In the interview with Kemp above, Lamar spoke of his preparation for the role and his satisfaction at playing someone he could relate to from real-life experiences growing up in Compton, Calif. Lamar’s acting appearance shows that he is not only a master of musical and verbal expression, but shows promise of adding “triple threat” to his esteemed resume. Surveying the misgivings of music-business predecessors, peers, and would-be protégés, Kendrick signs up for a season of being light on his feet and straight to the point. GNX’s delighted villainy comes from the same place as the bittersweet aching to leave Top Dawg Entertainment to rocket to “new concepts in reach,” which he details in “heart pt. 6,” a tale of striving to build something you don’t feel as attached to anymore. “gloria” likens the pen to a mistress; GNX just as often wields it like a morning star.
- The lyric appears to be a reference to Canadian rapper Baka Not Nice, who began his career as a security guard for Drake, and who was charged in 2014 with forcing a 22-year-old woman into prostitution.
- When it comes to the Judeo-Christian tradition, black folks are literally damned if we do and damned if we don’t.
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As if performing at the Super Bowl in your home city wasn’t enough, the Compton rapper also got to watch his home team, the Los Angeles Rams, hoist the Lombardi trophy at the end of the night. Lamar’s first mixtape in 2004 was enough for Tiffith’s Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) to offer the aspiring rapper a deal with the label in 2005. However, Lamar would later learn that Tiffith’s impact on his life dates back to multiple encounters between his father and the TDE founder, which Lamar raps about in his 2017 drug addiction track “DUCKWORTH.” Due to the breakthrough success of his Aftermath Entertainment debut (good kid, m.A.A.d city), most people attribute Kendrick Lamar’s discovery to fellow Compton legend Dr. Dre. But seven years before Dre’s label came calling, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith saw potential in a 16-year-old rapper by the name of K.Dot.
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- Lamar, a proud Compton native, enlisted Los Angeles-born DJ Mustard to produce the track.
- Before Lamar’s official exit from TDE, he launched a new venture called pgLang — a multi-disciplinary service company for creators, co-founded with longtime collaborator Dave Free — in 2020.
- Despite nailing a formula that has made her one of the biggest pop stars of all time, Taylor Swift is still willing to take risks.
- According to Lamar, his departure was about growth as opposed to any internal troubles.
- “Eventually, they saved enough money to get their first apartment, and that’s when they had me,” the “DNA.” rapper added.
When it comes to the Judeo-Christian tradition, black folks are literally damned if we do and damned if we don’t. It’s a trick bag, no doubt, one that black America has wrestled with since pre-emancipation. Even as the black church became the primary site for progressive political leadership in the late-19th and 20th centuries, we found ourselves othered and outcasted within the scope of our own theological worldview. More than anything, it highlights the absence of a westernized framework, or cosmology, to center the black experience. So we learned to adopt and adapt, taking old models and reclaiming them as our own. Drake hit back a day later, angrily denying the accusations and daring Lamar to reveal proof, – with the implication that there was none.
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On the reverse listen the narrative subtly switches from insufferable but gradual enlightenment to one that seems to devolve deeper into frustration and spiritual degradation over the course of the 14 tracks. In this opposite playback sequence, Lamar succumbs to his weakest emotions and base character traits before meeting the same fate that started the original listen. To get a sense of where Lamar is coming from on DAMN., it helps to rewind his previous studio masterpiece, 2015’s To Pimp A Butterfly. The former is a jubilant image with Lamar surrounded by his boys from the hood as they stand on the front lawn of the White House, just outside its gates, like shirtless conquerors bearing ravenous grins and fist fulls of cash. It’s a portrait of the American Dream, extended to “the least of these,” in the Age of Obama.
— Lamar went on to confirm the double-play concept four months later in an interview with MTV News. For too many centuries in this country, black Americans couldn’t afford to harbor doubt. When the powers that be are whip crackers, a relationship with a higher power is not optional. Like an old patch quilt, Christianity got handed down from one generation to the next. If it was good enough to get your great-great grandparents through slavery, it was good enough for you. And so the logic went, even though our ancestors were legally prohibited from learning to read the biblical text white evangelicals used to kendrick lamar drugs justify their enslavement.
- Her latest addition, COWBOY CARTER, invites listeners to throw on their Western boots in her first full-length venture into country music, led by “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM.”
- “Fortnight,” the opening track of The Tortured Poets Department, is no exception as Swift likens a crumbling relationship to the failure of the American dream.
- It might’ve been Lightnin’ Hopkins, Muddy Waters, James Brown or even Louis Jordan – jazz musicians used it, too.
- With “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM,” Beyoncé lifts the veil off the genre’s true history by celebrating both her Houston heritage and the Black country artists that paved the way for her.
Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story’s original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. Lyrics have a unique way of validating and soundtracking our real-world experiences. Perhaps this year, a celebratory drink called for Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” on repeat. Or maybe you professed your love with a playlist containing Billie Eilish’s “BIRDS OF A FEATHER,” and Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars’ “Die with a Smile.”
- Taylor Swift has become increasingly transparent in her artistry through whimsical lyrical metaphors and cinematic music videos.
- The former is a jubilant image with Lamar surrounded by his boys from the hood as they stand on the front lawn of the White House, just outside its gates, like shirtless conquerors bearing ravenous grins and fist fulls of cash.
- Drake (above left) – the Canadian actor-turned-musician whose vulnerable blend of rap and R&B has made him the most commercially successful hip-hop artist of the 21st Century.
- While one of his crew members once got shot, on another occasion, police visited Lamar’s home to inform his parents of his criminal activities in the neighborhood.
