Art!?🤔

 Oftentimes music can be referred to as poetry. Complex meanings contorted together with different tones and pitches to create a unique piece of art that is able to convey emotion. It is for all intent and purposes an art form. Within the art of music there is a certain artist that stands out for his complex meanings and lyricism. I know it’s generic but it’s undoubtedly Kendrick Lamar ( don’t worry Eminem I still love you). 

In the modern era of rap most artists tend to forgo topics that are relatively controversial to instead rap about wealth and various other materialistic objects and paint them in an idealistic way. They almost say “ Look at my life, look at the money I have, look at the amount of women who are with me, and look how happy I am”. They tend to blend together to something a little less than a catchy song. 

A good example of this is the song below 

The chorus: Tell 'em get up out my face now 'fore I grrt

Are you dumb, stupid, or dumb, huh?

Play me like a dummy, like idiot, are you dumb?

Are you dumb, stupid, or dumb, huh?

Yeah, you got some money

My point is made

Though which differentiates Lamar from his peers is his unwavering commitment to offering value in his words and adding depth to his words. His words encourage thinking. Foremost among them is the song Money Trees from his third album good kid, m.a.a.d city. Lamar uses this song to propose that getting rich brings comfort and saves you from the everyday difficulties people face. But at the same time, having a lot of money is accompanied by evil. Lamar tells a story about how people will do anything to obtain money, even if it means the death of another.

“Everybody gon’ respect the shooter/ but the one in front of the gun lives forever/ the one in front of the gun forever”

Although the shooter got temporary attention from committing the murder, its the victim who is remembered and honored forever. Throughout the song, Lamar portrays how desperate people, especially those who grow up in poverty stricken neighborhoods strive to get attain wealth quickly furthered encouraged by the culture that is perpetuated by many of his peers

“Money trees is the perfect place for shade/ and that’s just how I feel”

In this predicament, people often lose their morals, and stray from their passion. You have two options: pursue money or pursue meaning. Both can get you rich if you hustle hard enough. However, the pursuit of purely money is just a temporary place for security. This also implies that money and wealth makes an individual susceptible to greed. 

It is also the things that Lamar does not say in this piece that give it meaning. Lamar speaks from his personal experience in growing up in the crime filled neighborhood of Compton and achieving his dreams of success. He does not explicitly say them but he implies his credibility and the personal stories he has seen from people succumbing to their own desires. 

(I know this entire blog has appeared as if I am a clone. I’m sure many people have referred to Kendrick’s music as poetry and I am certainly not the first. I enjoy Kendrick’s music but it is something that I listen to religiously. I just wanted to clarify that so I don’t get flamed for choosing Kendrick. Also Kendrick was referred to as a poet by Lucille Clinton so who’s really in the wrong here.)

Though this all begs the question of what else is often unsaid in songs that are implied through particularly graphic imagery or vagueness. How complex are the ideas can you convey in music?