NEW YORK — Some listeners are making a different New Year’s resolution: spend 2026 giving time to the artists they’ve dismissed for years, from Radiohead to Kendrick Lamar, Jan. 1, 2026. The trick is to pick one entry point, listen twice with context, and judge with your own notes — not the algorithm’s next suggestion.
Music critics have been making similar pledges in public, treating “I don’t get it” as a question worth answering. One roundup makes the point: you don’t need to love an artist’s whole catalog to find the door that opens it.
Resolution 1: Kendrick Lamar as a starting line, not a hurdle
If Kendrick Lamar has felt like an assignment — dense albums, big themes, nonstop acclaim — make the job smaller. Choose one “gateway” record and give it a week of short, intentional listens. An easy entry is the surprise 2024 album GNX; here’s AP’s review for what it’s trying to do.
Then branch with purpose. For hooks and momentum, DAMN. is a direct entry point — and it earned Kendrick Lamar the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, per the Pulitzer board. For a bigger, denser swing, go to To Pimp a Butterfly and revisit a 2015 review as a snapshot of how it first landed.
One practical tip: read the lyrics once. Kendrick Lamar’s songs often move like short stories, and the details matter.
Resolution 2: For Radiohead skeptics, start with the songs, not the legend
Radiohead can feel like a test. Skip the pressure and start with what your ears can grab. If you only know “Creep,” try In Rainbows for warmth and groove, then work outward.
In 2007, Radiohead released In Rainbows as a pay-what-you-want download — a move that still shapes how people talk about their independence. The Guardian covered the announcement as it happened.
For a quick primer, use the discography overview at AllMusic and build a three-song test: one melodic track, one electronic track, one loud track. You’re looking for an entry point, not a consensus opinion.
Resolution 3: Use the two-listen rule — and the mere exposure effect
Give any new-to-you album two focused spins before you quit. Psychologists call the tendency for familiarity to raise liking the mere exposure effect.
Make the second listen different: headphones instead of speakers, lyrics on the first pass and none on the second. If you still feel nothing, move on. The goal is curiosity, not guilt.
Resolution 4: Make your “convert” moment measurable
Try a tiny goal: one new artist a month, five songs each, and one sentence of notes per song. If Kendrick Lamar still doesn’t land, your notes will tell you why. If he does, you’ll have a map for where to go next.
In the end, the best resolution is the one you can repeat. Radiohead doesn’t have to become your personality, and Kendrick Lamar doesn’t have to become your default. The win is hearing what you ignored long enough to decide with confidence.
