Kendrick Lamar's Height May Open Some Eyes

The wait is finally over. On May 13, Kendrick Lamar dropped his highly anticipated new album, "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers."

Before the release, it had been five years since fans had heard Lamar. Other than a few features following the release of "DAMN," including the "Black Panther" album, Lamar was absent from the music space — and now following the release of "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers," it's clear why. In his fifth studio album, a chorus opens the album encouraging Lamar to "tell them the truth" before he steps in stating he has "been going through something for 1,855 days." By doing the math, 1,855 days ago was April 14, 2017, the release date of "DAMN."

"Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" is a double album, set in two parts — "Mr. Morale" and then "The Big Steppers," per Pitchfork. The album side of "Mr. Morale" works with deep-set issues that Lamar contemplates and attempts to figure out during the songs, like family issues and personal questions, per Vulture. "The Big Steppers," on the other hand, deals with Lamar's relationships, but the album leaves plenty of room for contemplation. And judging based on the experiences of "DAMN," fans have plenty of time to dissect the deeper and provocative meanings, just hopefully not for five years. But if fans have been too busy obsessing over the new album — and we can't blame them — there are some personal vendettas the album references, including Lamar's growth, that will shock listeners.

Since the release of Kendrick Lamar's fifth studio album, "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers," all fans can talk about is the rapper's return to music and the tour he also surprisingly dropped, per Variety. But when fans see the Grammy-winning rapper hit the stage this summer, they may notice he is a lot smaller than expected.

Kendrick Lamar is only 5'6”. But, despite his smaller frame, the rapper makes up for it in stage presence and lyricism — and that seems to be something he knows. On his 2017 album, "DAMN," the song "DNA" talks about his own features. Presenting it in an empowered and almost self-righteous way, while Lamar's height might not be one of those features he exactly possesses, it doesn't seem like he minds it. "I was born like this, since one like this, immaculate conception," he raps. 

And it's his height, and what makes him, well, him that Lamar touches on once more in "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers." In the song "Mr. Morale," it seems that Lamar is Mr. Morale himself, after the album follows his transformation and his mind through the past five years. And while Lamar hasn't physically grown, instead, he has grown spiritually. It's a theme that presents itself throughout the album with Lamar even proving and showcasing his new growth by rapping, "You should know that I'm slightly off, fighting off demons that been outside / Better known as myself, I'm a demigod."

While Kendrick Lamar talked about his physical features in "DAMN," in "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers," he focuses on his growth, mentally rather than physically.

Based on the album cover alone, it is notable that Lamar definitely sees the world through new eyes, as the rapper is now a father of two. In 2019, Lamar and his fiancé Whitney Alford welcomed a baby girl, per Page Six. But the two never disclosed the birth of their second child, until now as Lamar and his family grace the cover. Amid the album artwork, Lamar is seen holding their eldest child as he looks to the right, while Alford is laying on the bed in the back cradling their youngest.

But a growing family isn't the only expansion Lamar touches on in the new album, as he looks back on his own childhood. For example, in the song "Father Time," Lamar explores his issues with his father and how his view of manhood has been warped in his life. It's introspective themes like this, and of therapy, religion, and spiritually on the album that showcase Lamar's growth, per Complex. And while his growth did not happen physically — other than his growing family — Lamar seems to prove within "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" that physical height isn't all that matters. Now, as Lamar prepares to tour this summer, what he lacks in height, we know he makes up for in everything else.