On April 14th, Kendrick Lamar dropped his follow-up album to "To Pimp a Butterfly," titled "DAMN."
The all caps title to the album (and songs) are a signal to the awe that is coming. "DAMN." is a politically powerful album with a religious awakening.
It is also a proclamation, if Lamar’s "King Kunta" was not enough, that he is running the rap game.
The Compton native infuses Jazz and G-funk into his album, just as his predecessor and mentor, Dr. Dre, did before him.
Lamar’s storytelling of the goings-on in the hood and his politically charged lyrics mimic those of NWA, Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur.
In a time with meaningless lyrics and repetition, Lamar is the breath of fresh air today’s music needs.
"BLOOD." opens with the line, “So I was taking a walk the other day…”
It becomes a story about a blind woman who has lost something. Lamar decides to 'lend a helping hand’ and says, “Hello ma’am. Can I be of any assistance? It seems to me that you have lost something." The woman replies, “Oh yes, you have lost something, you have lost…your life,” and a shot rings out.
The track fades into a Fox News snippet with commentary from Gerardo Rivera quoting lines from Lamar’s song "Alright," saying “We hate the po-po, they want to kill us dead in the street fo-sho.”
A woman replies, “Oh please, I don’t like it.”
In the clip, Rivera insures to make the “fo-sho” part sound as offensive as possible.
"Alright" has now become an anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement.
Lamar hit back at Fox News in an interview saying, “How can you take a song that’s about hope, and turn it into hate?” Fox News’ criticism of Lamar becomes a theme, as soundbites take place throughout the album.
"DNA." begins with the declaration by Lamar that he has royalty inside his DNA. Lamar refers to Yesha, the Hebrew name for Jesus and the immaculate conception.
Later, in another religious metaphor about his “birth” into the rap game, Lamar refers to Dante’s Inferno and the 9th ring of hell, which is treachery and based on Judas, a sign to not betray the star.
Again, a Fox News soundbite plays, this time proclaiming, “This is why I say that hip-hop has done more damage to young African-Americans than racism in recent years.”
This claim is so out of left-field, coming from a white man in one of the most racist companies of America. It is an excuse by Rivera in order to continue his ignorance and racism towards African-Americans.
"YAH." is a reference to Yah-Weh, another name for God.
Lamar refers to Fox News in the song, saying they use his name for percentage.
Lamar’s cousin Carl is first featured in this track. He becomes a religious influence on Lamar in the album. He tells Lamar people of color have been cursed, according to Deuteronomy.
Lamar proclaims, “I’m an Israelite, don't call me Black no mo'. That word is just a color, it ain’t facts no mo'.”
References to the Bible, and Deuteronomy in particular, take place throughout the album.
"ELEMENT." opens with artist Kid Capri introducing 'Kung-Fu Kenny,' Lamar's new nickname in the album. The track is about standing up for yourself and your beliefs.
Lamar refers to the Bible again, rapping, “Put the Bible down and go eye for an eye for this shit.” Lamar talks of abandoning his old life and surroundings, but always representing his city, saying, “I don’t do it for the gram, I do it for Compton,” and later, “We ain’t goin' back to broke, family sellin' dope.”
Finally, Kendrick proclaims, “But it's a difference between black artists and wack artists.” This is another hit at the racist criticism from the ignorant.
"FEEL." is Lamar’s most meaningful and personal song of the album to this point. Lamar states, “Ain’t nobody prayin' for me.” Lamar announces his placement in the rap game saying, “I feel like debatin' on who the greatest can stop it. I am legend, I feel like all y’all is peasants.”
Lamar writes money is worthless when people are dying, “Fill up banks with dollars, fill up graves with fathers.”
Lamar relates his experiences to Tupac and his rise to fame, writing, “I feel like this gotta be the feelin' what ‘Pac was. The feelin' of an apocalypse happenin'.” This is a reference to Tupac’s acclaimed album, “2pacalypse Now."
"LOYALTY." is Lamar’s first joint effort on the record, with fellow artist Rihanna.
Rihanna provides a beautiful accompaniment to Lamar’s flow and words. Lamar emotionally states, “All I want is loyalty, loyalty, loyalty.”
The music video has become one of the most viewed of the year on Youtube. It shows Lamar as a mob boss and Rihanna as his sidekick.
Later, Lamar asks the listeners, “Tell me who you loyal to. Is it money? Is it fame? Is it weed? Is it drank?”
In one of Lamar’s first hits, “Swimming pools,” he announces the dangers of excessive drinking and how alcoholism and substance abuse took a toll on his family.
"PRIDE." provides a stepping stone to some of Lamar’s more heartfelt songs of the album. It opens up with the line, “Love's gonna get you killed, but pride's gonna be the death of you, and you, and me.”
"PRIDE." is a warning to listeners to be less materialistic and self-centered. This is evident when Lamar asks, “Hell-rasin', wheel-chasin', new worldly possessions, flesh-makin', spirit-breakin' – which one would you lessen?”
"PRIDE." also becomes political, and calls out racists. “Race barriers make inferior of you and I. See, in a perfect world, I’ll choose faith over riches. I’ll choose work over bitches, I’ll make schools out of prisons. I’ll take all the religions and put 'em all in one service, just to tell 'em we ain’t shit – but He’s been perfect, world.”
Here, Lamar is stating that education, understanding and unity are important lessons for society.
"LUST." is self-explanatory. Lamar warns the listener of dangers of lust and the many forms it takes place. Lust takes place in the form of sex, money, drugs, alcohol, crime, and fame in the track.
Lamar relates to the listener when he explains his fear after the election, “We all woke up, tryna tune to the daily news. Lookin' for confirmation, hopin' election wasn’t true."
"All of us worried, all of us buried, and our feelings deep. None of us married to his proposal, make us feel cheap.”
Here, Lamar points to Trump’s divisive policies; the wall, Muslim ban and his insensitivities to those who live in low-income areas.
Lamar refers to the Bible again, “Lust turn into fear. Lately, in James 4:4 says, ‘friend of the world is enemy of the Lord.’”
"LOVE." starts with a hauntingly beautiful melody from Zacari.
Zacari offers a soothing sound, along with the music, to present Lamar’s most heartfelt track. The song is dedicated to his long-time girlfriend from high school, Whitney Alford.
Lamar lays down, “If I didn’t ride blade on curb, would you still love me? If I minimized my net-worth, would you still love me? Keep it a hundred, I’d rather you trust me than to love me."
Each time 'love me' is said, Zachari provides the falsetto words.
"Keep it a whole one huned': don't got you, I got nothin," Lamar continues.
"XXX." is Lamar’s most political song of the soundtrack. The song provides a history of violence in America. It is a tale of two halves, as Lamar spits fire in the first half, only to have U2’s harmony and Lamar’s storytelling in the other.
Each X in the title stand for a murder that takes place in the song.
The first half of the track ends, and Lamar states, “Alright kids, we’re gonna talk about gun control.”
Lamar becomes more political in the latter half, saying, “Homicidal thoughts; Donald Trump’s in office. We lost Barack and promised to never doubt him again. But is America honest or do we bask in sin?”
The question posed by Lamar is rhetorical, as we see in our daily lives.
Lamar questions the logic of gun support, and then the blame of violence on people of color, stating, “You over-night the big rifles, then tell Fox to be scared of us. Gang members or terrorists, et cetera, et cetera. America’s reflections of me, that’s what a mirror does.”
Lamar suggests we take a look at ourselves before we criticize others.
"FEAR." opens with a voicemail from Lamar’s cousin Carl. Carl provides his input on religion and race in the albums longest song, seven and a half minutes.
“But you have to understand this, man, that we are a cursed people. Deuteronomy 28:28 says, ‘The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart.”
In a bridge, Charles Edward Sydney Isom Jr. asks, “Why God, why God do I gotta suffer?”
Lamar states his fears and anxieties about death and growing up in South Central LA, “I’ll prolly die anonymous, I’ll prolly die with promises."
"I’ll prolly die from witnesses leavin' me false accused, I’ll prolly die from thinkin' that me and your hood was cool,” Lamar continues.
Many people around Lamar have been murdered without recognition. Others have been wrongly convicted by eyewitness testimony, an epidemic in the US.
Lamar’s insecurities continue, “I’ll prolly die from one of these bats and blue badges. Body slammed on black and white paint, my bones snappin'.”
Police brutality is a common theme in Lamar’s music, and a daily reality for those living in dangerous neighborhoods.
Lamar goes on to question God, “All this money, is God playin' a joke on me? Is it for the moment, and will he see me as Job? Take it from me and leave me worse than I was before?”
This biblical reference is to Job, a rich and prosperous man, only to have his possessions taken as a test of his loyalty to God. Lamar worries about returning to section 8 housing and stresses the importance of not spending money frivolously.
Carl closes the track saying, “Verse two says, ‘You only have I known of all the families of the earth, therefore I will punish you for all of your iniquities.” Carl ends saying that people of color have been cursed, as they are the true children of Israel, thus they are on a lower scale in the US as test.
"GOD." is a brief follow-up to "FEAR.," where Lamar is asking to not be judged. Lamar also ponders what God feels like. This song, though brief, is one of the easiest to sing to and has one of the best beats of the album.
"DUCKWORTH." the last track of the album is the story of a boy, Anthony (Top-Dog), who grows up in a bad neighborhood and resorts to a life of crime.
He is involved in a murder and selling bricks of cocaine. Anthony crosses paths with Lamar’s father, who is working at a KFC. Anthony hides out there from the police. The KFC had been robbed, leaving a customer dead, so Lamar’s father is kind to him and it saves his life.
Top-Dog is one of the major producers of the album and "DUCKWORTH." was written about them reuniting in the studio.
The track ends with a fast-forward of all of the songs, and concludes with Lamar restating the first line:
"So, I was takin' a walk the other day.”
The album is a brilliant journey with Lamar tackling tough issues of society. With the Grammy nominations starting in November, we are likely to see and hear much more of Lamar.
The strength of this album is it tells a different story if played forwards or backwards. Forwards, it is a lesson on the perils of our decisions and how we can redeem ourselves.
If played backwards, it is a story of losing yourself and how decisions have resulted in the death of the character.
"DAMN." has effectively solidified Lamar’s role as the king of rap, and his album being number one for weeks (and each track being in the top 100) is just the beginning.
