USA - 2022
Conscious Hip Hop, West Coast Hip Hop, Pop Rap, Trap, Neo-Soul
Are we born guilty ? “Eight billion people on Earth, silent murderers / Non-profits, preachers and church, crooks and burglars / Hollywood corporate in school, teachin’ philosophies / You either gon’ be more dead or in jail, killer psychology” If your family is carrying a generationnal trauma, even if you’re not aware of it, your life will no matter what be impacted by this secret. “Now I'm affected, twenty years later trauma has resurfaced / Amplified as I write this song, I shiver 'cause I'm nervous / I was five, questioning myself, 'lone for many years”. If you’re born a man, there are many chances you’ll become an oppressor to fit in. “You entertainin’ old friends when they toxic”. Childhood is the moment when we build ourselves as individuals while burying destruction. But the age of destruction reveals its face in the end, when growing up and building a home on the foundations of who you are. The cover of Mr Morale & The Big Steppers is Kendrick Lamar’s vision. We see him standing, the one who’s about to act, with his daughter in his arms, looking at us, she’s the future. The room is a safe place, his wife Whitney Alford is sitting on a bed with their son Enoch. The bed is the only furniture, a place to rest, a place of lust too. Kendrick has a gun hidden from the sight of his family to protect himself from the outside, from himself, and a crown of thorns his fans made him wear. There are cracks in the wall that are not hidden, because now is the time to heal the deep, deep wounds that are about to bring destuction back and kill everything you love.
“Can I open up ? Is it safe or not ? / I’m afraid a little, you relate or not ? Have faith a little, I might take my time / Ain’t no saving face this time”. Whitney Alford… « the purest soul I know », she is the one thanks to whom Mr Morale was born. « You really need some therapy » she tells him on Father Time, and Kendrick answers « Real n**** need no therapy, fuck you talkin’ about ? » Here Kendrick plays a character because he wants to bring Black people and Black men on his journey so they can relate. And healing always start with rejection and denial first. You cannot show people how to escape toxic masculinity and generational trauma if you don’t start by stating you’re one of them. And accountability is one of the biggest themes developed here. To acknowledge you also are a big stepper, everyone has a big stepper inside, that’s Worldwide Steppers. Still on Father Time, Kendrick claims « I come from a generation of home invasions and I got daddy issues, that’s on me ». He immediately understands he cannot burdens his wife and children with his own problems. « ’Til then, give the women a break, grow men with daddy issues ». Toxic masculinity is everywhere, that’s United in Grief and a lot of other songs, and that makes the place of women essential in Mr Morale. «You the reason, we overlooked, underpaid, under-booked, under shame / If you look, I don’t speak, then I’m called on my name / I am flawed, I am pained, never yours, I remained” says Taylour Page on We Cry Together. Kendrick Lamar is part of a global and cultural problem engraved in misogyny.
The brutal song recorded with the actress Taylour Page remains one of the most important highlight of the year, mostly because of how raw and ugly it feels. Kendrick said it, ain’t no saving face anymore. We see it all, the flaws, the fights, the infidelity. And around him a few voices. The big steppers, Baby Keem, Kodak Black, each of them having an interlude to talk about their inner struggles. Then the people of light, Whitney, the therapist Eckhart Tolle, his children. And the sadness. I don’t think I’ve read this word many times on reviews of Mr Morale but it’s been a while since I heard a hip-hop album reaching this level of sadness. The piano outro of Savior Interlude, the ending of Count Me Out, Mother I Sober, United in Grief, Crown, the feeling of Rich Spirit. A rich spirit, coping mechanisms. The war of egos and losing yourself in ostentatious wealth. “I watched Keem buy four cars in four months / You know the family dynamics on repeat”. Kendrick’s coping mechanisms always are a way for him to escape both the racist society and the scars he bears. But when you take off all those protections on N95, what’s left of you ? Do you drown with the sharks outside or do you find safety and guidance ? What’s sure is that Kendrick had a lot of troubles letting go of his most toxic coping mechanism, lust, infidelity.
On United in Grief he uses the sweet monicker « green eyes » to mention one of the women he slept with, filled with regrets, but two songs later the lust interest becomes the « white bitch » on Worldwide Steppers, filled with anger. The next time lust reappears on the front row is during We Cry Together where the ending shows the couple « sex the pain away ». But Whitney says… « Stop tap-dancing around the conversation ». Tap-dancing sounds can be heard in many songs, the beginning of Worldwide Steppers and Father Time, the ending of We Cry Together and Count Me Out : always during moments when Kendrick refuses to continue his therapy, alway when toxic masculinity resurfaces. And the moment when all of this ends happens during the most devastating, soul crushing and important song since I don’t know when, Mother I Sober. « Mother cried, put they hands on her, it was family ties / I heard it all, I should’ve grabbed a gun, but I was only five / I still feel it weighin’ on my heart, my first desicion ». How do you reach a situation where a five year-old kid believe he should kill someone ? Perpetual trauma. Mother I Sober is the moment when Kendrick Lamar addresses the time his mother was abused while he was a child, and how this shaped her protective behavior, always asking if his cousin abused him, not believing him when he answers « No. ». On the chorus, legend Beth Gibbons uses her wounded but eerie voice to act like an escapism tool to avoid looking at this core moment, and at the same time bringing him strength ad comfort, like the soothing eyes of his family creating a safe place for Kendrick to finally talk about this.
« Transformation, you ain’t felt grief ‘til you felt it sober ». Then, « Blame myself, you never felt guilt ‘til you felt it sober ». If Kendrick doesn’t drink, his sobriety has to do with his lust addiction, but there’s something else here. « I startin’ rhymin’, copin’ mechanisms to lift up myself ». To paraphrase this, if Kendrick Lamar started rapping, it was a way for him to join a culture with common experiences of generational traumas. The hip-hop culture is based, among other things, on a way to escape the difficulties of your daily life, it’s a political struggle. But if hip-hop was created as a coping mechanism for Black traumas, bringing many toxic mechanisms like misoginy, toxic masculinity and denial, what Kendrick Lamar wants to do here, is also to heal hip-hop. And this factor also appears in the song Auntie Diaries. « My auntie is a man now », « Demetrius is Mary-Ann now ». Kendrick talks about two people in his family, his uncle and her cousin, who transitioned, his uncle being a very important person to him, since it was « the first person I seen write a rap / That’s when my life had changed ». This is both an intimate and general song about transphobia and understanding, and if Kendrick alternates good and wrong pronouns throughout the song, it’s because his understanding of trans identity is still beginning. And if this subject comes back in one of his songs, he’ll have to do better.
Kendrick also explains how the f-slur is used during childhood as a way to act manly, to prove you’re nothing like a woman, but a man, meaning someone who will bury his traumas deep down and reject emotions. I’ve read a lof of things about the use of the f-slur, and indeed it can be hurtful, but who is he talking to here ? Good kid M.A.A.D city, Mr Morale, Kendrick Lamar always talk to Black people first. Just like when he insulted Whitney because she recommended therapy, he wants to share a common experience with the who are listening. And when the song ends with its uplifting structure, « The day I chose humanity over religion », while always acknowledging his responsibility, « I said them F-bombs, I ain’t know any better », he ends with « F***** f***** f*****, we can say it together / But only if you let a white girl say “N****». Here, Kendrick Lamar positions himself as the last rapper to ever use the f-slur. Now, this knowledge is a part of hip-hop and Black culture and every rapper using the f-slur in a song starting from now on cannot say he didn’t know. Because Kendrick said it. And this is education. So now we come full circle. The album opening line was « I hope you find some peace of mind » sung by Sam Dew, and Mother I Sober ends with Whitney and his children thanking him for breaking a « generatioal curse »/ Tears come to my eyes every single time I hear this. Finally, Sam Dew’s voices says, « Before I go in fast asleep, love me for me / I bare my soul and now we’re free ». Then Mirror, the epilogue.
In a line both addressed to his children and his audience, Kendrick says “Still, you won’t grow waiting on me”. There is this unhealthy relationship to artists where fans always expect them to release new music. As if the day they released the album we already learned everything they had to say. As if artists owed us music, so we can see how they grow as a person, so we stare at them and grow too. But our personal growth shouldn’t be depending on artists. “Faith in one man is a ship sinking.” That’s why we shouldn’t be expecting any new music by Kendrick Lamar soon, there’s already so much to unpack inside of Mr Morale, and so much things haven’t been said yet about his previous albums. And the last line of the epilogue says it all, on of the most brilliant line he ever wrote, and already one of his most famous, “Sorry I didn’t save the world, my friend / I was too busy buildin’ mine again”. I think the only way to end this text is to leave it unfinished, I’m not going to say a final word because this is one of those albums we always need to talk about, analyze and learn from in order to hear how we can act to free ourselves too. Are we born guilty ? What to say about this now ?
“Can I open up ? Is it safe or not ? / I’m afraid a little, you relate or not ? Have faith a little, I might take my time / Ain’t no saving face this time”. Whitney Alford… « the purest soul I know », she is the one thanks to whom Mr Morale was born. « You really need some therapy » she tells him on Father Time, and Kendrick answers « Real n**** need no therapy, fuck you talkin’ about ? » Here Kendrick plays a character because he wants to bring Black people and Black men on his journey so they can relate. And healing always start with rejection and denial first. You cannot show people how to escape toxic masculinity and generational trauma if you don’t start by stating you’re one of them. And accountability is one of the biggest themes developed here. To acknowledge you also are a big stepper, everyone has a big stepper inside, that’s Worldwide Steppers. Still on Father Time, Kendrick claims « I come from a generation of home invasions and I got daddy issues, that’s on me ». He immediately understands he cannot burdens his wife and children with his own problems. « ’Til then, give the women a break, grow men with daddy issues ». Toxic masculinity is everywhere, that’s United in Grief and a lot of other songs, and that makes the place of women essential in Mr Morale. «You the reason, we overlooked, underpaid, under-booked, under shame / If you look, I don’t speak, then I’m called on my name / I am flawed, I am pained, never yours, I remained” says Taylour Page on We Cry Together. Kendrick Lamar is part of a global and cultural problem engraved in misogyny.
The brutal song recorded with the actress Taylour Page remains one of the most important highlight of the year, mostly because of how raw and ugly it feels. Kendrick said it, ain’t no saving face anymore. We see it all, the flaws, the fights, the infidelity. And around him a few voices. The big steppers, Baby Keem, Kodak Black, each of them having an interlude to talk about their inner struggles. Then the people of light, Whitney, the therapist Eckhart Tolle, his children. And the sadness. I don’t think I’ve read this word many times on reviews of Mr Morale but it’s been a while since I heard a hip-hop album reaching this level of sadness. The piano outro of Savior Interlude, the ending of Count Me Out, Mother I Sober, United in Grief, Crown, the feeling of Rich Spirit. A rich spirit, coping mechanisms. The war of egos and losing yourself in ostentatious wealth. “I watched Keem buy four cars in four months / You know the family dynamics on repeat”. Kendrick’s coping mechanisms always are a way for him to escape both the racist society and the scars he bears. But when you take off all those protections on N95, what’s left of you ? Do you drown with the sharks outside or do you find safety and guidance ? What’s sure is that Kendrick had a lot of troubles letting go of his most toxic coping mechanism, lust, infidelity.
On United in Grief he uses the sweet monicker « green eyes » to mention one of the women he slept with, filled with regrets, but two songs later the lust interest becomes the « white bitch » on Worldwide Steppers, filled with anger. The next time lust reappears on the front row is during We Cry Together where the ending shows the couple « sex the pain away ». But Whitney says… « Stop tap-dancing around the conversation ». Tap-dancing sounds can be heard in many songs, the beginning of Worldwide Steppers and Father Time, the ending of We Cry Together and Count Me Out : always during moments when Kendrick refuses to continue his therapy, alway when toxic masculinity resurfaces. And the moment when all of this ends happens during the most devastating, soul crushing and important song since I don’t know when, Mother I Sober. « Mother cried, put they hands on her, it was family ties / I heard it all, I should’ve grabbed a gun, but I was only five / I still feel it weighin’ on my heart, my first desicion ». How do you reach a situation where a five year-old kid believe he should kill someone ? Perpetual trauma. Mother I Sober is the moment when Kendrick Lamar addresses the time his mother was abused while he was a child, and how this shaped her protective behavior, always asking if his cousin abused him, not believing him when he answers « No. ». On the chorus, legend Beth Gibbons uses her wounded but eerie voice to act like an escapism tool to avoid looking at this core moment, and at the same time bringing him strength ad comfort, like the soothing eyes of his family creating a safe place for Kendrick to finally talk about this.
« Transformation, you ain’t felt grief ‘til you felt it sober ». Then, « Blame myself, you never felt guilt ‘til you felt it sober ». If Kendrick doesn’t drink, his sobriety has to do with his lust addiction, but there’s something else here. « I startin’ rhymin’, copin’ mechanisms to lift up myself ». To paraphrase this, if Kendrick Lamar started rapping, it was a way for him to join a culture with common experiences of generational traumas. The hip-hop culture is based, among other things, on a way to escape the difficulties of your daily life, it’s a political struggle. But if hip-hop was created as a coping mechanism for Black traumas, bringing many toxic mechanisms like misoginy, toxic masculinity and denial, what Kendrick Lamar wants to do here, is also to heal hip-hop. And this factor also appears in the song Auntie Diaries. « My auntie is a man now », « Demetrius is Mary-Ann now ». Kendrick talks about two people in his family, his uncle and her cousin, who transitioned, his uncle being a very important person to him, since it was « the first person I seen write a rap / That’s when my life had changed ». This is both an intimate and general song about transphobia and understanding, and if Kendrick alternates good and wrong pronouns throughout the song, it’s because his understanding of trans identity is still beginning. And if this subject comes back in one of his songs, he’ll have to do better.
Kendrick also explains how the f-slur is used during childhood as a way to act manly, to prove you’re nothing like a woman, but a man, meaning someone who will bury his traumas deep down and reject emotions. I’ve read a lof of things about the use of the f-slur, and indeed it can be hurtful, but who is he talking to here ? Good kid M.A.A.D city, Mr Morale, Kendrick Lamar always talk to Black people first. Just like when he insulted Whitney because she recommended therapy, he wants to share a common experience with the who are listening. And when the song ends with its uplifting structure, « The day I chose humanity over religion », while always acknowledging his responsibility, « I said them F-bombs, I ain’t know any better », he ends with « F***** f***** f*****, we can say it together / But only if you let a white girl say “N****». Here, Kendrick Lamar positions himself as the last rapper to ever use the f-slur. Now, this knowledge is a part of hip-hop and Black culture and every rapper using the f-slur in a song starting from now on cannot say he didn’t know. Because Kendrick said it. And this is education. So now we come full circle. The album opening line was « I hope you find some peace of mind » sung by Sam Dew, and Mother I Sober ends with Whitney and his children thanking him for breaking a « generatioal curse »/ Tears come to my eyes every single time I hear this. Finally, Sam Dew’s voices says, « Before I go in fast asleep, love me for me / I bare my soul and now we’re free ». Then Mirror, the epilogue.
In a line both addressed to his children and his audience, Kendrick says “Still, you won’t grow waiting on me”. There is this unhealthy relationship to artists where fans always expect them to release new music. As if the day they released the album we already learned everything they had to say. As if artists owed us music, so we can see how they grow as a person, so we stare at them and grow too. But our personal growth shouldn’t be depending on artists. “Faith in one man is a ship sinking.” That’s why we shouldn’t be expecting any new music by Kendrick Lamar soon, there’s already so much to unpack inside of Mr Morale, and so much things haven’t been said yet about his previous albums. And the last line of the epilogue says it all, on of the most brilliant line he ever wrote, and already one of his most famous, “Sorry I didn’t save the world, my friend / I was too busy buildin’ mine again”. I think the only way to end this text is to leave it unfinished, I’m not going to say a final word because this is one of those albums we always need to talk about, analyze and learn from in order to hear how we can act to free ourselves too. Are we born guilty ? What to say about this now ?