Kendrick Lamar's Wake Up Call to Hip-Hop artists

By Dianna Tejada on September 16, 2013

As the youngest child and the only girl in a home filled with young men, I always found myself relying on an outside source for comfort and stress relief, and I used music for that. Music, especially Hip-Hop, has always been an enormous part of my foundation. Hip-Hop is not just a genre of music; it’s a lifestyle.

The kind of hip-hop we think of as hip-hop originated in the South Bronx area of New York City during the 1960s. Afrika Bambaataa originally coined the term (check out “Planet Rock”). But, in 1967, Clive Campbell, or ‘Kool Herc,’ began what is considered the era of rap.  Hip-Hop is comprised of multiple elements; there is the MC (rapper), the Disk Jockey (DJ), the Break Dancers, and the Graffiti artists.

He was deemed the master of the breaks, which facilitated the rise of breakdancing (check out “Let Me Clear My Throat”). Not only this, but he was one of the first ‘real’ DJs to hit the music scene with his music breaks being comprised of words systematically put together to keep you moving as the beat continued to bump your speakers.

The first Hip-Hop song to be released was ”King Tim III” by Fatback, but the first song to gain commercial success was released shortly after, called “Rappers Delight” by The Sugarhill Gang.

During the 80s, Hip-Hop really began evolving with groups such as N.W.A hitting the scene. N.W.A provided us with what was considered to be ‘gangsta rap’, but also gave us a more radical approach to the issues Black and Latin@ individuals were facing (and continue to face). But, it was not until the ’90s when we really began to see more of the materialistic approach to music. But, even with this evolution, we had individuals like the Notorious B.I.G, who continued to spit the realness people could relate to. His song “Juicy” received a lot of attention in 1994 and continues to be a must-play song at every party.

Many of the earlier MCs made music with the goal that it would continue to be played years after their legacy. They made sure that every single rhyme they made was meticulously chosen and that they were able to be amicable with other MCs, but that when it came to spittin’ a rhyme, they played no games. The music on the radio today has lost that appeal. No one seems to pay attention to mixtapes or the underground rappers who are attempting to come up. Now, all we focus on is what song will make us twerk the hardest or what song has the best beat. The longing for substance and amazing lyricism seems to be noexistent for this generation. Anyone who has listened to groups like A Tribe Called Quest or De La Soul, can tell you this. Don’t get me wrong, you will find me blasting some French Montana from time to time, but that does not mean that I do not know what ‘real’ lyricism is.

Kendrick Lamar released a verse on the song “Control” where he openly critiques the aspects of Hip-Hop that have been distorted. In case you have not listened to the verse, these are some of the most powerful lines of the verse:

I’m important like the pope/I’m a muslim on pork/I’m Makaveli’s offspring, I’m the king of New York

King of the Coast, one hand, I juggle them both/The juggernaut’s all in your jugular, you take me for jokes

[...]I’m uncoachable, I’m unsociable/Fuck y’all clubs, fuck y’all pictures, your Instagram can gobble these nuts

Gobble dick up ’til you hiccup, my big homie Kurupt/This the same flow that put the rap game on a crutch

I’ve seen niggas transform like villain Decepticons/Mollies’ll prolly turn these niggas to fuckin’ Lindsay Lohan

A bunch of rich-ass white girls lookin’ for parties/Playin with Barbies/wreck the Porsche before you give ‘em the car key

Judgement to the monarchy/blessings to Paul McCartney/You called me a black Beatle, I’m either that or a Marley

I don’t smoke crack motherfucker I sell it/I’m dressed in all black, this is not for the fan of Elvis

I’m aiming straight for your pelvis, you can’t stomach me/You plan on stumpin’ me?/Bitch, I’ve been jumped before you put a gun on me

Bitch, I put one on yours, I’m Sean Connery/James Bonding with none of you niggas, climbing 100 mil in front of me

And I’m gonna get it even if you’re in the way/And if you’re in it, better run for Pete’s sake

I heard the barbershops spittin’ great debates all the time/Bout who’s the best MC? Kendrick, Jigga and Nas

Eminem, Andre 3000, the rest of y’all/New niggas just new niggas, don’t get involved

And I ain’t rockin no more designer shit/White T’s and Nike Cortez, this is red Corvettes anonymous

I’m usually homeboys with the same niggas I’m rhyming wit’/But this is hip-hop and them niggas should know what time it is

And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale/Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake

Big Sean, Jay Electron’, Tyler, Mac Miller/I got love for you all but I’m tryna murder you ni***s

Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you niggas/They dont wanna hear not one more noun or verb from you niggas

What is competition? I’m trying to raise the bar high/Who tryin’ to jump and get it? You better off tryin’ to skydive [...]

Kendrick Lamar was able to show us just how much music has changed as he claims that artists are too friendly with one another. He also adds that he would like to murder every single artist on the microphone. Since a huge part of being an MC was being an amazing lyricist, he wanted everyone to recognize the changes music was undergoing and encouraging artists to move outside of the box which they are all being put into. He also makes a critique of the seller (MC) being as bad or even worse than the consumer. He exclaims, “I don’t smoke crack, motherfucker, I sell it!”. He uses this line to make the point that, yes, people are purchasing the tracks with little to no substance, but you, a supposed MC, are allowing your art to be undermined. As artists, whether you have friends in your field or not, you always want the work you put out to be your absolute best. If it isn’t, are truly invested in that aspect of your life?

As a Notorious B.I.G fan, I find it a little problematic that he did not mention B.I.G or Tupac on his song. Yes, Jay-Z and Nas have tongues like machine guns when they hit the microphone, but let us take the time to acknowledge those who paved the way for those we hear on the radio now.

Despite all of that, I think the most problematic comment on his verse was the fact that he declared himself not only the King of New York, but he called himself the King of the Coast. By face value, it is a huge problem because he is from California. But, if we take the time to really analyze and take in what it is that he is saying, we see that he is claiming that his flow is reflective of what originally came from NYC and that New York rappers have lost their New York appeal. They have all moved into a more Southern or Western approach rather than what made New York rappers unique from all other artists. Rap was started here, we need to be the best and stay the best. New Yorkers should not have to wait for someone from the West Coast to tell them to step up, this should have happened a long time ago.

He also briefly discusses White privilege in his line about Lindsay Lohan, where he says, “A bunch of rich-ass white girls lookin’ for parties/Playin with Barbies/wreck the Porsche before you give ‘em the car key”, meaning that all of the White individuals who try to appropriate Hip-Hop culture, tend to be those with the most privilege because they have class privilege and race privilege. The difference for them is that millions of People of Color in the United States live the struggle that is glamorized through the commercialization of ‘ratchet culture’, but they can easily navigate out of those spaces and still be the privileged individual they walked in as. His verse was very powerful and should not be taken by face value.

I strongly believe that Kendrick Lamar recording this verse is exactly what Hip-Hop needed in order to bring everyone back down to earth . So much of the foundation which helped build Hip-Hop has been lost due to the over commercialization of  the struggle.

Now I can access the kind of music I grew up to on the radio. Maybe this verse will lead to the resurfacing of shows such as Rap City and really appreciate  practices such as Cyphers. We needed this. We really, really needed to wake people up out the puppetry that music has become. I thank Kendrick Lamar for being as bold as he was because, if he didn’t who know who would have?

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