Kendrick Lamar gets a Pulitzer Prize.

[AgonyandIrony]

https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2018/04/damn

“DAMN.”, the winning record, is “virtuosic”, just as the jurors say. Over the spare, stuttering beats of trap, a popular sub-genre of hip hop from the Deep South, Mr Lamar invites us to eavesdrop as he confesses to a host of sins—pride, lust, greed, anger, hypocrisy—as well as his fear of being judged, by his fire-and-brimstone God. Hip hop is still a genre that revels in braggadocio and conspicuous consumption, and Mr Lamar is no different from his peers. He understands temptation. But where some rappers look in the mirror and see playboy-gangsters, Lamar sees a sinner, tormented by his success and by his responsibility to those less fortunate than he is. His great talent is how, with his blazing lines, he makes us feel the heat of hellfire.

They do point out though, that TPAB and GKMC might be more important works of his but I understand why DAMN won.

To those of you who haven't listened to it, or aren't fans of hip hop and don't understand why it would win this Pitchfork article explains it very well.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23147-damn/

life is one funny motherfucker, it’s true. “DUCKWORTH.,” the last song on Kendrick Lamar's fourth studio album DAMN., tells a winding story about Anthony from Compton and Ducky from Chicago, whose paths cross first over KFC biscuits, and again, 20 years later, when Ducky’s son records a song about the encounter for Anthony’s record label. It’s a precious origin story, the stuff of rock docs and hood DVDs, and it’s delivered with such precision, vivid detail, and masterful pacing that it can’t possibly be true. But it’s a tale too strange to be fiction, and too powerful not to believe in—just like its author. Kendrick Lamar has proven he’s a master storyteller, but he’s been saving his best plot twist this whole time, waiting until he was ready, or able, to pull it off.

Maybe not as forward moving (ironic because DAMN is considered by many to be a double album. One where the story goes both ways, and made to be listened to from front to back and back to front for two stories) as GKMC, which was one of the best modern storytelling I've seen in a musical artist in a very long time.

https://www.stereogum.com/1702657/c...d-kendrick-lamars-good-kid-m-a-a-d-city/news/

I find this to be well deserved, a once in a lifetime artist.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Now if he can just get that bad bitches thing under control.

 

[mrbaapt]

He deserves it. He's doing things with his art nobody in Hip Hop has done. Dissecting his songs might as well be solving a literary puzzle.

 

[AronaBeatsJones]

He deserves it. He's doing things with his art nobody in Hip Hop has done. Dissecting his songs might as well be solving a literary puzzle.

Yet, Morrissey hasn't, despite being a legendary lyricist far above anyone in hip hop.

 

[AgonyandIrony]

Now if he can just get that bad bitches thing under control.

No matter how much fame and money a man accumulates, he'll never get that bad bitches thing under control.

He deserves it. He's doing things with his art nobody in Hip Hop has done. Dissecting his songs might as well be solving a literary puzzle.

It's fun to do. GKMC as a story start to finish is amazing and extremely tragic. To Pimp a Butterfly is another that has to be listened to start to finish to really get what he means.


The jazz backdrop, the sobbing, the lyrics as he writes a letter to himself is so powerful.

You ain’t no brother, you ain’t no disciple
You ain’t no friend
A friend never leave Compton for profit
Or leave his best friend,little brother
You promised you’d watch him before they shot him
Where was your antennas?
On the road, bottles and bitches
You FaceTimed him one time, that's unforgiving
You even FaceTimed instead of a hospital visit
Guess you thought he would recover well
Third surgery, they couldn't stop the bleeding for real
Then he died, God himself will say, "You fuckin' failed"
You ain't try

 

[dc007]

Yet, Morrissey hasn't, despite being a legendary lyricist far above anyone in hip hop.

I like Kendrick but Amen brother.

 

[BisexualMMA]

I always thought Heavy D deserved one for "what can we do, what are we gonna do, roses are red and violets are blue."

 

[AgonyandIrony]

I like Kendrick but Amen brother.

Bro I love The Smiths as much as the next person, but Robert Smith was a better lyricist in my opinion. In what world does any Smiths album have the cultural impact and masterful writing that TPAB, GKMC, and DAMN have? Kendrick wrote an entire album that can be listened to front to back and then back to front to tell two stories. That's insane.


Pretty sure there are more words in this one song than the entirety of Meat Is Murder and this song is far more tragic than Please Please Please or anything The Smiths have done.

 

[loyalyolayal]

So...is this the literature equivalent of the "3 pullup for female in the marines"?

 

[Judge]

https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2018/04/damn



They do point out though, that TPAB and GKMC might be more important works of his but I understand why DAMN won.

To those of you who haven't listened to it, or aren't fans of hip hop and don't understand why it would win this Pitchfork article explains it very well.

https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/23147-damn/



Maybe not as forward moving (ironic because DAMN is considered by many to be a double album. One where the story goes both ways, and made to be listened to from front to back and back to front for two stories) as GKMC, which was one of the best modern storytelling I've seen in a musical artist in a very long time.

https://www.stereogum.com/1702657/c...d-kendrick-lamars-good-kid-m-a-a-d-city/news/

I find this to be well deserved, a once in a lifetime artist.

I have listened to much rap and rap does not deserve a Pulitzer. It is not for music.

 

[AgonyandIrony]

I have listened to much rap and rap does not deserve a Pulitzer. It is not for music.

Um.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_Music

 

[AgonyandIrony]

So...is this the literature equivalent of the "3 pullup for female in the marines"?

LOL at this too. See the above.

 

[My name is]

Meh. just another rapper

 

[AgonyandIrony]

Meh. just another rapper

Elaborate.

 

[My name is]

Elaborate.

I've heard him interviewed on the Stern show and heard people talk him up. I gave him a listen and just don't get what the hype is about . I grew up listening to rap it's not really my thing anymore but I'll still listen to some older stuff now an then. To me he's not doing anything special or ground breaking he's just another rapper

 

[Tycho- Taylor's Version]

How accessible is DAMN. to a casual listener?

I loved GKMC but could not get into TPAB at all.

 

[AgonyandIrony]

I've heard him interviewed on the Stern show and heard people talk him up. I gave him a listen and just don't get what the hype is about . I grew up listening to rap it's not really my thing anymore but I'll still listen to some older stuff now an then. To me he's not doing anything special or ground breaking he's just another rapper

Meh, agree to disagree. I've linked plenty of articles demonstrating why he's so exceptional, but lyrically and energy wise it's almost impossible to deny his greatness. When he was crowned King of LA by the OGs that was an incredible moment, and especially coming from Compton and spearheading TDE.

How accessible is DAMN. to a casual listener?

I loved GKMC but could not get into TPAB at all.

I kind of struggled with TPAB a bit as well, but I think a lot of it is I was wanting another Good Kid or Section 80. It really really grew on me after a few listens. I dig Jazz though, and the story in TPAB were really good. I guess I was just wanting more bangers like this.


(Jesus he's incredible on this track)

I really dug this despite it's removed from anything he's done before.

Here's what NPR had to say about it.

Love and ego. On DAMN., considered by many (including you and us) to be the year's most arresting and accomplished album, Kendrick Lamar microscopically examines the tangles and warring expectations, wants and disappointments he has for and with himself and those closest to him. As is always the case, even when a singular person like Kendrick does a chemical analysis of his heart(s) and soul(s), parallels with everyone else reveal themselves. Long story short: The G.O.A.T.'s not the only one to live in a between-space of confidence and doubts and accomplishments and fears.

The video for "LOVE." (like the other four crisp and beautiful videos from DAMN., co-directed by Dave Free and Lamar, a.k.a. the little homies) lives across worlds, too. Photo-shoot Kendrick, fighting-at-the-dinner-table Kendrick, worried, contemplative, relaxed Kendrick. It brings the same high-fashion palette — remember the flames of "HUMBLE."? — but to the simplest, and most complicated, of things.

All this self-questioning and analysis may be best summed up in a line Lamar delivers quickly — it's one everyone's felt: "Am I in the way?"

I think it's a bit easier to get into than TPAB. He's certainly grown since the K-Dot era and the lyrical prowess and storytelling of GKMC have mixed well with the obscurity, risk taking, and concept of TPAB to make DAMN easier to ease into, but with all of his stuff you really need to listen to the album straight through. The tracks are good, the story is better.

 

[Jballer]

Kendrick Lamar sucks.

 

[AgonyandIrony]

Kendrick Lamar sucks.

Not as bad as the Steelers tho.

 

[BEER]

Kendrick Lamar burst on to the scene at a delicate time.

He's good but he's not that good. Fight me.