If you’re anything like us, you’re still listening to Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. quite a bit. But as it turns out, we may have been doing it wrong. In a recent interview with MTV, Kendrick revealed that it sounds better played backwards.
While the tracks are be numbered 1 (BLOOD.) through to 14 (DUCKWORTH.), the rapper thinks starting at 14 is the way to go. In reverse, DAMN. “plays as a full story and even a better rhythm” Kendrick said. “It’s one of my favourite rhythms and tempos within the album.” And it was no happy accident. The rapper explains that he “definitely premeditate[d]” the backwards run in the studio — brilliant.
Playing the record in reverse won’t effect the story, but the “feel changes,” he said. “Any of my fans know that my albums get real intricate and there’s always details in there. For the most part, they usually have a good listening ear to figure out what’s going on.” Hats off to you if you were an early adopter of flipping the play order — Kendrick took note. “I think like a week after the album came out, [fans] realised you can play [it] backwards.”
DAMN. hit double-platinum status in July, and topped the Billboard charts in its first week of release back in April. The LP hovered in the Top 5 for the months following, before securing the #1 spot a second time in early August. So far, Kendrick’s shared videos for HUMBLE., DNA., ELEMENT., and most recently, LOYALTY. featuring Rihanna. Truly, a gift to us all.