I can’t get past his nasal tone. It’s grating. I just can’t enjoy any of his stuff. Yes, yes, he’s the Shakespeare of our time, brilliant poet, I’m sure people said the same thing about Bob Dylan. (His voice is not that great either.) At some point I feel like you gotta admit that that’s not your strong suit and stick to writing or something. His voice makes me think he’s doing a bit, but the bit never ends. Like he’s reading a children’s book and one of the characters is a rapping housefly.
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What about his raspy (normal) voice on Alright, Mortal Man etc.
He unironically sounds like that joke voice Kevin Hart made in one of his specials where he’s like “nooooo”
https://youtu.be/8Y5_Kuw1tXM?si=ytL-BhmxQaEnLj6e
Drake burner
How is this guy so relevant today? I remember hearing Swimming Pools 10+ years ago and that’s it. Are you guys still listening to the radio or something?
His tone is a lot more dynamic than you’re letting on. Melodic on songs like 30 for 30, Luther, and LOVE, fierce and gruff on Euphoria, Like That, or Reincarnated, emotionally tormented on Mother I Sober, U, or Meet the Grahams, really Kendrick is the best example of using the human voice as an instrument in the modern era
If you say you can’t enjoy any of his stuff because of an intonation he uses on a few songs, then just look for the ones where he doesn’t use it
It’s my turn to post this
agree 100%, he has some of the craziest PR i have ever seen in the music industry
Don’t listen to him then?
I can’t stand his voice, and lyrically he’s not that good either.
I agree his voice is awful
This is apparently not unpopular, I’ve seen so many people post this same take in the sub since the Super Bowl. You also must not have listened to much of his stuff, he switches up his voice a lot
His voice is awful and he’s like 5 foot 3. Bob Dylan’s voice also completely sucks.
He sounds like a Muppet.
Ok Drake
So edgy!!! So unpopular!!!!
I don’t think that’s unpopular. Then again, I find most rappers” voices annoying.
If your voice is annoying, you gotta work harder.
All I can really tell you is that he’s slowly leaned more and more into his unique vocal qualities to the point of using it for comic effect (see: Not Like Us). He’s also used it to emphasize certain characters, but those songs tend not to be big hits that would be algorithmically suggested.
Having a distinctive voice is what usually sets rappers apart from the others like Tupac, Eazy E and now Kendrick. None of his songs would sound as good if someone else sang them.
Watching the Superbowl, I learned that it was Kendrick who sang that song. This whole time I thought it was Snoop dog
[deleted]
Imagine taking his lyrics, musically, etc and combining it with ASAP Rocky’s voice and flow
Kendrick fans are worse. I love Kendrick a lot and have for the longest time but his fans glaze like crazy. A lot of his music is good but he has some misses but you can’t voice a differing opinion. They all call you a drake supporter or some other dumb shit and it gets old. Not like us got older even quicker. I like the song but holy fuck it was nice before the 500 million times I heard it.
I think his voice is cool but his fans annoy me and I’m saying this as one.
His present day voice does sound pretty funny. But his vocal control is GOD TIER. So I couldn’t care less.
He’s flat. As hell. His adlibs annoy me too. And it’s almost impossible to talk about this without a bunch of dorks saying omg do you even listen to hip hop.
He’s top 10 but closer to 10. I’m not fully hating on the guy. Drake has had a way better career (jacking other peoples music) but he got blown the fuck out with not like us. I’m not just same fuckin hater. But the guy has an extremely flat voice. One of the worst live voices in rap as well.
Man I like TPAB and money trees is a banger but bro people need to chill
The glazing over this dude since the Super Bowl is insane. I’ve heard that song way more times than I ever wanted to and it still pops up constantly. And the way people act like he’s some kind of cultural hero because of a rap beef is delusional.
I’ve listened to MAAD City 1000 times, I’ve listened to To Pimp A Butterfly 1000 times. Ive listened to Damn. 500 times. But his new stuff is exactly as you say; nasally and grating.
agreeeeee
Name a better duo than /r/unpopularopinion and posts mildly critisizing Kendrick Lamar I’ll wait
Fair, i really like the high pitch “baby-ish” voice he uses sometimes like his feature on mona lisa
MUSTARRRRRRRRRRRRD!
Being nasal isn’t a problem when you’re crazy talented.
Look at Cypress Hill.
That’s an incredibly popular opinion amongst people who won’t even take off their sunglasses to make a video in their pickup
The last two sentences of your post made me laugh so hard 😂
He sucks lol
It sounds like all other rap to me. ✨
well, screw you I guess
That’s a pretty popular opinion.
i’ve listened to him so long that im kinda numb to the voices, he does a lot of vocal inflections and on earlier works he did an “alien voice” which you hear a lot on good kid maad city and somewhat on To Pimp a Butterfly. However, in his last album he went very west coast with it and used that gratey voice which is just the style, like the feature artists were LA rappers too and sounded that way as well. i definitely understand what people are talking about when they say this and i get it, if you cant get past the voice you just cant. but i would really recommend listening to earlier stuff to understand he doesnt sound like that 24/7 its like… just here and there throughout the track lol.
That’s been his biggest criticism for years was his voice. How you sound is just as important as your lyrics
Let me guess, you don’t like Bob Dylan either….
Kendrick fans not mentioning Drake challenge level: impossible
I personally like it but I could easily see how it’d be annoying, I’m surprised more people don’t say anything
What do you think of lil wayne? haha
Cant win em all
I think that makes his voice unique from other rappers and I like it
He sounds like a little guy.
Shock G’s voice is less annoying.
a lot of drake glazers coming out in full i see
I actually like his music, and i agree with you. Not to glaze him, but I feel like the fact that I can enjoy his music in spite of the fact I dislike his voice is a credit to his talent.
I’m a sucker for weird and unique voices or cadences
Artists like Tyler the Creator on Igor, Danny Brown, Cypress Hill, Ol Dirty Bastard, etc.
No unpopular. Even Kendrick fans I know feel this way.
Let me know what rapper you do enjoy and I’m sure that’s shite in comparison
This is very true if you’ve only heard his most recent albums. Try listening to the stuff that’s actually good on Section 80 and To Pimp a Butterfly
I used to have this opinion but his voice grew on me.
Sit down Aubrey. Be humble.
I have always said that he sounds like Kevin Hart doing a whiny white man impression and I can’t not hear it
Yea most overrated rapper
Funnily enough I’ve always felt the same way about Drake. Tootsie Slide is like nails on a chalkboard for me
Have to down vote because I agree. Said the same thing many times. Unbelievable lyricist, fantastic in the studio and above average live on stage, but I can’t stand his voice. Grating is exactly how I describe it too.
I won’t say how long I’ve been preaching a version of this, but it’s longer than most of you.
His regular voice is fine–nothing spectacular, but I cannot listen to a song where he goes into the whiney reverse yodel baby voice (or whatever the fuck you want to call it). I would have thought he’d grown out of it after being called out on a large scale for how obnoxious it is, but here we are a decade later and it can now be heard in a number-one hit.
I am a Kendrick fan, but half of his music is unlistenable.
I think the fact that it’s so accepted as “good” is more telling of the culture than anything. Which, if you couldn’t tell, I think is horseshit.
The thing is. I’d rather hear Kendrick’s unique voice, rather than hear a thousand copycats using auto tune.
Downvote cause you called him Shakespeare
“Stick to writing” …… how many Grammys do you have compared to Kendrick? Lol
Yeah I don’t like the thing he does with his voice. It sounds like he’s doing a voice and I can’t get over it.
Courage the Cowardly Dog
not liking an artist because of their voice is very valid. since music is a completely audio experience how they simply sound to you is a big deal. there are a number of rappers i can’t get into because of their voices like meek mill and tyler the creator. then you have dudes whose voices just sound like an instrument like biggie. i personally like kendrick’s eclectic style but i can see why its a nonstarter for some.
As a Kendrick fan, I agree, it’s definitely distinct but his lyrics and flow are wayyyyy better than his voice
I feel the same way about Eminem. Never really liked his music…going to be downvoted into oblivion now
I completely enjoy Kendrick for his lyrics and he’s put out some amazing tracks but yeah I always felt like his vocal sound is aesthetically kind of weird. I kind of lump him in with artists like Bob Dylan, Billy Corgan, Chance the Rapper, Kid Cudi (when he tries to sing) and Bjork. Like their music is great in a lot of ways to my ears but their vocals definitely hit in a strange way that I don’t think is for everyone aesthetically
Agreed fully. For the record, I also think Eminem’s voice is annoying.
Coolest rapper voices to me (purely from the sound of their voice):
Tupac, Biggie, Snoop Dogg, Guru, Ghostface Killah, Drake, Rick Ross, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Ice Cube
>At some point I feel like you gotta admit that that’s not your strong suit and stick to writing or something.
Not going to debate on his voice and whether it’s “good” or not – totally subjective discussion, practically moot – as people say there’s no accounting for taste.
But saying THAT to a dude with over 10mil records sold is just lunacy.
He is the Bob Dylan of rap
!remindme 1783 days
I been hating on Kendrick before it was cool
I swear to god he’s an industry plant and everybody collectively agrees
Haven’t been able to stand this guy for a long time. Glad to see I’m not the only one. One of the most overrated artists of all time.
I like Kendrick but I understand the voice being the turnoff for sure. I like E40 but I can barely listen to the dude cuz his voice is so hard to listen to. Still got mad respect and he makes good music fs, my brain just can’t click with it like Mac Dre or too short
Why do i keep seeing this same post about Kendrick Lamar’s voice once every two weeks. At this point is this really an unpopular opinion???
The only track I liked him on was Nosetalgia which he did with Pusha T. But yeah I agree. I was never a big fan.
Upvoting purely because of the extra details
He sounds like a grandma to me.
Go do your homework sonny, do do do do
“At some point you gotta admit its not your strong suit And stick to writing “? Really? You do realize its your opinion and not a fact? Theres no need, many people including me enjoy his voice.
Shakespeare of our time? Lmao