Kendrick Lamar: Song Analysis

“All hail Kendrick Lamar,” said Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone magazine following the 2016 Grammy award show. Kendrick Lamar, a rapper from Compton, California, embraces the art of rapping to convey a message with rhythm and flow. Often times, artists perform at award shows simply to get their name in the news to sell albums or other goods. In other instances, artists will perform to convey a message. The message of his 2016 Grammy performance did not need explanation. During a year full of racial injustice, Kendrick Lamar seized the attention of all with his powerful performance that embraced his role in society as an African American man.

Tupac Shakur was a very talented man. His poem “ I Cry” has a deepful meaning to it. He was born Sept 13, 1996. He grew up in New York City. In his poem he is telling how he is alone with no one to listen to him & his pain he is dealing with. He has no “ ear to confide in”.

Kendrick Lamar grew up in the city of Compton. Lamar’s father was a member of a gang in Chicago before they moved to Compton. His mother’s brothers had ties to the notorious gang the Compton Crips. When Lamar was eight

He raises awareness through his music and by speaking in public. K’aane is an advocate for women and children that are affected by this matter. He has raised thousands of dollars to support this cause. Rap music can send out positive messages about equality and change.

A lot of people who listen to hip-hop know that most artist come from poor rough communities, the person who I’m about to introduce you to is an artist by which hip-hop had change his life from a negative place in life to a positive place in life. The rap artist is The Game, if you’re not familiar with him he is also from Compton. The Game was involved in a lot of gang violence growing up, in his A and E Documentary “The Streets of Compton” it talked about how hip-hop changed The Game’s life. The Game was a well-known gangster who ran with the Bloods a notorious gang in Los Angeles. The Game had no other choice but to join the gang because he needed money and had nothing else to do. The Bloods were always feuding with the Crips which is another violent gang in LA. But one day when The Game was in a hotel some Crips came and shot him in the chest multiple times, he was later rushed to a hospital and he was in a coma for a couple of months. When he woke up he soon realized that he needed to change his ways or he would die for real. So, The Game had decided that he wanted to become a rapper and express his feelings about how he felt about his life. The Game had believed that him being alive today was a message from god. The Game had begun to teach himself how to rap and eventually he turned it into a career and laughed his first album “The Documentary” in 2005. This album had changed his life and made him realize that being a gang member can affect your life. The Game had mentioned that if he never would have done rap he would have probably gone the wrong path and probably would have ended up dead. The Game is one of many rappers that hip-hop had a positive impact on him. I personally believe that if he didn’t choose to become a rapper he would have ended up in a casket. This is one good example on how hip-hop had a positive impact on him. Not

Last summer Travi$ Scott released Days Before Rodeo, a free mixtape that wouldn 't just serve as the unofficial countdown for his debut album, but give listeners a sense of what the rapper/producer is working with sonically. Pounding, acerbic drums, thick, hazy atmospheres, and a confrontational predisposition would establish Scott as a fearless rising star in rap music. And although the tape was a welcome shift from the amateurish shlock that plagued his debut tape Owl Pharaoh, it also did very little to invite the listener into Scott 's world. Even if Scott had trouble lining up his greatest attributes, his talent was certainly evident. His production choices, which have been carefully excavated from the post-808s & Heartbreak musical landscape and Atlanta 's grab-bag of innovations, can be intriguing, and his rebellious posturing certainly strikes a chord with a certain angsty personality type. Those rare moments when he finds the right balance—“Basement Freestyle” is perhaps the best example —can add up to something quite uncanny. With the clock no longer ticking, Scott returns with Rodeo, an album that looks to position the 21-year-old as a curator of supreme taste, as well darken his already moody blues. At fourteen tracks Rodeo presents blockbuster names (Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd), noteworthy rap talent (Chief Keef, Future, Swae Lee, Quavo, Young Thug), and in-demand producers (Metro Boomin, Southside, TM88, Zaytoven, FKi, WondaGurl).

I just finished checking out his music, he is very raw. I believe he just another rapper representing Compton. He has a unique style that relates to the younger generation. I think he does an exceptional job at telling the story that has been told over and over again about: police brutality, black identity, property, broken dreams, hustling, making money, drug use, slanging (selling), and exploiting black women. I believe that his lyrics speak on what the streets consider to be the truth, he is just saying/living what everyone else in the street is saying/living, but the difference is he has the talent and the platform to broadcast the struggle and the ugliness in the streets. I think he is very good at rapping about the current struggles in the streets and at the same time he is offering his fans a escape through music and someone who can relate to their daily struggle. I believe if I take to the time to really study his lyrics there would probably be a deeper message in some of his songs. I also keep in mind that it's a business, so he uses the brokenness in the ghetto to make a profit. I think his album "How to

Intro: Kendrick Lamar Duckworth's work is the product of his life experiences. Through his personal life and the constant pain and pleasure discussing personal struggles and triumphs, Lamar was able to rise above the expectations of failure through his music, a product of the ghetto where his heroes are the musicians who escaped. Thoughtful details about Compton childhood baby born in poverty, gang war, and the crack epidemic where there can be a different path. Lamar's music reaching out, narratives on how he didn't give up. His work demonstrates the struggles black people faced in the past as well as today in regards to racism, discrimination, and police violence.

Kendrick Lamar I think when correlating race and social justice with music my brain goes to Kendrick Lamar immediately for a few reasons; he is openly mad about the treatment of African Americans in modern day America, he does excessive community outreach in Compton, and his lyrics combine soulful African music and new age raps about his struggles in an oppressive society. He is the new voice of Compton, filling in big shoes for Tupac and Snoop Dogg. His sophomore album, To Pimp a Butterfly, explores institutional and internalized racism. Butterflies are beautiful and full of color.

Before becoming famous Kendrick was writing stories as a child, he put to music some lyrics about the rough Compton streets he grew up on. He rapped under the name K Dot. Lamar didn’t just stop there the excite lyrics on his debut album, caught and had the attention of hip-hop critics. As well, with MTV naming, him the "Hottest MC" of 2012 also putting him in the company of other rappers. Who have earned the title, including Lil Wayne,

Although they lived in very different times, Tupac Shakur and Saint John the Baptist had many commonalities. Both became extremely famous for expressing what they believed. The media's portrayal of Tupac Shakur as a tattooed thug has focused public attention on his accused crimes instead of his music. This rapper, raised in Marin City, California, by a Black Panther mother, is more complex than his enemies like to admit. Shakur (who performs as 2Pac) was a talented lyricist with a gift for storytelling and getting his point across to our youth. He continued to grow as a writer on his hard-hitting album, “All Eyez on Me” which benefits from West Coast-style production by such artists

When thinking of the Hip-Hop industry, one of the first names that comes to mind is Tupac Shakur. Shakur was born in the Bronx on June 16, 1971. He was reared by his mother Afeni Shakur who was an active member of the Black Panthers. Tupac's family later relocated to Oakland, California, where he spent much of his time on the street. As a kid, he was always getting himself into trouble, and he was very lonely. He started writing songs to keep himself out of trouble. An article from VIBE magazine "Troubled Times for Tupac Shakur" quotes Tupac. "'I was lonely, I didn't have no big brothers, no big cousins until later. I could remember writing songs.... I remember writing poetry.' " 1 Tupac was talented in the areas of

On the complete opposite side of the lyrical spectrum is the lyrical content of hip-hop. More often than not, the meaning behind the lyrics were heavily influenced by hardships and deep person struggle. The lyrics were not written to boost the listeners mood or make for a happy song but to express struggle and leave an eye opening mark and often political or in protest. Public Enemies ‘Fight The Power’ is an example of the significance of they style of lyrical presentation. The 1989 hit was such an eye opener not only because of the extremely confrontational lyrical content but because of the tone that such lyrics were presented. This was an attribute not before seen commonly in

In this album we are seeing a way more vulnerable Kendrick; he’s always been a storytelling kind of rapper, but in “DAMN.”, Kendrick admits to more personal opinions and events that he’s experienced, withholding no thoughts. By doing so, Kendrick accomplishes getting his listeners to relate to him and ultimately we have a true example of how realness is revealed.

For a lot of people rap is trash and crap, hence rap-crap. Today’s rap music is infected with stereotypical ignorant rappers who only talk about money, women, and drugs, but there is a completely different side of rap today as well. One of my favorite rap albums of all time goes to good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar. His words are the truth and only the truth. The basis of the entire good kid, m.A.A.d city album questions the “thug” or “ghetto” lifestyles of people. Through his second studio album good kid, m.A.A.d city Lamar talks about life issues that we all face such as love, lust and violence. Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city is a mixed narrative of fiction and non-fiction. Each song tells Kendrick’s real life story, but at the same time is distorted for the sake of story telling. I sure know I didn’t grow up in a place like Compton, but the stories did have a meaningful impact on me. The lyrics on each track paint a beautiful picture for me. Tracks like Swimming Pools (Drank) and Money trees gave me an understanding of where violent paths can lead me. As the album progressed, songs like Bitch, don’t kill my vibe and Money Trees produced a dreamy feeling that showed me life has so much more to offer than violence and sadness. Other songs produce a hard, gritty, “come at me” approach like m.A.A.d city and Backseat Freestyle. These songs showed me that life is a difficult challenge, but we all must