The wait is finally over: On April 18, 2022, Kendrick Lamar officially announced his new studio album titled “Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers” on his site oklama.com. The album is set to release on May 13, following his acclaimed fourth studio album ‘DAMN’ back in 2017. This will be his final project under the record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) after 17 years of business.

 There’s been very minimal detail about the direction his new album will go, but that doesn’t stop fans online from voicing their opinions and theories behind the interesting title for his new album. After Kendrick Lamar dropped ‘DAMN’ in 2017 and helped with the Black Panther Soundtrack in 2018, he was very quiet on the music scene. However, he would occasionally appear as a feature on some tracks, most notably “Under the Sun” with J. Cole, DaBaby, and Lute in 2019 and his recent Grammy-winning song “Family Ties” with his cousin Baby Keem. 

There are no hints on how the album will sound stylistically or the themes that will be centered around the album. Kendrick’s albums are known for their comprehensive, unique execution in presenting messages to his listeners. Kendrick’s sophomore album, “good kid m.A.A.d City” (2012), follows a story of his time growing up in Compton and how his experiences shaped him into becoming the person he is today. It’s an emotional, enthralling coming of age album that tackles themes such as peer pressure, greed, lust, staying true to oneself, and tests of morality. The album was met with instant acclaim. In arguably Kendrick’s magnum opus “To Pimp A Butterfly” (2015), he went the political route tackling issues such as race in America. It’s a poetic, soulful,jazz-funk-influenced masterpiece that’s established itself as one of the best albums of our time.   

It’s been five years since he last dropped an album, so the expectations from fans and critics are high—more details about his new album are to be revealed soon.