- Kendrick Lamar should have won album of the year at the BET Awards, not Beyoncé and SZA.
- "Renaissance" and "SOS" shared the prize on Sunday, beating Lamar's "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers."
At this year's Grammys, Beyoncé's "Renaissance" and Kendrick Lamar's "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" dominated their respective genre-specific categories, winning best dance album and best hip-hop album.
Both projects, however, were snubbed in the big four categories, most notably album of the year, which was scooped by Harry Styles.
Sunday's BET Awards was a shot at some kind of redemption for the pair.
Only one — Beyoncé — got it.
Alongside SZA's "SOS," "Renaissance" scooped the prize for album of the year while "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" again missed out on the big one alongside projects by Chris Brown, DJ Khaled, GloRilla, and Drake and 21 Savage.
That should not have been the case. Instead, Kendrick should have been up on stage collecting that award.
Now, before the Bey Hive come for me, "Renaissance" is a great album (in fact, the wider Insider entertainment team picked it as the best album of 2022). It's immersive, it's unique, and contains hit after hit. Most of all, I love the way it pays tribute to house music's Black and queer pioneers such as Frankie Knuckles through its escapist sounds and hedonistic lyrics.
SZA's "SOS" is also a great album. A blend of soul, gospel, and rap, SZA's voice shines over the project's minimalist sounds, though it lacks the cohesion and depth of "Renaissance."
"Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers," however, is a masterpiece.
An 18-track confessional told through the lens of a therapy session, Kendrick bares his soul as he discusses what it's like to be seen as a messiah by the Black community, from whom he feels pressure to offer prophetic advice on life through his music.
"The cat is out the bag, I am not your savior / I find it just as difficult to love thy neighbors," he raps on "Savior."
The rapper also tackles themes of cancel culture, capitalism, sexual addiction, and toxic masculinity. Most notably, for the first time on any of his projects, Kendrick also discusses gender identity and trans acceptance by opening up about two of his transgender relatives.
"My auntie is a man now / I asked my momma why my uncles don't like him that much / And at the parties why they always wanna fight him that much," he raps on the self-reflective "Auntie Diaries," which ends with Kendrick labeling himself a hypocrite for using a homophobic slur.
The complexities of "Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers," with its mash of psychedelic jazz, rap, and blues, and its jagged pacing (similar to that of any therapy journey), are exactly what makes it such a rich musical odyssey. By looking inward, Kendrick has created a uniquely resonant body of work that speaks to the times we live in.
Admittedly, it's difficult listening compared to the continuous beat of "Renaissance," or the breezy vibes of "SOS," but that's not to say there aren't fun moments, too. "N95" is full of trademark Kendrick one-liners, and the floating "Die Hard," which features the silky vocals of Blxst.
But mostly, it's a record created for Kendrick himself — a cathartic tell-all about what it means to be a Black man whose trauma still haunts them.
"Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers" being overlooked for album of the year at the Grammys was wrong, but not shocking. But given the BET Awards are designed specifically to celebrate Black culture, this moment-defining album should have been the clear first choice for the award.
Kendrick won't mind, however. In fact, he saw it coming.
"I can't please everybody," he raps on "Crown."