Kendrick Lamar, rapping star
Throughout this blog, ten of the top current rappers or rap groups will be analyzed, also adding information about their background and the meaning of their music. This list will include:
- Kendrick Lamar
- Migos (and more specifically Quavo)
- Young Thug
- Cardi B
- Future
- Post Malone
- Lil Uzi Vert
- Chance the Rapper
- Travis Scott
- 21 Savage
This list is not listing the best 10 rappers today, although they are some of the most popular. Some others that could be included are Logic, XXXtentacion, Lil Pump, Frank Ocean, Kodak Black, Swae Lee, Vince Staples, Big Sean or ASAP Rocky, or even some slightly older rap legends like Drake, Kanye or Jay-Z. For now though, these 10 rappers will be the ones analyzed.
So let’s start with the rapper who had probably the most successful 2017, Kendrick Lamar. He’s starting off 2018 right too, headlining the first ever college football championship halftime show. Kendrick Lamar Duckworth was born in Compton, California on June 17th, 1987, celebrating his 30th birthday in 2017. As a child, Kendrick was a great student in school, writing many stories and poems, which eventually led to him writing his own song lyrics. While transitioning into his rap career, he took over the name K-dot, releasing his first viral mix tape at 16 years old. He continued to collaborate with other young rappers, most notably Schoolboy Q.
It wasn’t until Kendrick met the legendary rap producer Dr. Dre that his career finally took off. Dre signed Kendrick to his record label, and within a few years Kendrick released his first album, “good kid, M.A.A.D city”. The top songs included Backseat Freestyle, M.A.A.D City, Swimming Pools and Poetic Justice. His provoking and inspiring lyrics quickly caught the attentions of millions, and Kendrick was soon mentioned along such names as Lil Wayne and Kanye West. With Kendrick’s lyrics bringing up topics about street violence and harsh realities of the rough neighborhoods, he was soon loved for bringing out the truth that many others are unable to see, or even imagine.
Kendrick continued to add to his impressive music with the album “To Pimp a Butterfly”. This included such hits as Alright, King Kunta, and The Blacker the Berry. Kendrick was nominated for an insane 11 Grammys from this record, including winning the best rap album of the year. Recently, Kendrick released DAMN., yet another impressive showing of his talents. Top hits included Humble, DNA and Loyalty, although they were not the only ones that caught the attention of listeners.
Kendrick is so successful not only because of his creative lyrics and enlightening topics, but also because of his smooth vocals. With his childhood of writing poetry, Kendrick infuses the lyrics, melody and his vocals perfectly to always incorporate a heavenly flow into his music. While nowadays many rappers use an insane amount of auto tune, Kendrick relies more on his natural voice and inflections to be able to incorporate his vocals into almost any beat. With mumble rappers becoming a larger trend in rap, Kendrick uses his strong words and pronunciation to empower individuals and his fans. And while some rappers use an excessive amount of relative English (the use of uh, oh, ah) to rhyme, Kendrick again relies on his creative style and lyrics to write his incredibly powerful songs.
With all of this taken into account, it is not maybe his most popular song, and not one of his more recent ones, but no song resembles Kendrick Lamar better than Backseat Freestyle. His ability to shift to different sounding voices shows off his versatility, being able to sync into any beat and different melodies. He smoothly transitions into these while yet still keeping a flow of music, never sounding out of rhythm. The one line in the chorus states, “All my life I want money and power, respect my mind or die from lead shower.” While some correlate this to a shower of bullets, it also stands for the lead coming from his pencil while writing his lyrics, killing the other rappers as Kendrick dominates the rap game. If all he wanted in life was money and power, Kendrick has certainly accomplished his dream.
