The layers continue to peel for Mr. Morale.
Kendrick Lamar peeled back even more layers of his personal life on his latest album Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, and it appears his fiancée has been inspired to take a similar approach on social media.
On Sunday (June 19), the Compton rapper’s longterm partner Whitney Alford celebrated Father’s Day by posting a rare photo of her and Kendrick with their two young children, along with a heartfelt message about fatherhood.
Taken during a recent trip to Ghana, the beautiful family photo shows Kendrick kneeling down next to his daughter, who was born in July 2019, while Alford cradles their second child, whose birth was made public on the Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers album cover.
“Happy Father’s Day fellas! Today I am more than happy to celebrate the men in my life,” Alford wrote. “I choose to celebrate them for stepping up instead of stepping out, for providing, for assisting us women, for healing, for showing up physically and most importantly for showing up emotionally.”
She continued, “In my life I’ve witnessed a great majority of father’s run from their responsibilities. I now understand that they were running from their own pain but children were left behind. I understand they couldn’t properly communicate with women so kids suffered the consequence of their absence. I understand they needed validation and most times it was sought after outside of the home. And it was quite painful for all of us who knew this upbringing.
“I was almost 30 the first time I celebrated Father’s Day and it’s still one of the hardest for me. I know there are many women like me. So men it’s not as important for us to celebrate you, as it is for You to celebrate You. Celebrate your contribution to the next generation. I am grateful for the men that are showing me a different picture, my lens was very narrow before but not anymore. Love you guys, keep showing up. Happy Father’s Day @kendricklamar.”
After remaining out of the spotlight for most of Kendrick Lamar’s career, Whitney Alford played a central role on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, urging her fiancé to go to therapy and share his truth while narrating tracks like “United in Grief,” “Father Time” and “We Cry Together.”
Kendrick addressed their relationship in candid (if not shocking) fashion on the somber “Mother I Sober,” on which he admitted to being unfaithful to his high school sweetheart, to whom he got engaged in 2015.
The song ends on a cathartic note, though, as Whitney tells Kendrick, “I’m proud of you. You broke a generational curse.” The couple’s two-year-old daughter also makes an appearance on the album with an adorable spoken word cameo at the end of the track.