The wait is finally over. Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is here.

On Friday (May 13), over five years after putting out his Grammy-award winning DAMN. LP, Kendrick Lamar released his new album titled Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers. To the delight of fans everywhere, the Top Dawg Entertainment stalwart has released his fifth musical anthology, which is spread over two discs, and includes 18 songs with nine tracks apiece on each disc. The collection as a whole boasts guest appearances from Blxst, Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black, Baby Keem and more.

Fans have been waiting for this double album with bated breath for a while, as the reclusive Compton, Calif. MC has laid low following DAMN.'s successful release. Late last year, speculation began to circulate that 2020 would be the year that Kung Ku Kenny would return with a new album and tour. In January, rumors came about that the new Kendrick Lamar LP was finished and would contain more rock influence. However, as the months passed, there were no solid signs of a rollout. People started scrambling for answers so hard that there was even a rumor that Kendrick had left his label, which the "Be Humble" rhymer disputed.

In October of 2020, Kendrick acknowledged his lengthy album recording process. "I spend the whole year just thinking about how I’m gonna execute a new sound, I can’t do the same thing over and over," he told i-D magazine. "I need something to get me excited. I see you get frustrated sometimes because you want some new shit."

Last August, Kendrick Lamar again broke his silence on the album, revealing it would be his final LP with Top Dawg Ent before he moves on to run his own entity called pgLang. It would be seven more months before he would officially announce Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers on April 18. K-Dot made the announcement on a website with a throwback Windows vibe.

On May 8, he dropped the video and song for "The Heart, Part 5." In the clip for the track, Kendrick stands in front of a red background delivering his powerful rhymes. As he raps, his face morphs into polarizing celebrities like OJ Simpson, Kanye West, Jussie Smollett and Will Smith. Near the end of the video, Kendrick transformed into deepfakes of Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle as the brilliant MC pays homage to the fallen icons.

Listen to Kendrick Lamar's new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, below.

Kendrick Lamar's Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers Tracklist

1. "United In Grief"
2. "N95"
3. "Worldwide Steppers"
4. "Die Hard" featuring Blxst & Amanda Reifer
5. "Father Time" featuring Sampha
6. "Rich" (Interlude)
7. "Rich Spirit"
8. "We Cry Together" featuring Taylour Paige
9. "Purple Hearts" featuring Summer Walker and Ghostface Killah

Disc 2

1. "Count Me Out"
2. "Crown"
3. "Silent Hill" featuring Kodak Black
4. "Savior" (Interlude)
5. "Savior" featuring Baby Keem and Sam Dew
6. "Auntie Diaries"
7. "Mr. Morale" featuring Tanna Leone
8. "Mother I Sober" featuring Beth Gibbons
9. "Mirror"

kendrick lamar mr morale the big steppers artwork
Aftermath / Interscope (Top Dawg Entertainment)
loading...

See 20 Signs You're a Kendrick Lamar Fan

More From XXL