As a student here at Troy University, I've been constantly challenged to push myself to become the best I could be. But deep down I still have trouble believing in myself, so I always resort to my favorite song from my favorite album. "The Art of Peer Pressure" by Kendrick Lamar from his sophomore album, "Good Kid MAAD City." This song always reminds of what real pressure and stress are like. Especially when you're affiliated in activities where lives are at stake.
"The Art of Peer Pressure" is a true ballad of what a young Kendrick went through and orchestrates the evils and lengths peer pressure leads to.
At the beginning of the song, Kendrick describes an average day with the homies. Playing basketball at the park, playing loud music and pursuing women on street corners. This would be the beginning of the transformation of a young Kendrick—participating in experiences that slowly pulls him into the street life.
This, of course, is nowhere near my life and there shouldn't be a way for me to relate to this. But in reality, Kendrick has just found himself with a group of friends that do terrible things. And even though he knows these things are bad, he still wants to be a part of the group and doesn't want to feel like a loser or a word I can't type on this website.
Later in the song, Kendrick finds himself and the homies confronting others who wore colors that they didn't like. In other words, Kendrick was confronting rival gangs. And that, of course, catapults him into an unfamiliar place in his life. A place where he spends his leisure time becoming a young gangbanger.
So at this point in the song, Kendrick has become an expert in gangs, alcohol, weed, and women - all before he even graduated high school.
You see, Kendrick now has this down to the science, and he's escalating the risk every day when hanging out with this bad crowd. Towards the end of the song, Kendrick and his friends decide to go on a "Mission" that involves him and his friends to go rob a house they've been staking out for two months.
Out of all the bad things Kendrick has done so far, this has to be on the top of the list. After getting caught robbing the house, they went on a chase from the cops, having Kendrick question everything he has done with this group. He's thinking how he has to explain to his parents what has happened and who in his parent's eyes, still sees a good kid. But luckily, Kendrick and his friends evaded the police and lived to tell the tale.
The main reason I wanted to write this article is that it took a common experience to cautious lengths. Kendrick took his tales of peer pressure and made it into a narrative that puts the listener in his problematic shoes. "The Art of Peer Pressure" was just one of the many extraordinary songs from "Good Kid MAAD City" but what makes this song stand out the most is the fact that it's also a tale of realization.
A realization that even under the most pressure, you can still come out from under the stress and expectations and still make it big.
