Discussion
Thought some might find this intriguing given current events:
https://djbooth.net/features/2017-04-28-kendrick-lamar-god-response
Long time no talk. Congrats on the work. Honored to say I still enjoy the write-ups. Y'all accuracy lets me know this site has a deep respect for the culture. Much appreciated.
Your latest read is really interesting to me. I didn't expect anyone to catch it. How I express God. I went to a local church some time ago, and it appalled me that the same program was in practice. A program that I seen as a kid the few times I was in service. Praise, dance. Worship. (Which is beautiful.) Pastor spewing the idea of someone's season is approaching. The idea of hope. So on and so forth.
As a child, I always felt this Sermon had an emptiness about it. Kinda one-sided, in what I felt in my heart. Fast forward. After being heavily in my studies these past few years, I've finally figured out why I left those services feeling spiritually unsatisfied as a child. I discovered more truth. But simple truth. Our God is a loving God. Yes. He's a merciful God. Yes. But he's even more so a God of DISCIPLE. OBEDIENCE. A JEALOUS God. And for every conscious choice of sin, will be corrected through his discipline. Whether physical or mental. Direct or indirect. Through your sufferings, or someone that's close to [sic] ken. It will be corrected.
Hence the concept "The wages of sin is Death." It shall be corrected. As a community, we was taught to pray for our mishaps, and he'll forgive you. Yes, this is true. But he will also reprimand us as well. As a child, I can't recall hearing this in service. Maybe leaders of the church knew it will run off churchgoers? No one wants to hear about karma from the decisions they make. It's a hard truth. We want to hear about hope, salvation, and redemption. Though his son died for our sins, our free will to make whatever choice we want, still allows him to judge us.
So in conclusion, I feel it's my calling to share the joy of God, but with exclamation, more so, the FEAR OF GOD. The balance. Knowing the power in what he can build, and also what he can destroy. At any given moment.
I love when artists sing about what makes Him happy. My balance is to tell you what will make Him extinguish you. Personally, once that idea of real fear registered in my mind, it made me try harder at choosing my battles wisely. Which will forever be tough, because I'm still of flesh. I wanna spread this truth to my listeners. It's a journey, but it will be my key to the Kingdom. And theirs as well. I briefly touched on it in this album, but when he tells me to react, I will take deeper action.
So thank you for your great work. It inspired me to reply with this long ass message. Hopefully, you'll take the time to read mines like I do yours.
Bolded a few sentences that stood out to me. Been listening to a lot of his back catalog these past few days and have caught a similar "vibe" / messaging from them, even going back all the way to Section.80 (Ab-Souls Outro and HiiiPoWeR stand out)
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Motive for what? Kendrick hasn’t hid his reasons for doing all this. In fact, he’s been pretty explicit.
Bro just started listening to the lyrics after the beef lol
I posted about this last year. Let’s not go down this rabbit hole again. Kendrick was in a dark place while making DAMN. and he got wrapped up in seriously misguided religious ideas. A big part of Mr. Morale is letting go of things like this.
Yeah I saw your post, didn't seem to have gained much traction at the time unfortunately
Still need to re-listen to this record. While I'm inclined to agree, what's your rationale for why he's now going this hard/surgical against Drake?
Also, the first half of 6:16 in LA gives me a similar vibe. Perhaps more refined and/or less misguided, but still deeply steeped in religiosity.
Haha, I should have waited until Kendrick was beefing to post 😂
As to your question, it’s really hard to say. Kendrick is a complicated person, so I’m sure his feelings about Drake are just as complicated.
On one hand, I think he’s unhappy that the genre’s leading force is someone entirely disconnected from the black urban experience, exploiting the lived experiences of the culture for personal profit and fame. On the other hand, perhaps he really is deeply uncomfortable with the allegations and rumors regarding OVO and the abuse/crimes they’ve perpetrated.
And then, of course, we have to acknowledge that Kendrick just doesn’t like Drake because of the personal squabbles they’ve had and the latter’s reaction to the “Control” verse. The most personal reason… but also the most petty. It’s just something we have to consider.
But to full circle this, and to the point of your post, Kendrick is still a religious person—despite not being as zealous as he was during the DAMN. era—so all of the above is likely being internalized through that lens.
This is super interesting! Thanks for sharing.
Kendrick is a free soul, he sees how souls are consumed by institutions put on by others by our own minds
He was raised in one, in Compton
He graduated into another one once he found fame
This goes back beyond Kendrick
Bob Dylan being the most impactful
Eminem, another
Cobain could be lumped in there, only fighting or moving on wasn’t worth it anymore.
There have been a handful who have garnered this type of fame as honest artists sharing their truths - Kendrick is definitely one of them, and yeah he’s been talking about it since the beginning bc he can see the human condition from many angles outside his own eyes
In my opinion, this has never been about beef. Just like those other artists, this has been about their “balance”…., their balance just happens to be of great magnitude - Drake is just in the path right now
Good read, thank you for posting.
Wow, as a Catholic, this is a refreshingly solid Christian take. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (note - son-like fear, not slave-like fear. Fear of disappointing your Father, not fear of a master beating you.)
More accurately, deep reverence/respect, is what fear of God means
Yes, absolutely!
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Bro lmao you’re on a Kendrick sub and can’t read a few paragraphs written by him
It doesn’t have anything to do with the beef but it’s a very interesting look into his views on spirituality/religion/God
Tldr; Reading isn't hard
Kendrick grapples with the complexity of choosing his battles and carving the correct path in the eye of God (karma)
Brother this IS the summary
Bro this is literally not even a 5 minute read.