694: King Kendrick
In this episode, I was overwhelmed by poetry, history, and the cultural context of a musical superstar…
Friends, friends, friends.
Welcome back to Teatime Reading where there are books in progress.
My local libraries have often been magical, unique places for me to stumble upon new books and topics. Recently, I found a fascinating book about Kendrick Lamar titled Promise That You Will Sing About Me.
If I had to describe this book, I would find it challenging, because it felt like it was both pop biography and academic treatise in equal measure. Author and journalist Miles Marshall Lewis brought an interesting take on Kendrick’s place in Hip-Hop culture, but this book was an intense read.
Since I’m not the most familiar with hip hop history, I often felt like I was a step behind here. This book felt like a college course with prerequisites that I hadn’t taken and that made this read particularly challenging, despite my interest in the subject matter.
Even though this book went into loving detail about our current political climate with BLM and the subsequent social justice movements, it also went way deeper than the present day. There was a lot of lyrical analysis and cultural framing here. The author assumed intelligence and awareness on the part of the reader for various issues, but the reality is that even without a strong grounding in the historical subjects that Lewis wrote about, I was drawn into the arguments that he was making about the cultural and historical context that gave us Kendrick in the first place.
I was a fan of the way that the author brought in the commentary of cultural critics, journalists, activists, and even one of the Pulitizer Prize jurors that nominated Lamar for his album DAMN.
Promise That You Will Sing About Me was an intense, detailed, grueling read that rewarded my attention and focus. I came away from this book feeling more knowledgeable about Kendrick Lamar, his talent, and the societal conditions that helped make him possible.
That’s all for today. Until next time, keep your bookmarks close.
Peace, Love, Pages.
Note: As Always, Affiliate Links are here for your convenience at no cost to you. All reading was at my own expense.