Recently, I wrote an article about the importance of reading novels. This week, I got thinking about another expressive art form that I owe so much of my identity to.
Music.
Everyone listens to music—maybe some more than others, but everyone does. Everyone has their preferences on what music they like, when they like to listen to it, and how loud. Music surrounds us, always.
My personal favorite type of music is rap, but I listen to all music in any capacity. The beauty of rap to me is that a rap song tells a story. It is like a spoken word poem set to a couple backbeats, and when you listen to the lyrics of many rap songs, you catch a glimpse of the rapper's soul and struggles.
Some rap styles and songs are better for this phenomenon than others. There is rap I listen to simply because it is enjoyable, and then there is rap that I listen to because it is beautifully done. J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar automatically jump out at me when I think of this type of rap, but there are countless occurrences of a snapshot of a rapper's life manifesting in a rap song. It is easy for people to write off rap music as just being full of cuss words and reference to girls and money. I am not going to say that a good amount of rap songs don't fit into that comment, but to force all rap music in that box is both a travesty and an unfair categorization.
A perfect example of this is Kendrick Lamar. I could write 1000 articles about Kendrick Lamar because I am slightly obsessed, but I will try my hardest to explain the genius that is Kendrick’s music in a measly couple hundred words.
Lets begin with a simple introduction to K-Dot.
“Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper from Compton, California. Lamar embarked on his musical career as a teenager under the moniker K-Dot, releasing a mix tape that garnered local attention and led to his signing with Carson-based independent record label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE).” More information can be found here.
From the beginning of his career until now, he has tried to portray that there is more to life than chasing money. In his second-newest, Grammy award-winning album, "To Pimp A Butterfly," he refers to a woman named Lucy in several of the tracks. Lucy frequently pulls Kendrick into a money-centered life, and she often tries to draw Kendrick away from what he is truly chasing, which is a life full of love and achievement. Lucy, in my opinion and many columnists’ opinions, represents Lucifer, or the devil. If you want to read a full analysis of the album, my favorite one can be found here. Once you input that idea while you’re listening to the album, the depth of the work increases exponentially.
There are several other allusions that he uses in this album, one of which is seen in “King Kunta.” In this track, Kendrick speaks about ‘yams’ being some sort of special commodity or sign of wealth. Not sure if you, dear reader, remember reading “Things Fall Apart” in high school, but I certainly do. I remember Okonkwo speaking countless times about yams being a sign of status, and K-Dot referencing this is meant to make comparisons between the modern black man (especially black entertainers) and the tribal origin of the African American race.
I could go on and on about this album and all of the wonderful literary allusions that appear throughout, but that’s not the point of this article. The point of this article is to encourage you to open your eyes and your mind to an art form that many people overlook.
In my AP Lit class in senior year, we analyzed many novels and poems for the allusions and literary devices that the author beautifully employed. I think that it might be a good idea to look at things like rap songs as a way to further understand expression and the intentional crafting of words. If you look past some of the more mainstream, club-style rap (which is still awesome, don’t get me wrong), you can find some gems that might make you have a little more appreciation for this art form.
Music in general, and in any form, can craft friendships and morph the climate of our everyday life, but I have had some of the most wonderful, enlightening conversations about rap music specifically. The lyrics can be wrestled with and discussed forever, but enjoyment of the rappers craft is equally important as critically examining the lyricism.
On a more personal note, on Thursday night, Kendrick Lamar (my personal favorite rapper, if you haven’t gathered that yet) released a surprise album. It had been a long week, and this album felt almost like a present to me. I recognize that he did not release these songs because a 19-year-old college student in Montana was having a bad day, but the point remains the same: rap music to me is an engaging, challenging, and wonderful gift. I implore you to give it a second chance if you think you’ve already made up our mind about this art form.
Here is a list of some of my favorite (lyrically beautiful/challenging) rap songs:
-No Role Models (J. Cole)
-Love Yourz (J. Cole)
-Warm Enough (Donnie Trumpet and the Social Expirement)
-Keep Ya Head Up (2Pac)
-Nikki (Logic)
-Forgive Them Father (Lauryn Hill)
-good kid (Kendrick Lamar)
-Ronald Reagan Era (Kendrick Lamar)
-King Kunta (Kendrick Lamar)
-Alright (Kendrick Lamar)
-How Much A Dollar Cost (Kendrick Lamar)
-Untitled 03 (Kendrick Lamar)
