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You Wanted the Beast, You Got the Beast
Kendrick Lamar’s jittery, claustrophobic new album understands the value of being a hero and a villain.
The cut visits three distinct stories of musicians potentially misusing their influence: a Detroit blues icon progressing from clashing with his father to dying in wealth and leaving a prickly reputation behind; a Chitlin’ Circuit singer like Billie Holiday or Dinah Washington succumbing to the ravages of addiction; and Lamar himself, a certified bogeyman claiming peace who recently finished waging a generation-defining rap war. It’s fixated on the trappings of a bygone luxury, flexing ownership of one of just 547 ’87 Buick Grand National GNXs in existence on the cover and brimming with nods to ’80s R&B and freestyle music like “luther” with SZA and “squabble up.” With a foot planted firmly in past traditions, Lamar also wants it understood that he can keep pace with the next crop of rappers, dabbling as much in the tricky timing of modern Vallejo and South Central rhymers as he does in tributes to Pac and Nas. (The latter’s spirit is felt in the “One Mic” drums appearing in “man at the garden” as well as in the “If I Ruled the World” conceit of “luther” and the “I Gave You Power” and “I Used to Love H.E.R.” airs peppering “gloria.”) Being born into hip-hop’s middle-child generation means grumbling about old codes dying but also adapting yours to meet shifting mores.
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