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Skinny
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- #121
- Posted: 12/17/2015 07:21
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| Hayden wrote: | TMT's list is decent. I think my favourites this year are The Quietus and Norman Records.
Between TMT and Pitchfork, I've gotten 7 recs.
Super happy to see Destroyer Carly Rae, Earl and Jenny Hval make the final list despite not getting BNM.
I still don't understand the love for the new Miguel, Future, Drake, Jeremih, Young Thug, Janet Jackson, Kelela, Oneohtrix Point Never, Vince Staples or Rae Sremmurd. I don't think I'm enjoying this new wave of hip-hop  It all just feels so lifeless and monotone. |
wut
_________________
2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
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Umbrella
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- #122
- Posted: 12/17/2015 13:26
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these lists are suck. lamar makes show of being black and white people guilty gush. i'd rather listen to metallica.
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benpaco
Who's gonna watch you die?
Age: 27
Location: California
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- #123
- Posted: 12/17/2015 14:56
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| Umbrella wrote: | | these lists are suck. lamar makes show of being black and white people guilty gush. i'd rather listen to metallica. |
Pause.
Yes, you're probably trolling.
Yes, that album lyrically discusses issues of being black in a world where that is still a problem. (EDIT: This comes across as me being racist in hindsight, I meant that issues of race still exist, even though they really shouldn't)
But if the only theme you could get out of the album is one of race, you've missed the vast majority of the album, and since this isn't the first time I've heard this complaint, I feel like it's actually worth discussing now.
A lot of the lyrics here deal with the struggle of balancing fame and one's home or friends.
Like, let's look at just King Kunta here to start with. Yes, there's the obvious metaphors to Roots and the way that Kendrick feels like maybe he's simultaneously at the top of the world in some ways (king), he still feels like a slave to the industry in others (Kunta). Most of this song ends up sort of coming across as a diss track to other rappers in general, but Kendrick talks about his own values here a lot. The whole line of "Bitch where were you when I was walkin?" is a dig at the people trying to get into his life now that he's famous, but back when he was just some guy they couldn't have cared about him. The whole "What's the yams?" thing, I've heard a million interpretations of what the yams actually are, but I like the idea that it's a reference to "The Invisible Man", "I yam what I am!", and a declaration of staying genuine. By then restating "the yams is the power that be", Kendrick offers a definition, but in so doing after the last line, you can see this as that being a genuine person or being true to your roots is what gives you power. The references to "I can dig rapping, but a rapper with a ghost writer? What the fuck happened?" sort of ties into that again - Kendrick is calling out the people who have strayed from their roots and aren't writing their own lyrics anymore. And at the end of that verse, Kendrick again calls back to his roots, "if I gotta brown nose for some gold then I'd rather be a bum than a motherfuckin baller". He's not going to settle for fame if he has to compromise his values. He goes back to the yams thing in a way it can STILL mean a variety of things, from temptations to that same genuine dedication to where you come from, but here you see the negatives, Richard Pryor's life falling apart and Bill Clinton cheating. Then Kendrick says he "was contemplatin getting on stage just to go back to the hood see my enemy and say ..." All of a sudden the power's starting to go to his head. It's not about doing what he's doing for himself anymore, he wants to go back home and show off that he's now so much more powerful. And the next verse continues on this theme. He says he was going to call out more rappers like he had done previously but then doesn't, and actually sort of recycles a line from Jay-Z, which totally goes against the beginning of the song where he's hating on others for sharing lyrics. And it just keeps going. You can just see the descent, he says he should run for mayor when he's back, he things he might as well run the place (note that I'd actually love to see him in the state congress for california, incredibly intelligent guy who I think would be well suited for politics but I digress), he takes the lines from Michael Jackson, he talks about his wealth, he talks about his rise to power, and then he ends with that first bit of the poem, he finally starts that with the "I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence", a real reflection of what just happened and what's yet to come.
I could easily go on, write a whole essay on the album, but quite frankly, I shouldn't have to. It's a deep album, don't get me wrong, but it's not like he hides these themes, it's not like you have to do a lot of research, just give it a little thought and this'll come to mind. I mean, hell, when he delivers the poem in it's entirety on "Mortal Man", that's really just an in your face "HERE'S WHAT THE ALBUM WAS ABOUT".
"I remember you was conflicted, misusing your influence, sometimes I did the same, abusing my power full of resentment, resentment that turned into a deep depression, found myself screaming in the hotel room. I didn't wanna self destruct. The evils of Lucy was all around me, so I went running for answers until I came home. But that didn't stop survivor's guilt, going back and forth trying to convince myself the striped I earned or maybe how A-1 my foundation was, but while my loved ones was fighting the continuous war back in the city, I was entering a new one, a war that was based on apartheid and discrimination, made me wanna go back to the city and tell the homies what I learned. The word was respect. Just because you wore a different gang color than mine's doesn't mean I can't respect you as a black man. Forgetting all the pain and hurt we caused each other in these streets, if I respect you, we unify and stop the enemy from killing us. But I don't know, I'm no mortal man, maybe I'm just another nigga."
Right there. Struggle with race, struggle with connecting to home, struggle with dealing with fame and the temptations that come alongside it. So yeah, this album's black. It's really black, don't get me wrong. A lot of the themes here are about discrimination, about unifying the black community, etc. But I'd argue it's equal parts Black Star's "Astronomy (8th Light)", Tupac's "Changes", and Bowie's "Fame", and to ignore any messages about keeping level headed is to ignore a large chunk of this album.
_________________
. . . 2016 . . . 2015 . . .
Things I Make
Last edited by benpaco on 12/17/2015 15:28; edited 1 time in total
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Revolution909
Age: 29
Location: Galway, Ireland's 4th City
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Revolution909
Age: 29
Location: Galway, Ireland's 4th City
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Umbrella
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- #126
- Posted: 12/17/2015 15:15
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course theres lots more to the album. not lots more to the praise tho.
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Satie
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- #127
- Posted: 12/17/2015 16:48
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benpaco's analysis of the album really captures its essence - lots of important stuff to say, but an absolute slog to get through to that content. 
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Lowkey
Gender: Male
Age: 27
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- #128
- Posted: 12/17/2015 16:55
- Post subject:
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| Skinny wrote: | | Hayden wrote: | TMT's list is decent. I think my favourites this year are The Quietus and Norman Records.
Between TMT and Pitchfork, I've gotten 7 recs.
Super happy to see Destroyer Carly Rae, Earl and Jenny Hval make the final list despite not getting BNM.
I still don't understand the love for the new Miguel, Future, Drake, Jeremih, Young Thug, Janet Jackson, Kelela, Oneohtrix Point Never, Vince Staples or Rae Sremmurd. I don't think I'm enjoying this new wave of hip-hop It all just feels so lifeless and monotone. |
wut |
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AAL2014
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- #129
- Posted: 12/17/2015 17:08
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| Umbrella wrote: | | these lists are suck. lamar makes show of being black and white people guilty gush. i'd rather listen to metallica. |
1.) Obvious troll is obvious
2.) If you sense white guilt coming from the Kendrick record then you must feel guilty yourself.
3.) I myself love Metallica to bits but this is not the time nor place.
_________________
Attention all planets of the solar federation: We have assumed control.
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benpaco
Who's gonna watch you die?
Age: 27
Location: California
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- #130
- Posted: 12/17/2015 18:07
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| Satie wrote: | | benpaco's analysis of the album really captures its essence - lots of important stuff to say, but an absolute slog to get through to that content. |
Even hits you right over the head at the end with the thing it's saying all along just in case you missed it 
Tl:DR I'd argue it's equal parts Black Star's "Astronomy (8th Light)", Tupac's "Changes", and Bowie's "Fame", and to ignore any messages about keeping level headed is to ignore a large chunk of this album.
_________________
. . . 2016 . . . 2015 . . .
Things I Make
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