His lines range from expressions of his pride to be black, such as “ I’m African-American, I’m African, I’m black as the heart of a fucking Aryan, I’m black as the name of Tyrone and Darius”, to his complete reclamation of the “ n-word” in “N-E-G-U-S definition: royalty King royalty – wait listen, N-E-G-U-S description: Black emperor, King, ruler, now let me finish, The history books overlook the word and hide it, America tried to make it to a house divided.” While unconventional by traditional standards and challenging to the commonplace classifications of the genre, Kendrick Lamar’s witty lyricisms are nothing short of poetic genius on the level of Bob Dylan, Lou Reed or Morrissey (the first of whom was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature). The lyrical content of To Pimp a Butterfly deals with many of the issues faced by African-Americans on a daily basis, from ‘Alright’, a message of hope in which Lamar rallies together African-Americans to stand up for themselves against police brutality and firearm violence, to ‘Hood Politics’, which examines the American distrust of government with the lyrics “ Ain’t nothin’ new but a flu of new Demo-Crips and Re-Blood-licans, Red state versus a blue state, which one you governin’? They give us guns and drugs, call us thugs, Make it they promise to fuck with you.” Lamar’s album is one of the most sonically interesting releases I have ever heard, with an underlying yet overwhelming dissonance flowing through each of the 16 flawless tracks, giving the whole piece a sinister tone. The inclusion of To Pimp a Butterfly in the Harvard Library suggests that hip-hop is finally being appraised and admired for the sheer power of its best lyrics and the sophistication of its sound. “Kendrick Lamar’s witty lyricisms are nothing short of poetic genius” He was the first hip hop artist ever to play at the White House. Former US President Barack Obama is a long-time Lamar fan, and invited him to perform at the his Fourth of July party in 2016. Not only did To Pimp a Butterfly make the Top 10 lists of innumerable music magazines (including being named the best album of 2015 by The Guardian, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork), but David Bowie’s producer Tony Visconti revealed that it was the principal inspiration for Bowie’s swansong Blackstar. Lamar himself is no stranger to such reverence. The set, released in 2012, surges 23-9 on the chart dated Jan. That the programme aspires to catalogue a “collection of albums that are the standard of the culture” indicates the significance of the piece. After eight years, Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid, M.A.A.D City is back in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart. Lamar’s masterpiece was selected by 9th Wonder, a long-serving hip hop producer and rapper, as part of the ‘These Are The Breaks’ programme at the university’s Institute for African and African-American Research.
Top 10 kendrick lamar albums free#
A staunch political statement tinged with Colemanesque free jazz, the record is supremely funky, and filled with rapidly delivered spoken word verses.
RELATED: Kendrick Lamar Covers Complex's "good kid, m.A.A.To Pimp a Butterfly, Kendrick Lamar’s exquisitely dark third album, has been archived at Harvard Library. RELATED: Kendrick Lamar Breaks Down His Favorite Cartoons and Cereals (Video) RELATED: Kendrick Lamar: Talkin' 'Bout My Generation (2012 Online Cover Story) RELATED: Kendrick Lamar in the Studio (Video) 'It's a certain situation that I had to go through I had to bump my head a few times to know what I had to do to get back right. 'Just life, in general, is the meaning behind it,' Lamar explained to The Boombox. This is one of the deepest, most personal tracks on Good Kid, M.A.A.d City. The Bill WIthers sampled song has a relaxing bass heavy beat.
RELATED: The Making of Kendrick Lamar's good kid, m.A.A.d city Album: Good Kid M.A.A.D City (2012) Taking the cake for for Lamar's best story-telling is Sing About Me. Read on to find out which albums defined Kendrick Lamar's coming of age in hip-hop, and which artist was on such heavy rotation in his childhood home that he can't remember which songs were from which album. His favorite LP selections-presented here in chronological order of release-reveal a mixture of music from and about his hometown and records that show a particular sort of musical curiosity. Kendrick Lamar is a rapper with a wide range of listening habits-traces of which can be heard throughout his debut album, good kid, m.A.A.d city. Having grown up in the city of Compton, he has an understandable preference for West Coast rap, but his taste in hip-hop transcends geographical boundaries. Amazing storytelling - Consistent for the most part - Has 2 top 10 albums of all. This feature is a part of Complex's "good kid, m.A.A.d city" Week. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper. The music that shaped a good kid in a mad city.