chrb98
Active Member
This, this, this!
I'll expand a bit upon this too and say that my favorite thing about Kendrick's music is just how poetic it is. What I mean by that is - I'd imagine most of us here have a general grasp on what most Kendrick songs are about in a broad aspect, but there's always more to unpack, and interpret, and re-interpret. Even when it's obvious that a song or an album is primarily rooted in a certain subject, it never feels surface level, it never feels like Kendrick Lamar is coming out and saying "This is exactly how I feel in plainest and simplest terms". I like J Cole, he's a skilled rapper, and he tackles some pretty deep topics. But I never have sat around wondering what exactly J Cole means - he wears his heart, and his meaning, on his sleeve, and leaves very little room for interpretation. Contrast that with Kendrick Lamar, who is a lot more narratively dubious and vague, and leaves much more to the imagination.
I remember when "The Blacker The Berry" dropped, EVERYBODY was talking about that song. Not just about how good it was or how excited we all were for the album, but serious debates and back-and-forths about where exactly the song is coming from. Obviously the general gist and topics of the song are pretty clear, but where exactly Kendrick is coming from, what exactly he is trying to say, what the song was condemning vs. what it was just presenting, etc. was really up in the air, and inspired a lot of creative speculation and readings. There are VERY few rappers, especially in the mainstream, who can expertly walk such a fine line between being clear enough to be understood yet being enigmatic and poetic enough to inspire such a fervent and deeper reading of their work
