I’m only about halfway through but there’s shit like a Song called “N95” that seems to be about “taking off” superficial accessories. he outright calls the vaccine the mark of the beast in another one and there’s some takes on free speech. It’s looking real Chappele-special esque imo. Dudes even mad about high taxes at one point.
You're viewing a single comment thread. View all comments, or full comment thread.
Comments (6)
sorted by:
I'm not a big Kendrick fan. Not that I dislike him, I think he's pretty good actually. I'm just not a big music guy in general. I did listen to the whole album since it's not too long and the first few songs grabbed me.
I think it's pretty based overall, but sadly un-based in some places. As you mentioned in another comment, there's a whole song about his trans family members, and it seems to be preaching acceptance.
Honestly, that's not even something I would normally get mad at on it's own. I don't like trans people, but I'm also not the type to care about anyone so long as they mind their own business. Also, knowing how black communities treat them, and now knowing that Kendrick has close family members who are trans, I can understand why he would feel the need to preach acceptance for them.
Unfortunately, I've been paying attention these past few years, so I've seen what too much acceptance has enabled many trans to do, and advocate for doing, and I think it is terrible. So, coming out with a song preaching acceptance for these people just seems really, really un-informed. By all means, support your family if they're good people, but damn, if they fall into a group that is doing some vile shit right now, don't go talking about how we're not treating their group right.
Also, that part you mentioned about the vaccine the being mark of the beast, is probably not based. The actual line is "Seen a Christian say the vaccine mark of the beast. Then he caught COVID and prayed to Pfizer for relief." That's pretty clearly not based, but I have seen some debate because the surrounding lines add context that could maybe change the meaning of those lines.
But yeah, overall lots of messages I like in this album. Honestly, one of the messages I like most isn't any of the usual based type of stuff. Rather, it's that he seems like he's just fucking done with all this shit, and just wants to live his life. I like how much he brings up self-improvement, and self-reflection, saying stuff like "protecting my soul in the valley of silence" seemingly in reference to the past five years he hasn't made music or spoken out much. Then there's the whole last song, which says over and over, "I choose me" and has lines like "Run away from the culture to follow my heart" and "Sorry I didn't save the world, my friend, I was too busy buildin' mine again".
A lot of it is very vague, but I really feel like one of the overarching themes of this album is that Kendrick doesn't want people to idolize him, he doesn't want people to look to him for guidance, he just wants to live his life and be happy, and it seems like he wants us to do the same. This is, imo, a very wholesome message, and ironically, a very good piece of guidance. Granted, it's pretty basic, but really, I don't think we can overestimate how many young people today need to be told to find their own way. Most kids would probably cringe if you told them to put their phone away and live their lives, yet here's Kendrick basically, over the course of an album, telling them to do exactly that. Just un-plug, and live your real life. Work on yourself. Don't look to celebrities for guidance, find your own path. Choose you.