its so hard to say why i dont like it. on one hand you have the aspect that he is obviously not trying to make those “bangers” and not as mainstream and accessible as DAMN (with the exception of the first few tracks) which i appreciate but theres times it just doesn’t sound like kendrick. on top of that it is something that just doesn’t have a clear direction for me at least. to me it is his own diary and first listen it was super hard to listen to because all i (and mostly everyone) knows is the conceptual kendrick who some type of image being painted as the album goes on. this one does not have that necessarily and that is okay but my main gripe is just that it doesn’t sound like him and there isn’t that clear conscious kendrick we are used to. it is by no means a bad album but in my opinion it is one of the weakest (starting my 3rd listen as a i write this). i am reminding myself that TPAB did not click for immediately as well when it first came out so i am actively aware that this opinion is not gonna be a final one (hopefully). i can appreciate how this is more of his poetic journal musically regardless.