Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered

untitled unmastered. is Kendrick Lamar at his most stripped-back and unfiltered, a rare glimpse into the inner workings of an artist operating at the height of his powers. Released in 2016, the project compiles eight unfinished yet fully realized studio performances—tracks that began as sketches during the creation of To Pimp a Butterfly and later surfaced in electrifying live renditions on national television and the Grammy stage.

These recordings preserve the immediacy and volatility of their origins. Jazz-driven rhythms collide with murky funk grooves; free-form improvisation meets sharp political insight; and Kendrick’s voice shifts between urgency, vulnerability, and spiritual searching. The result is a mosaic of ideas that deepen the themes he explored on To Pimp a Butterfly—identity, pressure, survival, legacy—while showcasing the fearless experimentation that defines his creative approach.

Rather than polish or revise these pieces, Kendrick chose to present them as they existed in the studio: raw, dynamic, and purposefully unmastered. That decision transforms the record into a statement about process, imperfection, and artistic truth. untitled unmastered. stands not only as an essential companion to one of the defining albums of the decade, but also as a powerful standalone work that captures the restless, boundary-pushing spirit of Kendrick Lamar.