Super Bowl 2025 was a bit of a dud. By halftime, the Eagles were up 24-0 on the Kansas City Chiefs. The hype was low. Everyone was stuffed. Even so, I was still really, really stoked. Kendrick Lamar was about to perform. Easily in my top 5 artists of all time, I was looking forward to watching his performance. We turned the lights down low, volume up, and tuned in. But when I started watching, I just couldn’t get excited. It was definitely visually and sonically impressive. He was playing songs from his new album that I liked. He’s a great performer. I just felt tired. As I was thinking through why, I realized that I was tired of the anger.
Kendrick had been in a months-long feud with fellow rapper Drake. They had gone back and forth and the beef had become bitter and nasty. After a couple back and forths, Kendrick struck the deciding blow with song of the summer, “Not Like Us.” You’ve heard it. It went mega viral. People were singing it in the streets, in stores, when the Dodgers beat the Padres in the NLDS. The song was everywhere. Drake had lost. Nevertheless, Kendrick kept twisting the knife. He held a concert on Juneteenth in LA chock-full of celebrities dancing on stage as he played the hit song back-to-back 5 times. He released a music video for “Not Like us” full of easter eggs and subliminals. He dropped an album that celebrated West Coast rap culture, but also his win over Drake. Then, he was given the biggest stage in sports and music in the Super Bowl. At his half time show, he had Serena Williams, one of the greatest athletes of all time, dancing on stage as he performed. Not as a celebration of her, but because she is one of Drake’s exes. As expected, he played Not like us, again, and had a giant “GAME OVER” light display when he finished his performance. This wasn’t even knife twisting anymore. This was excessive, even gratuitous. I don’t even like Drake, but it just felt like a bit much. He already called Drake a bad father, a pedophile, and said he should die. Drake’s reputation will literally never recover from this beef, why keep going?
The answer is that Kendrick Lamar does not believe in forgiveness anymore. Mercy & forgiveness have been a constant theme throughout his discography. Yet, a close look at his albums reveals that Kendrick has slowly but steadily begun to reject the idea of mercy in favor of punitive justice and reciprocity. This change in worldview has led him to seek vengeance on any and every perceived foe in the last couple years. Sadly, Kendrick’s theological development mirrors that of our culture’s. For the next (probably couple) articles, I will trace this change through his albums. Then, I hope to present a better way, the way of Christ, the way of the cross.
As a caveat, I could be totally wrong. In his private life, Kendrick very well could be a shining example of forgiveness and mercy. I am solely assessing him from the ideology he has been sharing over the last couple of years. Additionally, I am also a huge fan of his. Kendrick’s music has been a constant in my life since Good Kid MAAD City. I do not write this out of malice, but because every time I listen to DAMN, and he says, “Ain’t nobody praying for me”— I pray for him. I really do.
GOOD KID MAAD CITY (GKMC)
To many, GKMC is one of the greatest albums of all time. On its surface, its just really good music— the beats go hard, the lyrics dense, the instrumentation brilliant. There is also a story being told through the album’s 11 songs. Kendricks parent’s are leaving voicemails, he’s thinking through a new love interest, Sherane, he’s dealing with what it means to grow up as a young man in Compton. Yet, throughout it all, he is dealing with the question of forgiveness. In the beginning of the album, Kendrick and his freinds are heard saying the Sinner’s prayer
“Lord God, I come to You a sinner, and I humbly repent for my sins. I believe that Jesus is Lord. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I would ask that Jesus come into my life and be my Lord and Savior. I receive Jesus to take control of my life, and that I may live for Him from this day forth. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me with Your precious blood. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
The reason why is not explained, but it sits there in the background as Kendrick weaves a tale of love, violence, and moral confusion. I hope this goes without saying, but I am not endorsing this album’s contents, but I do find it an important piece of art that Christians should interact in. Definitely use your discretion though. Caveat aside, the reason for the Sinner’s prayer being in the album begins to become clear as it the album continues. In the outro to Swimming Pools, Kendrick’s friend Dave gets killed in a drive-by “Dave, you good? Dave? Dave, say somethin' – Dave? These ********** killed my brother!" The next song, Sing of Me, I’m dying of Thirst, which deserves a piece in its own right, deals in part with the fallout of Dave’s death.
In the song, kendrick is confronted with the death and heartbreak he has seen in his neighborhood. He sees flawed, sinful people, dying while yearning for significance and hope. As he’s doing this he begins to wrestle with his own sin and need for forgiveness.
"Too many sins, I'm runnin' out… Somebody send me a well for the drought, uhWhatever it is, know it's my next grave, uh, tired of runnin', tired of runnin', tired of tumblin', tired of runnin', uh, tired of tumblin' backwards. My momma say, 'See, a pastor give me a promise. What if today was the rapture and you completely tarnished? The truth will set you free, so to me be completely honest. You dyin' of thirst, you dyin' of thirst. So hop in that water, and pray that it works.'
In the outro, Kendricks friends are planning their revenge. They’e going to get even. One of Kendricks friends screams out, “**** I'm tired of this *** I'm tired of runnin', I'm tired of this ***! That’s my brother, homie!” There’s blood in the water, the storms about to break, the levee is about to burst.
Before that happens, however, a voice cuts through the young men’s anger. An old lady (voiced by MAYA ANGELOU, whoa) confronts the young men,
“Young man, come talk to me! Is that what I think that is?” Spotting a gun, she says “I know that's not what I think that is.”
She then says, “Why are you so angry? See you young men are dying of thirst. Do you know what that means? That means you need water, holy water. You need to be baptized, with the spirit of The Lord. Do you want to receive God as your personal savior?”
And now, the Sinner’s Prayer from the album’s beginning returns. The old lady leads the young men through the prayer, and states, “Alright now, remember this day: the start of a new life. Your REAL life.”
Baptized and given new life, the men lay down their guns. Kendrick turns away from the cycle of violence his parents begged him to reject in other songs and chooses to forgive those who killed his friends. Good Kid MAAD City ends on a positive note. People can change. Forgiveness is an option. The Kendrick we see in his next album, To Pimp a Butterfly, begins to doubt this.
To Pimp a Butterfly (TPAB)
TPAB released my senior year of highschool. In those days, I was driving a 1992 Volvo 960. My dad helped me install a stereo, and my friend Shawn and I would drive around town listening to this album while talking about life. This song was the soundtrack to my senior year, that weird gap between adolescence and adulthood, a season of trepidation and fear. I wish I could go back in time, just sit in the back of the seat unnoticed, and listen to Shawn and I talk about life. This album means a lot to me. It helped me get through some hard stuff. I love Kendrick for TPAB.
To Pimp a Butterfly is a wildly ambitious album. It is equal parts funk, jazz and rap. Kendrick rejoices in life, while also contemplating death. Its not an easy listen, but it is a listen that will stay with you long after the last track ends. In TPAB, Kendrick grapples with survivor’s guilt and suicidal thoughts, while also being tempted by the devil, a recurring character named “Lucy” who appears throughout the album's songs and skits. Kendrick deals with these issues and comes out the other side a stronger man. The penultimate song “I” is a celebration of life and a thankfulness to come out the valley of the shadow of death whole,
“I done been through a whole lot, Trial, tribulation, but I know God, Satan wanna put me in a bow tie, Pray that the holy water don't go dry.”
Even so, the album’s last song, Mortal Man, ends on a foreboding note. The of the song is a spoken word piece. Bits and pieces of it have been played in TPAB’s outros, but it is here in full. In this song, Kendrick is talking to the late Tupac Shakur. He is confessing his weaknesses to him while also seeking guidance. With the success of GKMC, Kendrick traveled the world. He learned about the shared struggles of his people and working class people all over the globe. Now he’s angry, and he does not know what to do about it.
He asks Tupac, “Aight well, how long will you think it take before… We fighting a war, I'm fighting a war I can't win, And I wanna lay it all down.” Tupac does not assuage his fears. Rather, he stokes his anger and predicts future bloodshed. He almost encourages Kendrick to fight the war, to choose unforgiveness and violence.
Kendrick, is still hesitant, however. He responds with a plea, we still have music. We can still seek mutual understanding through the sharing of our life experiences with music. If we do that, we can come to a place where we understand and respect one another. Maybe, we can even learn from each other.
After that, Kendrick reads Tupac one last poem. It is a reflection on how life difficulty and trauma can make one stronger, and even beautiful. As he reads, you get the sense that thats what he wants to be. He wants to be a better man. He wants to make beautiful things. His heart yearns for the good true and beautiful.
As he finishes the poem, he asks Tupac what he thinks and gets no reply. The album ends as Kendrick calls out for Tupac with growing distress, “Pac? Pac? Pac?!” There is only silence.
Maybe, Tupac does not approve of this life change. Maybe he doesn’t think its possible. Maybe, he knows the look in Kendrick’s eyes all too well. He too, was a man who liked poetry. He too, wanted something better for his people. Nonetheless, he was not able to break the cycle that Kendrick seeks to. Maybe his silence is a quiet hope. Maybe it is a disheartened turning away. TPAB’s ending is a challenging and haunting one.
The Kendrick we see in DAMN is a hardened and angry one. It seems like he chose between the two paths laid out before him, and its heartbreaking. I’ve gone on a bit too long, so I will be doing a deep dive into DAMN in a second post.
It’s sad and funny to think of the Drake beef with GKMC in mind. KDot says in The Art of Peer Pressure, “usually I’m a sober soul… usually I’m a peacemaker, but I’m with the homies right now.” Not much peace being made nowadays. Great article.