Re-Examining the Singing Experience in The Heart pt 5
After five years of silence as an independent artist, a few features, and a successful compilation album with other Top Dawg Entertainment artists. After attaining a Pulitzer Prize, having Theologians pontificate over A God Inquiry, racist co-opting the lyrics of Alright as a rite of passage to white privilege. Customary to every Kendrick Lamar Album, we get a verbal preamble to prepare us for what we will experience days before his Album, Mr. Morales and the Big Steppers, releasing on May 13th.
"I come from a generation of pain, where murder is minor."
The Heart pt 5 is attempting to answer the age-old question of W.E.B Dubois in the Souls of Black Folk, how does it feel to be a problem? In a complex and Layered Lyrical analysis attached with a visual aesthetic expressed, The multifaceted complexity of American culture and its addiction to violence. I could detail the horrors of the United States of America's gruesome past. First, by using the words of Amiri Baraka, there is a railroad of bones at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean referencing the forced migration of West Africans for free labor and the choice of death some selected rather than be enslaved. The forced migration across the country of Native Americans to expand into a White nation. The forced encampment of the Japanese Americans suffered during world war 2. Bob Kaufman writes in his poem Benediction
American, I forgive you…I forgive you
Nailing black Jesus to an imported cross
Every six weeks in Dawson, Georgia.
America, I forgive you…I forgive you
Burning Japanese babies defensively–
I realize how necessary it was.
Your ancestor had beautiful thoughts in his brain.
His descendants are experts in real estate.
Your generals have mushrooming visions.
Every day your people get more and more
Cars, televisions, sickness, death dreams,
You must have been great
Alive.
In modern society today, we are plagued with daily reminders that we are the problem. The excessive nature of incarceration, the sensationalism of capitalism, materialism, militarism, and violence are prerequisites for a generation who has seen too much of the culture. He does this by personally highlighting his perspective on his encounter with The Culture.
The violence that hunts Duckworth, he laments over the melodic instrumentation of Marvin Gaye's "I want you," depicts an older and wiser expression of exhaustion and grief. Duckworth also embodies men who have been depicted in American culture in a myriad of ways. His symbolism of embodying the worst we have been exposed to through the culture as byproducts of the overarching system plaguing black and brown communities. From OJ Simpson, Kanye West, Jussie Smollett, and Will Smith.
"Our foundation was trained to accept whatever follows
Dehumanize, insensitive
Scrutinize the way we live for you and I."
The Morphing occurs at a pivotal point in Duckworth's lyrics which can be viewed throughout the entire film. We could also do a correlation between the changing of pitches and voices when examining To pimp a butterfly and its introduction of different voices in which he must choose
It has been said that Kendrick Lamar is by far the leader of the spiritual movement for A generation all too familiar with Violence and the Systemic perpetuation of violence. Duckworth serves as the role of A Diviner; Dr. John Mbiti defines the Diviner as a religious leader in Indigenous African Religions “Diviners with common sense and good imagination use their language to get into contact with spirits independently or with the help of mediums to collaborate a message to use some of the unseen forces of the universe.” Lamar uses his common sense and imagination through the mediums of music and Visual art to embrace the realities of this turbulent earth.
Dr. Michael Thomas contributed to A journal called Kendrick Lamar and the Making of Black Meaning. The journal article examines what it means to identify blackness as a sense of engaging in singing experiences. Thomas suggests that Lamar’s music corals us to confront the saving power and come to an understanding to see the world differently through music operating through distance and proximity requires an ethic of listening, promoting a level of conscience.
This suggests that Kendrick Lamar constantly wrestles with a double conscience in conflict with his stardom and being a black man. He then addresses the aged-old DuBois question of being a problem by exegeting his own experiences and black people's complexities. Thomas suggests that Lamar calls us to tarry with the realities of this world and not attempt to address solutions but to reside in the tensions allow expressing emancipation from the listen and assisting the audience with models of dealing with the systematic oppressive forces in America. Lamar embodies the idea of Fanon's work as Cultural Intellect embodying Sekou Touré’s words, “One must join with the people to make it a revolution when you create the hymns will automatically follow. Through Authentic, one must embrace the idea of Africa for liberation,” It can also be suggested that through the singing experience, Lamar embodies a Cultural Diviner conjuring a spirit of unity to be a first-hand witness of the reality with no solution through verbal and visual communication. Lamar’s singing experience allows space for life-affirmation despite the systemic oppressive nature of America.
"Consciousness is synchronized and crystal-clear
Euphoria is glorified and made His
Reflectin' on my life and what I done
Paid dues, made rules, change outta love"
Duckworth also invokes the Good and those who attempted to be the best within the culture as a form of Ancestry worship by embodying visually and conjuring the spirit of two iconic figures of the American culture, Ermias Asghedom (Nipsy Hustle) and Kobe Bryant vocally.
It is said that when people call on the name of those dead like he did when he interviewed Tupac in “To Pimp a butterfly,” they make their names eternal, enshrined in the memories of those who knew them, and extend legacies farther. These deaths shocked the world because of the unexpected nature of both.
Ermias Asghedom was shot and killed in front of his family in the shopping center parking lot he owned. Kobe Bryant died in a tragic helicopter accident with his daughter. I could insert a Biblical reference to satisfy those who tried to use their Jesus lens solely if I wanted to. Still, I do not feel like it because the raw emotion Duckworth summoned at first glance of the Music video is what I want you to experience. The Singing Experience, the tarrying with what is here and present, is the reality, whether good or bad. Prophets only Prophecy what is occurring right in the present.
If you have not seen the music video please click on this and experience this.
Written in consultation with Dr. Michael Thomas, Zachary S. Johnson, Jamar Boyd, and Devon Jerome Crawford.