Dec 08, 2017 DAMN. COLLECTOR’S EDITION is the special re-release of Kendrick Lamar’s bestselling 2017 album DAMN., released December 8, 2017.Although the album features no bonus tracks, it.
DAMN., Kendrick Lamar’s fourth album and third major release album, was expected April 7th after Kendrick Lamar rapped these lines on “The Heart Part 4:”
Y'all got ‘til April the 7th to get y'all shit together
However, when the Pre-Order was released, it was announced that it would be a Good Friday, April 14th release.
This album is Kendrick’s first since 2015’s To Pimp A Butterfly. In between the albums, Kendrick released the 8 track EP untitled unmastered.
On February 27, 2016, Mike WiLL Made-It teased on Instagram that he was in the studio with Kendrick Lamar. A Mike WiLL/Kendrick Lamar collaboration was reinforced when a HipHopDX staff member stated that a song titled “DNA” produced by Mike WiLL Made-It will appear on the album.
He also spoke about how the project will contain somewhere around 12 tracks, and feature a more “commercial sound”, as opposed to Kendrick’s last two projects--To Pimp A Butterfly and untitled unmastered.—which feature a jazz-influenced sound.
Black Hippy member, Top Dawg Entertainment labelmate and close friend with Lamar, Ab-Soul discussed Lamar’s purpose on DAMN. in an interview with Montreality.
He’s been Kendrick Lamar for a while, and Kendrick Lamar is the good kid, he’s the more introspective kid. I think he was trying to get back to K-Dot, get back to his roots, sag his pants, really roll through the hood for this album.
On March 30, 2017, the first single from DAMN. was released, titled “HUMBLE.” A week later, the title and the number of tracks was revealed on the iTunes pre-order. On April 11, 2017 the tracklist and album cover was revealed through Kendrick’s Twitter account. The album leaked hours before the official with slight differences in the album.
When TDE contributor Sounwave cautioned fans that the leaked album was not the official cut, this along with other evidence (including lyrics from DAMN. and “Heart Part 4”) were spun by fans on Reddit into an elaborate conspiracy theory.
The theory alleged that after the release of DAMN. on Good Friday, K.Dot would drop a second album on April 16, 2017 (Easter Sunday) entitled NATION. This theory received heavy press, ranging from hopefulness to ridicule in traditional and social media. Sounwave confirmed the rumor was false.
That Sunday night, Lamar closed the first weekend of Coachella with an acclaimed performance of new tracks from DAMN., as well as fan favorites from To Pimp a Butterfly, and good kid, m.A.A.d city. After first week of tracking DAMN. debuted atop Billboard 200 chart with 603,000 equivalent album units sold. It was the biggest week for an album so far in 2017.
At the time of its release, DAMN. was the most critically acclaimed hip-hop album of the year, holding a 97/100 average rating on Metacritic.
All 14 songs off the album charted in the Billboard Hot 100 after first week of tracking dated 05.06.17 with “Humble” and “DNA” charting at #1 and #4 respectively.
On May 4, DAMN. was certified platinum, making it Kendrick’s third straight Platinum album and 2017’s first Platinum-selling rap album. On July 10, 2017, the album was certified double Platinum.
Rolling Stone named it the best album of 2017.
DAMN. won Rap Album of the Year at the 2018 Grammys held on January 28, 2018.
On April 16th, 2018, DAMN. won the Pulitzer Prize for Music. By winning this award, Kendrick Lamar became the first non-classical/jazz artist to win the award. The Pulitzer Prize website described the album as:
a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.