Going Deep with Kung-Fu Kenny on DAMN.
Note: This post contains explicit material.
I’m very late to the party but perhaps the fact that I’m a 60-year-old white southern male might allow you to cut me some slack. I recently purchased the digital download of DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar and, as I do with most new music, I have obsessed over it the past few days.
My interest in Rap/Hip-Hop emerged last year. I mentioned it in my “Loose Ends” post in December. At the time, I was only familiar with a few of Kendrick’s songs, HUMBLE. being one of them, of course. It was such a phenomenon when it was released in 2017 that I became aware of it through my normal music news feeds.
Anyway, I’ve now listened to DAMN. multiple times and glanced around YouTube and other spaces for reviews and analysis of the album. In this review I'll mention the music some but my main focus will be to take a closer look at Kendrick’s lyrics, their ideas and structural aspects.
DAMN. is a concept album. The tracks stitch together to form a holistic impression on the listener. There are a lot of places online where you can delve much deeper into the supposed meanings of the album. This post is just how DAMN. impresses me, a casual listener and a rap beginner.
First a word about the success of the album. DAMN. was a huge critical and commercial success, taking the already famous rapper to an even greater height of stardom. It features what you might traditionally think of as a Rap/Hip-Hop sound but also there are strong and wonderful elements of Pop and R&B scattered through the tracks. The album reached the Top 10 on more than 20 music listings worldwide and number one in the US, UK and Australia. It won a Grammy for “Best Rap Album” as well as several other top awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018. Not a shabby reputation.
Some of the reasons I am drawn to Kendrick’s style is that he incorporates a lot of beat shifts, diverse instrumentation and lyrical sophistication, more so than almost anyone else I have been exposed to in the genre. His music is engaging emotionally and intellectually with an overall high-energy drive and/or subtle intensity. Each song has a distinctive personality. In my own experience, most rappers stay with whatever rhythm or beat they choose to open a song and don’t deviate much from that. It can get rather tiring for me in the same way as listening to bluegrass music does. Kendrick is all about changing things up, making his music far more striking.
As is now obvious to everyone, DAMN. is mostly an existential concept, full of introspection and intimacy, from birth (BLOOD. DNA.) through maturation (PRIDE. HUMBLE. LUST. LOVE.) to the ultimate (FEAR. GOD.). Like the record’s title, each track is stylized in all caps with a period at the end.
“So I was takin’ a walk the other day…”
This simple line basically opens and closes the album, providing it with an infinite loop. The songs on DAMN. mostly build off of each other. The order of the tracks is intentional but the direction, forward or backward, makes sense either way. The basic structure and construct works regardless. (More about that later.) There are lyrics on one tune that predicate more extensive lyrics in a future song. “Ain’t nobody praying for me”, for example, first appears in ELEMENT. But it is actually the chorus in FEEL.
Then there are larger connections between the songs, the actual constructs. This is gritty urban existentialism. There are plenty of lyrics on DAMN. that are typical hip-hop stuff. The N-word is used a lot, bitch (which, oddly, is OK for me to actually type out – a current difference between racism and sexism, I suppose) a lot, there’s prolific cursing, weed and sex, money and murder. Checkcheckcheckcheckcheck. Fox News and KFC are even expected constructs. As he does with almost everything on this album, “Kung-Fu Kenny” elevates them to an art form by sampling actual Fox audio clips into a couple of songs to accent what he’s saying or incorporating a inner city KFC into the text of his rap’s “narrative.”
But there are things I didn’t expect to experience once I heard the entire record. I didn’t expect the brilliant wordplay of innumerable sophisticated and complex cultural references about America and, even more so, about intimate psychological issues of fear and desire and doubt and arrogance and trust. But it isn’t just the "big" issues. Kendrick tackles daily struggles like family arguments, partying, and dealing with strangers. He seems to be very vulnerable in an intimate way on DAMN., especially on songs like FEEL. That is actually one of the most impressive aspects of the album, he isn’t just rapping about the questions of our humanity in our time, he’s sharing his own internal strife.
I didn’t expect to hear references to Wimbledon, the Matrix, Yeshua, Photoshop, Richard Pryor, Grey Poupon, or Loch Ness. There is a strong Christian element to the album. The Bible is frequently mentioned. Specific passages are featured. Deuteronomy 28:28 is quoted on the album: “The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind…” James 4:4 also makes an appearance (referenced but not quoted): “You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy to God.”
This is obviously the God of Wrath as opposed to the God of Love and this perspective seems to be a fundamental demon haunting Kendrick’s internal struggles as expressed on the album. A brutal Christianity is a strong thread running through DAMN. It is no coincidence that the album was released on Good Friday. While meta-conceptual, a big part of the record’s concept is personal. We get to appreciate a lot of what is going on in Kendrick’s mind but we also see him reflectively considering the course of his life. He biographically references himself at ages 4, 7, 9, 17, 27, and 29 scattered through the tracks.
His portrayal of the negative side of musical fame and excessive money has been done before. To be honest, Kendrick doesn’t add much to what I have already heard on the subject from, say, Pink Floyd (“Have a Cigar”) or Public Enemy (“Don’t Believe the Hype”). But his style is different, of course, and that is entertaining to me. I don’t mind that small parts of the album are cliché. In fact, the record is so thick with concepts and ideas it might be impossible for him to have avoided something thoroughly done before. Besides, just because it’s cliché doesn’t mean it isn’t relevant to his story.
As is common in rap, a defining feature of it actually, the syllables of the lyrics match the beat. Often they are punctuated by simple repetitive utterances which are quite catchy. On ELEMENT., for example, many lines finish with “near rhymes/forced rhymes” like “ay” and “huh”, creating an almost trance-like invocation as well as the illusion of assonance.
BLOOD. is a short but important song with an easy R&B groove. It establishes the album as a personal narrative interwoven with a meta-narrative on power. DNA. strikes me as very tightly packed with a diversity of substance, angry and arrogant. “I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA / I got hustle, though, ambition, flow inside my DNA.” Every track on DAMN. is strong, the album has no “filler”, but DNA. is probably my favorite track on the record. It is biting with attitude. “I live a better, fuck your life / This is my heritage, all I'm inheritin' / Money and power, the makin' of marriages / Tell me somethin' / You mothafuckas can't tell me nothin' / I'd rather die than to listen to you / My DNA not for imitation / Your DNA an abomination.”
The power construct is highly evident. In sharp contrast, YAH. offers a nice change, effortless to listen to. Just sort of shuffling along. ELEMENT. introduces the “Ain’t nobody praying for me” lyric which becomes the chorus for FEEL. “What happens on Earth stays on Earth” is a line used four times in the album, first appearing in ELEMENT.
FEEL. has a smooth groove to it built around “Ain’t nobody praying for me.” A feeling of isolation featuring great synthesized backup vocals. One of the many strengths of DAMN. is that Kendrick mixes up several different sounds and styles within the tracks. The angry rap stuff is offset by much more palatable explorations, but, before things get too relaxed, he makes it all intensely gritty again.
LOYALTY. is another one of my favorite tracks, this one brings Rihanna in for accompaniment. The song analyzes all possible forms of commitment; to people, to money, to possessions, to family. But it also examines suspicion, is the loyalty you find in others true? Kendrick directly questions his ability to be humble for the first time on the album. This brings us to PRIDE. The lyric “Maybe I wasn’t there” is a refrain delivered in an ethereal style that reminds me of Lana Del Ray. The line “I can’t fake humble just ‘cause your ass is insecure” anticipates the next track.
HUMBLE. is, of course, the gigantic hit off the record. Many of its lines end with ‘funk’ and ‘ay’, near/forced rhymes again tying things together with a chant-like precision. The song is not really about humility in the traditional sense. It concerns others being humble before the greatness of Kung-Fu Kenny. So, it isn’t about being humble at all, except in the presence of power/success/talent.
Which leads us to LUST., a blunt, sexy tune with sharp edges. The urban animal. A sort of political sexuality. Easy to make-out to. “Lately, I’m not here” recalls the refrain from PRIDE. Next, LOVE. gives the listener the album’s one shining moment of beauty, if only to prove that, despite it all, beauty is everywhere. Again, there are plenty of lines ending with “ay.” Zacari provides wonderful vocals which help express the beauty, the search for a truly compatible lover. “Give me a run for my money / There’s nobody, no one to outrun me.” This is perhaps the most accessible song on DAMN.
In contrast to that accessibility, XXX. is bizarre and probably the most original song on the album. It has several shifts in time and a varied mix of instruments that make it seem like several distinct songs in one. The last part of it is more political than the rest and features U2. Several tracks are packed with Kung-Fu Kenny’s dense lyrical sensibility on this album but XXX. provides a unique sonic variety for the record, a wide range of textured layers that are a feast for the ear. A fascinating urban jungle soundscape.
FEAR. offers an examination of all the troubles in Kendrick’s mind (soul). “I’ll prolly die ‘cause that’s what you do when you’re 17” is one of the most powerful, flippant lines on the album. The fear of death is explored in a sweeping variety of both profound and mundane ways. Death without ever having realized your potential, with everything going your way, while going to the candy store, because of the colors you’re wearing in the street, not knowing the neighborhood, while having sex, accused of a crime you didn’t commit, while buying weed, breaking up a fight, and even due to second-hand smoke.
But FEAR. is about more than the fear of death. There is also fear of losing creativity, losing a relationship, being too proud, unable to find love, the nature of the world being a fearful choice between “wickedness or weakness.” He references the 14 tracks on the album itself. The ending features his cousin Carl talking about being cursed for not following God’s commandments in a sampled audio just as Roger Waters might have done with a different subject matter.
After FEAR. comes GOD. but not God as in who/what God is. Rather it’s “This what God feel like…” Feeling like a god with all the money and success and being physically attractive (“Flex on swole like aha”). Everything going great in your life…“You feel some type of way then…” Beyond judgment. Once you’re god you don’t have to be judged anymore. Although that becomes problematic for an artist since every work is subject to the opinions and interpretations of others. Kendrick is beyond all this though. “Aye, do you know who you’re talking to?” This is a playful, easy, if somewhat arrogant, tune.
Even though the entire album is introspective and revealing of Kendrick’s biography to some extent, DUCKWORTH., the 14th track, shifts into a much heavier biographical mode. The constructs are toned down in favor of telling the true story of how Kendrick’s father (Kendrick’s last name is Duckworth), working at a KFC, avoided being killed by Anthony, who turns out to be the man who years later signs Kung-Fu Kenny (known as “K-Dot” then) to Top Dawg Entertainment. For real. It is a powerful story, sort of set apart from the rest of the album, giving narrative precedent over ideas and commentary.
Then…”we’re going to put it in reverse.” DUCKWORTH. finishes with the entire album being played backwards very fast until we are back at the beginning, until “I was takin’ a walk the other day…” is the last line on the album.
Late in 2017, Kendrick released a “collector’s edition” of DAMN. Some music critics thought it was ludicrous. Instead of offering alternate takes or insights on the development of the album, this edition simply featured the exact same 14 tracks in reverse order. Those critical to the release thought it unnecessary. Anyone could reshuffle the songs into any order they prefer. And yet…
A lyric set up in a forward direction becomes just an echo of something else in reverse. Although Kendrick has said the story doesn’t change much, it is more a change in the rhythm of the album, I experienced it differently. Played in mirrored order, the story is not about a man dealing with his inner demons and realizing he's lucky his father wasn’t killed when he was a child. Rather, it becomes a man carried away by his inner demons and he ends up bleeding out from a gunshot. Instead of pride becoming humble or fear giving way to God, it becomes the opposite. God creates fear and humility decays into pride. The blood of life in forward mode becomes, in reverse, the blood seeping from the body post-gunshot. The narrative can be either an ascent or a descent depending upon your sense of direction.
Either way, the central question that Kendrick explores on DAMN. is about power. “Is it wickedness? Is it weakness? You decide. Are we going to live or die?” When listened to in the order of the original release, this is Kendrick being powerful and confident, in control, mastering the challenges of wickedness, a kind of ubermensch. In reverse, however, he becomes more troubled, increasingly filled with internal angst, until he is murdered for being weak.
DAMN. is the struggle with power inside each of us. Kendrick’s ruminations (as opposed to his life's circumstances) are not that different from yours or mine. My life in the country is far removed from the struggles of the inner city, of course. I was born with the privilege of race working in my favor. Kendrick has found his own privilege through his musical success and has had to survive his inner city childhood in order to obtain it. But, through the fact we are all human, his internal questions and struggles as expressed on this album are akin in varying degrees to each of us.
We all have to deal with fear and loss and setbacks, we all have to appreciate the transience of beauty and love, we all struggle to get a grip on ourselves sometimes. Each of our stories is different. But the crude choice between power (wickedness) and powerlessness (weakness) is something that confronts us all, and is to some extent beyond our ability to choose. Life (and death) often chooses for us. And something that touches us or has so much potent meaning for each of us can be transformed into something coarse and shallow depending on how the events of our lives unfold.
Damn.
I’m very late to the party but perhaps the fact that I’m a 60-year-old white southern male might allow you to cut me some slack. I recently purchased the digital download of DAMN. by Kendrick Lamar and, as I do with most new music, I have obsessed over it the past few days.
My interest in Rap/Hip-Hop emerged last year. I mentioned it in my “Loose Ends” post in December. At the time, I was only familiar with a few of Kendrick’s songs, HUMBLE. being one of them, of course. It was such a phenomenon when it was released in 2017 that I became aware of it through my normal music news feeds.
Anyway, I’ve now listened to DAMN. multiple times and glanced around YouTube and other spaces for reviews and analysis of the album. In this review I'll mention the music some but my main focus will be to take a closer look at Kendrick’s lyrics, their ideas and structural aspects.
DAMN. is a concept album. The tracks stitch together to form a holistic impression on the listener. There are a lot of places online where you can delve much deeper into the supposed meanings of the album. This post is just how DAMN. impresses me, a casual listener and a rap beginner.
First a word about the success of the album. DAMN. was a huge critical and commercial success, taking the already famous rapper to an even greater height of stardom. It features what you might traditionally think of as a Rap/Hip-Hop sound but also there are strong and wonderful elements of Pop and R&B scattered through the tracks. The album reached the Top 10 on more than 20 music listings worldwide and number one in the US, UK and Australia. It won a Grammy for “Best Rap Album” as well as several other top awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2018. Not a shabby reputation.
Some of the reasons I am drawn to Kendrick’s style is that he incorporates a lot of beat shifts, diverse instrumentation and lyrical sophistication, more so than almost anyone else I have been exposed to in the genre. His music is engaging emotionally and intellectually with an overall high-energy drive and/or subtle intensity. Each song has a distinctive personality. In my own experience, most rappers stay with whatever rhythm or beat they choose to open a song and don’t deviate much from that. It can get rather tiring for me in the same way as listening to bluegrass music does. Kendrick is all about changing things up, making his music far more striking.
As is now obvious to everyone, DAMN. is mostly an existential concept, full of introspection and intimacy, from birth (BLOOD. DNA.) through maturation (PRIDE. HUMBLE. LUST. LOVE.) to the ultimate (FEAR. GOD.). Like the record’s title, each track is stylized in all caps with a period at the end.
“So I was takin’ a walk the other day…”
This simple line basically opens and closes the album, providing it with an infinite loop. The songs on DAMN. mostly build off of each other. The order of the tracks is intentional but the direction, forward or backward, makes sense either way. The basic structure and construct works regardless. (More about that later.) There are lyrics on one tune that predicate more extensive lyrics in a future song. “Ain’t nobody praying for me”, for example, first appears in ELEMENT. But it is actually the chorus in FEEL.
Then there are larger connections between the songs, the actual constructs. This is gritty urban existentialism. There are plenty of lyrics on DAMN. that are typical hip-hop stuff. The N-word is used a lot, bitch (which, oddly, is OK for me to actually type out – a current difference between racism and sexism, I suppose) a lot, there’s prolific cursing, weed and sex, money and murder. Checkcheckcheckcheckcheck. Fox News and KFC are even expected constructs. As he does with almost everything on this album, “Kung-Fu Kenny” elevates them to an art form by sampling actual Fox audio clips into a couple of songs to accent what he’s saying or incorporating a inner city KFC into the text of his rap’s “narrative.”
But there are things I didn’t expect to experience once I heard the entire record. I didn’t expect the brilliant wordplay of innumerable sophisticated and complex cultural references about America and, even more so, about intimate psychological issues of fear and desire and doubt and arrogance and trust. But it isn’t just the "big" issues. Kendrick tackles daily struggles like family arguments, partying, and dealing with strangers. He seems to be very vulnerable in an intimate way on DAMN., especially on songs like FEEL. That is actually one of the most impressive aspects of the album, he isn’t just rapping about the questions of our humanity in our time, he’s sharing his own internal strife.
I didn’t expect to hear references to Wimbledon, the Matrix, Yeshua, Photoshop, Richard Pryor, Grey Poupon, or Loch Ness. There is a strong Christian element to the album. The Bible is frequently mentioned. Specific passages are featured. Deuteronomy 28:28 is quoted on the album: “The Lord will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of mind…” James 4:4 also makes an appearance (referenced but not quoted): “You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy to God.”
This is obviously the God of Wrath as opposed to the God of Love and this perspective seems to be a fundamental demon haunting Kendrick’s internal struggles as expressed on the album. A brutal Christianity is a strong thread running through DAMN. It is no coincidence that the album was released on Good Friday. While meta-conceptual, a big part of the record’s concept is personal. We get to appreciate a lot of what is going on in Kendrick’s mind but we also see him reflectively considering the course of his life. He biographically references himself at ages 4, 7, 9, 17, 27, and 29 scattered through the tracks.
His portrayal of the negative side of musical fame and excessive money has been done before. To be honest, Kendrick doesn’t add much to what I have already heard on the subject from, say, Pink Floyd (“Have a Cigar”) or Public Enemy (“Don’t Believe the Hype”). But his style is different, of course, and that is entertaining to me. I don’t mind that small parts of the album are cliché. In fact, the record is so thick with concepts and ideas it might be impossible for him to have avoided something thoroughly done before. Besides, just because it’s cliché doesn’t mean it isn’t relevant to his story.
As is common in rap, a defining feature of it actually, the syllables of the lyrics match the beat. Often they are punctuated by simple repetitive utterances which are quite catchy. On ELEMENT., for example, many lines finish with “near rhymes/forced rhymes” like “ay” and “huh”, creating an almost trance-like invocation as well as the illusion of assonance.
BLOOD. is a short but important song with an easy R&B groove. It establishes the album as a personal narrative interwoven with a meta-narrative on power. DNA. strikes me as very tightly packed with a diversity of substance, angry and arrogant. “I got power, poison, pain and joy inside my DNA / I got hustle, though, ambition, flow inside my DNA.” Every track on DAMN. is strong, the album has no “filler”, but DNA. is probably my favorite track on the record. It is biting with attitude. “I live a better, fuck your life / This is my heritage, all I'm inheritin' / Money and power, the makin' of marriages / Tell me somethin' / You mothafuckas can't tell me nothin' / I'd rather die than to listen to you / My DNA not for imitation / Your DNA an abomination.”
The power construct is highly evident. In sharp contrast, YAH. offers a nice change, effortless to listen to. Just sort of shuffling along. ELEMENT. introduces the “Ain’t nobody praying for me” lyric which becomes the chorus for FEEL. “What happens on Earth stays on Earth” is a line used four times in the album, first appearing in ELEMENT.
FEEL. has a smooth groove to it built around “Ain’t nobody praying for me.” A feeling of isolation featuring great synthesized backup vocals. One of the many strengths of DAMN. is that Kendrick mixes up several different sounds and styles within the tracks. The angry rap stuff is offset by much more palatable explorations, but, before things get too relaxed, he makes it all intensely gritty again.
LOYALTY. is another one of my favorite tracks, this one brings Rihanna in for accompaniment. The song analyzes all possible forms of commitment; to people, to money, to possessions, to family. But it also examines suspicion, is the loyalty you find in others true? Kendrick directly questions his ability to be humble for the first time on the album. This brings us to PRIDE. The lyric “Maybe I wasn’t there” is a refrain delivered in an ethereal style that reminds me of Lana Del Ray. The line “I can’t fake humble just ‘cause your ass is insecure” anticipates the next track.
HUMBLE. is, of course, the gigantic hit off the record. Many of its lines end with ‘funk’ and ‘ay’, near/forced rhymes again tying things together with a chant-like precision. The song is not really about humility in the traditional sense. It concerns others being humble before the greatness of Kung-Fu Kenny. So, it isn’t about being humble at all, except in the presence of power/success/talent.
Which leads us to LUST., a blunt, sexy tune with sharp edges. The urban animal. A sort of political sexuality. Easy to make-out to. “Lately, I’m not here” recalls the refrain from PRIDE. Next, LOVE. gives the listener the album’s one shining moment of beauty, if only to prove that, despite it all, beauty is everywhere. Again, there are plenty of lines ending with “ay.” Zacari provides wonderful vocals which help express the beauty, the search for a truly compatible lover. “Give me a run for my money / There’s nobody, no one to outrun me.” This is perhaps the most accessible song on DAMN.
In contrast to that accessibility, XXX. is bizarre and probably the most original song on the album. It has several shifts in time and a varied mix of instruments that make it seem like several distinct songs in one. The last part of it is more political than the rest and features U2. Several tracks are packed with Kung-Fu Kenny’s dense lyrical sensibility on this album but XXX. provides a unique sonic variety for the record, a wide range of textured layers that are a feast for the ear. A fascinating urban jungle soundscape.
FEAR. offers an examination of all the troubles in Kendrick’s mind (soul). “I’ll prolly die ‘cause that’s what you do when you’re 17” is one of the most powerful, flippant lines on the album. The fear of death is explored in a sweeping variety of both profound and mundane ways. Death without ever having realized your potential, with everything going your way, while going to the candy store, because of the colors you’re wearing in the street, not knowing the neighborhood, while having sex, accused of a crime you didn’t commit, while buying weed, breaking up a fight, and even due to second-hand smoke.
But FEAR. is about more than the fear of death. There is also fear of losing creativity, losing a relationship, being too proud, unable to find love, the nature of the world being a fearful choice between “wickedness or weakness.” He references the 14 tracks on the album itself. The ending features his cousin Carl talking about being cursed for not following God’s commandments in a sampled audio just as Roger Waters might have done with a different subject matter.
After FEAR. comes GOD. but not God as in who/what God is. Rather it’s “This what God feel like…” Feeling like a god with all the money and success and being physically attractive (“Flex on swole like aha”). Everything going great in your life…“You feel some type of way then…” Beyond judgment. Once you’re god you don’t have to be judged anymore. Although that becomes problematic for an artist since every work is subject to the opinions and interpretations of others. Kendrick is beyond all this though. “Aye, do you know who you’re talking to?” This is a playful, easy, if somewhat arrogant, tune.
Even though the entire album is introspective and revealing of Kendrick’s biography to some extent, DUCKWORTH., the 14th track, shifts into a much heavier biographical mode. The constructs are toned down in favor of telling the true story of how Kendrick’s father (Kendrick’s last name is Duckworth), working at a KFC, avoided being killed by Anthony, who turns out to be the man who years later signs Kung-Fu Kenny (known as “K-Dot” then) to Top Dawg Entertainment. For real. It is a powerful story, sort of set apart from the rest of the album, giving narrative precedent over ideas and commentary.
Then…”we’re going to put it in reverse.” DUCKWORTH. finishes with the entire album being played backwards very fast until we are back at the beginning, until “I was takin’ a walk the other day…” is the last line on the album.
Late in 2017, Kendrick released a “collector’s edition” of DAMN. Some music critics thought it was ludicrous. Instead of offering alternate takes or insights on the development of the album, this edition simply featured the exact same 14 tracks in reverse order. Those critical to the release thought it unnecessary. Anyone could reshuffle the songs into any order they prefer. And yet…
A lyric set up in a forward direction becomes just an echo of something else in reverse. Although Kendrick has said the story doesn’t change much, it is more a change in the rhythm of the album, I experienced it differently. Played in mirrored order, the story is not about a man dealing with his inner demons and realizing he's lucky his father wasn’t killed when he was a child. Rather, it becomes a man carried away by his inner demons and he ends up bleeding out from a gunshot. Instead of pride becoming humble or fear giving way to God, it becomes the opposite. God creates fear and humility decays into pride. The blood of life in forward mode becomes, in reverse, the blood seeping from the body post-gunshot. The narrative can be either an ascent or a descent depending upon your sense of direction.
Either way, the central question that Kendrick explores on DAMN. is about power. “Is it wickedness? Is it weakness? You decide. Are we going to live or die?” When listened to in the order of the original release, this is Kendrick being powerful and confident, in control, mastering the challenges of wickedness, a kind of ubermensch. In reverse, however, he becomes more troubled, increasingly filled with internal angst, until he is murdered for being weak.
DAMN. is the struggle with power inside each of us. Kendrick’s ruminations (as opposed to his life's circumstances) are not that different from yours or mine. My life in the country is far removed from the struggles of the inner city, of course. I was born with the privilege of race working in my favor. Kendrick has found his own privilege through his musical success and has had to survive his inner city childhood in order to obtain it. But, through the fact we are all human, his internal questions and struggles as expressed on this album are akin in varying degrees to each of us.
We all have to deal with fear and loss and setbacks, we all have to appreciate the transience of beauty and love, we all struggle to get a grip on ourselves sometimes. Each of our stories is different. But the crude choice between power (wickedness) and powerlessness (weakness) is something that confronts us all, and is to some extent beyond our ability to choose. Life (and death) often chooses for us. And something that touches us or has so much potent meaning for each of us can be transformed into something coarse and shallow depending on how the events of our lives unfold.
Damn.
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