peer review work shop

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PHIL 253

Prof. Chris Veneer

Alina Nhouyvanisvong

Rough Draft: “Lyrical Literature From The Streets”

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Kendrick Lamar is considered one of the most influential hip hop/rap artists today by

both popular opinion, and his achievement on being the first artist outside of the classical music

genre to win the Pulitzer Prize. This paper will explore the unique things that differentiate

Kendrick Lamar from other artists by explaining the types of musical techniques he uses and,

more importantly, about the topics he sings about. This purpose of this paper is to gain a better

understanding of the success of Kendrick Lamar by analyzing the quality of his lyrics, and

interpreting how the messages in his songs can be applied to present day thoughts, wisdom for

the future, and a comparison to philosophical ideas of the past.

Kendrick is known for singing and rapping stories, which can be equated to fables or

parables, anecdotes that teach moral lessons. In this way, people of any age, culture, and

generation can emotionally relate to his lyrics. He also captures the audience and produces

different sounds by manipulating his tone of voice to capture the audience and emphasize some

of his lyrics. In addition to his unique singing style, he also is unafraid to sing about

controversial topics.

One of the common themes that Kendrick discusses in his lyrics are autoethnography,

which is the portrayal of cultural, social, and personal narratives, within the African American

communities. Another common theme is intertextuality, which is the act of referencing other

notable people and/or quotes from other artists’ lyrics and incorporated into an artists’ remix of

a song or art piece. Similarly, he also makes references to religious texts, specifically the Bible.

Kendrick also focuses on African American identity. A few music review articles said that a part

of his success is due to the fact that he had taken aspects of jazz and old hip-hop styles to create

a new wave of music that combines the two into a mellow rap style. Also, he has connected some

of his music to gospel and dancehall style, which gives respect to religion and his African roots.

He is also considered one of the few artists who destigmatize depression in their lyrics. He is

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aware of his social influence, and he uses that to his advantage to bring awareness to mental

health. Now that a glimpse of Kendrick’s music has been introduced, the specific details and

descriptions of the lyrics in his top three albums will be analyzed.

The three primary sources of Kendrick Lamar’s work will be his most popular albums

ranked from oldest to most recent: ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City’ (2012), ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’

(2015), and ‘DAMN.’ (2017). The key topics, themes, and important messages Kendrick

incorporated into the major songs of each album will be discussed. Then, the entire album itself

will be summarized to reflect on the types of topics that Kendrick Lamar focuses on delivering to

his audience.

The fourth song of the ‘Good Kid, M.A.A.D City’ is called ‘The Art of Peer Pressure’ as a

play on words of the novel ‘The Art of War’ by Sun Tzu because it displays an internal war

between peer acceptance and standing true to one’s own beliefs. Kendrick reiterates “but I’m

with the homies right now”, and vividly tells about the time he robbed a store out of peer

pressure. The fifth song is called ‘Money Trees’ and is about choosing good or bad choices. He

highlights that bad choices are present everywhere and are prominent in everybody, but people

choose different ‘guilty pleasures’ as described in his line “pick your poison, tell me what you’re

doing”. The main point of the song is in the lines “Everybody gon’ respect the shooter, but the

one in front of the gun lives forever”. This means that the shooter will have temporary attention

in the news, but the person who died will have his legacy passed on from the retelling of his

character by loved ones. It could also be interpreted that people who choose cheap thrills and

short-term pleasure are likely to not have everlasting joy. The next song is called ‘good kid’,

which is about Kendrick walking out of Bible Study and getting jumped. He can’t go to police

because he could easily be racially profiled. He then realizes that he is tired of living in ‘the

hood’, or the corrupted city. The next song is ‘m.a.a.d city’, which describes how Compton, the

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city he grew up in, made him mentally mad. Kendrick states in an interview that ‘m.a.a.d’ stands

for ‘My Angry Adolescence Divided’ and could also be ‘My Angel on Angel Dust’. Angel dust is

another name for cocaine, which could represent the corrupted city, and the Angel would be

Kendrick himself because he defines himself as a person seeking goodness and a way out of the

depraved city.

The Good Kid, M.A.A.D City album can be summarized as a ‘coming-of-age’ style because

it tells stories of Kendrick Lamar’s experiences and thought-process that transformed from

ignorance to realization. The first songs were about his childhood experiences with girls and

peer pressure, which quickly took a turn to question who he was as a person and how he wanted

to change his life for the better by moving out of Compton, his ‘m.a.a.d city’.

The next album is called To Pimp A Butterfly. One important song of the album is the

track King Kunta, which is a play on the fictional character ‘King Kinte’ in the TV series and

novel ‘Roots: The Saga of an American Family’. Kinte is said to have his foot chopped off as a

punishment for attempting to escape the plantation. He also refuses to accept the American

name his slave owners gave him, and he stays true to his heritage. Kendrick Lamar reiterates

this little tale of Kinte in the chorus, but uses real-world examples in the verses of the song to

create a bridge between the listeners and the fictional character to relate to on their personal

levels. The topic makes a point that even today, people can be called names or accused of doing

or being something they are not, and the song serves as an encouraging force to stand strong

and proud of one’s heritage and roots. Another important song in this album is titled ‘u’, which

emphasizes the insecure and doubtful emotions of Kendrick Lamar throughout his life. For

example, “you the reason mama and them leavin. You ain’t shit, you say you love them, but you

know you don’t mean it. I know you’re selfish, indenial, can’t help it. Your trials and tribulations

a burden, everyone felt it”. These are deeply depressing emotions that everyone has felt once in

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their lives. This song ‘u’ contrasts with another hit song of the album called ‘i’. The song ‘i’ is very

upbeat and funky. It is a feel-good song with a positive message such as “sky could fall down,

wind could cry now, but look at me motherf***er I smile. When you look at me tell me what do

you see (I love myself!)”. Where Kendrick explains in an interview “What’s love got to do with it

if you don’t love yourself?” . Another encouraging song placed after the song ‘u’ in the album’s

order is called ‘Alright’ and is also very encouraging with lyrics like “Do you hear me? Do you

feel me? We gon’ be all right!”, which later became the anthem of the Black Lives Matter

movement. Another song also questions the morality of listeners by telling a story similar to a

parable in the Christian Bible. The song ‘How Much a Dollar Cost’ is about Kendrick

encountering a homeless man at a gas station in South Africa and the man asks for some money

from Kendrick. Kendrick rejects him, but the man persists. The man remains quiet for some

time then breaks the silence to ask Kendrick if he has read the chapter Exodus 14 in the Bible,

then proceeds to describe Kendrick’s selfishness. The homeless man finally reveals himself to be

God. The outro of the song is Kendrick pleading God for forgiveness. This song incorporates

religious beliefs, morality, and humbleness. Finally, the song ‘Mortal Man’ ends with an

interview between legendary rapper Tupac Shakur and Kendrick’s poem (and explanation) for

the title of the album. Kendrick describes the people living in the gang-infested, impoverished,

‘ghetto’ cities as ‘caterpillars’. He refers to the culture in those cities as ‘cocoons’, the

environment that envelops and traps the caterpillars in their own thoughts. The ‘butterfly’

represents the beauty, hope, faithfulness, and thoughtfulness of the ‘caterpillars’. This analogy

Kendrick poses that everybody has the ability to overcome their situations and become higher

selves or better people despite their past experiences. Kendrick Lamar references previous Black

leaders of social movement such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcom X.,

besides Tupac Shakur. Kendrick believes it is his turn now to follow those previous leaders by

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delivering messages of hope and change to his listeners, and this is the overall theme of the

album ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’.

The most recent album is called ‘DAMN.’, which won the Pulitzer Prize for music which

was described as “ a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic

dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American

life.” (Genius). The titles of the songs in this album are all one words with a period at the end,

signifying a statement about the topic. ‘LOYALTY.’ is about the importance of loyalty in all

relationships such as Kendrick’s line “it’s a secret society. All we ask is trust, all we got is us”.

Kendrick also incorporates the topic of relationships in the song ‘FEEL.’ by discussing how he

feels alone in the music industry despite all the followers and friends he has. Yet while wishing

he had people genuinely looking out for him, he contradictingly wants to isolate himself from his

friends. He then lists his insecurities and flaws. It is a raw song that tackles his emotions despite

his fame and successes, which has become a popular topic among celebrities in accordance to

the rise of mental health issues. The song ‘DNA.’ analyzes the culture and heritage of African

Americans by both celebrating and critiquing it. The song ‘HUMBLE.’ is another song about

humbling oneself, especially for artists like himself and other celebrities who can have an

egotistic mentality from their wealth and fame. Then, he has songs that contradict themselves

like the tracks ‘LUST.’ and ‘LOVE.’. He describes not only lust in relationships, but also for

luxurious items and a lavish lifestyle. In the song ‘FEAR.’, Kendrick describes three possible

sources of fear for people in different ages of their lives. The first verse is about a child, aged 7,

who is in fear of his strict mother. The second verse is about a teenager, aged 17, who is afraid of

dying at a young age because he wants to accomplish and experience. The last verses describe

the fear of a 27 year old is is afraid of losing everything he has: “fear of losin creativity, fear of

losin you and me, fear of losin loyalty from pride..”.

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Finally, the song ‘XXX.’ is about revenge: “tell me what you do for love, loyalty, and

passion of all the memories collected, moments you could never touch”. The song also discusses

politics such as violence beyond the homeland: “The great American flag is wrapped in drag with

explosives”. The most important point in the song is the end verse “It’s nasty when you set us up,

when you roll the dice then bet us up. You overnight the big rifles, then tell Fox to be scared of

us. Gang members, et cetera, Reflections of America, that’s what a mirror does”. Kendrick talks

about hypocrisy in America by bridging the two instances of violence (in the hood and in foreign

land). The end verse is about higher people giving drugs and weapons to Black Americans who

live in those ‘hoods’, and then portraying those Black Americans as untrustworthy ‘gang

members’ or savages. The last verse states that politics is like a mirror. Similar to mirrors

distorting the self-image of a person, the cycle of money and power can distort peoples’ mindsets

and lead to hypocrisy. Overall, this album is about the emotions that everybody relates to (no

matter the age), and the hidden behaviors masked by the news. It is truly representative of the

individual and of America as a nation in light of the social movements and current political ‘fake

news’.

An online news source, the New Yorker, explains how the winner of the Pulitzer Prize

was determined, and describes Kendrick’s album DAMN. as a “complex, rich, full of surprise and

invention. Sonically, it’s highly sophisticated and original. It brings together melody, harmony,

counterpoint, texture—all those elements, in a fresh way. And lyrically, it’s very powerful” from

the Pulitzer Board (New Yorker). Another notable website that features new music and reviews

called Pitchfork, whose motto is “The Most Trusted Voice In Music”, briefly describes each song

on his second album in a sentence or two. It finally concludes with the statement “ To Pimp a

Butterfly is a celebration of the audacity to wake up each morning to try to be better, knowing it

could all end in a second, for no reason at all.” (Pitchfork). This supports the fact that Kendrick

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uses his lyrics as a source hope for people who are enduring depressing circumstances and

tribulations.

There are some philosophical topics that can be related to Kendrick Lamar’s musical and

literary works. From Aristotle’s point of view, Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics could be considered

tragedy because they evoke emotion, some songs evoke pity, and some evoke fear. If there was a

defined ‘hero’ in Kendrick Lamar’s works, then it would be himself because he self-proclaims

himself as the next legendary ‘Black social movement enlightener’ and boasts about his influence

over the masses. However, this view clashes with Plato’s point of view of art. According to Plato,

Kendrick’s musical works would be considered as ideas created by God, and Kendrick’s lyrics are

just the imitation of God’s ideas. Kendrick himself might even credit God to be the creator of his

life’s purpose and thoughts because he often refers to God’s power by incorporating Bible verses

into his songs. Following Aquinas’ tactics of writing important messages, Kendrick also uses

metaphors and analogies for audiences of one kind to understand parts of the message that

other audiences could not. An example of this could be in the slang language Kendrick uses. Also

like Aquinas, moral meanings in the stories told by the author (Kendrick Lamar in this case),

would be models of righteous behavior. A good example is when Kendrick emphasizes that

people should love themselves, and should be hopeful and determined to overcome the

hardships of their current situations. If Kant were to listen to Kendrick’s albums, he would likely

consider Kendrick’s music to be sublime because the topics themselves establish ‘negative

pleasure’ and are more serious and often-times painful. However, the topics ‘arouse the mind’

and bring forth conscious awareness, leaving an inexplainable and overwhelming rush of

emotions to realize the degree to which violence and love can go over extreme situations, such as

Kendrick’s life living in a city known for its gangs. Sublime describes chaos in nature, and it

provokes us to feel and develop and understanding of purposeness within ourselves. This is

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exactly the purpose of Kendrick’s music -- for people to relate to and to provide hope for the

brighter future that Kendrick illustrates.

Overall, there are many ways that Kendrick Lamar musically and poetically develops a

song to bring social awareness and enlightenment to people who are emotionally struggling with

life’s obstacles. Even if someone was illiterate or did not enjoy reading books, they could

comprehend the stories of humbleness and encouragement through Kendrick’s rhythmic lyrics.

Music also brings people of every race and socioeconomic background to enjoy together. Despite

the person’s skin color or religious beliefs, everyone can relate to the life struggles and personal

doubts described in Kendrick’s music. As stated by the Pultizer Board, Kendrick Lamar certainly

displays the qualities of both a literary writer and musical genius.

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References

Robinson, L. (Aug 2018). Vanity Fair. The gospel according to kendrick lamar. Retrieved from https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/06/kendrick-lamar-cover-story

Petrusich, A. (April 2018). The New Yorker. The cultural and political forces behind

kendrick lamar’s pulitzer. Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-cultural-and-political-forces-behind-kendric k-lamar-pulitzer

Jenkins, C. (Mar 2015). Pitchfork. Kendrick lamar: To pimp a butterfly. Retrieved from https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/20390-to-pimp-a-butterfly/

Genius lyrics. Retrieved from https://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-wesleys-theory-lyrics

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PHIL 253

Alina Nhouyvanisvong

Self-Review Letter

I think my rough draft flows very well. I think I incorportated quotes from review articles

and direct examples from Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics to provide support and evidence for the

statements I made about his music. I also think I concisely explained some of the important

songs of each album.

However, I think the section about comparing Kendrick’s music to the philosophical

ideas we have discussed in class needs some work. I look foward to your feedback and

constructive criticism!

1. Is my Introduction and Conclusion concise and clear about the objectives of the paper? If

it is vague, where can I improve?

2. Which area do you think my argument stands out the most?

3. Which areas do you think I could improve my evidence? And How?