Radiohead, Kendrick Lamar fans debate over best album

Something funny happened on my birthday this year. There’s a website called Rate Your Music, and, as you might expect, people rate music on there. There’s an ongoing list which shows the albums with the highest average rating overall. For almost 10 years, that No. 1 spot has been held by the same album—that being “OK Computer” by Radiohead. It’s not my favorite album, but, frankly, I was fine with it dominating. I think Radiohead fans like to pretend that band is more obscure than it really is, and giving them the No. 1 spot was almost like a backhanded compliment in a way. On the other hand, people who don’t like Radiohead—which is many people—obviously didn’t like them getting the No. 1 spot either. No one was happy, which I think is sometimes the best kind of compromise. But Jan. 31 saw the status quo collapse. As I was celebrating my 21st birthday, others around the world were celebrating an entirely different milestone. While I was busy getting legally blasted to the gills, “To Pimp a Butterfly” by Kendrick Lamar officially surpassed “OK Computer” as the highest rated album on the website. A handful of music journalists wrote articles on it, and Kendrick Lamar fans rejoiced. Once I recovered from my own celebrations, it got me thinking— what album really does deserve to be called the best? And the more I thought, the harder the question became. There’s definitely a short list of albums considered the greatest, and both “OK Computer” and “To Pimp a Butterfly” are on it. Frankly, I tend to find all of the albums people usually consider the “best” to be unworthy of the title for one reason or another. The biggest issue I see people tend to have with “OK Computer” is the one-two punch of “Fitter Happier” and “Electioneering,” one after the other. I actually don’t have a huge problem with either track, but I do have to admit they’re not up to the level of the rest of the album. I like “Electioneering,” but I can see why others wouldn’t. And “Fitter Happier” is essentially a filler track that tries a little too hard to be provocative. With “To Pimp a Butterfly,” the problem is somewhat more fundamental rather than being an issue with any particular track. The beats are great, but the production, in my opinion, has some problems. The dynamic range on the album isn’t great, which I find makes listening to it all the way through a bit tiresome to my ears. There are also some ideas on here that I find conflicting. The last song on the album ends with Kendrick Lamar reading a poem aloud to a person revealed to be Tupac, who he then proceeds to interview. Half of me sees that as a cool tribute; the other half finds it almost comically pretentious. There is a point in which trying too hard becomes a problem. I also think that Kendrick Lamar’s rapping skills aren’t criticized as heavily as they deserve to be. Kendrick covers really heavy topics, which I think makes people assume his skill is greater than it actually is. Lil Wayne has some lines I think are wittier and more creative than anything Kendrick has ever done, but Lil Wayne also tends to cover less serious subject matter. This is a bias I see that really hurts music discussion around what deserves to be called the best. Sad, “artsy” music tends to be treated as better than less serious music regardless of the level of talent or skill that actually goes into making it. It’s these things that hold me back from saying “To Pimp a Butterfly” deserves the No. 1 spot. And it seems like I’m not alone in feeling like this. Rate Your Music wasn’t the only source to rate the album highly—the album has a 96/100 on Metacritic. There are dozens of publications praising this album. But, curiously enough, this doesn’t really seem to have manifested into as much success as you’d imagine. “To Pimp a Butterfly” was outsold by the two albums coming before and after it in terms of release. “Good Kid MAAD City” and “Damn” both have certified sales of over three million units in the United States, whereas “To Pimp a Butterfly” has certified sales of one million. You’d think if this was really the best album, people would actually listen to it, but that’s not the case. There is a huge disconnect in how many people say they like this album and how many people actually listen to it, which seems pretty clearly supported by the data. I don’t actually think the quality of an album should be judged by its sales numbers. I’m more interested in why those two things don’t always line up. There’s an article by Justin Charity in Complex titled “Why did everyone claim to enjoy Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pump a Butterfly?’” that sums up my own opinions on this disconnect really well. Charity argues that the social value of the album has overshadowed its value as a piece of music. Charity says that the album is important, but that it’s also a difficult album to listen to. Charity questions if people actually enjoy the album or if they support its message. I think that’s how I see much of the “Greatest Album” discussion overall. A lot of people like the idea of what an album represents more than the album itself. If you ever wanted to know why people buy T-shirts for bands they don’t listen to, that’s my theory. That, or they just like the design. I’ve been going pretty hard on Kendrick here—perhaps unfairly so—but the problem isn’t unique to him. Not by a long shot. The bias towards certain moods is pretty universal. Rate Your Music has a descriptor system which allows certain tags to be applied to different albums. If you look at the top 10 albums on Rate Your Music, the terms “Melancholic” or “Introspective” appear on all but one album. That one album is “Madvillany” by MF Doom, which is tagged as being “Playful,” while also “Mysterious” and “Cryptic.” The term “Happy” isn’t used to describe a single album in the top 10—the playfulness of Madvillany is as close as we get. There’s certainly some bias going on here, and it’s lead to some muchdeserving albums getting left out for simply not being seen as serious enough. The bias towards certain kinds of albums isn’t the whole problem. I think any of the stereotypical “Best Album” answers bring with them their own set of unique flaws. “Dark Side of the Moon” is another classic answer. That one gets mentioned, I think, because it’s a progressive rock album that appeals to non-prog rock fans. And, certainly, it is one of the finest records in that genre, but there’s plenty of other great ones. Why is it almost mandatory to put “Dark Side” in your top five while “Close to the Edge” by Yes can’t even get an honorable mention? Where’s “Selling England by the Pound?” Pink Floyd is an incredible art rock band, but they weren’t the first to do it, and the fact they outshine the others in the genre seems a bit unfair. Another classic response is “Nevermind” by Nirvana. That album is one that helped me learn how to play guitar, which is both why I like it so much and why I think it’s worth criticizing. Nirvana songs sound great but are easy to play. I’ve heard guitar-playing friends lament the album for what they see as shallow playing—something I think is too harsh of a criticism, but which nonetheless would force me to reconsider giving them the top spot either. “What’s Going On” by Marvin Gaye has been given the title of “Best Album of All Time” by a handful of publications, but I personally find it kinda boring. None of the classic responses really satisfy me. There’s always something I can point to that stops me from calling an album the best. After looking through all these different lists and potential contenders for the best album in the world, I’ve come to a conclusion. The pursuit of the best album in the world, at least in my eyes, doesn’t seem worthwhile. There’s definitely room to rate albums relative to each other, but there’s no answer I’d be fully comfortable giving the top spot to. As soon as you try to fill that spot, I’m gonna hyperfocus on the flaws of whatever you try to put in there. I’d rather talk about things that are good without worrying over what’s the best. That’s too much pressure to put on any album. It’s better we just agree to keep “OK Computer” at No. 1. That way we can get back to bullying Radiohead fans, as is tradition.