![]() ![]() Hell, I can't remember the last time I set foot inside a church. Like a lot of fans, I've found myself meditating over DAMN.'s verses like scripture, dissecting the text forward and backward in search of holy discernment. It suggests even more about his relationship with his audience, and the ways in which he envisions himself as a prophet more than a pop star. This is an album that requires much of faithful listeners. and being convicted by it - like Lamar no doubt intended. The question is whether or not we're grappling with DAMN. It's clearly made for such a time as this - one in which politics and personal accountability are colliding with unprecedented force. It snatched the top spot on NPR Music's list of the best albums of the year by a long shot. is easily the most celebrated album of the year. In order to have your LP debut at the top of the Billboard 200 chart - then remain in the top 10 for more than 25 consecutive weeks, while racking up double-platinum sales and seven Grammy nominations to boot - all of God's children, or a close approximation, must be listening hard.Ä«etween its chart-topping success and cultural dominance, DAMN. In some ways I suspect this is the response Lamar set out to provoke. I've developed a love-hate relationship with DAMN. Just like her nagging text, the Compton MC had spent the better half of a year forcing me to reckon with my doubts about the wrath of God. I was in the middle of laying down some definitive thoughts about the LP when the realization hit me. Her text wasn't about Kendrick Lamar's album, DAMN., per se, but without knowing it she'd just triggered an existential debate I'd been having with myself since its April release. ![]() The only sin greater than letting God down is allowing your parents to find out your faith walk is no longer patterned after their footsteps. It wasn't the first time I'd received a text from my mother dripping with good ole Christian guilt. It may as well have come in all caps, the way it landed like an accusation instead of a question. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |