What is the TRUE MEANING Behind Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers?

of all people any artist you picked Kodak Black to work with you why as I get a little older [Music] I realize life is perspective and my perspective May differ from yours you texted me at two o'clock in the morning I feel like I'm Fallen why do you feel that way this one ended on a high note with purple hearts where Kendrick preached to us that love will ultimately be the answer to the struggle he's dealing with despite the promise he made in 2015 he hasn't found love and thus he feels like he's fallen he's realized he can't save everyone so now after finally laying it all out there he does the only thing he can Kendrick has sacrificed himself his reputation everything he's built up so that we can have transformation after spending about a month meditating on the narrative that Kendrick presented with Mr morale and the big steppers and covering it in two videos I feel kind of caught between a rock and a hard place trying to wrap it up with part three there's so much that happens on this album and yet it just all feels kind of unimportant Kendrick has left this with so much to meditate on over the years and yet on this album there's nothing no broader theme no artistic statement we can learn from no growth just just the fact that no matter what you do or how hard you try all your efforts are meaningless so Choose Yourself what that can't be it that can't be the broader field what's the point of of doing anything even Kendrick is gone so what do we do the system's broken but I have no idea how to fix it how do we change things how do we make things better well what about this I come from a generation of pain will murder his minor rebellious and more jealous of Chip you for designer for the first two weeks of Mr morale and the big steppers release Kendrick left us with only 18 songs to take us on his most personal journey in his entire discography thus far and man is it heartbreaking sitting with just these two discs to analyze as a Kendrick fan is to say the least murky and inconclusive and frustrating in a similar fashion to all of his other projects Kendrick is clearly undergoing an emotional Journey as the album progresses but the closure that he leaves us with in nearer lacks gratification that is for anybody except Kendrick there aren't any deeper themes or grandiose social commentaries or hidden meanings to take away from this album if you're looking at it inside of its own self-contained lore that is until he added the Heart part 5 to the tracklist I want the hug when it was originally released the Heart part 5 seemed similar to the first four installments in the series in that it was just a single sure the songs are usually distantly related to the subject matter that Kendrick presents with the album it comes out with but they're never inexplicably intertwined and it's easy to assume that Kendrick did the same thing on part five but placing the Heart part 5 at the end of the track list actually changes how we look at this album holistically it gives closure to Kendrick's character Arc that the album itself did not have so what does Kendrick tell us in the Heart part five can we learn from his trauma and shortcomings and pain does he finally give us the answers to make things better well hip-hop artist ever what is the most important part of your legacy that you want to be remembered uh it's really just the impact to inspire people you know and always showing them that the duality of life is not such a bad thing you know we go through so many volatile situations where we don't really know how to connect or you know communicate how we feel so through my music I want to make sure that's the Legacy showing people how to communicate and it's okay you know if you're not perfect you know it's about accepting the beauty of imperfection everyone watching the show do you be yourself and make sure that you love being yourself it's going to be roadblocks it's going to be tribulations but always remember this is a life experience accept the experience appreciate the experience and learn how to move on from things that don't serve you well you know and find your journey respect your journey I love it the hard part five was famously released alongside a music video which is essential to her understanding of not just the song but by extension the album because Kendrick is doing a lot of striking visual storytelling even though it's fairly minimal as the song progresses the video employs CGI to morph Kendrick into different black celebrities that being O.J Simpson Kanye West Will Smith Kobe Bryant and Nipsey hustle all who have been led to physical or social demise for different reasons so it's important to view the words that he's speaking as simultaneously coming from Kendrick and the person he's hiding behind but more importantly we have to understand why he chose these specific people I mean Kanye's canceled Kobe's dead nipsey's dead I guess the question is is Nipsey or Kanye or Kobe a mask or is Kendrick Lamar The Mask there's a frequent Motif throughout the track that being a reference to what Kendrick has coined to the culture while never given direct context it's pretty clear throughout the song that Kendrick is addressing the community he's been trying to reach throughout his career his roots his upbringing his hood throughout the first two verses he paints these vividly Grim pictures that describe the struggle of being brought up in his environment he does it in a way that seems critical like he's trying to bring awareness in order to create change but then he concludes by ending each illustration by saying well that's just the culture and this constant regression in this track to just accepting things how they are is essentially the anti-thesis to Everything Kendrick has stood for since he became influential he's always advocated for getting more for making things better but that's gone here my favorite line on this song comes from the very beginning of the first verse which essentially boils down the themes of the first two verses in one line and he says make the wrong turn be it will or wheel alignment using a car metaphor to discuss choices it seems that Kendrick is concluding that everyone will eventually make the bad choice whether it's your own decision or quote unquote wheel alignment which is a poignantly concise way of saying that your circumstances surroundings and infrastructure could leave you with no choice but to do the wrong thing anyway at the end of verse 2 Kendrick seems to have this Epiphany that this is wrong we can't accept this it's a betrayal of who he is so he says calling a culture and besides if you want this culture well take the drones out [Music] the final verse is wrapped from the perspective of Nipsey Hustle and he was someone who lived for his culture he showed love whenever he had the chance and he was killed murdered by the very people that he quote unquote wanted and though my physical and reap the benefits then energy they carry on admit still I want you there's only one song on the tracklist of the album that we need to draw a parallel to in order to make the true meaning of Mr morale and the big step is clear and of course that's mirror last week in part two where we looked at the narrative on the Mr morale disc from this project I deemed a mirror as one of the most heartbreaking songs Kendrick has ever released but also one of the most cathartic and we don't see that bright side of it until we fully understand the hard part 5. throughout the track as Kendrick is referencing different people who have either been killed canceled or put down in some way it seems that he's drawing a parallel between himself and their story and mirror is that story in the final verse he details the toxicity of the culture he spent a decade trying to save and ends it off with the line maybe it's time to break it off run from the culture to follow my heart this is the only time he uses the word culture on the entire album what Kendrick is getting at with most of this project and with the Heart part five is that he has ultimately realized that his role in music and Society is worthless even though he wants the hood and to make everything better all the other Fallen leaders around him are proof that it's only a matter of time and so Kendrick is eventually put into the same category the word is broken it's unsavable is hypocritical but that's just Kendrick's perspective and after finally realizing that life is perspective he understands why he could never be a savior his perspective isn't any more important than yours or mine he's not a prophet he's just he's just a mortal man and so every song The Brokenness Kendrick illustrates throughout the album and his bitter rejection of his savior complex is all consequence to the realization that life is perspective and so now the narrative has become a bit deeper the meaning thematically comes down to your individual perception on life but the meaning of the project for Kendrick revolves around the mirror what do you see when you look into it I know what I see and now we know what Kendrick season himself it might be a hypocrite or a broken savior or his father teaching toxic masculinity or even Nipsey Hussle or Kobe but on top of all of these potential answers Kendrick makes it very clear that there's one person that he always sees when he looks in the mirror Kodak Black okay no no I want there's no way I'm forgiving Kodak body sacred as I set free all your abusers this is transformation [Music] there's a somber and horrifying difference between the subject matter on Mr morale versus Kendrick's other records usually the social commentary the meta-narrative his artistic journey is accompanied with a teaching moment or a deeper thematic takeaway that we can use to positively change the culture and now on this project Kendrick never does that by the end of this too the shortcomings that he's rapping about have nothing to do with the hood they're about him it's like he's completely dropped his desire to bring awareness to relevant socioeconomic flaws and now he's only interested in preaching about his own unworthiness as a cautionary tale and this all is meant to show us that this album revolves only around his individual perspective so when we think about Kodak Black's inclusion on this project we have to view it under that lens Kodak is not a poster child for Universal forgiveness or an anti-thesis on cancel culture like everybody said he was initially I mean he's a rapist and sexual assaulter who has never actually taken accountability for what he did after looking at the context on Kendrick's life provided in disc one and his Fall From Grace delivered in disc two it seems like he's trying to tell us that Kodak is the person he sees when he looks in the mirror Kendrick Lamar sexually immoral insensitive a complete and utter failure just like Kodak Black and as Kendrick details his struggle to heal himself and grow into something greater he's really just running away from his fear that himself and Kodak are one insane with that said codex polarizing reception proves the point that this album is trying to make I mean Kendrick never defended his actions or put him on a pedestal and yet his very inclusion has been enough to make people stop supporting Kendrick completely it seems like it's an unspoken way of calling us as listeners a hypocrite if we knew that Kendrick was homophobic or an adulterer would we really have held him in as high of a regard as we do no we would have canceled him probably treated him like an outcast tore down his pedestal because the only reason we viewed Kendrick in such a high regard is because we were ignorant to what he's really done but at the end of the day that's just the limitation of perspectives this may come as a surprise to many but I'm a person that actively tries to involve myself in the things I care about to try and make them better and while I do pride myself on that most of the time I fall short see I feel like I can't just be passionate about something I have to get my hands in it get them dirty and be a part of making these significant improvements and yeah I've done some great things in leadership organizations or roles of service or even just supporting people in the work that they do but man it comes with a lot of mental turmoil and frustration my biggest struggle my most significant insecurity is that I don't really care about things I just care about making them about me and I guess I'm sharing that with you because I feel like that's what Kendrick is struggling with here the realization is horrifying it's the same feeling as being a little kid and lying to your parents only to realize they knew the entire time but you know what the sad part about it really is most of the time once you're removed from all that happening and you can take a step back you realize that those feelings weren't earned that's all it was is just these crushing insecurities weaseling their way into your mind draining your motivation to be the person that you know you are to make the changes God is calling you to create but until you're able to do that you feel like a fake you feel worthless like you didn't earn any of your great reputation and so the natural responses to Shell up who do you see when you look in the mirror is it Kodak Black O.J Simpson a rich Spirit a Die Hard maybe it's a failure I know that's what I see and that's hard to deal with I'm sorry if you feel that way I hope that one day we can both grow past that fortunately it seems like Kendrick already has what is the true meaning of Mr morale and the big steppers well it's about staring at your reflection and dealing with what looks back and not just that but understanding why you see what you see and coming to grips with the truth that it's probably not reality it's just your perspective [Music] oh that's it guys after three videos I finally got all of my thoughts out on this project this was such a long project and it was so difficult to road map this in a way where I could articulately deliver my thoughts properly and I hope I did a good job doing that man thank you so much for watching this one guys it's really such a privilege to get to share my thoughts my feelings on how this music is helping me grow and the fact that people want to engage in that discussion with me is unlike anything I've experienced so if you feel like I missed any concepts or the album struck you in a way that was different to me I would love to hear about that please let me know what other albums you would want to hear my thoughts on and what you're interested in because I have a couple ideas but I want to see what you guys want to hear about from me I really am just looking for more ideas and more content to make in the future with all that said though if you made it this far and you're not subscribed please do that it really makes my day I'm not gonna say much more than that I appreciate it Kendrick Lamar forever thanks so much for joining me for this very long projects I sincerely hope you'll join me next time happy listening

Channel: Jackson's Music Palate

Views: 27,631

Keywords: Kendrick Lamar Review, Mr Morale and the Big Steppers, Mr Morale & The Big Steppers, Mr Morale and the Big Steppers review, Mr Morale and the Big Steppers Reaction, Kendrick Lamar Grammy, Kendrick Lamar Rap album of the year, Kendrick Lamar To Pimp a Butterfly, To Pimp a Butterfly Review, Kendrick Lamar The Heart Pt. 5, The Heart pt. 5 grammy, Kendrick Lamar the heart pt 5 reaction, the heart pt 5 review, good kid maad city reaction, good kid maad city review

Id: bdDwkOI5Hn4

Length: 16min 38sec (998 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 11 2023