' Christopher Hooton wrote that: 'I don't think we should consider this a Kendrick Lamar album in the same way we do '' Good Kid, M.A.A.D City'' ic ''TPAB'' etc, but it definitely feels more formal and considered than a mixtape ..the whole thing still feels cohesive.'

Music and lyrics

The ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' characterized ''Untitled Unmastered'' as "pull nglisteners right back into web of

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, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

-soaked, funk-drunk internal conflict and social commentary," while ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' described the album as "filled with the

, funk, politically charged lyrics and

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

sounds that made ''To Pimp a Butterfly'' such an instant classic."

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

described the album's music as "both ambient yet thrashing, melodic yet radiating, with standout tracks like "untitled 02" and "untitled 07" fully exhibiting Lamar’s vertiginous flows and adept ear for exciting, tuneful, next-level rap production." The ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' also observed the "soul,

spoken word Spoken word refers to an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a late 20th century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics o ...

and

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

music that permeated 'Butterfly''" noting that "the tracks favor upright bass, skittering drums and horn textures as much as loops and samples hileLamar employs a range of vocalists, from

SZA Solána Imani Rowe (born November 8, 1989), known professionally as SZA ( ), is an American singer and songwriter. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she began making music in the early 2010s, releasing two extended plays before signing with the hip ...

and

to augment his typically dense, diamond-hard rhymes." Lyrically, the release furthers Lamar's exploration of psychological and politically charged ideas, with references to spirituality and race featured throughout. ''

Drowned in Sound ''Drowned in Sound'', sometimes abbreviated to ''DiS'', is a UK-based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway. Founded by editor Sean Adams, the site features reviews, news, interviews, and discussion forums. History '' ...

'' also noted the thematic interplay between sexuality and oppression present in the release. "Untitled 01" was described by '' NME'' as an "unashamedly apocalyptic opening," while ''

'' described it as "vividly, cinematically drawn, its descriptions of towers crumbling, oceans drying and rapists fleeing – as well as its promise of an end to war, discrimination and superficiality – capture terror and justice in equal measure." Tiny Mix Tapes characterized the track as "a hallucinatory odyssey through the psyche of a conflicted young man," with production that "complements Lamar’s dark narrative perfectly, with the bass often sounding like it’s sizzling up from under the intoxicating beat." The following track, "untitled 02", was characterized by ''NME'' as "a chin-stroking track about faith, gifts from God and the ostentatious material indulgence of his peers, that incorporates "faint saxophone squalls and cloying synths," while ''The Guardian'' noted Lamar's vocal experimentation, with him "push nghis timbre into an ancient-sounding quaver before seizing the shifting sands of the beat with relish for a bravura final rap verse." The chant "Pimp pimp!... Hooray" on this track is the first mention of an album-spanning refrain. On "untitled 03," Lamar pursues a "loose concept of Afrofuturism .which he briefly collides head-on with Eastern philosophies and contemporary inner-city living." The track pits "the utopian vision .ostensibly based around black identity iththe possibility of a much bleaker dystopian society." "Untitled 04", the shortest track on the album, is filled with feverish whispers, with empowering, pro-education message. "Untitled 05" is a thicket of hi-hat percussion and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

, a piano glissando from

Robert Glasper Robert Andre Glasper (born April 6, 1978) is an American pianist, record producer, songwriter, and musical arranger with a career that bridges several different musical and artistic genres, mostly centered on jazz. To date, Glasper has won fou ...

, a vocal from Anna Wise and guest raps from

Jay Rock Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr. (born March 31, 1983), better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Los Angeles. He signed to indie label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE), in 2005. Under TDE, Rock secured a re ...

and Lamar's TDE manager

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

. It discusses treatment of and expectations for minorities in the US. Lamar's performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards found him rhyming over L.A. singer-producer Iman Omari's "Omari's Mood"; that beat, in slightly altered form, is the basis of "Untitled 05". "Untitled 06" has a smooth bossa nova and jazz-funk groove, marked by

xylophone The xylophone (; ) is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel (which uses metal bars), the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in t ...

and flute, and a lush chorus from Cee-Lo. In the track, Lamar seems to be addressing a girl he's trying to impress, but some lines seem to show him plagued by self-doubt. "Pimp pimp... Hooray!" – also the final line of the whole album – makes its return on "Untitled 07", a three-part 8-minute song, glides easily from a trap-influenced call to "levitate," and a wordless choral melody, to Lamar's broadsides against his competitors, before closing with tape hiss and studio chatter. Musically, critics compared " untitled 08" (unofficially known as "Blue Faces"), with "

King Kunta "King Kunta" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kendrick Lamar, taken from his third album, ''To Pimp a Butterfly'' (2015). It was released as the album's third single on March 24, 2015. Lamar co-wrote the song with Thundercat, whi ...

", for its hydraulic-pumping synthesized bass thump and Lamar's slangy flow. The song counters feelings of futility and hopelessness with optimism, suggesting there may be hope after all.

Release and reception

''Untitled Unmastered'' received widespread acclaim from critics. At

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

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 86, based on 31 reviews. Evan Rytlewski of '' The A.V. Club'' wrote that "although ''Untitled'' begs to be graded on a curve, it doesn’t need to be. Leftovers or not, this is magnificent music from a rare talent working at peak creativity." Writing for ''

'', Brooklyn Russell stated that "whether rhythmically bustling or meditative, these eight previously unreleased demos from the ''Butterfly'' sessions seethe with Lamar’s still-startling visions and artistic ambitions." Writing for ''

'', Alex Macpherson thought the album "is collection whose understatement allows different facets of Lamar’s talent to shine."

Greg Kot Greg Kot (born March 3, 1957) is an American music journalist and author. From 1990 until 2020, Kot was the rock music critic at the ''Chicago Tribune'', where he covered popular music and reported on music-related social, political and busines ...

of ''

'' wrote that his songs "openly struggle with issues of race and racism, identity and self-worth, the desire to possess the world or destroy it. We are all works in progress, he suggests -- unstable, volatile, ever-changing. Why should a collection of songs be any different?" Kellan Miller, writing for ''

'', observed that "Kendrick’s experimental hankering is constantly in flux. He spends the entirety of the record fusing seemingly disparate parts and wafting between snippets of ideas," ultimately asserting that "the Compton native’s appeal can be spliced in illimitable categories, but the conclusion is always his art's untamed, almost psychotic brilliance. In ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'', Julian Benbow noted: "In a way, it’s all as tightly woven as his Grammy-winning work, even if none of these cuts fit that album’s meticulous narrative." In '' NME'', Larry Bartleet opined "there are few unfamiliar messages and it’s all dense and considered, but never overwrought or explicitly angry. What really emerges is Kendrick's nuanced worldview." Will Hermes of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...

'' concluded his review writing "there's brilliance in even Lamar's cast-offs, and an intimacy here that makes this more than just a gift for his ravenous fans." ''Untitled Unmastered'' debuted at number one on the US ''Billboard'' 200, earning 178,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to tradit ...

s for the week ending March 10, 2016. 142,000 came from traditional album sales. The compilation album gave Lamar his second chart-topping set in less than a year. It has sold 205,000 copies domestically as of April 30, 2016.

Track listing

Notes * signifies an additional producer. * All tracks stylized in all lowercase letters. * "Untitled 01 , 08.19.2014." features additional vocals by Bilal and Anna Wise. * "Untitled 03 , 05.28.2013." features additional vocals by Bilal and Mani Strings. * "Untitled 04 , 08.14.2014." features additional vocals by

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...

and

. * "Untitled 05 , 09.21.2014." features verses by

and

and additional vocals by Bilal, SZA, and Anna Wise. * "Untitled 06 , 06.30.2014." features additional vocals by Cee Lo. * "Untitled 07 , 2014 – 2016" features additional vocals by

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

and SZA. * "Untitled 08 , 09.06.2014." features additional vocals by

Thundercat Thundercat or Thundercats may refer to: * Thundercat (snowmobile), a series of snowmobiles produced by Arctic Cat * Thundercat (musician), stage name of Stephen Lee Bruner, an American musician * ThunderCats, a media franchise, featuring a fictio ...

Personnel

Credits adapted from official liner notes * Dominic Angelella – additional keys (track 1) * Taz Arnold – ending skit (track 7) * Astronote – production (track 3) * Joe Baldacci – drums (track 1), drum engineering (track 1) * Bilal – additional vocals (tracks 1, 3, 5) *

Cardo A cardo (plural ''cardines'') was a north–south street in Ancient Roman cities and military camps as an integral component of city planning. The cardo maximus, or most often the ''cardo'', was the main or central north–south-oriented street. ...

– production (tracks 2, 7) *

– production (track 7), additional vocals (track 7) * Cee Lo – additional vocals (track 6) * Frank Dukes – production (track 7) *

– verse (track 5) *

– lead artist, production (track 4) * Josef Leimberg – added trumpet (track 5) * Mani Strings – additional vocals (track 3) *

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 ...

– production (track 5), saxophone (track 2), keys (track 4), additional keys (track 2) * Mono/Poly – production (track 8) *

– production (track 6) *

– additional vocals (track 5) * Ritz Reynolds – production (track 1) *

– additional vocals (track 4) * Sounwave – production (tracks 4, 5), added drums (track 1) *

– additional vocals (tracks 4, 5, 7) *

– production (tracks 4, 8), additional production (track 2), bass (tracks 2, 5, 7), additional vocals (track 8) * Anna Wise – additional vocals (tracks 1, 5) *

– production (track 6) * Yung Exclusive – production (tracks 2, 7)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2016 compilation albums Aftermath Entertainment compilation albums Albums produced by Cardo Albums produced by DJ Khalil Albums produced by Frank Dukes Albums produced by Hit-Boy Albums produced by Sounwave Albums produced by Swizz Beatz Albums produced by Thundercat (musician) Albums produced by Tae Beast Demo albums Interscope Records compilation albums Kendrick Lamar albums Top Dawg Entertainment albums