Every year the rap album of the year is a moment of high conversation on the timeline. In the 50th year of Hip-Hop, Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is the winner. The award was presented by Cardi B.
King Kendrick beat out Jack Harlow’s Come Home The Kids Miss You, DJ Khaled’s GOD DID, Future’s I NEVER LIKED YOU and Pusha T’s It’s Almost Dry.
Earlier in the evening, Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Pt. 5” won Best Rap Song.
Kendrick Lamar is back in his music video bag, dropping off a visual for “Rich Spirit” from his Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers album.
In the new video, Lamar gets off some dance moves while wearing a red fit and cowboy boots.
The “Rich Spirit” video comes days after King Kendrick received nominations for the 2023 Grammys. His Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers album was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Rap Album. “The Heart Pt. 5” received nods for Song of the Year, Best Rap Song and more. You can see the full nominations here.
Kendrick Lamar is hitting the road this Summer — in support of the release of his new album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers — as he announced on Friday morning (May 13) dates for his upcoming Oklama Presents… The Big Steppers Tour featuring K.Dot’s proteges Baby Keem and Tanna Leone — brought to you by Amazon Music, Cash App and Rotation.
Kicking off in Oklahoma City July 19, the 65-city tour runs nationwide all summer long with its last U.S. stop in Los Angeles on September 15 before heading for international terrains from October to December with stops including Amsterdam, London and Sydney. General admission tickets go on sale worldwide May 20 at 12 PM local time via the Oklama website. The same website Kendrick used to announce Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers would be his “final” album with Top Dawg Entertainment.
For U.S. dates, the first tickets to the tour will be made available via an exclusive Cash App presale starting one day earlier at 10 AM local time.
See complete 2022 tour dates below.
Tue Jul 19 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Center
Thu Jul 21 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
Fri Jul 22 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
Sat Jul 23 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
Sun Jul 24 – Miami, FL – Rolling Loud
Wed Jul 27 – Tampa, FL – Amalie Arena
Fri Jul 29 – New Orleans, LA – Smoothie King Center
Sat Jul 30 – Atlanta, GA – State Farm Arena
Sun Jul 31 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
Tue Aug 02 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
Thu Aug 04 – Washington, DC – Capital One Arena
Fri Aug 05 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
Sat Aug 06 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
Sun Aug 07 – Long Island, NY – UBS Arena
Tue Aug 09 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
Wed Aug 10 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
Fri Aug 12 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
Sat Aug 13 – Toronto, ON Scotiabank Arena
Sun Aug 14 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
Tue Aug 16 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
Thu Aug 18 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
Fri Aug 19 – Chicago, IL – United Center
Sat Aug 20 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
Sun Aug 21 – Kansas City, MO – T-Mobile Center
Tue Aug 23 – Denver, CO – Ball Arena
Wed Aug 24 – Salt Lake City, UT – Vivint Smart Home Arena
Fri Aug 26 – Portland, OR – Moda Center
Sat Aug 27 – Seattle, WA – Climate Pledge Arena
Sun Aug 28 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
Tue Aug 30 – Sacramento, CA – Golden 1 Center
Wed Aug 31 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
Thu Sep 01 – Oakland, CA – Oakland Arena
Tue Sep 06 – San Diego, CA – Viejas Arena at San Diego State University
A double album that also includes Baby Keem and Tanna Leone, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers features Kodak Black, Sampha, Blxst, Summer Walker, Ghostface Killah, Beth Gibbons, Sam Dew and actress Taylour Paige (“Zola”). The new album marks Lamar’s first album in five years since the release of his Pultizer Prize-winning DAMN. in 2017.
See the tour’s promotional flyer above that advertises “Come help Mr. Morale get out of the box.”
The wait is over! After a five-year hiatus, Kendrick Lamar has finally delivered the album. Overnight K.Dot dropped his fifth studio album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, and the Compton emcee delivered a double disc complied with a classic Kendrick.
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is a 18-track album features, Kodack Black Summer Walker, Ghostface Killah, Thundercat, Baby Keem, Sampha, Sam Dew, Tanna Leone, Taylour Paige, Blxst, Amanda Reifer and the English singer and songwriter Beth Gibbons.
The production on his album is next level as well. Oklama, Sounwave, J.LBS, Duval Timothy, Beach Noise, Tim Maxey, Jaheen Sweet, Boi-1da, Baby Keem, Tae Beat, Dahi, FNZ, Bekon, Victor Ekpo, Frano, DJ Khalil, Cardo, Mario Luciano, Rascal, the Donuts, Craig Balmoris, Sergiu Gherman, Tyler Mehlenbacher, The Alchemist, and Pharrell all have production credits on Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.
Even with the long time off from the rap game, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is still projected to be another successful body of work. If history repeats itself, this will be K.Dot’s fourth consecutive No.1 album. To Pimp a Butterfly, Untitled Unmastered and DAMN all reached No.1 the Billboard 200.
Since 2017, Lamar has appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 chart 50 times, with eight top 10 entries and two No. 1 hits. He also won seven Grammys and the Pulitzer Prize for music.
Kendrick’s peers respect his confidence and his competitive nature. Before the album even dropped, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers was in high demand from some notable names of the culture. His fellow Compton native Roddy Ricch called Kendrick the “Compton Jesus” for delivering this album.
Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers is Kendrick’s last album under Top Dawg Entertainment. Check it out below.
