“N95” deals with taking off a literal and/or metaphorical mask to reveal your true self. “United In Grief” deals with handling grief by excessively buying luxurious items. Let’s break it down on the most-simplistic level. This is an album designed to piss some people off, and above all else, this is an album designed to grow on people-how meta, right? Instead, we get the messy back-and-forth of internal thought that comes with therapy. We don’t get the polished answer or response to the dark times over the past few years like we were expecting. Every one of these moments is intended to lead to Kendrick’s self-growth. Each song has a different theme or message, but ultimately, on every track, Kendrick is facing a demon or getting something off his chest or revealing his candid thoughts about an issue. Morale & The Big Steppers is an 18-part therapy session. I ran the album back again, and it felt like I cracked the code. I remember driving around with my sister while the album was playing, and she said, “I don’t like the way he’s talking about women on this album.” (I think “We Cry Together” was playing, so these feelings were completely valid.) Her words stuck with me though. I was expecting a perfectly put-together body of work with an easily digestible story, but that’s not what Mr. After one listen, I didn’t LOVE this album. It had been five long years without a Kendrick album, and I was ready. Morale & The Big Steppers dropped, I tried not to go in with too many expectations, but my anticipation was through the roof. I believe the message of the song is “perspective leads to empathy,” which serves as a perfect appetizer to the album Mr. Maybe he’s saying we all–himself included–have a little good and a little bad in us. I believe Kendrick is leaning into this theme of perspective with this song. I believe Kendrick chose these people for the video because each of them can be viewed either as a hero or a villain depending on the perspective. The entire third verse is also rapped from Nip’s perspective, which was very powerful. The song samples Marvin Gaye’s song “I Want You,” and the video face-swaps Kendrick with OJ Simpson, Kanye West, Jussie Smollett, Kobe Bryant and Nipsey Hussle using deep-fake technology. ![]() Aside from that, K Dot came back with a vengeance after his long hiatus to prove to the world that he’s still one of the best rappers to ever do it. Anyone who’s ever gave me a listen, all my people.” Before we get into the song, I want to highlight the words, “all my people.” Dissect, one of my favorite music podcasts, found the meaning of “oklama.” It means “my people,” which could mean Kendrick is speaking to his people as a representative for the black community. I want to say thank you to everyone that’s been down with me. And my perspective may differ from yours. It starts off with Kendrick saying, “As I get a little older, I realize life is perspective. ![]() On May 8, 2022, Kendrick unleashed a new installment in the ongoing promotional series with the single “The Heart Part 5.” First of all, this song is incredible. (I think the best way to do this breakdown is by going chronologically through this album’s rollout and how it has grown with me.) ![]() I’ve been wanting to give my thoughts about this for a minute, so here it goes–my take on Mr. I can’t bring myself to fully dive into anything else because the level of artistry is in a whole other vicinity and, to be honest, can’t be matched by hardly any other album or song out right now. Since then, I’ve listened to this album more times than I care to admit. Morale & The Big Steppers has been stuck on my brain since I stayed up late Thursday, May 12 to take in this new body of work. We’ve experienced some dark times, and, in the back of my head, I couldn’t help but think to myself, “What would Kendrick say about this?” “How would he react to what’s going on in the world?” “What would a Kendrick album sound like in 2020?” “How would his music bring us together in these trying times?” Well, 1855 days later, those questions were answered. ![]() A lot has happened in the world since Apwhen Kendrick Lamar released DAMN.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |