How did Kendrick Lamar become considered 'lyrical'?

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Now, I'm a fan of a dude he makes good music etc. etc.

But lyrical? :what::dahell::dafukk:

From this :jbhmm:

Tell Flex to drop a bomb on this shyt
So many bombs, ring the alarm like Vietnam in this shyt
So many bombs, make Farrakhan think that Saddam in this bytch
One at a time, I line 'em up and bomb on they mom while she watchin' the kids
I'm in a destruction mode if the gold exists
I'm important like the pope, I'm a muslim on pork
I'm Machiavelli's offspring, I'm the king of New York
King of the Coast, one hand, I juggle them both
The juggernaut's all in your jugular, you take me for jokes
Live in the basement, church pews and funeral faces
Cardio bracelets for my women free as I'm in Vegas
Who the fukk y'all thought it's supposed to be?
If Phil Jackson came back, still no coachin' me
I'm uncoachable, I'm unsociable
fukk y'all clubs, fukk y'all pictures
Your Instagram can gobble these nuts
Gobble dikk up 'til you hiccup
My big homie Kurupt
This the same flow that put the rap game on a crutch
I've seen nikkas Transform like villain Decepticons
Mollies'll prolly turn these bytches to fukkin' Lindsey Lohans
A bunch of rich ass white girls lookin' for parties
Playin with Barbies wreck the Porsche before you give 'em the car key
Judge me 'til the monarchy, blessin's to Paul McCartney
You called me a black Beatle, I'm either that or a Marley
(I don't smoke crack, motherfukker I sell it!)
I'm dressed in all black, this is not for the fan of Elvis
I'm aimin' straight for your pelvis, you can't stomach me
You plan on stumpin' me? I've been jumped before you put a gun on me
I put one on yours I'm Sean Connery
James Bond, wasn't none of you nikkas climbing 100 mil in front of me
And I'm gonna get it even if you're in the way
And if you're in it, better run for pete's sake
I heard the barbershops be in great debates all the time
Who's the best MC? Kendrick, Jigga and Nas
Eminem, Andre 3000, the rest of ya'll
New nikkas just new nikkas, don't get involved
And I ain't rockin no more designer shyt
White T's and Nike Cortez, this is red corvettes annonymous
I'm usually homeboys with the same nikkas I'm rhymin with
But this is hip hop and them nikkas should know what time it is
And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale
Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake
Big Sean, Jay electron', Tyler, Mac Miller
I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you nikkas
Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you nikkas
They don't wanna hear not one more noun or verb from u nikkas
What is competition? I'm tryna raise the bar high
Who tryna jump and get it? You better off tryna skydive
Out the exit window of 5 G5's with 5 grams
With your grandad as the pilot he drunk as fukk tryna land
With the hand full of arthritis and popping prosthetic leg
Bumpin Pac in the cockpit so the shyt that pops in his head
Is an option of violence, someone heard the stewardess said
That your parachute is a latex condom hooked to a dread

Okay that flow was kinda dope, and he came aggressive, but Jay Elec came right after and to quote Gza "make it half short twice as strong"

You could check my name on the books
I Earth, Wind, and Fire'd the verse, then rained the hook
The legend of Dorothy Flowers proclaimed from the roof
The tale of magnificent king who came from the nooks
Of the wild magnolia, mother of many soldiers
We live by every single word she ever told us
Watch over your shoulders,
And keep a tin of beans for when the weather turns the coldest
The Lord is our shepherd, so our cup runneth over
Put your trust in the Lord, pretend that your Chevy Nova
I'm spittin this shyt closure
And God is my witness, so you could get it from Hova
For all you magicians that's fidgeting with the cobra
I'm silent as a rock, 'cause I came from a rock
That's why I came with a rock, then signed my name on the Roc
Draw a line around some earth, then put my name on the plot
Cause I endured a lot of pain for everything that I got
The eyelashes like umbrellas when it rains from the heart
And the tissue is like an angel kissin you in the dark
You go from blind sight to hindsight,
Passion of the Christ, right, to baskin in the limelight
It takes time to get your mind right
Jay Electricity, PBS mysteries
In a lofty place, tangling with Satan over history
You can't say shyt to me,
Alhamdulillah
It's strictly by faith that we made it this far

But Jay Elec a monster, from the Nas lineage, so lets look at the lyrics to my fav Kendrick song 'Rigamortis'

Got me breathing with dragons
I'll crack the egg in your basket, you b*stard
I'm Marilyn Manson with magnums
Now just imagine the magic I like to ask is
Don't ask for your favorite rapper

(He dead) Yessir
(Amen) Chuuch
(He dead) I killed him
(Amen) bytch

[Verse 1:]
And this is rigamortis
And it's gorgeous when you die
Ali recorded and I'm Morpheus
The Matrix in my mind
I'm out the orbit
You an orphan and a hairdresser combined
I'm on the toilet when I rhyme
If you the shyt then I decline
I climax when you begin
And then I end on Cloud 9
And that's important when you morph
Into an angel in the sky
And don't be forging all my signatures
My listeners reply and tell me
That you biting style
You got a hell of an appetite
And I'mma be here for a while
Just buckle up before the ride
Or knuckle up if you could fight
We always making them duck or die
A suit and tie is suitable and usual in suicide
CSI, just might investigate
This fukking parasite

(He dead)
(Amen)

[Verse 2:]
That's what they telling me
Aim it at your celebrity
This is studio felony
Ferrigamo to many
And cool enough for the 70s
nikka, payback's a bytch
And bytch you been living in debt with me
That I more than especially
Leave a call on his mother voicemail
To say that he rest in peace
Bigger chopper the recipe
Wrestling, that's irrelevant
Rather rest at your residence
Whistling to the melody
Couldn't think of a better D
Better be on your P and Q
It's just me Jay Rock, Soul and Q
Solar system ain't why we cuter
Ain't nothing else you can do

(He dead) yup, yup
(Amen) I killed him
(He dead) hahaha
(Amen) amen

[Hook]

[Verse 3:]
I rapped him and made him Casper
I captured the likes of NASA
My pedigree to fly past ya
I pass the weed to the pastor
We all are sinners, once you sinister
Bible study faster
You hypocrite is reaction of blasphemy
I assassin my casualty
And it's casually done
And tell 'em my salary come
A lump sum of hundreds
Don't talk to be bout no money
The sun is under my feet
And I come in peace to compete
I don't run if you rather leap
My statistics go up in weeks
And I go visit the nearest creek
And I get busy on many MC
Really ballistic, anybody can see
Any assistance, everybody done see
Some persistence, recognize I be
Really too vicious, the permanent beast
And the demolition, breaking up the streets
Better partition, better dot your T
And I gon' mention, how the far you see
Putting my dikk in the rap industry
Everybody bytchin', getting mad at me
Recognize Kendrick, in the battery
And I'm charged up, and the catastrophe
Is charged up, and the audacity
And y'all fukks, never could hassle me
And y'all luck, just ran out you'll see

Lyrical? IDK about that. So how did he get this rep :jbhmm: new age hip-hoppers?

Also thread is not for hate or any lame this mc v that mc shyt, just genuine discussion. Get at me.
 

Mowgli

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Because his lyrics are so good you can see a vision in your mind. He doesn't need a song full of ironic one liners. He can talk to you through rhyme and you can see what he's saying rather clearly. It's poetic.

But what about punchlines. Yall probably think Lloyd Banks better then kendrick. :russ:

There isn't one way to rap or be considered lyrical.
 
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☑︎#VoteDemocrat

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Now, I'm a fan of a dude he makes good music etc. etc.

But lyrical? :what::dahell::dafukk:

From this :jbhmm:

Tell Flex to drop a bomb on this shyt
So many bombs, ring the alarm like Vietnam in this shyt
So many bombs, make Farrakhan think that Saddam in this bytch
One at a time, I line 'em up and bomb on they mom while she watchin' the kids
I'm in a destruction mode if the gold exists
I'm important like the pope, I'm a muslim on pork
I'm Machiavelli's offspring, I'm the king of New York
King of the Coast, one hand, I juggle them both
The juggernaut's all in your jugular, you take me for jokes
Live in the basement, church pews and funeral faces
Cardio bracelets for my women free as I'm in Vegas
Who the fukk y'all thought it's supposed to be?
If Phil Jackson came back, still no coachin' me
I'm uncoachable, I'm unsociable
fukk y'all clubs, fukk y'all pictures
Your Instagram can gobble these nuts
Gobble dikk up 'til you hiccup
My big homie Kurupt
This the same flow that put the rap game on a crutch
I've seen nikkas Transform like villain Decepticons
Mollies'll prolly turn these bytches to fukkin' Lindsey Lohans
A bunch of rich ass white girls lookin' for parties
Playin with Barbies wreck the Porsche before you give 'em the car key
Judge me 'til the monarchy, blessin's to Paul McCartney
You called me a black Beatle, I'm either that or a Marley
(I don't smoke crack, motherfukker I sell it!)
I'm dressed in all black, this is not for the fan of Elvis
I'm aimin' straight for your pelvis, you can't stomach me
You plan on stumpin' me? I've been jumped before you put a gun on me
I put one on yours I'm Sean Connery
James Bond, wasn't none of you nikkas climbing 100 mil in front of me
And I'm gonna get it even if you're in the way
And if you're in it, better run for pete's sake
I heard the barbershops be in great debates all the time
Who's the best MC? Kendrick, Jigga and Nas
Eminem, Andre 3000, the rest of ya'll
New nikkas just new nikkas, don't get involved
And I ain't rockin no more designer shyt
White T's and Nike Cortez, this is red corvettes annonymous
I'm usually homeboys with the same nikkas I'm rhymin with
But this is hip hop and them nikkas should know what time it is
And that goes for Jermaine Cole, Big KRIT, Wale
Pusha T, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Drake
Big Sean, Jay electron', Tyler, Mac Miller
I got love for you all but I'm tryna murder you nikkas
Tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you nikkas
They don't wanna hear not one more noun or verb from u nikkas
What is competition? I'm tryna raise the bar high
Who tryna jump and get it? You better off tryna skydive
Out the exit window of 5 G5's with 5 grams
With your grandad as the pilot he drunk as fukk tryna land
With the hand full of arthritis and popping prosthetic leg
Bumpin Pac in the cockpit so the shyt that pops in his head
Is an option of violence, someone heard the stewardess said
That your parachute is a latex condom hooked to a dread

Okay that flow was kinda dope, and he came aggressive, but Jay Elec came right after and to quote Gza "make it half short twice as strong"

You could check my name on the books
I Earth, Wind, and Fire'd the verse, then rained the hook
The legend of Dorothy Flowers proclaimed from the roof
The tale of magnificent king who came from the nooks
Of the wild magnolia, mother of many soldiers
We live by every single word she ever told us
Watch over your shoulders,
And keep a tin of beans for when the weather turns the coldest
The Lord is our shepherd, so our cup runneth over
Put your trust in the Lord, pretend that your Chevy Nova
I'm spittin this shyt closure
And God is my witness, so you could get it from Hova
For all you magicians that's fidgeting with the cobra
I'm silent as a rock, 'cause I came from a rock
That's why I came with a rock, then signed my name on the Roc
Draw a line around some earth, then put my name on the plot
Cause I endured a lot of pain for everything that I got
The eyelashes like umbrellas when it rains from the heart
And the tissue is like an angel kissin you in the dark
You go from blind sight to hindsight,
Passion of the Christ, right, to baskin in the limelight
It takes time to get your mind right
Jay Electricity, PBS mysteries
In a lofty place, tangling with Satan over history
You can't say shyt to me,
Alhamdulillah
It's strictly by faith that we made it this far

But Jay Elec a monster, from the Nas lineage, so lets look at the lyrics to my fav Kendrick song 'Rigamortis'

Got me breathing with dragons
I'll crack the egg in your basket, you b*stard
I'm Marilyn Manson with magnums
Now just imagine the magic I like to ask is
Don't ask for your favorite rapper

(He dead) Yessir
(Amen) Chuuch
(He dead) I killed him
(Amen) bytch

[Verse 1:]
And this is rigamortis
And it's gorgeous when you die
Ali recorded and I'm Morpheus
The Matrix in my mind
I'm out the orbit
You an orphan and a hairdresser combined
I'm on the toilet when I rhyme
If you the shyt then I decline
I climax when you begin
And then I end on Cloud 9
And that's important when you morph
Into an angel in the sky
And don't be forging all my signatures
My listeners reply and tell me
That you biting style
You got a hell of an appetite
And I'mma be here for a while
Just buckle up before the ride
Or knuckle up if you could fight
We always making them duck or die
A suit and tie is suitable and usual in suicide
CSI, just might investigate
This fukking parasite

(He dead)
(Amen)

[Verse 2:]
That's what they telling me
Aim it at your celebrity
This is studio felony
Ferrigamo to many
And cool enough for the 70s
nikka, payback's a bytch
And bytch you been living in debt with me
That I more than especially
Leave a call on his mother voicemail
To say that he rest in peace
Bigger chopper the recipe
Wrestling, that's irrelevant
Rather rest at your residence
Whistling to the melody
Couldn't think of a better D
Better be on your P and Q
It's just me Jay Rock, Soul and Q
Solar system ain't why we cuter
Ain't nothing else you can do

(He dead) yup, yup
(Amen) I killed him
(He dead) hahaha
(Amen) amen

[Hook]

[Verse 3:]
I rapped him and made him Casper
I captured the likes of NASA
My pedigree to fly past ya
I pass the weed to the pastor
We all are sinners, once you sinister
Bible study faster
You hypocrite is reaction of blasphemy
I assassin my casualty
And it's casually done
And tell 'em my salary come
A lump sum of hundreds
Don't talk to be bout no money
The sun is under my feet
And I come in peace to compete
I don't run if you rather leap
My statistics go up in weeks
And I go visit the nearest creek
And I get busy on many MC
Really ballistic, anybody can see
Any assistance, everybody done see
Some persistence, recognize I be
Really too vicious, the permanent beast
And the demolition, breaking up the streets
Better partition, better dot your T
And I gon' mention, how the far you see
Putting my dikk in the rap industry
Everybody bytchin', getting mad at me
Recognize Kendrick, in the battery
And I'm charged up, and the catastrophe
Is charged up, and the audacity
And y'all fukks, never could hassle me
And y'all luck, just ran out you'll see

Lyrical? IDK about that. So how did he get this rep :jbhmm: new age hip-hoppers?

Also thread is not for hate or any lame this mc v that mc shyt, just genuine discussion. Get at me.
its cause rap fans thing jazzy productions, vaguely progressive lyrics about capitalism and being against the government means you're "educated"...he's wrapping generic smart-nikka lines up in a package that people who want to appear educate cling to.

Some of my most successful and educated friends listen to some of the most vapid bullshyt...not because they're stupid...but because they know its entertainment. This untitled EP Kendrick dropped was nice...but he doesn't impress people who are hard to impress because they see through it.

Its the same way J Cole gets a pass for some how being "conscious"...shyts mind-blowing ...i'd say Jay Z and Gucci are more "conscious" than either of those two will ever be...but hey, if you rap about "hey young girl, respect your self...and the government put drugs in the hood" then you're all good with all that low effort.
 

☑︎#VoteDemocrat

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Because his lyrics are so good you can see a vision in your mind. He doesn't need a song full of ironic one liners. He can talk to you through rhyme and you can see what he's saying rather clearly. It's poetic
Kendrick is a solid B/B+ artist in a C/C- era.

Its not even close.
 

NoHalfWay

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Not a top tier lyricist as far as some "rappity rap" shyt. If you put Kendrick in a cypher with nikkas like Black Thought or King Los they'd eat his food.

But he's a top tier songwriter with the most well crafted verses and concepts among his peers. Vivid storyteller and is diverse in the flow category. Very few rappers are making quality albums on par with him, plus he's consistent.

He just lacks a solid amount of "quotable" bars and is generally weak in features.
 

OnlyInCalifornia

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You can't judge how lyrical someone is (or isn't) just by posting plain text. There is more to MCing and using words to portray a message or feeling (being lyrical)

This is exactly why people say Tupac 'wasn't lyrical' because they paste lines of his that are simple. A true wordsmith does not need to use a ton of big words to get across simple points. Kurupt is considered 10x more lyrical than Tupac but he said absolutely fukking nothing on 'New York, New York' Canibus is considered more lyrical than Tupac but did he ever have a song that hit half as hard as say 'Dear Momma' ? At the end of the day who's lyrics are better at portraying feelings or a message...Tupac or Canibus??

That's why I don't get into these debates really. The guys who are 'lyrical' tend to not say anything more than the guys who may deliver it more simple, using other tools such as tone, to fill it in. That is why rapping isn't spoken word and why lyrics shouldn't be displayed as such.
 

onelastdeath

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This hate is getting :huhldup:

And I know that in this generation Everytime someone says something that goes "against the grain" it's considered hate.

But the Kendrick Lamar hate seems legitimate :scust:

And forced and random.

Don't see how you can hate on this guy like at all :huhldup:

Anyway, he paints the picture better than most rappers I've heard. He's a phenomenal lyricist.
 
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