Justin Smith
Stories (1/0)
Kendrick Lamar and Multiple Album Meanings
Yes, it is. But not in the way people may think and not in a way that makes it worth buying the album for a second time. Kendrick Lamar’s Damn. is a fantastic record with a range of both trunk-knocking hits such as “DNA.”, “HUMBLE.” and “ELEMENT.” and thought provoking and mind bending revelations such as “PRIDE.”, “FEAR.”, and “DUCKWORTH.”. The record starts out with the expository track “BLOOD.”, a mysterious and somewhat haunting track that tells the story of Kendrick coming across a blind woman who he attempts to help but ends the track by shooting him. The record continues with Kendrick reflecting back on everything that led him to lose his life. The old blind woman can be interpreted as Kendrick having a run-in with Lady Justice and her taking his life is the culmination of all the social and political injustice that Kendrick raps about often in his music. Damn. is a depressing album at times, as it can be quite evident that Kendrick has little to no hope left in him. The fire within him to fight against social injustice heard on “To Pimp a Butterfly” is seemingly replaced with a depressing realization that maybe these injustices are self-inflicted (especially apparent on the voicemail at the end of the song “FEAR.”) or unsolvable. Kendrick is defeated on this album. He has been beaten down and is left with a tangible feeling of despair. He has been looking for answers all this time and, after all of it, he is left thinking that maybe it’s his own fault. He is truly defeated by coming to the realization that he is the cause of his own torment and anguish.
By Justin Smith6 years ago in Beat