Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.

One might ask how an artist follows up one of the most iconic albums in the history of the genre, “To Pimp a Butterfly”. Kendrick takes it all in stride, picking up from where he left off. Once again, multiple hip hop styles are in full force, and Kendrick succeeds at delivering his conscious messages across an East Coast, West Coast, jazz-rap, boom bap spectrum so well he makes it seem effortless. He continues to describe his struggles on reaching an elite level as an entertainer, but he doesn’t use it as a crutch. His level of bravado is succinctly counterbalanced by his level of humility, and this continued excellence in lyrical poetry, along with a superior social conscience, is what will keep him in the category of greatest rappers of all time.