Good morning and a jolly “GO BIRDS” to all who celebrate! Welcome back for another edition of the SoundCentric newsletter!

I know this is a music newsletter, but real quick, how bout ‘dem birds???

After watching my alma mater win a National Championship two weeks ago and now my favorite team win the Super Bowl, I fear it’s all downhill from here.

Kendrick Lamar killed his halftime show, so let’s breakdown one of my favorite music takes.

You could be reading anything in the world right now, and you're here with me. So, I appreciate it.

Let’s get to it!

Deep Dive

Rap’s Most Surprising Superstar

It kind of baffles me. 

A lot of artists are scared to experiment with their voice or sound, but somebody’s gotta do it. A lot of artists steer away from creating digestible songs with socially conscious messages, but somebody’s gotta do it. A lot of artists, my G.O.A..T J. Cole included, are afraid of playing the role of the villain, but somebody’s gotta do it. 

Kendrick Lamar’s mainstream success kind of baffles me. That sentence at first glance can come off as disrespectful. It can be construed as me saying he’s undeserving of his spot on top of Mount Rushmore after Mount Rushmore list, but it does baffle me. Every time I press play on a new album it gets the gears turning in this ol’ noggin of mine as I wonder to myself, “How did he pull this off?”

Who else can make a song like Swimming Pools (Drank), where the artist discusses the effects of alcoholism and the dangers of peer pressure while also having an entire verse where he is talking to his conscience, and then that song becomes a hit? Like, a hit hit. A song made to address the negative side of alcohol became a drinking anthem. Who would’ve thunk it?

This trend of making music with a socially charged message that can still be listened to on repeat by the casual listener is something I’ve noticed in Lamar’s songwriting.

A good comparison of his songwriting prowess can be seen in a song like Hey Ya! by OutKast. I used to shake my little behind like a Polaroid picture to this track growing up, with its happy chords, infectious chorus, and ear candy refrains.

In the track, Andre 3000 breaks the fourth wall and addresses the fact that the listener isn’t even listening to what he’s trying to say: “They just want to dance.” It wasn’t until I was older that I learned the song was about the state of relationships and people staying in unhappy ones for the sake of tradition.

I’ve sent my friends links to plenty of songs over the years. At a certain point, you get to know your audience, and you know what song to send to which friend to earn that highly coveted heart reaction on your message. Most of my friends who are casual listeners are thrown off by weird vocal inflections. They don’t care about listening to the lyrics. They don’t prefer that an artist gets in their introspective bag and turns to jazz and works with The Alchemist. But when it comes to Kendrick Lamar, all of these preferences are thrown out the window. What he does just works.

It feels like the whole world stops for Kendrick. When his most recent project GNX dropped, thankfully I was in the car on a long drive and was in the perfect environment to take in the new album. You may ask, “Adam, if you were on a long drive, how did you know it dropped?” To that, I say: shut up, nark.

When I got to my destination and brought my car to a complete stop, I finally hopped on X and joined in with the rest of the hip-hop community as we all wrote our think-pieces that no one asked for about an artist who galvanizes the world like no other.

This album is just another chapter in the book of Kendrick doing some out-of-the-ordinary things that just work. I mean, who else can have the Shrek, Despicable Me 4, and McDonald’s corporate X pages tweeting “MUSTARDDDDDDD”?

Drake “joked” on his Kendrick diss Family Matters that “Kendrick just opened his mouth, somebody go hand him a Grammy right now.” He’s not wrong, though. But it is not just because Kendrick is some media darling who gets awarded for slightly above-average work. It truly feels like this man could sneeze on a song and make it work. That’s just credit to an artist who seems to never be able to be placed in a box. At every turn, he continues to be daring, and it has only paid off for him.

I look at a song like Alright. This song was the anthem for the Black Lives Matter protests. It’s a poignant social commentary on the disproportionate police brutality against Black people—truly a beautiful song that represents a moment in history. It is also a song you could hear being played at a fraternity party on any college campus, with a swarm of inebriated kids yelling, “We gon’ be alright!” I really can’t think of many artists who can make a song that both acts as the soundtrack for a movement while also being a club banger.

Mr. Lamar continues to keep me guessing at every turn. Not many artists can make the world stop the way Kendrick does when he presses that red button. While his mainstream success still baffles me at times, it also makes sense. He’s a supreme songwriter with a unique voice and a story to tell. He has the respect of all the hip-hop and music legends, and for good reason.

Last night, the spotlight was placed upon him on the halftime stage of the Super Bowl as the world watched the most surprising superstar shine as he always has. In true Kendrick fashion, it was a beautifully orchestrated performance filled with tons of symbolism—and, to my surprise, a lot more GNX than I was expecting.

But like Jalen Hurts, when the pressure builds up and the lights are the brightest, K Dot always rises to the occasion.

Bar of the Week

Rankings

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Playlist of the Week

SoundCentric Podcast

Episode 101: YKMYNAME Talks Grammys Recap, Why TDE Are the Spurs of Rap, Drakes Return + More

Till Next Time

Thank you for tuning in to newsletter number 4! And in case I don see ya’, good afternoon, good evening, and goodnight!