#Hiiipower | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

fernsam · 1 year ago

Text

Kendrick Lamar - A hip-hop Genius

Bitch don’t kill my vibe. I’m sure many of you recognize this line from the famous rapper Kendrick Lamar. That was the first song I heard from him, and got more into him as I heard more and more. Although I have listened to a considerable amount of his songs, I have never really looked at the deeper meanings behind his work (I know. It's a crime). I’ve always known that his songs usually have complex themes but I have never actually figured out the whole story. In fact, I don’t really know much about Kendrick besides that he makes good music and is considered one of the greatest rappers of his generation (so seriously: I know nothing). This post will hopefully figure out what exactly helped him gain such a title.

Background

In Compton, on June 17th, 1987, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (like the song? :O) was born and became one of the most influential rappers of the 21st century. Compton was an area that was plagued by violence and poverty. According to Britannica, Kendrick grew up in a high-crime area of Compton and began writing rhymes as a teenager relating to this. In 2003 he released his first mixtape called Youngest Head Nigga in Charge, which impressed a record label known as Top Dawg. I tried to look for this mixtape but surprisingly it was not online. Although the mixtape is hard to find, Kendrick explained in an interview with HipHopDX that the record label told Kendrick he “sounds just like he’s Jay-Z.” Also, a lot of people in his life and at school were talking about him made him, which made him realize the influence that he has.

Kendrick: “Damn, my shit is really making an impact on the city and go full force with this shit.”

Discovering the influence music brings as well as his upbringing in Compton, Kendrick Lamar had found something to shape his music and storytelling around.

Rise to Fame - Section.80

youtube

In 2011, Kendrick dropped his first album: Section.80, a 14-track tape that received a high amount of praise. Through this album, Kendrick uses his storytelling abilities to address complex social issues. Medium described the album as “a meditation and analysis on the vices and pitfalls that follow his generation, all while painting a loosely-tied narrative about two women, Keisha and Tammy.”

According to Genius, the reason for the name of the album is that in 1982, Ronald Reagan cut funding to the Section 8 program in half. This means that he believed social programs were not necessary and his campaign increased the divide between the rich and poor in America. I have learned about Reagan in history class and his Cold War policies, but I never thought about the effect it had on the poor. I even loved the song Ronald Reagan Era, but hearing the context makes the song hit harder.

The first song on the album is literally called “fuck your ethnicity.” This is one of my favorite songs on the album because not only is the instrumental a bop, but his message is very empowering. Kendrick is trying to express how race is leading to more division between people and he welcomes anyone who can understand his story. He also introduces two characters: Keisha and Tammy to explore two different stories of people who grew up in Compton. The characters are explored on their own in other songs. For example, Keisha’s Song (Her Pain) talks about how prostitutes get treated badly by their boyfriends. The women are vulnerable, and it's a challenge to keep fighting.

The album as a whole reflects on issues like the crack epidemic, gang violence, and the effects of Ronald Reagan's policies on the African-American community. Kendrick was able to incorporate musical abilities, such as rhyme patterns and unique instrumentals, with narrative abilities to produce a compelling first album, but this was just the first album. I feel that although Kendrick nailed the narrative component, all of his songs were not musically interesting. He had his high moments, with killer songs like HiiiPower and Rigamortis, but there is room for improvement in terms of making it sound good. And he improves just that through his second album: good kid, m.A.A.d city.

A Turning Point - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City

youtube

As mentioned previously, the first Kendrick song that I heard was Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe. This song came from his second album, good kid, m.A.A.d city (gkmc), which was released in 2012. After this album was released, Kendrick exploded in popularity. It “debuted at number 2 on the Billboard 200 chart” and Kendrick was even nominated for seven 2013 Grammy Awards, including Best Album and Best New Artist. Although he didn’t win (which I think showed how stupid the Grammys are imo), Kendrick continued to gain millions of fans and supporters, even making major TV appearances such as performing on SNL. His fan base grew as well, with not only hip-hop fans, but more college students and alternative rock fans. (I have no idea where alternative rock fans came from but thanks biography.com.)

Like Section.80, this album continues the narrative approach except in a more autobiographical sense. The album paints a vivid picture of Kendrick's personal teenage experiences in Compton. The title itself explains how he is just a good kid in a crazy city. Interestingly, according to Spin, "M.A.A.D" stands for both "My Angry Adolescence Divided" and "My Angels on Angel Dust," indicating the juxtaposition between his desire to maintain innocence and the chaos of his environment. Along with his complex themes, he also upgrades the musicality and there are a lot of musically pleasing songs on this album.

A song on this album that encapsulates the artistic genius of Kendrick is Swimming Pools. Without looking deeply, this song sounds like a song you would drink and vibe to (which is what I always thought), but looking at the lyrics there is so much more deep stuff going on. Kendrick talks about how peer pressure affects alcoholism. The irony is that although this song sounds like a club song, it talks about the negative effects of alcoholism and how much it is normalized in Kendrick's environment. Tying a metaphor between a swimming pool and alcoholism shows how easy to drown in either. Even towards the end of the song, he builds on the overarching story by talking about how K. Dot’s (a character of this album) actions led to his brother being killed.

Listening to the whole album was such an experience. As Pitchfork put it, “It feels like walking directly into Lamar's childhood home and, for the next hour, growing up alongside him.” Kendrick discusses his struggles with the effects of gang violence, drugs, and poverty in his community. I wanted to discuss certain songs that I really enjoyed, but honestly, Kendrick did such a good job with the consistency. I was going through my playlist to see which songs I liked and I realized I have most of the songs except the first song and the last two songs (Real and Compton). Maybe I’ll convert and like these as well one day. The music and lyrics speak for themselves, and the entire album does a great job of keeping a narrative theme as well as maintaining this sort of serious yet chill vibe throughout.

A Masterpiece - To Pimp a Butterfly

youtube

Just when you think an album can’t get any better, Kendrick Lamar releases To Pimp A Butterfly (tpab) in 2015. Kendrick continues to keep the narrative theme and explores society as well as self-worth. This time, however, there are even more unique musical factors such as jazz, funk, and spoken word poetry. According to Britannica, the album broke a Spotify record because it was streamed more than 9.6 million times within a week of its release. President Barack Obama even declared a song on this album his favorite song of 2015. He also finally won the Grammys (I still don’t like them) with best rap performance and best rap song (both for “Alright”), best rap/sung collaboration (for “These Walls”), best music video (for “Bad Blood”), and best rap album (for To Pimp a Butterfly).

Considering how successful this album was, what made it so good? The diversity. Like good kid, m.A.A.d city, and Section.80, tpab follows the typical narrative story that Kendrick had previously portrayed; however, this album has a lot more variety of characters and includes a lot more themes that relate to society as a whole. There is also a lot more variety in terms of genres. Although this is a rap album, there is half a jazz band present at all times, a pianist, a sax player, slam poetry, and sound effects (according to Pitchfork).

“ALLS MY LIFE, I HAVE TO FIGHT.” Alright is a song on tpab that showcases the jazz aspect of the album. The music is so catchy and just makes you want to shout the whole song. Although this song is very short, Kendrick shows how he is going to escape his troubles. It’s a simple idea: “we gon’ be alright.” Under the surface, however, this song creates awareness of police brutality. In fact, in 2015, the Black Lives Matter movement used the phrase “we gon’ be alright” to protest against police brutality.

Throughout this album, Kendrick delved into the depths of black identity and societal struggles, painting a picture of personal conflict within racial injustice. Although I love this album, unlike gkmc, I only really liked a half of the songs on this album. But when I did like it, I REALLY liked it. I appreciate the experimentation and am happy on how this album turned out. Alright is probably one of my favorite songs, but I also really love King Kunta, The Blacker the Berry, These Walls, i, and How Much a Dollar Cost.

Continuing the legend - DAMN.

youtube

Continuing his streak of groundbreaking albums, DAMN. was released in 2017. This album earned Kendrick his first Billboard No. 1 single with HUMBLE. and won the Pulitzer Prize for Music, which made him the first rapper to receive this honor. According to Britannica, HUMBLE. won Grammys for Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song, Rap Performance, and Music Video. That is a lot of categories! This man is just collecting everything (and rightfully so).

In DAMN. Kendrick used a raw, more direct narrative. This album is a lot more broad and explores the themes of fate, spirituality, and the complexities of the human condition. And although the album sounds simple, there was a lot of conspiracy that followed the release of this album. According to Medium, Kendrick confirmed a theory that the album could be played in reverse, telling two different stories: weakness and wickedness.

In a more broad sense, This album had a lot of hits like DNA. and HUMBLE. Honestly, comparing this album to the others, this album is not one of my favorites. I liked a few of the songs but in terms of diversity, I felt that it was lacking. This is more of a contemporary and mainstream rap album, which is fine. I like the idea of how the album tells two stories. I feel like listening to it backward was interesting, especially considering how the first song was DUCKWORTH. (one of my favorites from the album). Hearing the little reversed part from DUCKWORTH reversed back blew my mind. According to Genius, that audio symbolized “a flashback or a wormhole representing Kendrick’s life”. Kendrick was able to use his outro to portray such a unique idea.

Expanding outside of Albums - Afterwards

Throughout the releases of these albums, Kendrick has been featured in many great songs. For example, family ties, made me find out that Baby Keem and Kendrick Lamar are blood relatives (they definitely act like it). In 2018, Lamar produced an album that was from and inspired by the famous movie Black Panther. Think about that: he made music for a famous Marvel movie.

He also again won a Grammy for best rap performance. In 2022, Kendrick Lamar performed at the Super Bowl halftime with the infamous Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, and other hip-hop stars. In the same year, he released his fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. It won Grammys and produced some banger songs like N95.

The Influence

Kendrick Lamar is not just a rapper; he's a storyteller, a social commentator, and a visionary artist. Watching his journey, either through directly listening to his albums, or watching how much he has grown as a musician, is definitely an experience. Fans are invited to be a part of his lifetime from the streets of Compton to his present global success as an artist. That is what is so amazing about him, Kendrick Lamar started off great and just kept on getting better. It’s no wonder that he is called one of the most influential rappers of his generation.

Not only is his music in a league of its own, but Kendrick was able to use his fame in the hip-hop world to make an impact on American culture through his insight into Black culture and the flaws of modern society as a whole. What I really enjoy about Kendrick is that he creates a space that allows everyone to listen to music. As a casual listener myself, his songs sound good and are so unique. He also manages to not sound too preachy throughout the whole process, which is pretty impressive. Kendrick Lamar does the inconceivable and can successfully tell a compelling story while also making banger music.

#hip hop #music blog #music #artist profile #kendrick lamar #Youtube

13 notes · View notes