It’s been one hell of a week with the release of Kendrick Lamar’s latest album ‘DAMN’. If you haven’t educated yourself on this work of modern day poetic genius, I urge you to immediately.
We already saw the powerful video to ‘Humble’ but now, the latest video to drop is ‘DNA’ and what a video it is.
Starring alongside Lamar is none other than Don Cheadle who plays a law officer in a heated interrogation with a cuffed Lamar. The heated face-off between the two is jaw dropping. One thing I take away from Lamar’s work as a writer is his ability to capture the essence of a regular conversation and see him take it to a level where symbolism and power truly reflect the world we live in.
Something that’s been going viral all week as well is the reference to Lamar’s new nickname, Kung Fu Kenny. In what was a surprise to Cheadle, this new moniker pays homage to Cheadle’s role in the 2011 film ‘Rush Hour 2’. Absolutely classic, and the reason why Cheadle was cast in this video.
As the video builds and heads to the streets, we are given an insider’s look into Lamar’s daily struggles with snapshots of real life footage. It is a strong reminder at how this thing we call ‘life’ is not always what we ask for.
A blood boiling moment for me though is when you hear a news reporter say, “This is why I say hip-hop has done more damage to young Americans than racism.” This statement is just highly inaccurate when there are artists like Lamar bringing such issues to the forefront. It’s unjust and plain disrespectful to what hip-hop culture is and what it represents.
Keep pushing the boundaries Kung Fu Kenny; we’re all backing you
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author: Kara Bertoncini