Late Takes: Kendrick Lamar Been Telling Us.

I got into Kendrick Lamar when I first heard “The Recipe” in 2012. Then the whole album came out and it was a wrap! I didn’t listen to any album more until To Pimp A Butterfly came out three years later.

Brodie been telling us, mane. His latest song, “Watch The Party Die” is basically him torching the game with a flamethrower, Ripley style.

It was all there in “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe.” The whole song, really. But this line right here: Look inside of my soul and you can find gold and maybe get rich/Look inside of your soul and you can find out it never exist

It’s funny how this line fits Lamar’s criticism of Drake’s place in hip-hop so perfectly, and a few tracks later Drake is featured. And we know what happened when K. Dot’s “Control” verse was released. Absolute mayhem. People forgot it was actually Big Sean’s song.

It didn’t matter. Kendrick Lamar was putting everybody on notice. Then he dropped To Pimp A Butterfly, “King Kunta” being the first single off that album.

He really let ‘er rip with this verse:

I can dig rapping, but a rapper with a ghost writer?
What the fuck happened? (Oh no) I swore I wouldn't tell
But most of y'all share bars, like you got the bottom bunk in a two man cell
(A two man cell)
Something's in the water (Something's in the water)
And if I got a brown nose for some gold then I'd rather be a bum than a motherfuckin' baller

I remember thinking, “YIKES!!” as soon as I heard those lyrics. He was not effin’ around. Sounded like a double-down on his “Control” verse. On some, “You wanted less? I’mma bring EVEN MORE!!!”

“You Ain’t Gotta Lie (Momma Said)” felt like “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe” 2.0. It’s the same peeps he was telling to not kill his vibe, but they clearly did not evolve and are going deeper into their facade.

And the world don't respect you
And the culture don't accept you
But you think it's all love
And the girls gon' neglect you once your parody is done
Repetition can't protect you if you never had one
Jealousy (complex), emotional (complex)
Self-pity (complex), under oath (complex)
The loudest one in the room, nigga, that's a complex
Let me put it back in proper context

Yowsahs. Kendrick been tellin’ these folks to leave him alone. But people always like to try the quiet ones.

He was sick of the shit by the time he released Damn. He was telling people to be “Humble” and shit. He was sick of it! I don’t blame him. Having a pure soul in an industry full of ones who don’t is beyond frustrating, even maddening.

He makes it clear that there’s a difference between a Black artist and wack artist in “Element,” which he expounded on in a 2017 Rolling Stone article. Here’s the quote if you don’t want to read a Rolling Stone article (very understandable):

How would I define a wack artist? A wack artist uses other people’s music for their approval. We’re talking about someone that is scared to make their own voice, chases somebody else’s success and their thing, but runs away from their own thing. That’s what keeps the game watered-down. Everybody’s not going to be able to be a Kendrick Lamar. I’m not telling you to rap like me. Be you. Simple as that. I watch a lot of good artists go down like that because you’re so focused on what numbers this guy has done, and it dampers your own creativity. Which ultimately dampers the listener, because at the end of the day, it’s not for us. It’s for the person driving to their 9-to-5 that don’t feel like they wanna go to work that morning.

Drake was on his fifth accent around this time, eh? Haha. I really do not like Drake. I’ve been doing anti-Drake jokes since 2015. Even though Drake is a clear target on all of Lamar’s critiques on hip-hop, he is not the only one who fits this description. There are hella industry plants, mane (Post Malone…bleh).

“Watch the Party Die” was released on 9/11, which is a majorly patriotic day in America, as well as a devastating memory for New Yorkers. Diddy was arrested not too long after.

That song had the ultimate “I’m really sick of y’all’s shit” message. And it is going to be heard even louder and more clearly when he performs at the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Get ‘em, Kendrick! (Here’s a more in-depth analysis on Kendrick Lamar that I really dug — check it out here)