Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2017 21:44:12 GMT 10
I'm not an expert on hip-hop but I feel it's necessary to discuss the absurd talent of a man who I just adore the music of. That man is the political spokesperson of my generation, Kendrick Lamar. He broke through in 2012 with his second album and major label debut "Good Kid M.A.A.D City" which opens with a spoken word intro of two people praying to Jesus and promising to give their life to him, before the music kicks off. It's a bleak introduction about the type of people who use Christianity (By this I do not mean all or even most christians) as an excuse for the horrible things they do and their hypocrisy by disobeying biblical teachings and saying "Well it's okay because i'm a good christian", as well as sexual immorality and overprotective violence. It's a good track but things don't get started until the fourth track "The Art of Peer Pressure" which is the beginning of the album's narrative, the previous songs being flashbacks and flash forwards, mostly effective songs (except "Backseat Freestyle") but this track begins one of the most powerful narratives i've heard in music in quite some time. We learn that K.Dot (based on Kendrick) learnt what peer pressure was the hard way leading him into a life of crime. The following song "Money Trees" reflects on the second track "Bitch Don't Kill My Vibe" which title and all is a criticism of the misogyny and shallow partying that most popular rap concentrates on and how much Kendrick hates this. "Money Trees" tells however a dream of living life like those rappers do and commit crimes. "Poetic Justice" (one of the weaker tracks unfortunately) is about the girl Sharene that the first song discusses, bringing us full circle before two guys in the gang try to kill Kendrick and discusses that he was a good kid once and harassed for it by gangsters in a impoverished town (mad city) created probably by uneven economic distribution and racist political choices which leads to power hungry and corrupt officers of the police force to kill whichever black people they find in this town, because they don't respect the "good kid, mad city". It's a song of realisation for K.Dot to leave the ghetto. And it's also one of the most emotionally profound songs in the history of hip-hop. I still find it devastating every time I hear it, that so many good, innocent people look a certain way and are surrounded by bad people that look the same and people just automatically think they all should die. It's followed by "m.a.a.d city" which hits hard but feels super tragic at the same time with Kendrick warning young people not to be tempted or pressured by the street and that he needs to get out the hood, despite how difficult it will be. "Swimming Poools (Drank)" relates peer pressure and alcoholism together in what sounds like a drinking anthem. And then we hear a song, no not a song, a work of art that I can not praised enough.
"Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" is about the varying perspectives on how to survive in a very negative place and it brings me close to tears when I listen to the album in order. If you don't like the sound of rap then that's fine. If you can't even appreciate it because the sound makes your skin crawl so intensely and you can't think of a reason that it should then that's fine too. That doesn't change that within the framework this song uses, it is breathtakingly deep, tragic and devastatingly sad. I won't tell you how the story ends. I will say it's pitch perfect.
Good Kid M.A.A.D City is an album that makes you cry like a baby, it is heartbreaking yet it has hope. I don't think any work of art i'm aware of from the last few years is at this album's level of heartbreaking realism and gritty truths. It's raw, it's honest, it doesn't act like anything is more important than it is.
To Pimp A Butterfly his follow up is even better, taking the themes based on Kendrick's life from the previous album and using a more abstract approach to explain how the discrimination of organisation against an entire racial community has lead to the insecurities of many individuals and the way they treat those they connect with. It's a masterpiece of sonic proportions, but I have gone on about it enough as it is. I will say that my previous comments on "How Much A Dollar Worth" made no sense and the song is one i've grown to love. The album is perfect.
These two masterpieces greatly contributed to my anticipation for the Kendrick Lamar album to be released in the post-Trump world. Admittedly the album DAMN which came out this year is a bit of a disappointment in that sense as it doesn't really tackle the new administration. But it does get political for sure and Kendrick is the one who's going to take me forward. And DAMN while not a perfect album and definitely a huge step down is very strong. It's to his proceeding albums what John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan was to Dylan's previous albums. Excellent, but not as excellent.
If you still haven't checked out Kendrick please do. He is to me the genius of this generation.
"Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst" is about the varying perspectives on how to survive in a very negative place and it brings me close to tears when I listen to the album in order. If you don't like the sound of rap then that's fine. If you can't even appreciate it because the sound makes your skin crawl so intensely and you can't think of a reason that it should then that's fine too. That doesn't change that within the framework this song uses, it is breathtakingly deep, tragic and devastatingly sad. I won't tell you how the story ends. I will say it's pitch perfect.
Good Kid M.A.A.D City is an album that makes you cry like a baby, it is heartbreaking yet it has hope. I don't think any work of art i'm aware of from the last few years is at this album's level of heartbreaking realism and gritty truths. It's raw, it's honest, it doesn't act like anything is more important than it is.
To Pimp A Butterfly his follow up is even better, taking the themes based on Kendrick's life from the previous album and using a more abstract approach to explain how the discrimination of organisation against an entire racial community has lead to the insecurities of many individuals and the way they treat those they connect with. It's a masterpiece of sonic proportions, but I have gone on about it enough as it is. I will say that my previous comments on "How Much A Dollar Worth" made no sense and the song is one i've grown to love. The album is perfect.
These two masterpieces greatly contributed to my anticipation for the Kendrick Lamar album to be released in the post-Trump world. Admittedly the album DAMN which came out this year is a bit of a disappointment in that sense as it doesn't really tackle the new administration. But it does get political for sure and Kendrick is the one who's going to take me forward. And DAMN while not a perfect album and definitely a huge step down is very strong. It's to his proceeding albums what John Wesley Harding by Bob Dylan was to Dylan's previous albums. Excellent, but not as excellent.
If you still haven't checked out Kendrick please do. He is to me the genius of this generation.
Currently on the radio: "The Unforgiven"