Kendrick Lamar: A Style Analysis

Additionally, critics took note of Lamar's verse on the song "Control," by rapper Big Sean. Even though the track was written by another artist, Lamar's verse drew attention because of his challenge to several other popular names in the hip-hop world, including Drake, J. Cole and Big Sean himself. One interesting fact about Kendrick is he became an American rapper and songwriter. The good thing is that Kendrick faced the violence like a real mature kid. Not like those kinds of those kids who are under pressure quickly. So that’s mostly about Kendrick Lamar’s

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, who is also known as Kendrick Lamar, was born in Compton, California, on June 17, 1987. After writing stories as a child, he put to music some lyrics about the rough Compton streets he grew up on. His stage name was K-Dot when he first started to get the lime light, releasing a series of popular mix tapes, which brought him to the attention of hip-hop producer Dr. Dre. Lamar 's debut major-label recording, good kid, m.A.A.d City, was released to great sales for an up-and-coming recording artist. He continued to receive accolades for his 2015 Grammy-winning album “To Pimp a Butterfly”.

Think of a poet. Who came to mind? Was it Shakespeare, Langston Hughes, Ralph Waldo Emerson? What about Eminem or Jay-Z? They are both poets too, but in a different way. They go by the title “rapper”, basically a synonym for poet, and Hip-Hop is their form of poetry is. Kevin Coval amusingly says that rap “dusted poetry off, took it out the closet, put Js on its feet, and told it to speak to the people, all the people,” and that hip-hop saved poetry from becoming “classical music,” meaning that rap prevented poetry from becoming an old, out-dated art form and renovated it for the next generation (20). Coval’s book, The BreakBeat Poets, says the creation of hip-hop music was by “latchkey kids in the crack era, left to their own devices to experiment wildly and make language and art new and meaningful,” and goes on to say its purpose is to, “move the crowd, relate to the crowd, and save the crowd,” and Kendrick Lamar does these things perfectly (18). Through the use of clever wordplay and rhyming skills mixed with great story telling, Kendrick is bringing rap music back to its “roots” while introducing a “style” of his own, which is why one can argue that Kendrick Lamar is the “savior” of the rap game and its listeners.

In the 2015 kendrick Lamar song “u”. Kendrick describes the feelings that constantly haunt his heart and the guilt he carries everyday. Reflecting on his darkest moments, lingering pain and the details of his depression. The song “u” by kendrick uses literary tools like Soliloquy and Conflict to show how built up guilt leads to his prolonged depression.

In the concept album, good kid m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar creates an autobiographical narrative that describes the societal pressures of growing up as a black teenager in Compton, and how his self-awareness and musical passion allowed him to escape from the city’s cycle of violence. Through the album’s storyline Kendrick makes the case that, despite coming from a hedonistic, gang infested city, he is able to transform into a puritan. Kendrick narrates this story through several different perspectives, including actual people from his life as well as his own psyche. Kendrick Lamar mainly invokes the persona of K.Dot, who is based on Kendrick’s actual seventeen year old self. This story begins from the first person perspective of naive K.Dot, who is characterized by a raspy, inflicted voice. The lyrics of this character show the ignorance and lack of direction in his life, as well his self-doubts and impressionability. It is eventually revealed that K.Dot has a passion for music. While K.Dot is a good kid at heart who is not gang affiliated, his innocence is tainted by the desires of the Compton lifestyle. After a violent encounter, a transformation begins to occurs from within K.Dot. He realizes that the negative influences of gang culture have corrupted him,

Cultural phenomenon, rapper Kendrick Lamar has embraced a growing minority centered culture in America through his album “To Pimp A butterfly” this album conveys themes of hardship for minorities and cultural uprising. One of the singles on this album “Alright” simply tells black audiences that with faith everything will be alright. He uses the Lyrics “Alls my life I has to fight, nigga .Alls my life I...Hard times like God. Bad trips like: ‘God!’ Nazareth, I 'm fucked up..Homie you fucked up..But if God got us then we gon ' be alright” These lyrics simply tell suppressed minorities that despite hardship there is hope within our communities. . Months prior to the release of Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” several attacks from white police officers happened in the black community. A common case in this uproar was the “Mike Brown case”. In this case a black man was shot dead after allegedly robbing a local gas station. Kendrick simply responded to these seemingly racial attacks with his album to “Pimp a Butterfly”. To pimp a butterfly simply means to use your influence to the best of its ability to make a meaningful impact. With tracks like “Alright” Kendrick Lamar does just that. The Primary themes and issues conveyed in this song are white supremacy, racism and black uprising

You may know Kendrick Lamar as a rapper in today’s hip-hop. His rise to top was one of the best as he worked with some of the best from the “old school” generation such as The Game, Busta Rhymes, Snoop Dogg, and even Dr.Dre. He began rapping and dropped his first project at the age of 16. Now I’m going to tell you more about his early childhood and family.

In my opinion, Kendrick Lamar, an award-winning rapper and songwriter, has one of the best abilities to describe his distressed and abused lifestyle in Compton, California. He is not your original cliché artist who does not speak about anything meaningful. Kendrick, also known as K. Dot, is one of the most well known and most respected rappers in this era. Not only does he speak about his gloomy past, but he also speaks about his fortunate future. His ability to give detailed representations of his struggles and his story telling allows me to, metaphorically, enter the mind of Kendrick Lamar.

Kendrick Lamar’s third studio album, “To Pimp a Butterfly,” sheds light on the struggle of achieving rich and fame and the trials that come with. Rolling Stone and Billboard praised the album awarding it the best album of 2015. The album depicts the difficulties of fame by putting the trials and tribulations on display; the inability for those to adjust to their new lifestyle and the potential temptations that creep in. “To Pimp a Butterfly” has been both a divisive and uniting factor in its emergence in popular culture.

Kendrick Lamar is famous for his unique West Coast style and dynamic rhymes that unapologetically discuss “political issues”. In his song, “The Blacker The Berry”, Lamar uses a striking amount of end rhyme and metaphors to deliver his message to listeners. As Lamar begins to tell how others view him, or the black body, he maintains a flow using multiple lines with end rhyme. Areas in the song, such as lines 13 and 14, provide an example of keeping the flow throughout the song by using

If I was cruising around in the galaxy like Star Lord listening to music my choices would be very different than his. My cassette tape that could only hold ten songs would have multiple genres. One side of my tape would be Top by Lil Uzi -Wyclef Jean, , I Need Help, Die This Way. The other side of my tape would be Xo Toar Life, 7 Am, How You Like Me Now, Trampoline, and I Can't Decide. I would rock this cassette all over the galaxy.

In what is viewed by many as an oppressive society that sometimes plagues our country, rappers and music artists such as Kendrick Lamar have been using their lyrics in order to battle racism. Lamar is an African American music artist from Compton, California who has created many projects based on the idea of fighting inequality and degradation against the black population. Through his lyrics in the songs “Vanity Slaves,” and The “Blacker the Berry,” Kendrick Lamar explains the roots of the troubles in the black community, but also cultivates an idea of how much pride he has in the black population. “Vanity Slaves,” seems to make an attempt at explaining that slavery from the past is the underlying cause of young people in the black community feeling as if they need to buy name brand clothes, expensive jewelry, nice cars and live a luxurious life. On the other hand, in an expression of struggle, Kendrick creates the song “The Blacker the Berry,” which sends a message that it is necessary to love yourself in society that degrades you. The struggle is a symbol of how Kendrick Lamar flaunts black pride, but a degrading society and his past actions are getting in the way. Through these songs Kendrick Lamar strives to explain how the root of the problems in the black community are racism, and the enslaving of their ancestors.

Once upon a time there was a young boy called Kendrick Lamar, who lived in the rough area of Compton in southern Los Angeles. His dad was a teacher at the local high school and his mother was a part-time cashier at Walmart. He was different than the other boys his age who were dealing drugs and involving themselves with gangs. Kendrick preferred to spend his time listening to music or doing his homework.

Unlike many other mainstream artists, Kendrick Lamar attaches great importance to the lyrics of his songs. Lamar’s song “DNA”, released last April, became a real breakthrough in the world of hip-hop music. In this song, Lamar reflects on various social issues faced by the modern African-American community of the USA. The song’s lyrics, as well as the music video, portrays the most common stereotypes and biases labeled to the African-American community. The central aim of the song is to sarcastically demonstrate the image of African-Americans as they are viewed by biased media. By the use of symbolical sarcasm and double meanings, Lamar underlines the acuteness of the race inequality that remains existing in the modern America.

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth often references the experience of sitting on his father’s shoulders at the age of 8, watching West coast hip-hop legends Dr. Dre and Tupac film the music video for their anthem to the Golden State, “California Love” as the spark that ignited his creative bonfire. Born on June 17, 1987 to couple who moved from Chicago to Compton with only $500 to their names in order to escape the gang lifestyle, Lamar was exposed to guns, drugs, and violence at a young age. “I 'm 6 years old, seein ' my uncles playing with shotguns, sellin ' dope in front of the apartment.” Lamar witnessed his first murder outside his family’s apartment when he was 5 years old — a teenager gunned down while selling drugs. Although Lamar was never affiliated with a gang, his whereabouts did put him into a few tense situations with gang members; in the song “Average Joe,” Lamar recounts his experience being shot at by a group of Crips simply because of the neighborhood in which he lived. But instead of being caught up in the whirlpool of gang-banging that takes the lives of so many young Compton residents before him, he used his experiences as motivation and fodder for exploding music career.