person's hand holding microphone

In Buddhism, anger is described as an emotion with a “honeyed tip” and a “poison root.” There’s no doubt that the honeyed tip of anger permeated the battle between Kendrick and Drake. Though the tracks are all laced with brutal personal and professional attacks, both artists benefited from the affair. Most tend to agree, though, that Kendrick won the day.

 

By Claire Parsons

As a teacher of mindfulness, I often look for examples to demonstrate concepts and make them relevant to real life.

Last year, Kendrick Lamar’s lyrical battle with Drake provided one of the best examples of the impact of anger that I have ever seen. The battle started when Kendrick claimed in March that he was supreme among rappers and Drake retaliated with a diss track against Lamar. By this time, though, Kendrick Lamar had already done more than enough to prove his lyrical skill.

True to the initial boast that got Drake’s goat, is the fact that Lamar is a Pulitzer Prize winner and the first and only rapper to date to earn such recognition. Over the next two months, the intensity and pace of the insult tracks increased, culminating with Lamar’s knockout viral hit, Not Like Us.

What the Rap Battle Shows Us about Anger

In Buddhism, anger is described as an emotion with a “honeyed tip” and a “poison root.” There’s no doubt that the honeyed tip of anger permeated the battle between Kendrick and Drake. Though the tracks are all laced with brutal personal and professional attacks, both artists benefited from the affair. Most tend to agree, though, that Kendrick won the day.

He earned a huge increase in streams, some of the highest and longest spots atop the charts of his career, and 5 Grammy wins. And, if you know anything about his history, he saw a surge of creativity in a short time.

Prior to the battle, there was a five-year gap between the release of Lamar’s Pulitzer-winning album, Damn, and his next album, Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. During the battle, though, he released several tracks in less than 2 months and a new album before the year’s end.

The Honeyed Tip of Anger

Though I don’t claim to be a rap expert or a Lamar fan dating back to his K-Dot days, my husband’s nagging and Kendrick’s collaborations with artists I love eventually helped me realize the lyrical genius, courage, and sincerity he brings to his music. As I watched the battle unfold, my first thought was, “what was Drake thinking?” but my second thought was, “will Kendrick get stuck in this stuff?”

Not that Kendrick didn’t have a right to be angry, but I suspected that he had other and arguably bigger fish to fry as an artist and entrepreneur. As a lawyer, I know exactly how anger can suck you in, bore its poisoned root right into the core of your being, and take over your life. This made me wonder how Kendrick might move on from anger after wielding it so deftly and being rewarded so mightily for it.

But Can You Avoid the Poison Root?

Then in December, my questions were answered with the release of Lamar’s latest album, GNX. I listened to it for more bops, of course, but I was also listening to identify the things that Kendrick did to regain steadiness after the furious battle with Drake.

With Kendrick’s Super Bowl Halftime show approaching and Drake’s litigation about Not Like Us pending, GNX can’t be read as Kendrick burying the hatchet. But, as a lawyer who gets into squabbles with others in my profession from time to time, I liked seeing how Kendrick didn’t get lost in anger either.

What Is Anger Protecting?

The first track on GNX, wacced out murals, is deceptive in this regard. If anger had a sound, it would be this song. Or to be more precise, if righteous fury had a sound, it would be this song.

In it, Lamar talks about the attacks on his character, family, and legacy without mentioning Drake by name. It wouldn’t be inaccurate to summarize the song as Lamar’s poetic monologue telling off everyone who doesn’t have his back. But the end of the song reveals something deeper and true about anger for most of us: it’s often protecting something.

In the final lines, clearly referencing his music, Lamar traces his history from growing up in Compton to becoming a star and says of his music that he “bared” his soul and “put his heart up in it.” In doing so, Lamar isn’t just expressing anger; he’s telling us what his anger was protecting. And the reason, as you can hear more clearly on the tracks reincarnated, man at the garden, and gloria, is that he cares deeply, even perhaps spiritually, about his music, its meaning—and its impact.

Remember Who You Are

Another strategy that Lamar employs on GNX is a classic one: going back to what you know. After a major battle in life, it’s normal to ask oneself “how did I get here?” Not only does it make sense to debrief about the battle itself, but it can also help to go back, way far back, to one’s foundation.

As the album title and cover make clear, this is a significant theme in GNX. In case you are not a car person, I will save you a Google. The GNX was the Buick Grand National Experimental. It was released in 1987, the year of Lamar’s birth, and was famous for beating a Ferrari in a road race. References to the car pull double duty on the album by calling to mind the defeat of Drake and Lamar’s own personal history, since his father was driving the car when he was born.

Recall Your Place in Community

Lamar, though, doesn’t only focus on his personal history on GNX. Instead, he embeds it within the context of a broader musical and cultural heritage. He pays homage to the music of his parents’ generation with the ballad Luther that samples one of Vandross’s biggest hits. He volunteers himself as the ambassador of California rap and the heir apparent to Tupac’s legacy by describing himself as the living manifestation of his musical energy in reincarnated. And in heart pt. 6, a song reminiscent of California 90’s rap, Lamar reclaims the title and defuses the impact of Drake’s final diss track.

Instead of more attacks, Lamar uses the track to tell the story of his rise to fame, heap appreciation on the relationships that got him there, and offer advice about healthy conflict resolution.

Let It Go and Have Some Fun

Despite the weight of emotion, legacy, and history on GNX, Lamar does something else really important when it comes to anger: he lets go of it by having some fun. He follows the intensity of the album’s first track with squabble up, which feels like the celebration after a fight.

Later in the album, tv off, is an audio, pre-game hype song in anticipation of his Super Bowl appearance with the hilarious homage to “MUSTARD!”, the producer who helped Lamar make Not Like Us a hit.

Lamar doesn’t just have fun alone either, he reunites twice with his previous hit collaborator, Sza, and a list of other rappers, some of whom got their first appearances on the Billboard charts.

I have never been a football fan, but I will be watching the Super Bowl in eager anticipation this year to see what comes next for Kendrick Lamar. It’s possible his appearance will prompt more attacks or even litigation from Drake and that could lead to more bouts of anger from them both.

Though Kendrick makes numerous religious analogies on GNX, he doesn’t try to convince anyone he’s a saint. It’s quite possible that Kendrick is not done with anger and diss tracks, but GNX at least gives us a good sign that he knows some strategies to avoid getting lost in it.

If you don’t turn the TV off at halftime, Kendrick may have some more lessons for you.

 

Photo: Pixabay

Editor: Dana Gornall

 

Did you like this post? You may also like:

Seeing That Your Enemy is Suffering: A Dream of Anger and Prayer

Music is Us, and We are Music.

 

Comments

comments

Latest posts by Claire Parsons (see all)