“Donald Trump’s in office, we lost Barack/And promised to never doubt him again/But is America honest or do we bask in sin?/Pass the gin, I mix it with American blood/Then bash him in/You crippin’ or you married to blood? I’ll ask again/Oops—accident,” Kendrick Lamar raps in his song “XXX” that was featured in his latest album Damn.. The album has been streamed 388.5 million times in America alone, not only because of the great beat and rhythm, but also for it’s lyrical composition, which made this the first rap album to ever win a Pulitzer Prize.
The Pulitzer Prize is a special award given to different outstanding scholars of different categories, and has been awarded to 13 winners every year since 1917. Prior to this win, all the music winners have been either classical or jazz musicians, never rap or hip hop. Lamar’s win wasn’t just for himself, but also for the whole hip hop community.
The majority of rap songs nowadays talk about drugs, alcohol, and women, but all of the songs in Kendrick’s new album are very different. Though most of the songs mention these things, he explains what isn’t explained it most songs. In the album songs, he describes his life as a person of color, talking about sensitive topics such as police brutality, politics, religion, racism, and his own personal problems like the criticism received from Fox News Reporters, who bashed Kendrick and the genre of music he produces.
The first song in the Damn. album, “BLOOD.” depicts Kendrick being shot by a blind lady even though he was trying to help her. The song states, “So after watchin’ her struggle for a while/ I decided to go over and lend her a helping hand, you know?/’Hello ma’am, can I be of assistance? It seems to me that you have lost something/I would like to help you find it’/She replied: ‘Oh yes, you have lost something/You’ve lost…your life’ ” and the sound of a gunshot is inserted. The blind woman is thought of as a representation of the consequences of the damnation referenced in the “Book of Deuteronomy”. At the end of the song, a clip of Fox News reporters criticising one of Kendrick’s lyrics in his hit 2015 song “Alright” is played. The reporter misquotes a lyric in the song, saying, “And we hate the popo, wanna kill us in the street fo’ sho’.” After the lyric is poorly recited, a female reporter replies with, “Oh please, ugh, I don’t like it.” Kendrick takes the criticism head on in this song and in the next track, “DNA.”.
In “DNA.”, Kendrick uses this criticism once again in this song. During the bridge, Lamar uses the same FOX News clip where commentator, Geraldo Rivera, also criticizes the lyrics in “Alright,” saying, “That is why I say that hip hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years.” In the 3rd song, “YAH.”, Kendrick blatantly calls out Geraldo and Fox News, rapping, “Interviews wanna know my thoughts and opinions/Fox News wanna use my name for percentage/My latest muse is my niece, she worth livin’/See me on TV and scream: ‘That’s Uncle Kendrick!’/Yeah, that’s the business/Somebody tell Geraldo this (expletive) got some ambition.”
The song “ELEMENT.”, explains that rapping and being famous is his element and what happens in his life. He says, “Thirty millions later, know the feds watchin’/Auntie on my Telegram like, ‘Be cautious!’/I be hangin’ out at Tam’s, I be on Stockton/I don’t do it for the Gram’, I do it for Compton,” talking about life as celebrity. Following that theme, the next song “FEEL.” speaks about everything he feels, specifically on his negative feelings that initiated during his stardom. Lamar speaks in the first verse, “Feel like my thought of compromise is jaded/Feel like you wanna scrutinize how I made it/Feel like I ain’t feelin’ you all/Feel like removin’ myself, no feelings involved,” showing his true thoughts.
The first of three collaborations in the album, the song “LOYALTY.” brings Kendrick Lamar and well-known artist Rihanna together. The song talks about how important it is for in any relationship to have complete loyalty. In the first verse of the song, Rihanna and Lamar sing, “It’s a secret society/All we ask is trust/All we got is us/Loyalty, loyalty, loyalty” explaining how loyalty is so crucial in a relationship. The song “PRIDE.” dwells deep into Lamar’s own thoughts about his pride. It also dips more into the religious theme of the album and the debate that happens in Kendrick’s mind. The song’s pitch varies from high to low, showing the contrast between his ideals and his actions. “I put faith in these lyrics, hoping I make amend/I understand I ain’t perfect, I probably won’t come around/This time I might put you down/Last time I ain’t give a (expletive), I still feel the same now/My feelings might go numb, you’re dealing with cold thumb,” the song states.
One of the most popular songs in the album, “HUMBLE.”, shows Kendrick challenging his competition, telling them “(Expletive), be humble/Sit down/Be humble.” The next song, “LUST.” is Kendrick’s thoughts on the repetitiveness of the “rap lifestyle,” which consists of sexual intimacy, carefree money spending, and ultimate luxury. In the song, Lamar repeats what the daily life of a rap star is, from waking up late to going clubbing, he explains every part. “Wake up in the mornin’ thinkin’ ‘bout money, kick your feet up/Watch you a comedy, take a (expletive), then roll some weed up,” he repeats multiple times in the song.
The next two songs, “LOVE.” and “XXX.” are collaborations with Zacari and U2. “LOVE.” has the listeners go into Kendrick’s love life where he asks, presumably his fiance, important questions that will strengthen one of the most important parts of their relationship: love. Lamar and Zacari sing together, “If I didn’t ride blade on curve, would you still love me?/If I didn’t make up my mind at work, would you still love me?” In the song “XXX.”, Kendrick teams up with legendary rock band U2 to express more of the political and religious elements in the album. In the second verse Kendrick raps, “Yesterday I got a call from my dog like 101/Said they killed his only son because of his insufficient funds/He was sobbin’, he was mobbin’, way belligerent and drunk/Talkin’ out his head, philosophin’ on what the Lord had done” referencing black rights and Christianity.
The twelfth song in the album, “FEAR.”, dives into the fears that are present at the ages of 7, 17, and 27. In the 3rd verse, Kendrick talks about his fears as a 27 year old, possibly the age he was when he was writing the lyrics for the album. “At 27, my biggest fear was losin’ it all/Scared to spend money, had me sleepin’ hall to hall/Scared to go back to Section 8 with my mama stressin’.” The next song, “GOD.”, has Kendrick speaking of his success as “what God feels like.” He sings in the chorus, “This what God feel like, huh, he-yeah/Laughin’ to the bank like ‘A-ha!’, huh, he-yeah/ Flex on swole like, ‘A-ha!’, huh, he-yeah/You feel some type of way, then a-ha!”
The last song in the album, “DUCKWORTH.”, is a true story based off of Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith, the CEO of Top Dawg Entertainment, the company Kendrick produces his music in. The story captivates how Anthony planned on robbing the KFC that Kendrick’s father, Ducky, was working at. The robbery could’ve caused Ducky’s death, but since Ducky was so generous, Top Dawg did not carry out the robbery. At the end of the verse, Kendrick raps, “Then you start remindin’ them about that chicken incident/Whoever thought the greatest rapper would be from coincidence?/Because if Anthony killed Ducky, Top Dawg could be servin’ life/While I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight,” talking about the outcome of what would happen if Top Dawg actually robbed the KFC. At the end of the song, a gunshot is played and a reversed clips from all the songs in the album is played until it gets to “BLOOD.”, where the same clip of Kendrick is played. He starts telling the story of the blind woman, saying “So, I was takin’ a walk the other day…”, to bring the album to an end.
It’s no surprise that this album was the first rap album to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. Lamar’s thought and emotion portrayed throughout the album helped it take the first win for Hip Hop. Kendrick Lamar will go down in history as a rapper who changed the minds of many.
By: Sapa Thai, 2023 -Arts, Entertainment, and Lifestyle Writer
Photo credit: Rap-Up
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