Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers

Written by William Hykes

Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is rapper Kendrick Lamar’s first album in more than five years, following the album “DAMN.” Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers has eighteen racks and is just over seventy-five minutes long with ten features. Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is a dual album (two albums in one) with eighteen songs divided into two nine-track sections.

The song you are going to hear about the most, for better or worse, is "Auntie Diaries." "Auntie Diaries" is about Kendrick’s transgender uncle and cousin and raises concerns about society's views of gay and trans people, as well as those who may be associated with the LGBTQ+ community.

Following the album's release on May 13, 2022, Lamar announced The Big Steppers Tour, a sixty five-city tour that will make the journey all across the United States, Canada, Europe, and Oceania. On August 16, 2022, The Big Steppers Tour will come to Columbus, Ohio at the Schottenstein Center. On all three legs of the tour, Baby Keem and Tanna Leone will serve as openers.

Photo credit: https://kendricklamar.lnk.to/MrMorale

Kendrick’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers had the most first-day streams for an album released so far in 2022 on Apple Music according to Apple Music. Lamar's new album also passed one hundred million streams on the first day on Spotify, making it the fourth-biggest album in a twenty four-hour span of all time on apple music. When I asked, senior, John Hykes what he thought about the album he said, “The album is really good and he took a lot of artistic directions plus a lot of other artists would've been scared to go with.”