Image Courtesy: Top Dawg Entertainment
Arguably having one of the best runs in hip-hop's history, Kendrick Lamar gets darker and religious to continue the streak
By: Gio Mio
The irony of people wanting to get their 15 seconds of fame to find happiness is catching it and regretting it all. That message seems to be consistent with most of the celebrities we watch and listen to everyday. In hip-hop, however, that seems to be the opposite. We're used to most rappers on T.V. brag about the cash, women, and chains they have (until we find out they're all rentals and they're broke from signing 360 deals, but I digress). A recent hip-hop artist that has shown the opposite of this mantra is J. Cole. A supposed good friend of Kendrick Lamar, Cole's album 2014 Forest Hills Drive showed a man struggling the fame and money he acquired, trying to go home to escape the world he once so desired.
It seems that same mentality has slowly sprinkled into the mind of Kendrick Lamar. Growing up in the bad streets of Compton, Lamar already rapped about his affiliation with murder, robberies, and his father asking him to give him back his dominoes (not the pizza chain). But from his 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly to his untitled and unmastered demos from the album released a year later, Lamar tells a more detailed story of a man struggling to keep his soul from Lucy, A.K.A. Satan himself.
DAMN., Kendrick Lamar's latest offering, seems to continue the trend of this troubled rapper. While most of Lamar's projects have a straight up generic story that listeners can easily follow, DAMN. is his most bipolar album to date. The album seems to mix the braggadocious gangbanging from Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City and the jazzy instrumentals of To Pimp A Butterfly.
The album wastes no time making you feel uncomfortable. In the opening track "BLOOD," Lamar approaches a blind woman to help her, but is shot and killed. Right after that sudden twist of fate, we go into "DNA," which is arguably the hardest song I have ever heard in my life. With a mid-song beat switch and Lamar asthma rapping at his best, Kung Fu Kenny speaks on his black culture. But the very next track, "YAH," Lamar says "I'm a Israelite, don't call me black no mo'." His persona has taken a complete 180 from To Pimp A Butterfly, which promoted loving yourself and your culture.
One thing consistent throughout the album is the focal point of religion. The man who now calls himself Kung Fu Kenny has his tracklist listed in a way that shows some of the seven deadly sins; those sins being pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. These sins are a Christian belief that the sins are excessive versions of our emotions and actions. It's no mistake Lamar has a song like "LUST" next to "LOVE." Or the first two tracks on the album being "BLOOD" and "DNA" respectively. He's telling a story not only through songs, but through the tracklist about his struggles with giving into his demons and staying clean and pure.
The last three songs on DAMN. brilliantly make the album come full circle. On "FEAR," Lamar goes through his life of growing up being afraid of dying too young, to losing the life he's made for himself now. The last verse puts the whole album into perspective (I'll let you listen instead of spoiling it). "GOD" seems to be Lamar once again mocking mainstream hip-hop, using God "laughing to the bank" and flipping it in the next verse about rappers thinking too highly of themselves. "DUCKWORTH," however, ends with the biggest plot twist I've heard in a rap album in years. Once again, I'll say listen to it yourself. I will not play spoiler.
Look, I can go on for days about the limitless stories and hidden theories on DAMN. I'll spare all of you that time and let you listen to the album front to back yourself. With "HUMBLE," Lamar made us think the single was a shot at multiple rappers, when it turns out in the album it fits as a man talking to himself. He turned a U2 feature that many people questioned into a bizzare banger.
DAMN. is a great album that shows Lamar suffering while we expect him to embask in the glory of the fame. It has so many twists every single listen that you don't even know what story he's trying to tell you. It's almost like he's giving us the pieces to make DAMN. whatever we want it to be. It could be about someone suffering from depression and going through mood swings through melody. It can be someone who is turning to the people asking for help through trap songs to satisfy lust.
In my opinion, this streak of albums Lamar has released the past five years puts him in the discussion for one of the greatest rappers of all-time. The last time I saw a string of albums be commercially and critically successful was Eminem's Slim Shady days. That's very good company to be in, don't you think? The scary part is his work ethic (he's already releasing new music soon) doesn't sleep. He hasn't had an Encore album to slow his momentum in the G.O.A.T. talks. God DAMN. us all.
Final Verdict: 5/5
Notable Tracks
"DNA"
"LOVE"
"HUMBLE"
The irony of people wanting to get their 15 seconds of fame to find happiness is catching it and regretting it all. That message seems to be consistent with most of the celebrities we watch and listen to everyday. In hip-hop, however, that seems to be the opposite. We're used to most rappers on T.V. brag about the cash, women, and chains they have (until we find out they're all rentals and they're broke from signing 360 deals, but I digress). A recent hip-hop artist that has shown the opposite of this mantra is J. Cole. A supposed good friend of Kendrick Lamar, Cole's album 2014 Forest Hills Drive showed a man struggling the fame and money he acquired, trying to go home to escape the world he once so desired.
It seems that same mentality has slowly sprinkled into the mind of Kendrick Lamar. Growing up in the bad streets of Compton, Lamar already rapped about his affiliation with murder, robberies, and his father asking him to give him back his dominoes (not the pizza chain). But from his 2015 album To Pimp A Butterfly to his untitled and unmastered demos from the album released a year later, Lamar tells a more detailed story of a man struggling to keep his soul from Lucy, A.K.A. Satan himself.
DAMN., Kendrick Lamar's latest offering, seems to continue the trend of this troubled rapper. While most of Lamar's projects have a straight up generic story that listeners can easily follow, DAMN. is his most bipolar album to date. The album seems to mix the braggadocious gangbanging from Good Kid, m.A.A.d. City and the jazzy instrumentals of To Pimp A Butterfly.
The album wastes no time making you feel uncomfortable. In the opening track "BLOOD," Lamar approaches a blind woman to help her, but is shot and killed. Right after that sudden twist of fate, we go into "DNA," which is arguably the hardest song I have ever heard in my life. With a mid-song beat switch and Lamar asthma rapping at his best, Kung Fu Kenny speaks on his black culture. But the very next track, "YAH," Lamar says "I'm a Israelite, don't call me black no mo'." His persona has taken a complete 180 from To Pimp A Butterfly, which promoted loving yourself and your culture.
One thing consistent throughout the album is the focal point of religion. The man who now calls himself Kung Fu Kenny has his tracklist listed in a way that shows some of the seven deadly sins; those sins being pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth. These sins are a Christian belief that the sins are excessive versions of our emotions and actions. It's no mistake Lamar has a song like "LUST" next to "LOVE." Or the first two tracks on the album being "BLOOD" and "DNA" respectively. He's telling a story not only through songs, but through the tracklist about his struggles with giving into his demons and staying clean and pure.
The last three songs on DAMN. brilliantly make the album come full circle. On "FEAR," Lamar goes through his life of growing up being afraid of dying too young, to losing the life he's made for himself now. The last verse puts the whole album into perspective (I'll let you listen instead of spoiling it). "GOD" seems to be Lamar once again mocking mainstream hip-hop, using God "laughing to the bank" and flipping it in the next verse about rappers thinking too highly of themselves. "DUCKWORTH," however, ends with the biggest plot twist I've heard in a rap album in years. Once again, I'll say listen to it yourself. I will not play spoiler.
Look, I can go on for days about the limitless stories and hidden theories on DAMN. I'll spare all of you that time and let you listen to the album front to back yourself. With "HUMBLE," Lamar made us think the single was a shot at multiple rappers, when it turns out in the album it fits as a man talking to himself. He turned a U2 feature that many people questioned into a bizzare banger.
DAMN. is a great album that shows Lamar suffering while we expect him to embask in the glory of the fame. It has so many twists every single listen that you don't even know what story he's trying to tell you. It's almost like he's giving us the pieces to make DAMN. whatever we want it to be. It could be about someone suffering from depression and going through mood swings through melody. It can be someone who is turning to the people asking for help through trap songs to satisfy lust.
In my opinion, this streak of albums Lamar has released the past five years puts him in the discussion for one of the greatest rappers of all-time. The last time I saw a string of albums be commercially and critically successful was Eminem's Slim Shady days. That's very good company to be in, don't you think? The scary part is his work ethic (he's already releasing new music soon) doesn't sleep. He hasn't had an Encore album to slow his momentum in the G.O.A.T. talks. God DAMN. us all.
Final Verdict: 5/5
Notable Tracks
"DNA"
"LOVE"
"HUMBLE"