Sound and sociology: The art of storytelling pt.1

In this three-part mini-series, I will go over three of my favorite storytellers in music, starting with the Pulitzer Prize winner himself — Kendrick Lamar — who is known for being a phenomenal storyteller, with all four of his studio albums with Top Dog Entertainment being conceptual works that tell a cohesive story from start to finish. 

If each album were a book, each song serves as a chapter to move the plot forward.  There have been so many papers, video essays and podcasts discussing each of his albums in depth, but I want to focus on how his specific method of storytelling makes him stand out from the rest of his peers. 

“Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” was released in October 2012 and is Kendrick’s debut studio album with Top Dawg. With some of the most iconic entries within his entire discography, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” sits at 12 tracks and runs just over an hour long. The entire album takes place over the course of one day, following a young Kendrick and his friends as they spend a night out in the streets. 

Upon release, the album was immediately met with critical acclaim, being hailed as a classic by both younger and older listeners alike. Even now many people hold it in contention for one of the greatest albums of all time, solidifying Kendrick’s spot at the top. 

Majority of the story is told through skits and voicemails at the end of each song. The plot follows a 17-year-old Kendrick during a night out on the town where he and his friends freestyle with one another in the backseat of his van, nearly get stopped by the cops after a home invasion, almost get set up while dropping Kendrick off at a girl’s house, and eventually get caught in a shoot-out that claims the life of Kendrick’s best friend, Dave. 

The production of the album is by no means anything to sleep on. Just like the lyrics, the instrumentation serves to further immerse the audience in the world that Kendrick has expertly crafted. From the low drone synths and bass that give off a night time vibe in “The Art of Peer Pressure,” to the Janet Jackson sample used in “Poetic Justice,” each song perfectly matches the tone of that particular chapter in the story. 

While so much of Kendrick’s storytelling capabilities rely on the context of the album as a whole, there are a few songs on this album that I think exemplify rap storytelling in a more traditional way, and the one that I want to start with is the very first song on the tracklist: “"Sherane a.k.a Master Splinter's Daughter.”

“Sherane” opens at the end of the album with Kendrick and his friends reciting the Sinner’s Prayer. Shortly after Dave is gunned down,  Kendrick and his friends are plotting to get their revenge when an elderly woman — voiced by Maya Angelou — intervenes and gives them an impromptu baptism on the sidewalk — hence the prayer we hear at the beginning. 

The song then jumps forward to the very middle of the story, where Kendrick is planning to meet up with a girl named Sherane whom he had been talking to for a few months. The lyrics go over the history the two share and how whipped Kendrick was after meeting her at a house party. The song ends with Kendrick arriving at the apartment complex where Sherane stays at and noticing two men waiting outside to jump him, but before anything can happen, he’s interrupted by a call from his mother nagging for him to return her van. 

With sexually provocative lyrics, a constant shift between past and present narration, and a low drone melody with sprinkles of funk elements, the song perfectly exudes the feeling of taking a late-night drive to a sneaky link. From the song opening in medias res, to the small time jump forward to the middle of the album, and the masterful storytelling within the lyrics, “Sherane” perfectly  encapsulates the journey the listener is likely to go on over the course of the next hour and 13 minutes. 

Moving on to arguably his best official release, “To Pimp a Butterfly” (“TPAB”) — released March 15, 2015 — is Kendrick’s second major label album. I think it’s important to note that Kendrick released the album a day after 2Pac’s “Me Against the World” came out on March 14 — 20 years prior — signifying Kendrick’s role as the successor to the late rapper, and the one to carry the torch of West Coast rap. 

With a complete stylistic difference from his previous work, “TPAB” has a much heavier jazz and funk influence, and themes that revolve around blaxploitation, depression, systemic oppression and survivor's remorse, just to name a few. 

With 16 tracks spanning the course of an hour and 19 minutes, “TPAB” structures the narrative with a poem that gets expanded upon with nearly every song. 

Picking up after the success of “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City,” Kendrick feels as though he’s on top of the world, and with more money and fame than he even knows what to do with, so he begins to indulge in everything he thought he ever wanted.

However, the life he thought he left behind continues. While he’s on tour, family and friends he left in Compton fall victim to gun violence and other products of their circumstances. 

The trauma of his past, coupled with his survivor’s guilt sends Kendrick on a downward spiral, leading him back home to Compton in search of answers to his problems. 

It isn’t until he takes a trip to South Africa that he’s able to find clarity in the midst of all of the chaos. 

“To Pimp A Butterfly”  culminates with Kendrick sharing the poem and his story with Tupac Shakur, using audio from an unreleased interview with the late rapper to create a conversation that transcends time. 

“TPAB” is a masterpiece that has yet to be bested in what it seeks to do and is — in my opinion — Kendrick Lamar’s magnum opus. 

The story is much more tightly knit and cohesive than the rest of his studio albums, and each song does an amazing job of connecting the subject matter of the lyrics to the actual purpose of the song in the overall story. 

While songs like “u” and “The Blacker the Berry” capture the ugly rawness of Kendrick’s inner turmoil, “i” and “Alright” shed an optimistic outlook on things. However, no song captures the feel and themes of the album better than the very first track, “Wesley's Theory.” 

“Wesley’s Theory” opens with a sample of Boris Gardiner’s “Every N***ger is a Star,” which already foreshadows the themes of blaxploitation present throughout "TPAB ". 

There is narration from both Josef Leimberg and George Clinton. There are producing credits from Soundwave, Thundercat, Flying Lotus and Ronald Colson. And Kendrick delivers a rapid and energetic flow with his rhymes. All of this gives birth to a bombastic, funkadelic intro with a vibe that drastically contrasts the morbid subject matter of the lyrics. 

Kendrick raps about what he plans to accomplish after the success of his first studio album — and much like any 20-something year-old with too much money on his hands — he intends on buying on the most superficial and materialistic items: guns, women, cars, etc. But everything comes with a price — and being oblivious to the way in which labels trap and exploit artists — Kendrick doesn't realize that all of his spending will catch up to him in the future. 

The most damning portion of the song is the very last verse where Uncle Sam — a metaphor for American consumerism — acts as the devil on Kendrick’s shoulder and coaxes him into continuing his poor spending habits, urging him to disregard all of the repercussions that come with it. 

In terms of album openers, this is a perfect example of how to do it. “Wesley’s Theory” establishes the themes and topics in a way that isn't too on the nose, but also doesn't leave the listener too uninterested to continue on with the project. As far as storytelling goes, “Wesley’s Theory” exemplifies all of the qualities that make Kendrick stand out amongst his peers.