Dec 4, 2014 15) Heaven & h--- Just as Rigamorits is a technical exercise, pushing Kendrick's breath-control and delivery to their limits, Heaven & h--- is an exercise made to strengthen his writing. Using the parallel of God and Stan's respective homes, Kendrick weaves together a venn diagram of sorts. In the first verse he goes into graphic detail while outlining a grocery list of horrors:"Genocism, criticism, unemployment, racism Burning buildings, AIDS victims, cancer killin' no cure Oil spillin', turmoil, poverty stricken,police brutality Kickin' a--- of us Africans,hostages in Afghanistan Not to mention another prison,child molesting Cow intestines,botox injections,earthquakes that's government tested" It's completely morose and cynical in it's bluntness, but the stream of consciousness approach Kendrick utilizes actually makes it relatable. All at once, every tragedy to manifest on Earth takes center stage for a minute. What makes it impressive, and not just a mundane list, is the precision with which Kendrick carves out the phrases. Just at look at how he ends the first verse: "Just a Tec for the soo-woop swerving, izuzu then blap blap blap Adolescents go coocoo,mothers are boohoo crying The governor keeps us starvin',these commercials keep us buyin' These cigarettes supermarkets fill up our liver with triumph Distincted livin' with science,no place to live in, no Zion See that's forbidden, we frying'" He doesn't stop there though. To drive the point home, the first verse, which already felt heavy due to the amount of worse he managed to cram in there, ends up further overshadowing the rest of the song. In order to signify the extent to which he feels the darkness drives out the light, the bad the good, and so forth, he has the first verse last the normal amount of time, while cutting the first verse off after a few meager bars. "Malcolm laughing, Martin laughing, Biggie spittin' Pac is rapping, Gregory tappin, people singing, bells is ringing Children playing, angels praying, 14 karat golden streets, collard greens Red wine, potato yams, turkey legs, calling every human being…" That's all Kendrick manages to get out before fading away under the the burden of the first verse. But the song doesn't sound foreboding. It sounds hopeful, as if acknowledging and addressing the existing problems is form of therapy. Which it probably is. Unfortunately for us, we only get a few lines of a second verse that essentially turns into an outro. The hook and production, as mentioned, suit the solemn topic at hand in a surprising yet completely fitting manner. "my n----- what it look like?" someone should have k dot sit down with Cohle Mentions: Spoiler @Olorin @swr @Radeem @KingKendrick @Meero @Enigma @Lord Flacko @Koolo @Hasman @Tripstarr @Besky etc.
Dec 4, 2014 Good choice, cutting his 2nd verse that fast bothered me at first, but now I think it's a good thing, kinda lets you fill the gap there with your own thoughts. Beautiful beat, and his first verse is amazing, takes some skill to manage to spit this way without sacrificing the content. Also, this is one of my personal favourite songs.
Dec 4, 2014 I love the things he does choose to touch on in those few lines…"malcolm laughing, martin laughing, biggie spittin" >>>>>>>>>>
Dec 5, 2014 glad you liked it m8 people who were on SL are gonna go through a lot of deja vu tho /shrug
Dec 7, 2014 14. Ignorance is Bliss (verse 2) Amongst Kendrick's best work, Ignorance is Bliss seems to function as a form of therapy, similar to Heaven & h---, but seeps out from a more toxic niche in his mind. He's eccentric in his delivery and presents a maze of conflicting emotions, influences, and choices, rather than paint a clear story. The first verse is, for all intents and purposes, as good as the second, but the latter has grown to be my favorite over the years. The former comes out of the gate swinging, with the trademark Kendrick angst readily apparent. There are a flurry of punchlines and crystal clear images, but a sense of detached observation (as some people like to note, he's more akin to Nas, peering out from the project windows, rather than someone who's actually been amidst the violence and degradation himself). Regardless, the first verse still filled with the graphic detail, lost amongst his relentless need to move forward, and not let anything sink in for more than a second: "I'mma back 'em down like Shaq with this black 2-2-3 in my hand Better pray that this chopper jam like a radio single, man Police radio signals saying that a 187 land On your corner,coroners comfort your momma "Momma he's dead" the next morning, I toasted up with my homies We drink and smoke marijuana,want us to change our ways? Uh-huh" The third verse outlines the most relatable and, well, clear, narrative, as Kendrick reminisces on how he wanted to be signed by 17. All this to say that the track had multiple verses suited for this position. However, as I mentioned, the 2nd has grown to by favorite for multiple reasons. The subtle switch ups in the beat compliment the 2nd verse, as he beings by claiming: "This the hardest s--- you've heard from LA this far And I'm this far, from a discharge but never will I dish off We all tryna ball and when I got the rock I'll dish off" The resilience only builds as he forces in syllables and words that just don't need to be there, but due to his aggression and conviction, they rarely seem out of place. In fact, this s--- right here, might be my favorite part of the verse: "Come back and make these n----s wanna s---t me And they b------s wanna salute me or seduce me Indubitably I'm too street, indubitably Imma do me Better than your b---- would" This n----- used the word indubitably twice in a row for no f---ing reason lol - and it's awesome. And this point, I might as well quote the rest of the verse, seeing as how it's an endless stream of greatness: "I'll make an album that'll put a smile on Malcolm Make Martin Luther tell God I'm the future for Heaven's talent No tarot card reading; I'm foreseeing you n----s vanish Not only from the rap game, I'm including the planet Cats so watered down clowns can sink Titanic Tie titanium around their neck and watch 'em panic Give me respect, dammit, or get damaged Die young, corpse identified by your parents Apparently you're a parrot, mocking me and my blueprint But I won't share it just make you cop it then call you a sheriff Stop it, I'm hearin' the comments The critics are calling me conscious But truthfully, every shooter be callin' me Compton So truthfully, only calling me Kweli and Common? Proves that ignorance is bliss" From the wordplay in the middle, with "sink the titanic, tie titanium around their neck and watch them panic" to the self-awareness exhibited by the closing lines, "so truthfully, only calling me Kweli and Common?/proves that ignorance is bliss," this verse is fierce and defiant. Although it could be argued that tracks like this or The Heart Pt. 2, amongst others, show glimpses of Kendrick trying too hard, it's also the the control over his voice and zen-master like expertise he displays on these very same tracks, that gets him the praise and recognition he deserves. Mentions: Spoiler @Olorin @swr @Radeem @KingKendrick @Meero @Enigma @Lord Flacko @Koolo @Hasman @Tripstarr @Lubo @Besky etc.
Dec 7, 2014 great write up narsh...i wish our blog was up so we could feature this thread @Hasman did you change kingkendrick name? what is it now
