April 14, 2017 Kendrick Lamar released the album "Damn", which at the very start was well received by critics and listeners. In addition, in 2016, the American rapper received five Grammy awards at the same time, singing magnificently two of his songs. So why is the rapper so in demand and really cool?
He is not afraid to talk about problems.
"I need forty acres and a mule
Not a forty ounce and a pitbull"
In the interlude from the album "To Pimp A Butterfly" called "For Free", the main character rather strictly condemns the system. He compares it with a girl whose relationship he refuses. In this case, it is America, offering material goods to the lyric hero.
He decides to achieve everything on his own. The composition is fully imbued with the spirit of slavery, take the same references to cotton plantations. Hence, Black is great love for Lamar’s creativity: they understand him, want to be as self-confident and see how Kendrick succeeds.
He is not blinded by glory and sees his own flaws
"I place blame on you still,
Place shame on you still,
Feel like you ain't shit,
Feel like you don’t feel"
It is important to understand: Kendrick Lamar is incredibly popular all over the world and especially in the USA. He has lunch with Barack Obama, makes albums that have been leading for months in tops across the planet and creating music at the intersection of genres. However, his songs prove that no success can blind a sensible person.
- This is not a clip, but a short film that recreates the events of two tracks: "u" and "For Sale"
In the track "u", the rapper denounces personal helplessness, calling himself a bad leader, an insecure loser and confessed to inner hatred. Amazing self-criticism for a man who, for the second year, opens the door to the Grammy Award with his foot.
Despite this, he remains cheerful
"We gon’ be alright!
Do you hear me, do you feel me? We gon ’be alright!"
Lamar would be another whiner, mumbling into the microphone about an unfair fate, if he plunged into his own melancholy. Instead, he admits that he is in a difficult situation, but he tells others and himself: everything will be in order.
Such a person is easy to empathize: he sees problems and throws himself into the abyss to cope with them. Kendrick simultaneously denounces a brutal white America, supports black people, but does not divide them into camps - rather, trying to unite to solve common problems. That is why the composition "Alright" and became a kind of hymn and a real hit.
He is not for sale
"What’s wrong, nigga?
I thought you were keeping it gangsta.
I thought this what you wanted"
Despite the crazy success, Lamar has not become stereotyped nigger, reading about cars, grandmother, girls and grass. However, he can easily talk about money, as a contract with Lucifer. In addition, without a twinge of conscience, call yourself righteous.
- Seriously, do you remember a lot of rappers who would read like that along with a symphony orchestra?
In another interlude, "For Sale?" Lamar transmits the conversation of a girl named Lucie and the hero she is trying to lure with a profitable contract, as she did with other "boring rappers". However, he is faithful to God and does not intend to be sold. Kendrick himself is also: music and self-realization is more important for him, and money will always come to someone who has talent.
He writes about what really matters.
"They give us guns and drugs, call us thugs,
Make it, they promise to fuck wit ’you,
No condom, they fuck wit ’you.
Obama say, "What it do?"
It is important, first of all, for himself. In the composition "Hood Politics" Lamar pays a lot of text to politics. However, it also does it in its own way: first it mentions the shortcomings of the native district, mocking at peers who are proud of gold chains, and then goes to the White House.
Kendrick does it skillfully: compares Democrats and Republicans with two of the most popular criminal gangs facing in the fight for money and territory. It also says that the government first distributes weapons and drugs, after which it starts calling people who are comfortable with it gangsters.
His lyrics are filigree
"Have you ever opened up Exodus 14?
A humble man.
Tell me how much a dollar cost? "
Finally, the main thing: Lamar is a bloody genius in writing flowery, metaphorical and beautiful texts with deep meaning. I will explain with the example of one track - "How Much a Dollar Cost": this is a story about a rich hero who meets a poor man at a local gas station.
I will not go into details; as a result, it turns out that the whole composition is almost a biblical story, and the image of the old man is the embodiment of God. The ease and accuracy with which Lamar touches on complex topics and makes one think about eternal questions is certainly its most valuable advantage.
The illustrations are used in agreement with the Depositphotos photobank
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