Despite what its name may imply, Untitled Unmastered is an unexpected masterpiece. After personally being disappointed by To Pimp a Butterfly, I was pleasantly surprised when late Thursday night on March 4th Kendrick Lamar released 8 previously unreleased tracks.

Despite the title of this project, every song sounds incredible and well deserving of their release. The influence of TPAB is felt on this release as the tone and many similar messages between the two are shared. 8 unnamed, throwaway tracks over the course of 34 minutes exemplify once again why Kendrick Lamar is one of the best rappers of all time. Although every song on this album is worth listening to for its message, the stand out tracks that contribute to a pure sound that mix jazz and rap in a beautiful fusion are untitled 02 | 06.23.2014., untitled 05 | 09.21.2014., and untitled 07 | 2014-2016.

Each track was a possible entry onto TPAB which for one reason or another did not make the cut. Despite this, Lamar performed two of the songs on late night talk shows and another during his Grammy performance last month. This led many fans, including Lebron James to encourage Lamar to give these tracks an official release. Now he has delivered and deserves immense praise for his efforts and deliver on such a spectacular and unforeseen project.

While no official credits have been released, Cee Lo Green can be heard lending vocals on untitled 06 | 06.30.2014. and Swizz Beatz has stated via Instagram that his 5 year old son Egypt helped produce a portion on the track untitled 07 | 2014-2016. While these seem to be unlikely musical pairings, Lamar makes it work in a way only he can. If you are a fan of Kendrick Lamar then you will absolutely love Untitled Unmastered . If you felt disappointed with TPAB but enjoy Lamar’s artistic direction, then this project is worth listening to as it may take you where you hoped TPAB would have.