Pt.1 The Evolution of Kendrick Lamar
It has been almost a decade since my ears were first graced with the melodic storytelling of the soon to be “best rapper alive.” I remember so vividly the summer of 2009. I just graduated high school and was yearning for a summer gig to make some extra money. Hip Hop was led by The Carter III, which seemed to be the soundtrack for the whole summer. Lil Wayne was the undisputed rap champion with what seemed little competition, but there still was a yearning for something new. Something special. Now back in 2009, Livemixtapes, DatPiff, HotNewHipHop, and occasionally YouTube were great mediums to find emerging artists striving to get noticed on the larger scale. It was an amazing summer that year. I happened to be on Youtube, and I stumble across a song by the name of Ignorance is Bliss. Little did I know my life would be changed forever.
As the audio poured, I was in heaven. The story telling was extremely sobering, but the delivery was out of this world. One knew an emergence was near. This track lay home to a mixtape named Overly Dedicated which is critically acclaimed as an underground classic. The entire project bleeds an artist who yearns to be on the top of his genre, but you notice apprehension about his environment and the outside pressures deviating him from his desires. Songs like Cut You Off reflect on how peers can be distracted by menial decisions that don’t amount to anything substantial long term. Kendrick’s frustration also deepens on tracks Average Joe and Barbed Wire, tracks reflecting being a normal kid dodging danger and how the city can tempt one’s desires by the obstacles put in the way, respectively. The project ends with Heaven and Hell which entails a quick contrast on how both heaven and hell just may be able to molded by perception and the decisions we make whilst still on earth.
An impressive project to say the least, but there was much anticipation in the air on which direction the Compton emcee would go. Already proving himself as a expert lyricist on covers on the likes of Lil Wayne and Lupe Fiasco, Kendrick stays faithful to his carving his own lane with mixtures of jazz band instrumentation, some G-funk, mixed with his almost impeccable flow. The follow up to OD and the first impression to the larger world came in the package of Section .80. To say a home run would be an understatement. A more appropriate analogy would be like getting to the playoffs the first year you get drafted. When Compton was mentioned back then, and maybe a little today, there was this misconception of extreme violence, undying pride, and blatant ignorance. It would have been too easy to bask in negativity, or join every other rapper in celebratory chants of wealth, but Kendrick proved to be on a mission with this project. Coming a year after his last mixtape, his debut album proved to be a sonic shift in paradigm.
Section .80 pulls you in on an audio journey learning of the crack epidemic, co-in-tel pro, and the Ronald Reagan Era to name a few, and the drawbacks it had on the lower income community. Still whilst having this knowledge of cracks and holes in his crystal stair, Dot continued to climb to greatness. It opens giving the listener an “abolitionist” feel, as if this journey were to make your grow as an individual instead of keeping you stagnant. If you ask a millennial to give you an artist that will always be in the forefront of their list, there’s a good chance it will be Kendrick Lamar. If you ask them what is one of the most nostalgic songs possibly of their time, there may be resistance but I’m more than sure the answer will be A.D.H.D 8 times out of 10. The definition of chill and total relaxation. It gives one the sensation to go for a night drive and just reflect. That’s one of my favorite things about Kendrick’s impeccable discography. It’s human music. You can clean to it. Study to it. I feel it is truly nutrition in many ways.
Going deeper into the psyche of a young black male, you will always find a young black woman. Kendrick pulls no punches with thought provoking tracks Tammy’s Song, and No-Make-Up displaying the trials and tribulations young black women face and how some of those pressures are perpetuated by their counter parts. Keisha’s Song bears so much pain, and it honestly made me hug my sister really tight. The pressures of the world on women are often ignored, and it was honestly refreshing to see someone take a stand for those who may not see any hope. I can’t imagine getting through the emotions to draft such art. Perhaps my favorite track on this album was Poe Mans Dreams an amazingly produced song, gave impressions of all the chaos and perhaps impending doom the city offered there were just the small things in life that made everything worth working and getting up for. The total theme of growing up and wanting more out of life couldn’t have been any better orchestrated.
Getting past the lyrical gymnasium that is Rigamortus, you’ll find yourself at the end of the album with HiiiPoWer. One of the most powerful songs Kendrick has recorded to date. A focused young man, not to be deterred by petty desires, but extremely determined to answer a higher calling. The track brings more emphasis as it was produced by friendly rival J. Cole. The two were and still are held as the two Side A Side B of Hip Hop, rising the standards of the new up and coming rappers to not only step up their bars, but step up their expectations. Speaking on late leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King and Bobby Seale spoke volumes as a man so knowledgable about his history, that his future was to be shaped and prophesied only by him. If the goal was to be in the conversation for the top up and coming artists with Section .80, it was achieved times over.