It's been five years since the world was graced with the no-skip album from Lamar. This piece has won a Grammy, Pulitzer Prize, NAACP Image Award, Billboard Music Awards, BET Awards, and more.
Last Thursday marked the five-year anniversary of DAMN.
April 14, 2017.
I remember the season when it was released. I remember playing the album, and loving every song individually:
1.Blood
2. DNA
3. Yah
4. Element
5. Feel
6. Loyalty
7. Pride
8. Humble
9. Lust
10. Love
11.XXX
12. Fear
13. God
14. Duckworth
Once you get to the very last song Duckworth you hear this incredible true story about Lamar's father and Top Dawg crossing paths when Lamar was just a child.
Duckworth, Lamar's father, worked at a KFC which Tiffith, Top Dawg, frequented often, and robbed the previous year. With this knowledge in mind, Duckworth always slid the rapper some extra chicken and biscuits to avoid any possible conflict. We learn in the song "Duckworth" that the day did come when Tiffith terrorized that KFC with Duckworth in the window. And fortunately the father was spared.
Lamar analyzes that encounter from a different "what-if" perspective in the song "Duckworth":
"Then you start reminding them 'bout that chicken incident
Whoever thought the greatest rapper
Would be from coincidence
Because if Anthony killed Ducky
Top Dawg could be servin' life
While I grew up without a father and die in a gunfight"
Then we learn to listen to the album in reverse...
The fourteen track album contains three main features :
Rihanna on Loyalty - The fresh song with Rihanna - where can you go wrong with that? The music video is has a dangerous theme which loyalty can be at times.
Zacari on Love - The love song of the album. A beautiful "euphoric" song, that brings a different element to the album.
U2 on XXX - The chaos of the album. A perfect representation of the chaos America is..
"The great American flag
Is wrapped and dragged with explosives
Compulsive disorder, sons and daughters
Barricaded blocks and borders
Look what you taught us
It's murder on my street, your street, back streets
Wall street, corporate offices, banks
Employees and bosses with homicidal thoughts
Donald Trump's in office, we lost Barack
And promised to never doubt him again"
Kendrick Lamar's genius was spread all over this album. I personally noticed how he grouped certain songs together:
Blood, DNA, Element
Feel & Loyalty
Pride & Humble
Lust & Love
Fear, God, Duckworth
K-Dot is coming out of retirement!
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