By Judah Breitbach
I wish my first time had been with the lights off. No distractions. Nothing but the bumping bass and Kendrick Lamar snarling “Got war and peace inside my DNA, I got power, poison, pain inside my DNA.” Kung Fu Kenny’s latest set commands a listening experience associated with demi-gods like Miles Davis, The Who, or Yo Yo Ma.
The contrast of Kung Fu Kenny’s acrobatic rhymes in “HUMBLE” and the melodic interludes of “LOVE” allow your second time to take place anywhere, anytime, the oeuvre molding the environment, inflicting its will, changing the mood as each track sees fit.
Yet each track segues to the next with grace.
My second time was in the car, rain pounding on my windshield, thoughts swirling with the emotions of each song, “PRIDE,” “HUMBLE,” “LOVE” and “FEAR.”
Lamar orchestrates each to capture the moment in his lyrics.
Growing from the circumstances of his older LP’s, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City” and “To Pimp a Butterfly,” “DAMN.” might have been the most anticipated of the year.
“Good Kid” is a stark insider’s viewpoint of a young man’s life in Compton.
“To Pimp” speaks of breaking through the proverbial walls of West Piru street in Compton, the street that birthed the Bloods, and making it to the big stage, being put on a pedestal, misunderstood and confused, while still taking advantage of the riches and feeling guilty about it.
Birthed from the two before it, “DAMN.” demands respect and sobers the listener to the realities of Lamar’s situation, which he insists throughout his album triumvirate isn’t unique.
For this reason, “DAMN” shies away from “Good Kid” in the sense that he lets the listener and the world know that he’s pissed, life is hard, and he wants the hell outta compton. K.?
This sets the stage for the next two.
They play second fiddle only because they wouldn’t have the same connotations without “Good Kid” setting the scene.
Even the title of that first album sets a tone for the other two. M.A.A.D. stands for “Me, An Angel on Angel Dust,” referring to the hallucinogenic drug phencyclidine hydrochloride.
This isn’t the only time Lamar refers to influential substances and their impact on the community in Compton especially.
He references the peer pressure around the abuse of substances. Alcohol in the case of “Swimming Pools (Drank).”
He mentions the same in “The Art of Peer Pressure.”
His childhood in Compton was influenced by those around him, but they weren’t the cause of his struggles.
Lamar wonders throughout “To Pimp a Butterfly” if 40 acres and a mule were enough to repay freed slaves after their emancipation. K.dot wants reparation. Okay?
“DAMN.” wants you to know, Kendrick is here to stay. Do you understand?