Yuhaen - Week 11: The Power of Lyrics
We all witnessed one of the most important Super Bowl half-time performances last Sunday during the Super Bowl LIX, where Kendrick Lamar stormed on stage and brought the West Coast to New Orleans. His performance brought icons such as Serena Williams and Samuel Jackson dancing to his hit song “Not Like Us,” which directly addressed his industry rival, Drake. The energy and competitiveness of his music brought the stadium to life as fans chanted the iconic lyrics to his song.
Music is a form of expression. Artists can craft careful narratives through powerful lyrics and beats, controlling the rhythm and tempo that they intend for listeners to follow. Many artists like Kendrick imbue their lyrics with emotion and purpose, delivering a profound message and experience for fans. In many of his songs, he reflects on his past traumas growing up and guides the listener throughout the tracks. His thematic and thoughtful lyrics earn him accolades like the Pulitzer Prize and Grammys.
A prime example of this was in the song “reincarnated” on his latest album “GNX.” Kendrick takes the voice of different musicians like John Lee Hooker, Billie Holiday, and Tupac Shakur as he is a “reincarnation” of them. He even imitated the rapping style of these artists, while delivering lyrics that outlined their lives and deaths. Just through a beat and thoughtful lyrics, Kendrick brought the listener on a journey and to a destination.
There are musicians who make ear candy and those who bring meaning and messages through lyrics. Music can transform listeners’ outlooks on life and can even provide comfort during difficult times.
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ReplyDeleteHey, Yuhaen. I was especially keen to read your blog as I was looking forward to seeing Kendrick Lamar’s halftime performance being written about. Ever since Kendrick’s show stopping “5 of 7” grammy run at the 2025 awards show, the show was simply buzzing to display Kendrick’s precise planning in his goals.
ReplyDeleteAs if GNX didn’t already give rap fans enough to chew and theorize about, the halftime performance was packed to the brim with symbolism and political statements beyond simply rap. I find it incredibly fitting after our last common assessment essay that much of Kendrick’s storytelling related to the “American Dream” or as Samuel L. Jackson put it, “The Great American Game.”
I also liked how you pointed out Kendrick had paid homage to many old-school rappers like “Tupac Shakur” or late-80s to 90s hip-hop samples in general. In comparison to Drake’s AI use of Tupac in a diss track to Kendrick, their beef has shown both the right and wrong ways of going about using legendary and late artists like Tupac in modern-day rap. Thanks for the fun read, Yuhaen! See you Wednesday! - Rafael Montes Barrera
Hello Yuhaendan! The content of your Blog really intrigued me! For me personally, Kendrick Lamar is my favorite rapper and artist of all time. I agree with the message that you are talking about in your Blog, that lyrics can play a huge role in emotions and the way individuals interpret them can vary per person. Music is definitely something that a lot of people around the world can relate to. It becomes a cause for them to express their emotions, and also something that makes them feel not alone in this world. You mentioned the half-time show, and how Kendrick Lamar brought out Uncle Sam and Serena Williams, and I feel that the whole show was a way for Kendrick to get his message across to the rest of the world. I am still unsure about parts of the message that he was trying to portray, however, with the use of TikTok, I have been able to get a couple of various interpretations about his song choices and the way he sang those songs as well.
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