ANDRE ALONSO Staff Writer

Kendrick Lamar has released his fourth full length feature, and every song had me say the album’s title. Kendrick’s fourth attempt, “Damn,” starts off with an eerie intro track of Kendrick telling a story when it abruptly ends with him getting shot.

The rest of the album shows growth in the Compton rapper. Still with west coast influences, he has switched up his sound-less west coast beach sounds and more Atlanta influenced trap beats. “DNA” is a powerful stance on what racist higher-ups think of not just African Americans, but of rappers in general. The tempo switches but Kendrick’s no nonsense flow is still present in songs like “Yah” and “Element.”

His soft side comes out with songs like “Love (feat. Zacari,)” “Loyalty (feat. Rhianna,)” and “God.” The star of the album is his only single before releasing the album, “Humble.” This track is a typical brag rap track throwing shots at Big Sean with lines like “Sit down, Hov (Jay Z) is the only hall of fame” and “My left stroke just went viral, right stroke put lil baby in a spiral.”

The effort ends with a story of Kendrick’s father meeting his manager years before Kendrick even started rapping. Over all, this album isn’t an instant classic like his first two albums “Good Kid, m.a.a.d City” and “To Pimp a Butterfly,” but this is one of the albums of 2017.

I give “Damn.” 8 stars out of 10.