Damn Kendrick Lamar Lyrics4/23/2021
When he says the word community, he means Compton, Long Beach, L.A., the Bay Area, San Francisco, Oakland.Great writers such as Amiri Baraka and Nikki Giovanni wrote of freedom and the rhetoric of the Black Aesthetic.When poetry is set to music, harmonious beats relay liberating feelings that transcend history and culture.
The Black Aesthetic is often universally pleasing, but beneath the verses documenting aspiration, empowerment, and fear is a call for cultural revolution. With songs such as DNA Kendrick asserts his Black male dominance despite the medias emphasis on Black male inferiority. When Kendrick says, I got millions, I got riches buildin in my DNA, he pushes back against their genocidal stereotypes of black demise. And, in God, he promotes the theme of his preeminence as a small g god in the rap industry, while emphasizing the loyalty of performing for the people, Everything I do is to embrace yall. Kendricks Damn subverts the power of DNA as defining black life and the determinant of black fate, while asserting lyrical control as the cultural torchbearer of black pride in America. Lamar raps, I got dark, I got evil, that rot inside my DNA, theres a sardonic acknowledgment of how society perceives African Americans. In a sudden tonal shift, Kendrick reminds everyone that his DNA doesnt determine his destiny: I just win again, then win again like Wimbledon, I serve. On a black interrogation table, a polygraph sits as the centerpiece. A faulty tool used to determine guilt or innocence separates Cheadle, the investigator and Kendrick, the condemned. Theres a long chain that shackles Lamars wrists to the table. Looming over Kendrick, Cheadle says You know what DNA stands for Dead Nigger Association. Since Cheadle implies that Blacks evil within will kill their entire race, his verbalization of DNA is dehumanizing as the chains that shackle Kendricks wrists. With a push of the polygraph button, Kendrick possesses Cheadles body. The word loyalty implies allegiance and support of his community. Perhaps, due to the royal blood that exists in African heritage, the word royalty suggests power and sovereignty. ![]() Cheadles recent awakening causes him to release Kendrick from custody. With a pat on the shoulder from Kendrick, the one who formerly held the power falls to the ground. This is why I say that hip-hop has done more damage to young African Americans than racism in recent years. For Kendrick, rap symbolizes liberation from systemic oppression. The streets are life and the dark backdrop for Kendricks liberation. Since Kendrick is unable to separate his progress from those who share black DNA, Kendrick stands proudly amongst the other Black men.
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