Music Ranking
I find that at my young age, I am unable to fully appreciate all the clever meaning in the lyrics. I found the track “I” pretty fun, but thought that “Mortal Man” dragged on for too long. The first half is pretty fun, with the second half being a little less so.
7/10 (and a strong reccomendation!)
Album Art Ranking
It’s fine a little confusing though.
6.5/10
Music Ranking
The song King Kunta is a banger. I immediately picked up on the connections to MJ’s Smooth Criminal and the reference to the main character from the novel (eventually movie) Roots by Alex Haley.
The song Institutionalized uses references to Forest Gump to create an allegory between the black struggle and the disabled struggle (I think you can infer what I mean, it is an interesting allegory). The lyrics are very political with many references to MJ.
I have since pieced together that Kendrick Lamar recognizes MJ as the King to Pop and himself as the King of Rap. This may be an apt comparison given MJ’s 12 grammy nominations in one night and Lamar’s 11. But it also seems a bit conceited and I wonder if Lamar is lacking in humility which may introduce a disconnect between the political message of black American oppression he pushes in his music and his own hubris. Or perhaps he thinks that like a caterpillar if you change in the ways that “he” (Lamar) has you can overcome the oppression? Which I think is a message that may be alienating to his main audience. Of course this is only my own perspective and his mass critical acclaim and popularity suggest that he is sending a message that resonates with his fan base. I enjoyed this but would not listen regularly.
7.5/10
Album Art Ranking
I do not think this art is a representation of the triumph that Lamar suggests it will be. I do think it accurately alludes to the political nature of the album (White House in the background).
5.5/10